When booking my Moroccan trip through Discover Excursions, there were two things which I did not expect. One, that our tour group would consist of about 43 girls and a total of 2 boys. Two, that our tour guides would be 4 young, good-looking guys (one of whom looked like Cristiano Ronaldo’s twin). My first day (a continuation of my mini-Sevilla trip) consisted of just traveling. First, on a bus that would pretty much be our home for the next two days. Then, on the biggest ferry I’ve ever seen which took us across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco. Since Morocco is cheap, we all were able to stay in a nice hotel – Hotel Cesar – and I passed out right after our huge buffet dinner.

The next day we took a bus ride to Chefchaouen where we would be having lunch and learning the art of bargain shopping. I ended up loving the restaurant we ate at. The inside of the restaurant made me really feel like I was in Morocco – there were colorful pillows and curtains, shapely arches, and the roof of the restaurant gave us a beautiful view of Chefchaouen. I discovered that Morocco has amazing, fresh food. Our meal started with a colorful, light salad, followed by chicken with rice and french fries, and with fruit for dessert. Just don’t drink the water in Morocco! Always stick to bottled water (even when you brush your teeth). After lunch, we had a tour of Chefchaouen and I discovered that everything is very blue in this city. The color and architecture of the city were so different from that of the cities I’ve seen in Europe. I could not stop taking pictures.

After our tour we had free time to bargain shop. Unfortunately, I’m not too great at bargaining with the shopkeepers. You’re supposed to start the price really low so you and the shopkeeper can meet at a price that’s convenient for you. I often failed to start below my willing spending price. Still, I successfully got a henna and some argan oil for my hair and face so I was happy.

On day two, we took a bus ride to the seaside city, Assilah. I loved Assilah. Like Chefchaouen, it featured white and blue buildings. The difference was that it was beachier, and protective white walls lined the city (apparently those walls had an important purpose in the past). Here, we came across some graffitied walls that looked more like art than graffiti (they were so unexpected too!). An interesting part of our tour was coming across the “tree of knowledge,” a wall of a family’s property which is open for the public to sign. So, yes, I got to do a little graffiti of my own in Morocco.

During our free time in Assilah, my friends and I – all girls – were looking for an interesting photo op (we wanted to make a collective video of us dancing all over the world, starting with Morocco). We came across an open plaza where we spotted a large group of Moroccan guys and said, “Maybe we can get them to dance with us.” Before we could even say anything, they all came up and asked us to take pictures with them. They grabbed onto one of the blondes of the group and passed her around for their own photo op. I guess they don’t see Americans every day. We did in fact get them to dance with us. One of them even took out his phone to play some music for us! It was definitely an experience.

The next part of our trip was visiting Caves de Hercules (the Caves of Hercules) in Tangiers. Getting to the caves we had to walk through this busy parking lot full of cars and little barbecue restaurants, which completely contrasted the rather surreal experience of the cave. Inside, the cave venders were selling all of these dishes and other Moroccan goods, making it look like I was in a secret underground world separate from the busy one above. At the end of the cave was an opening where light sneaked in, giving you a peak of the ocean waters outside. Every few minutes waves would crash at the cave opening. If you were at the edge, you would get splashed. I watched as this one guy attempted to climb closer and closer to the opening, and each time a huge wave would crash at the most opportune time.

And, now for the drumroll…my first ride on a camel! So camels are pretty much awesome (except for when they try to bite you). Our tour group went to the cliffs in Tangiers to have our camel ride. The cliffs overlooked the ocean where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. Before our camel ride everyone crowded around the camels to take selfies and pet them. It was hard not to. It’s not every day you get to see a camel. The camel guy – who was in charge of putting us on the camels – had a favorite saying: “Oh my god!” He was mimicking our very comical group – we would all freak out when the camels straightened up suddenly after we settled into the saddle. The camel ride was definitely the highlight of the Moroccan experience for all of us, despite the fact that it was a quick ride in a circle, reminiscent of a carnival ride on a horse. I can check that off my bucket list.

While I had an awesome experience, I would recommend taking a tour out into the Sahara desert for the real Moroccan experience. I’m usually not a fan of touristy trips and this definitely was one, due to our large group and a large amount of shopping. But if you’re looking for a quick, mellow weekend away to see beautiful Moroccan cities and bargain for beautiful gifts then this is the right trip for you. Discover Excursions offers both kinds of trips!

A few words that I learned but for the most part could never remember how to pronounce:

• Waha – Ok
• Yalah (pronounced as ‘jala’) – Let’s go
• Shukran – Thank you