Morocco guided discovery tour from Marrakech

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

We have asked the hotels we use to join our goals to help improve climate change and sustainability issues by considering renewable energy, source foods locally and eliminate single-use plastics where possible.
At our Berber camp in the Sahara desert, we are off grid so rely on solar and wind power for its energy and composting of toilets.

Morocco banned the production and use of plastic carrier bags so now you will find more woven or recyclable bags in shops.

Meals that are supplied are usually sourced from local butchers and fruits from markets or farms and we recommend certain street stalls and shops. There is a very small carbon footprint on the food we consume We cater for vegetarians and where possible vegans also.

To help with our carbon footprint in our UK office, we have a plastic, paper, cardboard, and printer ink recycling system and purchase recycled ink cartridges and toners. We moved away from sending paperwork to and from Morocco a few years ago and instead created more shared online services such as our feedback forms. We no longer print a brochure and send this electronically.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Working with our destination partners, we ensure the animals involved in our tours are provided with the best possible care. Adopting industry animal welfare standards (ABTA guidelines) and following the advice of animal welfare experts, ANIMONDIAL and the NGO SPANA, we prioritise animal welfare protection and encourage our guests to respect animals.

We provide advice and guidance on all matters concerning individual animal welfare and species protection. ANIMONDIAL works with travel businesses to help them better manage their impacts on animals and the natural environment.

We encourage our customers to use SPANA’s Holiday Hooves guide and we discourage our customers from engaging in the following exploitative practices:
*Businesses that keep wild animals as pets
*Feed or touch wild animals free roaming in the wild
*Engaging with animals used for begging purposes (snake charmers, monkeys on chains, etc).

We donate monthly to Jarjeer mule and donkey refuge.
We make a donation on every booking, to our Association and its various projects around the country.
We have managed a GoFundMe campaign to raise much needed funds for the earthquake appeal back in September 2023.

On this tour and to help reduce plastic waste, we suggest that passengers use refillable water bottles, and our leaders will suggest purchasing larger bottles of water or we will store one in our vehicle if we have space.
We also collaborate with a sustainable water bottle company to offer our customers discounts on filtered water bottles to use on our trips.

Customers are sent an email before departure promoting the carbon footprint savings on purchasing a re-useable water bottle for their trip and beyond. Our transport provides a rubbish bin for travellers to use that our guide/driver can dispose of at certain points throughout the tour or we request that travellers keep hold of their own waste until we reach a suitable disposal location, usually in larger cities.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We employ local guides from Morocco and drivers with extensive knowledge of the areas we travel to but also contract local specialist guides for some of our city tours who share our company values on caring for the environment.

The hotels we use on this tour are not international chains. We prefer to use traditional, locally owned accommodation.

During this tour, we take our customers to local villages in the Rose Valley, the Ziz Valley and to Ifran and will enjoy a mint tea with a local family between the desert and Fes. We will visit an Argan oil cooperative in the High Atlas Mountains where customers can purchase locally produced goods if they wish. We encourage our customers to buy products from the locals rather than purchasing imported goods or buying fake items.

With our optional cooking class in Marrakech, a local chef cooks in her family home. This is a mutual exchange where we learn how to cook a tagine and about family life in Morocco and the cost helps to support the family.
If time permits, we will visit a Women’s Cooperative called Tatefy in Boumalne Dades where 40 women work. It is a bakery and tea house where everything is grown locally, cooked and then offered for sale.

Our Association in Ait Ouham is coordinated by our tour guides for the Berber community in the Atlas Mountains. Their main goal is to help alleviate the poor infrastructure in schools and around the village. We also supply staple supplies during the winter months to the village.
One major project we are incredibly proud of is the building of a bridge over the river running through the village.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we and the local authorities worked hard to help provide tap water to 120 families, using clean energy (solar panels) to pump water from the villages’ well.


ECONOMY, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

All our employees (apart from the UK office) are locals from Morocco, with the majority coming to work for us from the Atlas Mountains. We then use some local specialist guides from the larger cities.

We are a diverse company with staff of varied ages and backgrounds and are inclusive of any race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality.

Our ground staff are paid over any minimum wage and help with any medical issues as and when they may arise.