Traveling with the Smithsonian in Morocco

Nov 21, 2019

Last month I had the honor of joining a Smithsonian Journeys trip as their Morocco expert. We spent 12 days traveling through Morocco on a route that I have traveled countless times before.

It's the same route that I've taken for years through the Middle and High Atlas mountains on Kantara buying trips, visiting artisans along the way. This time I returned with a tour director who has spent the last 38 years leading trips in Morocco.

Needless to say, we covered a lot of ground-- geographically, as well as in terms of content matter.

Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

We visited the potters in Fes and learned about the zellij tile work.

I got recruited to help with the tea ceremony...

We visited ancient Roman ruins, dating back to 2nd century BCE...

And visited the more recently abandoned Kasbahs along the Route des Mille Kasbahs.

After a full day exploring Rissani and learning about its significance as the site of the medieval caravan trading village Sijilmassa and the birthplace of the current Alaouite dynasty, we headed out to the desert for a sunrise camel trek.

Contemporary Moroccan architectural design

And we stayed in some pretty incredible places.

Modern interior featuring colorful Moroccan area rug

With impeccable design taste...

And sunrises to wake up for!

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