An eventful week camping in the Sahara: ISA Morocco trip review

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Before I got to college, I was FIRM in my stance that I wanted to major in Arabic and study abroad in Morocco. The Middle East and North Africa greatly intrigued me, and I figured learning Arabic would be me one-way ticket to a job with the State Department.

So, when I didn’t even GET IN to a school that offered an Arabic major, it seemed as if my chances at visiting Morocco had flown out the window. I begrudgingly switched my sights over to Spanish and Political Science and began working my way through freshman and sophomore year.

When Junior year appeared on the horizons, I started looking at study abroad options that would further my Spanish skills. Originally, my dream was to study in Chile; the gorgeous landscapes were SO tempting. I didn’t want to be just another basic girl studying in Spain, but Chile (or anywhere in South America) was, to my surprise, almost DOUBLE the price of studying in Spain (which makes absolutely no sense in my head??? im confused). So I started doing my research about where I could go in Spain that would still feel a little more exotic.

In the end, I landed on Granada. That last stronghold of the Moors before they were pushed into Morocco, Granada is still full of traces of Arabic culture. Beautiful arched architecture, streets full of hookah bars and mint tea shops, and colorful lanterns hanging everywhere, Granada seemed like it would give me the cultural experience I wanted originally.

But then, I had to choose between programs, which is arguably the hardest part. What sold me on ISA’s program, in the end, was the length of their optional Morocco trip and the fact that they promised to take their students deep into the Sahara desert (the only downfall to this being extensive drive time). Other programs took you to a smaller desert on the mediterranean coast. I wanted the real deal, and a 10 hour bus ride through Morocco was just the price I was going to have to pay. I was going to Morocco!

While this is a review of the ISA Morocco trip option on the Spain programs, you can definitely use it as inspiration for a one week trip to morocco!

After rounding up the troops at the butt-crack of dawn, commuting to the strait of Gibraltar, trying not to get seasick on the ferry, and then trying not to get carsick on the bus to Meknes, we finally arrived at our first stop as the sun was setting. We threw our luggage into the hotel room and immediately set out to tour the souks of Meknes with the last few hours of the day. Thankfully, we had a guide, as the city at night seemed like an intimidating labyrinth of stalls and vendors that would swallow me up in 12 seconds flat.

We were warned to wear shoes with thick soles, as the floor of the covered portion of the souk was covered in blood from the animals they were selling, so thats something I would try to account for when packing for Morocco! We walked past towers of olives, enormous vats of caramel sweets, and animal carcasses. It was so interesting to me, but if you have a weak stomach maybe stay back on this excursion!

Is it just me or are the colors in this cow’s head kind of beautiful?

The next morning, we all hopped on the bus for the dreaded full day of driving that would take us to our camping spot in the desert. As someone who gets extremely carsick, I made sure to have plenty of podcasts and music downloaded, popped some Tylenol PM immediately and attempted to knock myself out. It was definitely rough, but I made it by the GRACE of God.

The bus dropped us off in the middle of a flat expanse of rubble and sped off. We looked around nervously, not knowing what to expect. Is this the Sahara? Do we not even have tents? The instructions were unclear.

Then, out of nowhere, 20 jeeps came speeding towards us and screeched to a halt. The drivers waved us forward, jumping out and shoving our bags into their trunks. We looked at each other, shrugged, and hopped in. Our driver, Mohammed, was CRANKING the Moroccan hip hop. After driving for a few minutes, he turned around to look at us in the back seat, smiled, and said in his incredible accent, “Do you like roller coasters?”

The answer was a resounding yes.

We sped straight through the rubbly flat terrain until enormous dunes started to appear. Mohammed whipped us through the sand, launching us off of dunes, nearly tipping the jeep multiple times. We were all crying with laughter by the time we arrived at camp.

the camp was so beautiful, a huge U shape of tapestries and thick rugs, with small mattresses smooshed next to each other along the entirety of the inside of the tent. We were boutta have one enormous slumber party.

