In July 2013, some of our students went on a 12 day expedition to Morocco. The trip involved undertaking a community project, camel trekking and climbing Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in the Atlas mountain range. In his blog below, Alastair writes about his amazing adventure....
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| Alastair in Marrakech |
The
scariest thing I’ve ever done, an absolutely massive challenge, an experience
I’ll never forget, the trip of a lifetime… all of these are completely accurate
descriptions of my expedition to Morocco, yet none of them really represent the
whole picture. I can’t say I knew when I signed up, what a range of emotions I
was going to feel during my twelve days there, but one thing’s for sure:
knowing what I do now, I’d still gladly decide to do it again.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Even before the event itself, the trials of fundraising meant that for the first time in my life, I had to go out and (gasp!) get a job. Shocking, I know. The extra responsibility of my paper round under my belt meant I was able to contribute roughly £430 to the overall expedition cost, a sum I’m definitely proud of. Trips to The Peak District and Wales also helped prepare me: of course the climate ended up being rather dissimilar from the expedition itself, but it at least allowed me to get used to sleeping in a tent crammed in with two other boys and to walking for hours at a time!
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| Rough camping |
Eventually,
though, the hour was at hand and after escaping the rigorous checks of airport
security we were off. In a way I found the beginning of the expedition to be
its hardest part: I can’t say I found the dry heat of the midday easy to cope with and our plan to ‘hit the ground running’ ran into problems when we discovered that prices ended up being higher than our budget actually suggested. We managed to get used to this fairly quickly, though and soon enough the expedition was back on track. And as I discovered on my very first night there, the experience of walking through Marrakech at dusk with people still bustling through the busy streets is really not one to be missed.
Next up was Mount Toubkal which definitely gave the initial shock of being in a completely different, somehow far busier environment a run for its money, as being the hardest part of the expedition, not least because of the fact we had to get up at half 3 on some days to avoid the heat. But we persevered (the wonders of Moroccan cuisine being a particularly good motivator for me) and even the torrential rain we faced on the mountains didn’t stop us all from reaching the top. I still can’t believe I managed it, but I’m not sure I can really express in words how glad I am that I did. Compared to this, our project phase was far easier: clearing the roads of stones seems like a piece of cake when you’ve climbed a mountain!
Next up was Mount Toubkal which definitely gave the initial shock of being in a completely different, somehow far busier environment a run for its money, as being the hardest part of the expedition, not least because of the fact we had to get up at half 3 on some days to avoid the heat. But we persevered (the wonders of Moroccan cuisine being a particularly good motivator for me) and even the torrential rain we faced on the mountains didn’t stop us all from reaching the top. I still can’t believe I managed it, but I’m not sure I can really express in words how glad I am that I did. Compared to this, our project phase was far easier: clearing the roads of stones seems like a piece of cake when you’ve climbed a mountain!
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| At the top of Mount Toubkal |
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| Helping some locals build a road |
My
favourite part of the expedition was definitely camel riding: not only was it
very relaxing but as a bit of an animal fanatic there was something magical
about getting so close to animals not normally found in the UK, especially when
the desert we were riding them through was as beautiful as it was. After that
our trip wound down: we spent the rest of our time there shopping (I’m
particularly happy with the teapot and set of glasses I purchased) as well as
looking round both Essaouira and Marrakech, both of which, while hot, were
honestly very entertaining to get lost in. I managed to look round a former
school that had some absolutely magnificent architecture and washing myself
with a bucket in the hamam was a wonderfully calming little excursion that,
like the rest of the trip, I’ll never forget. We managed to cram so much into
12 days that it almost feels like we were there for months!
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| Camel trekking |
Overall,
then, the trip made me appreciate some of the facilities we have at home much
more than I did, but when it came down to it part of me was sad to leave,
especially when I’d been with such a wonderful group of people. I
shouldn’t be too upset though: after all, there’s always time to go back....
Alastair
View more photos from the trip on our Facebook page.
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