Classic Journeys Unveils its Morocco Family Tour Packages

Multigenerational Morocco trip features camels, kasbahs and cultural discovery

La Jolla, CA (October 2009) – Careening across a barren desert in the back of a 4X4 may have the feel of a theme park ride, but for guests of Classic Journeys, it’s just one of many highlights on the new family vacation in Morocco making its debut this December.

“For an adventure tour company like ours, the operative question when scouting a new family travel adventure is ‘What's going to give our guests a jolt of excitement that they'll find nowhere else?’” observes Edward Piegza, president and co-founder of Classic Journeys. “It’s all about offering families a chance to take their vacation to the next level.”

Consider the "kid testers" on the company’s recent scouting trip. Ranging in age from seven to 15, the seven youngsters agreed that Day 4 of the Morocco trip was the best day they had spent. Ever.

The group’s warm-up walk is led by native guide, Ali, a 30-year-old Berber – dressed in traditional garb – who just happens to have a PhD in cultural anthropology and speaks six languages fluently.  Guests are drawn into a typical morning in the medieval walled village of Rissani, where women walk hand-in-hand with their children on the way to school and men head off to work in the fields.

After lunch, kids and grown-ups shift into full Indiana Jones mode, trailing clouds of dust from their Land Rovers on the way to the highest sand dunes in Morocco.  At Merzouga, a welcoming committee of indigenous Blue Men awaits beside their next “vehicles”…a formidable-looking flotilla of camels.  Before swaying off into the dunes, the kids jump at the chance to don Berber headscarves.  After a break along the way for some sand surfing on desert-style skimboards, guests are treated to a legendary sunset view from the top of the peaks.  The return trip on camelback is just as magical as caravan members approach their lodgings for the night, a Berber tent encampment lit by lanterns in the twilight.  Traditional tents made of camel and goat hair, decorated with colorful kilims, form a square around the campfire, where guests feast on lamb kabobs and couscous, and sing, dance and play whatever instrument is at hand well into the night.

As part of this nine-day, eight-night Morocco family tour package, guests also experience:

* Trekking through cedar forests in the Middle Atlas Mountains outside of Fes, where they keep an eye out for photo ops with the famed Barbary apes

*  Hiking a riverside trail that snakes through the magnificent Todra Gorge between 900-foot-walls

*  Mountain biking through a lush, green oasis in a 1500-foot-deep gorge near Ouarzazate (Who knew oases could be 20 to 30 miles long and 10 miles wide?)

* Riding on muleback through the farming villages of the Ourika Valley, ringed by mountains and surrounded by waterfalls

* Exploring the medina at Fes and the souks of Marrakesh, where kids gravitate instantly to the snake charmers, monkey tamers, henna painters and acrobats in Djemaa el-Fna square

All told, it takes a team of 29 different people – the company’s extended Morocco “family” – to bring this particular itinerary to life. From guides Jalil and Saida (who within hours become “Uncle” and “Aunt” to the kids on tour) to the Berber tribesmen, animal handlers, farmers, and craftsmen that guests encounter along the way, it’s the largest group of resident experts associated with any of the company’s unique family vacations.

A guest on the recent scouting trip, Cathy Maywood, a San Diego physician, found these personal connections invaluable.  "For us – and especially our son, who's in 9th grade – the Morocco trip was an incredible introduction to the Muslim world," she observed.  "The people we met, from guides to villagers to tribesmen, could not have been friendlier, inviting us into their homes and sharing their traditions and culture."

Like all of the company’s family travel adventures, the new Morocco trip features special pricing for kids.  The adult cost for the trip is $3,795 per person (double occupancy, land only).  When sharing a room with two full-paying guests, kids up to age 16 receive discounts ranging from $500 to $1750 off the regular adult price, while kids sharing a room with one full-paying guest receive a discount of $250. Departure dates are timed to coincide with school breaks in December, March, June and November.

Readers who want to know more about logistics, agendas or activities may click on www.classicjourneys.com/moroccofamily or speak with one of the company’s Guest Services Coordinators at (800) 200-3887.


About Classic Journeys:

Classic Journeys offers cultural walking tours, culinary tours and family vacations in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the South Pacific. Guests enjoy luxury accommodations and gourmet meals that reflect the best of each region, coupled with soft adventure activities, daily interactions with locals, and native guides who make countries and cultures come alive. Tours are six to 12 days long with two to four hours of easy-going walking per day. Land-only tour prices range from $2495 to $7995 per person (with discounts for small groups and children traveling with parents). Average tour size is 10, limited to a maximum of 18 guests per departure.

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