GUIDES
Occasionally people write and ask if I can suggest a guide,
and in my travels I have met several who I think are excellent. Their specialties and contact
information are listed below.
General Guides and Driver
All the guides speak excellent English.
Houssein Chaal leads tours for university alumni groups
and others like the Smithsonian Institution. He takes groups of tourists around
Morocco, is available to drive and lead individuals too, and has many contacts
in each city. His cell
phone from the
Ismail Bourrakadi works with alumni groups on educational
tours and also on birding and photo tours, and is familiar with all of
Said Temsamani is a guide for the likes of Maupintour and university alumni groups. He is very efficient and
well organized, and manages to locate and stop at a “necessary”, no matter how
rural the area. His phone
from the US is 011 212 88 95 49 81 and his cell phone is 011 212 61 17 80 10.
Hamid Idalihaddou is one of those rare entities: an
excellent driver, and in addition he is a lovely, gentle man. He will pick you
up at the Casablanca airport (or another) and take you to your hotel, or drive
you around the country in his spacious Mercedes taxi. My husband and I use him
a lot. The one drawback for some people is that he only speaks Arabic and basic
French but no English. However
he has a son who speaks English and can accompany him for no extra charge. His
cell phone from the
Mountain Guides
Mohamed Id Hammou is a Berber guide with extensive training
and experience in the mountains. He
does hikes, including on skis, plus riding mountain bikes, or desert treks with
camels. My daughter and I
took a 5-day trek in the High
Atlas Mountains as chaperones
for the Rabat American School, and it was wonderful, staying in mountain
homes. I hadn’t hiked in
ages and was worried about my endurance, but it was fine. Those mountains feature some of the
world’s best remaining trails for unspoiled trekking, with impressive views and
passages through cool irrigated valleys of walnut and fruit groves. You can email him with what you’d like
to do, and he’ll answer with a price. He’s
based out of Marrakesh but will meet you anywhere, including the main
international airport in Casablanca. He
speaks English and French in addition to Berber and Arabic, and has guide
certification from France and Morocco. Mohammed's
cell phone is 011 212 61 34 27 12, his email is omountain@hotmail.com, and his web site is www.hikemorocco.com.
Back to Marrakesh Express Travel Page