WTnow

Is more than one night in the desert worth it??? Or is it overkill? We will only do this once and I want to get the most out of it for our family ( older parents/6yo child).


I am booking my desert tour now & it is the hardest part as I want to get it right ( no going the bathroom out in the bushes for me please & various concerns about health & safety with a child) before going.

I have 2 nights in Merzouga area & possibility of staying one night with a special berber family ( we are a family & like the cultural exchange) and one night in oasis in luxury tent.

Is 2 nights in the desert worth it???

Or is one night in a hotel with a shower and pool & one night in desert a better idea??


I have to book this asap as our trip is in April.THANKS in advance!!

erwench

I was wondering the same thing. Two nights or just one? I have been in contact with The Blue Men of Morocco and they suggest two nights in the desert. I am considering the extra night as many people consider the desert excursion the highlight of their trip to Morocco.

Do you mind sharing which company is arranging your tour?

laartista

I just did a desert tour. We spent one night, it rained(very unusual I hear) but I would personally have liked a second night. Even though it was cold it was great and amazingly peaceful.

WTnow

Thanks laartista,
It really helps to hear BTDT advice iin trying to make this decision.

This is the group we are looking at strongly erwench:

http://www.nomadsaharabivouacmerzouga.com/

I know you can have endless choices once there, but I want to set it up ahead of time and hope to book something special.

We travel in a tight space so can only window shop, so would rather put more of the budget into a special camel trek.

I still have not found any one else that has done this tour yet except John sakura and have not heard from him personally yet.

WTnow

oh, laartista,
Why is it so hard to find your berber birthday post??? I have to go back to my post to get the link there as I cn never find it otherwise.

This is not the easiest forum to navigate ( but better than lonely planet or virtual tourist). I am used to slowtravel and bootsnall which are MUCH easier to navigate.

Ofcourse, maybe it is me.

laartista

WOW that looks nice, alot fancier than our digs were. Yeah, go with the company you feel comfortable with. Those are nice tents with actual beds, I'd definitely opt for another night, but thta's just me.

laartista

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34944264

Here's the link WT

Luisah

You could also type Laartista in the search window and you will find all of her posts.

You could also click on her name in the earlier response she sent.

Mjess

WTnow, My husband and I recently returned from our first Camel Tour with les Nomades, We were disappointed that we spent so much time and money on this trek, the tent wasn’t a luxury, the food wasn't that good, the weather was too miserable to enjoy it was far to cold, the guide of that tour was very terrible, he went to three different places and asked the tourists if they have an extra tent available, I felt so bad with my stomach and he paid no regards to this, when my husband went to bed, he proceeded to offer me a foot massage. ... terrible, it was a really messed up experience.

WTnow

Ahh..so it WAS me. I never thought to just put the name in. I am still getting the hang of this forum, forgive me.

Thanks Mjess,
I am grateful for your reply and it looks like this is your only post on this forum, so thanks for coming out of lurkdom to tell me your opinion.

Alas, now I am even more confused as I heard just the opposite from John Sakuro ( someone who has been traveling to Morocco for years who has tons of info about it thru VT etc on the web) and one other very experienced ( 4 years there) Morocco traveler.

But it is really good to hear all opinions especially BTDT people as it is something that helps me get an idea of what I am in for and helps me choose.

I will take the plunge one way or another here soon and hope for the best.

What was the name of your guide there? If I go with them I want to make sure I do not go with him.

When were you there exactly? I hope the weather is warmer when we go.

jgg

erwench - We have booked a trip with Blue Men of Morocco, we leave in 3.5 weeks. They are taking us from Marakkech to Ouazarzate for one night, then Merzouga for one night then in the desert for one night, then Fez for 2 nights. I am very happy with our planned itinerary, but just curious - when they are recommending 2 nights in the desert does that incl. the one in Merzouga or do they mean two nights in the desert tents?

WTnow - I haven't been able to figure out what BTDT means? Does it mean "Been there done that?"

WTnow

Sorry to not be clear, yes BTDT means been there done that.

I talked to Blue men of Morocco too and they seemed very nice & I have heard good things. Sounds like you will have a great trip jgg!

Allesandra at Les Nomdes is extremely helpful , gracious and on the ball. I guess she worked for years at a big advertising agency in San Paulo in Brazil and now lives the simple desert life with her Moroccan husband and baby.

She seems to sincerely want to give us a great trip and is willing to do it lots of ways & we are still working it out.

She is the one who suggested 2 nights in the desert with one of them being with a very special family in teh "black desert". She said that she can not describe it well in English, but that it is very special.

Then the second night would be at their private bouviac like pictures on thier website.


I was intriqued with the idea,but due to the language problems I am not sure her idea of what is special is the same as mine. But she is the one who came up with the idea of visiting the school with the kids in traditonal clothes and doing a small concert.

(We do videos of our child playing violin at significant places around the world ( ala where the hell is matt ) on our video podcasts on our website, so had asked her about doing video.)

I am just surprised that more people online don't have more experience with these people.Perhaps they have more French customers, I don't know.

erwench

jgg: When I wrote to Blue Men about a 3 night trip to the desert they proposed an itinerary that included 1 night camping/camel trip into the desert, but finished the email with:

"It is better if you can stay another day n the desert- but 4 days s the best we can do"

The reply made me curious. I wrote back and received this explanation concerning another night in the desert.

