My friend and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Morocco. As many of you do, I rely on Trip Advisor heavily when planning my trips. I am so grateful to have found Enjoy Desert Tours and to have Ismael as our guide. For two women traveling safety can be a big consideration. Ismael watched out for us every step of the way. He took care of every detail.

Ismael is really easy to work with. If you have some ideas about the things you want to do or don’t want to do, Ismael will work with you. We wanted to upgrade some hotels and gave us some great options to choose from. I highly recommend the Palais Faraj in Fez and the Maison Hotel Arabe in Marrakech (try the Hammam scrub/massage package you won’t regret it!)

The 7-day tour Ismael has created is the practically perfect tour of Morocco. I really felt like I experienced so many different aspects of this wonderful country and especially enjoyed learning about Berber culture. Though be aware because you are covering a lot of ground in a relatively short period of time (7 days) there is a lot of driving each day (and mostly on small two-lane roads). Some of the highlights:
–The desert camp was luxury! I will never forget the camel ride into the desert and all the stars in the sky at night.
–The tour of a ksar that houses 69 families is very interesting to see life in a Kasbah.
–The tour of the medina in Fez (I preferred it over the one in Marrakech which was too noisy and too touristy for my taste). Our guide Hassan was so knowledgeable.
–If you are there on a Friday, make sure you take advantage of couscous day.
Some things I would change:
–I would shorten the tour of Marrakech and wouldn’t do the garden tour at all or find something different to do. After seeing so much of the country and its people, Marrakech was a disappointment. It was loud, noisy, and very busy and hectic. I think my friend and I would have enjoyed more relaxation time at our hotel by the pool.
–We enjoyed a lot of wonderful Moroccan food but would have liked the option to find something different for our lunches (there is only so much tajine you can eat!). I’m sure if we had just asked Ismael, he would have been accommodating it just didn’t occur to us.
Last tips: Cash is king, not many places take cards you can usually change the currency at the hotels or Ismael can help you find an ATM. Always try to get smaller bills and coins because you will be tipping a lot (not a lot of money may be only a few dirhams but you will want to tip there is nothing like Moroccan hospitality).

My wife and I booked a tour of five days from Casablanca with “Enjoy Desert Tours” which was great from start to finish. They were very responsive to all of our emails while planning the trip, the itinerary from Casablanca via the Sahara desert of Merzouga to Marrakech was very spectacular. We highly recommend taking a day out of the car to hike around Dadès Gorge and see the captivating finger monkeys.
The best thing about the trip was our guide-driver and now a friend, Ismail. He was fantastic, very informative, friendly, helpful, and a good conversationalist. We are so glad we’ve been on the tour with you Ismail, we will definitely come back with our friends, thank you so much for your all efforts to make it such an unforgettable experience.
Peace and love
Katrina&Mahmoud

After researching a custom desert tour with 4 different operators, we chose Enjoy Desert Tours for 3 reasons:

1) Best customized itinerary;

2) Best selection of accommodations; and

3) Best value for money. The actual trip was fantastic and even surpassed our expectations.

I highly recommend Ismail as a tour guide to anyone wanting to experience the scenic beauty of the Moroccan desert, the interesting mix of cultures, and the genuine friendliness and hospitality of the Berber people.
For readers wanting more detail:
1) Although all operators offered pretty much the same route and itinerary for a six-day trip from Marrakech to the Erg Chebbi, Enjoy Desert Tours’ proposal really covered everything we wanted to do. We requested two nights in the desert instead of the standard single night, and Enjoy thoughtfully gave us two options: spending two nights at the same camp or spending one night at a camp and one night in a hotel. (We picked the second option but in retrospect, I would stay at the camp!) We also wanted a mix of culture and adventure, including sandboarding, and Ismail delivered fully and even took us on a thrilling ride through the dunes in the 4×4 SUV. (We ended up having to deflate the tires further and dig a little to get moving at one point 🙂
2) We specifically requested nice but not overly luxurious accommodations, and each one was different and fantastic. Because we traveled in October 2021, there were very few tourists and we were the only guests at the desert camp. Nonetheless, we received the full service and spent a wonderful evening enjoying the drum music, telling jokes, and sharing stories with our hosts under the stars.
3) Of the 4 operators that sent me proposals, Enjoy Desert Tours did not offer the lowest nor the highest price. It was a price that felt right and at the end of the tour, our whole family was very satisfied with every aspect of the trip. Occasionally we felt like we were being taken into “tourist traps” but we chose to play along. Morocco is wonderful, and we look forward to spending another holiday there, Inshallah.
P.S. While sandboarding, I suffered a shoulder injury. Ismail went above and beyond the call of duty to get me treated. Thanks again, Ismail!