Morocco with a Guide
Jul 16th, 2007, 12:12 PM
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Morocco with a Guide
For any of those who are considering Morocco and considering a guide, my husband and I highly recommend Hamid Dandane and his friend/driver Driss. We had the pleasure of an 8 day tour accompanied by both in May 2007. We were thrilled to learn of Hamid through this forum and he was highly recommended by former clients who we spoke to and his former employer Heritage Tours. He worked with us on the trip before our arrival and answered all our questions by email. He and Driss picked us up in Casablanca and we traveled to Fes, Marrakech and the High Atlas. It was an amazing trip! The country was as beautiful and diverse as we had hoped and Hamid and Driss made our trip incredibly memorable. Hamid is a knowledgeable and articulate guide. However, more than that he is a generous, patient and thoughtful person who we came to instantly like from the outset. He quickly picked up on our interest in the history, people and food along with some much needed rest. We could not have asked for a better experience and we will look forward to the day we can return to Morocco. I am hope to respond to any questions about Hamid or the trip.
Jul 16th, 2007, 04:44 PM
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Wow! Now I'm feeling so guilty!! I am very late posting a trip report about our wonderful trip to Morocco this past March, where we also used Hamid as our guide (and Driss as the driver).
I promise I'll post a trip report soon (well, now that's it's public, I better deliver!).
We used Hamid on a 15-day trip through Morocco, and were accompanied by Driss as well. What a great time we had. Hamid was thoroughly delightful to be with. My husband and I had never used a guide before, and have always been rather independent and intrepid travelers. We weren't really sure how we'd like the whole "guide thing".
Well, we loved it! Hamid was a great resource and I learned more about the country and people than I could ever have from books and on-our-own traveling. We like to be active, and he accomodated that very well with several hikes and lots of walking. By the end of the first day, we were completely happy to let him take the reins and make recommendations (including restaurants, which were always spot-on).
I'm sure other guides are very well-versed in their profession, but I think Hamid was special. It was a real treat for us. Morocco is a great place to use a guide I think because having a guide allows you to absorb more, ask questions galore, and understand the nuances of what you are looking at. No need to fend off encroaching shop-owners either!
Cristyc, thanks for posting this and getting me off the dime! I'll include more in the trip report, but I wanted to make sure I got my 2-cents in here. Also, my thanks to other Fodorites for their recommendation of Hamid....we never would have used this option without the consistent feedback I got on this forum.
LisaG
I promise I'll post a trip report soon (well, now that's it's public, I better deliver!).
We used Hamid on a 15-day trip through Morocco, and were accompanied by Driss as well. What a great time we had. Hamid was thoroughly delightful to be with. My husband and I had never used a guide before, and have always been rather independent and intrepid travelers. We weren't really sure how we'd like the whole "guide thing".
Well, we loved it! Hamid was a great resource and I learned more about the country and people than I could ever have from books and on-our-own traveling. We like to be active, and he accomodated that very well with several hikes and lots of walking. By the end of the first day, we were completely happy to let him take the reins and make recommendations (including restaurants, which were always spot-on).
I'm sure other guides are very well-versed in their profession, but I think Hamid was special. It was a real treat for us. Morocco is a great place to use a guide I think because having a guide allows you to absorb more, ask questions galore, and understand the nuances of what you are looking at. No need to fend off encroaching shop-owners either!
Cristyc, thanks for posting this and getting me off the dime! I'll include more in the trip report, but I wanted to make sure I got my 2-cents in here. Also, my thanks to other Fodorites for their recommendation of Hamid....we never would have used this option without the consistent feedback I got on this forum.
LisaG
Jul 19th, 2007, 06:35 AM
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vmcg,
I'm sure guides vary, but for Hamid and Driss it was 2,000DH (about $246US) a day. This indluded his guiding from early to late, the car (incl. gas), all entrance fees to museums and sites.
Let me know if you have any other questions about using a guide, or Hamid in particular. This was our first time using a long-term guide (not just a guide for a museum, etc.), and it really opened our eyes!
LisaG
I'm sure guides vary, but for Hamid and Driss it was 2,000DH (about $246US) a day. This indluded his guiding from early to late, the car (incl. gas), all entrance fees to museums and sites.
Let me know if you have any other questions about using a guide, or Hamid in particular. This was our first time using a long-term guide (not just a guide for a museum, etc.), and it really opened our eyes!