"Extras included: Lunch and dinner and room at our hotel by the sand dunes.
Visit the G'nawi tribe in their homes. They provide their traditional music (I have included the 10 Euro tip) and tea and you can take pictures.
Visit Hasi Lybed and merzouga villages and take pictures of the Berbers.
(Bring bubble stuff, etc to entice the children, lunch with the Berbers or have tea. You can get some good fotos.)drive around the outskirts of the dunes.."

We have since decided that spending the additional night in the desert area would be a good idea. We are leaving on March 18 from Marrakech and returning March 22 to Marrakech. Are your dates similar?

I have been pricing other tour operators and have found them to be much cheaper than Blue Men. Still haven't decided on who offers the best value though.

WTnow

Mjess,

I did speak to Allesandra about your post and she seemed very surprised and would love to speak to you. I must admit I was surpised as well as I have heard nothing but good and seems so out of character for the person I have been in contact with. Perhaps we are not talking about the same people??

She says that no one pays until after they have finished thier trek and she always asks if people were happy and if there is anything they could do to make it better. Her guests are always so happy and she is clearly someone who puts great effort into every detail.

John Sakura (http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/5beaa/) has been all over Morocco ( & the world) with over 20 visits since 2000 and he thinks the world of her and the high quality of work she does...says there is nothing like it.We have talked a lot thru private email now and he recently took 10 friends to do a camel trek with her & they loved it.

She has never had any complaints and showed me soooo many letters from people who were very happy with their camel trek/desert stay with them.

The bad news with forums is sometimes it is hard to get accurate information as we are never quite sure what the source is.

There is an interesting thread on lonely planet Morocco section where an experienced expat living in Morocco points to some posts on various travel forums that are identical that sounds real but nothing but lies from a "tout" ( someone trying to trick real people).

I am not saying you are a tout or anything, just pointing out that it is hard to sort out truth and not and even more so from a non regular. I just think it is fair to post all sides of an issue as we all try to sort out what is what via forums.

If you did deal with the same people, it is clear that you and Allesandra have very different views of that reality.

If I were you I would contact her as she really seems to be someone who stands by her word and walks her talk.

Of all the people I have talked with about Camel treks, I feel most confident about her. I will post my experiences after the trip too to help others in the future.

It seems a tricky thing to book and decide on, especially for families or someone who wants a special experience.

jgg

erwench - You will be there right before we are. We are arriving in Barcelona on March 17 and staying there for 5 nights. Arriving in Marakkech on March 22 staying there for 3 nights, so starting the desert trip on March 25.

I know Blue Men is a bit more expensive then other tours but frankly, this is a bit adventurous for us and with the kids, I decided to go with someone very established. Also, the places she recommended we stay (and has a relationship with) in Fez all seemed very nice and the riad we chose is rated #1 in Fez for hotels. I had also spoken via e-mail with someone who used them for a trip last June. They went with their two daughters, similar in age to my kids, and had very good things to say about Blue Men.

What she wrote about staying an extra night in the desert appears to be what we are doing. Staying a night at their place in Merzouga, but only one night in the desert tents. With all the driving, I thought it would be nice to have the extra night, but atleast the first night will be in their hotel with beds, toilets, etc.

erwench

jgg- I agree it does make sense to go with an established tour operator who you trust. That is one of the reasons we have been making plans via the internet before arriving in Morocco... I can't imagine hooking up with some tour guide last minute and not knowing what to expect along the way.

I think it is great that you are taking your children to such an interesting country for vacation. I'm sure your trip will provide life-long memories for your family.

Too bad we will just miss each other. Have a great trip!

jgg

erwench - have a great trip as well. Look forward to hearing about it when you return!

WTnow

I will be excited to hear about both your trips as we will not go until April 9th. Sounds like you will both have a blast!!

We have a week in Seville during Holy week right before going and two weeks with a 3 generations tour with family in Andalucia before that (the first tow weeks in March), so I am trying to get all of this squared away so we can just enjoy ourselves.

Morocco has been my most challenging trip so far. Blue Moon was tembpting ,but just way over our budget, so we decided to do it ourselves ( which is the way we usually travel) and book guides as we go thru our good riads.

I did not want to go into the desert and just pick someone like so many do,so for us , I am glad I found Allesandra.

I think Morocco is more adventure than most things and you are right...all the more so with kids. OTOH it does seem like such a great place to bring kids.

Have you seen the book " Exotic travel destinations for familes" ? They have a chapter on Morocco from doing several visits there with young children and it was the book that opened my mind to this trip before we took off on our world tour.


I never would have thought of Morocco or Turkey etc , let alone with kids, but after reading it and some RTW books of people who did these things with kids it gave me a whole different perspective and excitement.

jgg

Funny you mention that book. I just saw it in a travel store this weekend. I looked through the Morocco chapter but didn't buy it. I want to wait and see how we do with our first exotic destination before we decide to do another.

erwench

Just wondering if you both were staying overnight in Marrakech? I've been having a difficult time deciding on a Riad there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.