This was around the time my phone died, and to my dismay, there are no outlets in the desert ?? Who would’ve thought?? clearly not me, so my sincere apologies for the lack of pictures! some of them I took on my friends phones, some were sent to me later, so learn from my mistakes and bring a power brick/portable charger!

The first stop after claiming our mattresses was to the community tent which had a table full of mint tea and nuts to welcome us to the Sahara, which we devoured. We then played on the dunes and watched the stars until we decided to call it an early night so we could be up to see the sunrise.

And what a sunrise it was.

The pictures don’t do it justice. I had an iphone 10 okay you’ll just have to trust me. #1 sunrise I’ve ever seen.

After an absolute FEAST for breakfast, we geared up for our camel trek deeper into the desert where we would visit a tiny desert town and beat the heat with a mini pool party.

Disclaimer: The camels were treated so well! I would never ride an elephant, or any animal that was being treated poorly, but similarly to horses, camels are built to be able to carry heavy loads. Plz don’t come for me.

See? happy camel:)

How to spend a week in Morocco, camping in the Sahara Desert. Travel itinerary for Fez, Meknes, and the Sahara Desert. Study abroad weekend trips. ISA Study Abroad Spain Morocco trip review

sandy lenses = low quality pictures. I’M SORRY. You get the idea.

Anyways, the camel became the love of my life. truly.

When we got back to camp that afternoon, we had some free time. In an attempt to escape the heat, my friends and I climbed a few dunes to find one that was high enough to cast a significant shadow. Within minutes of us settling into the cool sand on the flip side of the dune, a crowd of local children came running up to us begging to play. Realizing I didn’t even know how to say hello in Arabic, let alone Berber, we defaulted to playing tic-tac-toe in the sand and rock-paper-scissors which, as it turns out, is universal across languages. They taught me how to say a few things in their language, and we had a grand old time.

All of a sudden, a GORGEOUS man rolls up on a hefty ATV and starts WOOING me in English. I was sold. He asked me if I wanted a ride on his ATV, and without even considering the fact that I was literally in Africa with a dead phone and he was a strange man who appeared out of nowhere, I was suddenly sitting behind him, clinging on for dear life as he whipped me all over the dunes.

After the adrenaline wore off and I realize we had been driving in the same direction for a little over 15 minutes, a bit of panic set in.

Not to worry though, he explained that he was simply taking me to a massive dune to watch the sunset together. He took a fabulous picture of me and later sent it to me over instagram when I was back in society with phone charges.

Shoutout to my personal photographer Achmed.

Upon depositing me back at my camp, he told me to round up my friends and to come eat dinner with him and his family at his camp. They cooked us food around a campfire, played moroccan music on guitars and drums, and we all danced around the fire under the most amount of stars I’ve ever seen in my life. Without city lights, you could spot a shooting star every five minutes. It was a dream. Achmed even asked me to stay and said we could get married, thankfully we were leaving the next day LOL

The people at the campfire had so much fun putting their turbans on us and teaching us Berber words, and we had to document with a picture.

This might be my favorite picture of me ever

Plz Enjoy:

After 4 days in the Sahara riding camels, making friends, getting Henna tattoos and eating the most delicious food, we finally piled back onto the bus and proceeded to our last stop: Fez.

Here our main goal was to take a tour of the ENORMOUS souks, buy some gifts for friends, and relax before another full day of travel. If you come here solo, I HIGHLY recommend booking a tour, some of the alleys we had to travel to get in and out of the Souk would not be for the faint of heart, I would be lost in an instant.

They showed us to Mosques, rug shops, and the leather tanneries. Don’t be afraid to barter if you find something you really love! I got something down from 80 dollars to 15, It might have been my proudest moment.

The sheer amount of THINGS was so impressive, the stalls were overflowing with handmade goods. I loved how stimulating it all was, it was a perfect last day.