LisaG
Jul 20th, 2007, 04:41 PM
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thanks, Lisa. I guess I wonder if it feels a little funny, adding two people you don't know to your entire trip, from dawn to dusk, and even more! Although I could see how it would be extremely helpful. Do they provide for their own hotels? and what about meals? did you book your own rooms and then let him know where you wanted to go? I just can't wrap my mind around how this works. thanks for your reply.
Jul 21st, 2007, 06:38 AM
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vmcg,
Those were exactly the same questions I had before we went on our trip. I'll try to tackle them one by one...
1) Do they provide for their own hotels and meals?
Yes. Both the guide and driver would elegantly dissappear at the end of the day. When we were in the city, for example in Fes or Marrakech, we stayed in riads that were in the middle of the medina. (I'd recommend that to anyone visiting those cities by the way.) We would end our day with them in the parking lot. Hamid then would walk us to our riad from the parking lot and let us know what time he'd come for us in the morning. In our case, that was mostly around 9 AM.
Then the same thing in reverse. He'd always be there on time. And we'd proceed to go back to the car if a day trip was on our itinerary. If not, then we'd proceed to walk around the medina.
When outside the city, they would drop us at our hotel around 5 or so and say good night. We'd have dinner at the hotel in those cases (often very remote and dinner was part of the experience).
Same was true for lunch, by the way. They would bring us to a lovely place and disappear. Then somehow appear again when we were done.
It was all elegantly done and couldn't have been more transparent to us.
2) Do you book your own rooms?
We chose to book our own rooms in Fez, Marrakech, and Essouira. Hamid recommendef a couple in each location. I wanted to do the usual research on my own (Fodor's, TripAdvisor, etc.) We ended up going to one of his recommendations as our hotel (i.e., riad) in Fes. It was the most beautiful place we stayed!
I'm actually glad that I made those particular reservations myself because I could then pre-pay with a credit card. Not every riad takes credit cards, even the higher-end places. But as it turns out, Hamid's recommendations were based on his knowledge of his clients.
On the other hand, we did not book our own rooms outside of the cities. Hamid arranged all of those (including the nights in the desert, etc.). We stayed in some of the most beautiful locations that I don't think anyone could have found or known on their own. Once we were the only people to stay with a family who lived in a very large "fort" or kasbah.
3) Itinerary.
One of the questions you didn't ask, but I'll tackle anyway, is itinerary. Even though I had been doing my research on Morocco it was all becoming a jumble. I started my communications wih Hamid via email (he's very responsive by the way), and gave him information about us and what we like. He then suggested the itenerary and described each day and what it would look like.
We told him things like our age, what we like to do in our spare time, how active we are, how much we've traveled before, what we like to eat, where we live, what our general interests are when traveling. We then just followed along! Each day was really a perfect experience.
4) Funny having them along dawn to dusk?
Here's my conclusion about that. Being a professional guide requires a special instinct and temperament. It's not like having an ordinary person around all the time. This is an art.
Hamid was one of the easiest people to be with and seemed to read our minds. He could tell we were tired or hungry before we could! He knew when we didn't want to stand in line for an historic site, and said "let's get out of here!". He was very funny, sweet, and generous with his time.
I also like to ask ALOT of questions, and he never seemed to time of filling me in on history and facts (...where is cobalt mined for that blue color?). So I really appreciated having that resource!
In short, we loved having him there every day (and we're not particularly the social, people-lover types).
I hope that gets to your questions! Let me know if you've got any others---I'm happy to answer what I can!
LisaG
Those were exactly the same questions I had before we went on our trip. I'll try to tackle them one by one...
1) Do they provide for their own hotels and meals?
Yes. Both the guide and driver would elegantly dissappear at the end of the day. When we were in the city, for example in Fes or Marrakech, we stayed in riads that were in the middle of the medina. (I'd recommend that to anyone visiting those cities by the way.) We would end our day with them in the parking lot. Hamid then would walk us to our riad from the parking lot and let us know what time he'd come for us in the morning. In our case, that was mostly around 9 AM.
Then the same thing in reverse. He'd always be there on time. And we'd proceed to go back to the car if a day trip was on our itinerary. If not, then we'd proceed to walk around the medina.
When outside the city, they would drop us at our hotel around 5 or so and say good night. We'd have dinner at the hotel in those cases (often very remote and dinner was part of the experience).
