Morocco Women’s Partnership Challenge 2022- trip review

As a solo traveller, I was looking for something different –  not the usual tourist holiday. I wanted a deeper contact with the place I was visiting – and that meant getting to know people.  I also wanted an element of adventure and challenge.  I found all of this with the Women’s Challenge trip to Morocco in October 2022.

With its strong connections to local communities, Orbis enables travellers to engage with the social and economic realities of the country. I experienced a more profound connection to Morocco on this trip than my two previous visits to the country had afforded.  

The make-up of the group was an important part of the success of the trip. Travelling with a group of like-minded women from different professional backgrounds was inspiring and fun.  We were all keen to learn about Morocco, to connect with its people and to challenge ourselves.

We packed a lot into the week.  After two days in Marrakech, a vibrant and exotic city, we moved north to our base in the Atlas Mountains, the Kasbah du Toubkal.  Visits to nearby villages, Imlil and Asni, gave us a sense of the rhythms of life in the remote villages of the High Atlas Mountains. Trekking with Orbis’ local mountain guides gave us the support that we needed every step of the way.    

The highlight of the week for me was our contact with Education for All, a charity that allows girls in remote areas to have access to education. The girls achieve exceptional results and there is a growing trend of girls going on to university.  We visited three of EFA’s six boarding-houses, where we were made very welcome by the girls and their house-mothers, and delivered a series of workshops. 

This trip gave us a unique social and cultural insight into Morocco, an exciting challenge of trekking in the Atlas Mountains, great company and superb organisation. Orbis offers something that is unique.