MCD - You beat me to it. I was going to say something very similar. Another gracious way to handle the situation would be to approach the gentleman, introduce myself and offer for him to join my husband and I as we stroll along. Simple acts of kindness cost nothing and can offer tremendous rewards.
Back to Morocco -- Does this tour go to the Atlas Mountains? I don't see any mention of the mountains in the tour description. If it doesn't, I was thinking of adding another day at the end to go to the mountains (in addition to the suggestions that I have already been given and appreciate).
We went to the Lower Atlas Mountains on Day 8
From the full itinerary; This afternoon, join us for a drive aboard 4x4 vehicles outside of the city for an afternoon and evening in the desert. Enjoy a tea ceremony, visit a local home in a Berber Village and get acquainted with Berber history and culture. Dinner is served Berber-style under a tent at a desert camp with musical entertainment. During your desert experience, enjoy a camel ride and the exotic flavors of the hubbly-bubbly pipe before returning to your Marrakech hotel for the night.
MCD, I recall the dessert as somewhat hilly with a distant view of the mountains. We went 4 years ago. At that time, we had no expectation of going up into the mountains, and the map of the journey clearly skirted the mountains. We did meet some new friends who extended their trip by renting a car and driving up into the high Atlas mountains. At the time it seemed very brave to me, because some tourists had been killed there a few months before our trip. Can't recall the details.
We were driven in SUV’s in groups of 3-4 almost 2 hours outside of Marrakech. The ride (esp at the end) showed the vastness, sparseness and lack of development of the area. The driver was very friendly and told us about his life is the Upper Atlas Mountains-no electricity, no running water etc.). This was rather elaborate and fun.
Regarding cameras, I highly recommend the little Sony RX100. It weighs practically nothing, has a nice zoom, and an extraordinary lens. The camera is expensive, but the photos that I’ve taken with it have been amazing. However, when I was in Africa earlier this year on Safari, I also took my trusty Nikon DSL with a super long lens that I purchased specifically for Safari. While I got some jokes from the group because I was carrying a very heavy, enormous lens that took up most of my backpack, that lens was so worth it. Everyone wanted copies of the photos that I took. For Morocco, I will likely take my Nikon with a Tamron 18-400 lens (large but not crazy large) because of the intense sun, the Sony, and also make use of my pixel 7 pro which has an extraordinary zoom.
That all said, while I do take a lot of photos, particularly for my family and friends back home and some are framed, I also know when to put away the camera and savor the moment. BTW, I used some of the photos from the Safari to create a children’s book for my young grandkids complete with fun facts for each of the animals. They absolutely love it.
Comments
MCD - You beat me to it. I was going to say something very similar. Another gracious way to handle the situation would be to approach the gentleman, introduce myself and offer for him to join my husband and I as we stroll along. Simple acts of kindness cost nothing and can offer tremendous rewards.
Back to Morocco -- Does this tour go to the Atlas Mountains? I don't see any mention of the mountains in the tour description. If it doesn't, I was thinking of adding another day at the end to go to the mountains (in addition to the suggestions that I have already been given and appreciate).
We went to the Lower Atlas Mountains on Day 8
From the full itinerary; This afternoon, join us for a drive aboard 4x4 vehicles outside of the city for an afternoon and evening in the desert. Enjoy a tea ceremony, visit a local home in a Berber Village and get acquainted with Berber history and culture. Dinner is served Berber-style under a tent at a desert camp with musical entertainment. During your desert experience, enjoy a camel ride and the exotic flavors of the hubbly-bubbly pipe before returning to your Marrakech hotel for the night.
That's part of my itinerary, too. (Sounds a little like our night at Wadi Rum.) Did you experience much of the mountains themselves or just desert?
MCD, I recall the dessert as somewhat hilly with a distant view of the mountains. We went 4 years ago. At that time, we had no expectation of going up into the mountains, and the map of the journey clearly skirted the mountains. We did meet some new friends who extended their trip by renting a car and driving up into the high Atlas mountains. At the time it seemed very brave to me, because some tourists had been killed there a few months before our trip. Can't recall the details.
We were driven in SUV’s in groups of 3-4 almost 2 hours outside of Marrakech. The ride (esp at the end) showed the vastness, sparseness and lack of development of the area. The driver was very friendly and told us about his life is the Upper Atlas Mountains-no electricity, no running water etc.). This was rather elaborate and fun.
Regarding cameras, I highly recommend the little Sony RX100. It weighs practically nothing, has a nice zoom, and an extraordinary lens. The camera is expensive, but the photos that I’ve taken with it have been amazing. However, when I was in Africa earlier this year on Safari, I also took my trusty Nikon DSL with a super long lens that I purchased specifically for Safari. While I got some jokes from the group because I was carrying a very heavy, enormous lens that took up most of my backpack, that lens was so worth it. Everyone wanted copies of the photos that I took. For Morocco, I will likely take my Nikon with a Tamron 18-400 lens (large but not crazy large) because of the intense sun, the Sony, and also make use of my pixel 7 pro which has an extraordinary zoom.
That all said, while I do take a lot of photos, particularly for my family and friends back home and some are framed, I also know when to put away the camera and savor the moment. BTW, I used some of the photos from the Safari to create a children’s book for my young grandkids complete with fun facts for each of the animals. They absolutely love it.
Thanks for all the advice and thoughts.