Same was true for lunch, by the way. They would bring us to a lovely place and disappear. Then somehow appear again when we were done.
It was all elegantly done and couldn't have been more transparent to us.
2) Do you book your own rooms?
We chose to book our own rooms in Fez, Marrakech, and Essouira. Hamid recommendef a couple in each location. I wanted to do the usual research on my own (Fodor's, TripAdvisor, etc.) We ended up going to one of his recommendations as our hotel (i.e., riad) in Fes. It was the most beautiful place we stayed!
I'm actually glad that I made those particular reservations myself because I could then pre-pay with a credit card. Not every riad takes credit cards, even the higher-end places. But as it turns out, Hamid's recommendations were based on his knowledge of his clients.
On the other hand, we did not book our own rooms outside of the cities. Hamid arranged all of those (including the nights in the desert, etc.). We stayed in some of the most beautiful locations that I don't think anyone could have found or known on their own. Once we were the only people to stay with a family who lived in a very large "fort" or kasbah.
3) Itinerary.
One of the questions you didn't ask, but I'll tackle anyway, is itinerary. Even though I had been doing my research on Morocco it was all becoming a jumble. I started my communications wih Hamid via email (he's very responsive by the way), and gave him information about us and what we like. He then suggested the itenerary and described each day and what it would look like.
We told him things like our age, what we like to do in our spare time, how active we are, how much we've traveled before, what we like to eat, where we live, what our general interests are when traveling. We then just followed along! Each day was really a perfect experience.
4) Funny having them along dawn to dusk?
Here's my conclusion about that. Being a professional guide requires a special instinct and temperament. It's not like having an ordinary person around all the time. This is an art.
Hamid was one of the easiest people to be with and seemed to read our minds. He could tell we were tired or hungry before we could! He knew when we didn't want to stand in line for an historic site, and said "let's get out of here!". He was very funny, sweet, and generous with his time.
I also like to ask ALOT of questions, and he never seemed to time of filling me in on history and facts (...where is cobalt mined for that blue color?). So I really appreciated having that resource!
In short, we loved having him there every day (and we're not particularly the social, people-lover types).
I hope that gets to your questions! Let me know if you've got any others---I'm happy to answer what I can!
LisaG
Jul 24th, 2007, 06:24 AM
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vmcg,
Don't know why this thread is not indexing, and so can't be located via search. I'm bringing it up so you can be sure to see my reply above. Hope it helps.
I was having the same concerns before we went, and got very detailed info. from another Fodorite. That really helped me make a decision, and I want to pass that goodwill on!
LisaG
Don't know why this thread is not indexing, and so can't be located via search. I'm bringing it up so you can be sure to see my reply above. Hope it helps.
I was having the same concerns before we went, and got very detailed info. from another Fodorite. That really helped me make a decision, and I want to pass that goodwill on!
LisaG
Jul 27th, 2007, 05:17 AM
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Lisa G
Did you tip your guide?
I have enclosed my email- could I possibly ask you to share the info from the fodorite that helped you decide?
Thanks for a great post-
[email protected]
Did you tip your guide?
I have enclosed my email- could I possibly ask you to share the info from the fodorite that helped you decide?
Thanks for a great post-
[email protected]
Jul 30th, 2007, 07:12 AM
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Drshelly,
His email is [email protected]. His name is spelled Hamid Dandane.
I spelled his name for you so you can search on him (if you want to) and see other comments from people who have used him. Just put "Hamid Dandane" in the search box at the top, and it will display other entries.
Apologies if you already knew that!!
Happy travels,
LisaG
His email is [email protected]. His name is spelled Hamid Dandane.
I spelled his name for you so you can search on him (if you want to) and see other comments from people who have used him. Just put "Hamid Dandane" in the search box at the top, and it will display other entries.
Apologies if you already knew that!!
Happy travels,
LisaG
Jul 31st, 2007, 02:45 AM
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I notice in my reply above that the email address for Hamid is truncated. The email address contains his name....so include his name prior to the blue underline.
I've seen this on other email addresses that have been posted on Fodor's too. It must be some glitch in the software's ability to recognize an email that has an underscore embedded in the address.
LisaG
I've seen this on other email addresses that have been posted on Fodor's too. It must be some glitch in the software's ability to recognize an email that has an underscore embedded in the address.
LisaG
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