Music of Morocco Tours (12 Days)
Itinerary
Enjoy music and dance in local Moroccan homes! This is the Music Tour in Morocco that will entice your senses. We will experience the diverse music of Morocco, including Gnawa Issaoua, Hmadcha, Chaabi, Chikhat, Rai, and Andalusian music. Morocco, as an ancient Mediterranean culture is known by its surviving rituals and beliefs, poetically expressed in the daily life of its people. Music is a reflective mirror to the secular and spiritual life of Moroccans; it is expressed in every occasion to reflect the thoughts and feelings universally known to be difficult to express otherwise. The celestial essence of this journey will take you to a world of marvels and reflection emersed in diverse types of music from Moroccan pop music known as Oughnia and Chaabi music, to Sufi spiritual music of different tariqas expressed in chants of Samaa Of the Tariqa Boutchichia or Tijani, or Shadhiliya Tariqa, to trance druming as in Issawa, Hmadcha, Jilala, Heddawa, Gnawa and many other sufi orders in Morocco. Rai music, Reggada and Jajouka Have attracted even big stars of Western Pop music such as the Rolling Stones, Crosby Still Nash and Young, the Dooby Brothers, Cat Stevens, Jimmy Hendrix, Peter Gabriel, Sting and many others have fused with or barrowed some rhythms and melodies from traditional Moroccan music. Come learn about the first strutured written music known as the Andalusian music that gave birth in 13 and 14th centuries to Classical Western music and to the popular Flamenco and Fado in Spain and Portugal. The Malhoun is a rythmic prose in a very popular style unique to Morocco and most authentic since the 12th century, a style that does not exist anywhere else but Morocco. Some of the Berber Tribal music is hard to trace as some ritual and belifs in Morocco can go as far as the Neolithic time. Join us for this very informative palette of Muisc that will enrich your repertoire and add to your knowledge about world Music! Learn about the history of some handmade musical instruments that exist only in a few western history books. We invite you to dance, share, participate and absorb a wide spectrum of indigenous Moroccan music.
Over night flight on Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca.
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Day 2: Casablanca / Volubilis
You will arrive at Casablanca airport, where you will be greeted by the Sarah Tours staff. Afterwards, you will transfer to Volubilis, a striking site visible for miles from the various bends in the approach road. This ethereal place was the central point of the introduction of Judaism by the Jewish traders, Christianity by the Romans and Islam by the grandson of the prophet Mohamed, Moulay Idris Al Akbar to the Berber natives of Morocco. You'll have a relaxing day at the peaceful hotel of Volubilis overlooking the valley and the ruins of this ancient sanctuary of great spiritual stature. We'll have an afternoon walk to the holy city of Moulay Idriss, the first Islamic city in Morocco and home of many Sufi orders that have been formed throughout centuries. This is an important introduction to a spiritual aspect of the Moroccan society. Explore the labyrinth of this medieval and venerated city in Morocco. We'll have a brief intro session and rhythm get-together after dinner. We'll end the evening early and have our first overnight in Volubilis.
Day 3: Volubilis / Moulay Idriss
We'll begin our day Volubilis, the Roman capital of Northwestern Africa in the morning with a meditation session in the ruins of this ancient site. After, we'll walk back through the ancient olive tree grove that attracted Martin Scorsese in "The Last Temptation of Christ". We'll have lunch at the gardens of the hotel as we overlook the legendary Roman Ruins. After lunch, we'll have an hour workshop of drumming with an introduction to the local trance dancers and drummers of the Hmadsha Sufi Order. These dancers and drummers are well respected throughout the Islamic world for their Praises and Percussions.
Today, we travel to Fes. First, we'll check into the hotel and sit for lunch. The afternoon will be devoted to discovering Fes. The historic tour begins at the mellah (the Jewish quarter), the king's palace and the Bat'ha museum of Moroccan arts. Afterwards, we'll have a walking tour of the Medina, the fascinating walled city with its incredible maze of medieval twisting alleys, blind turns, mosques, shrines, fountains, workshops and every conceivable kind of market. We'll break at El Hajj Lebbar House for mint tea and an introduction to The Issawa spiritual music. Dinner will be served in a typical Moroccan restaurant in the Medina, after which we'll return to the Moorish house for a complete Issawa night of chanting and drumming.
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Day 5: Fes / Zallagh
You'll have the morning to relax. Then, we'll have an introduction to Jajouka rhythm and customs. We'll later have an afternoon excursion to Mt. Zallagh in the Riff Mountains. We'll meet the mule caravan and explore the region, escorted by the Jajouka Musicians and dancers. We'll gather for a mint tea party with the sunset over Fes at the shrine of Sidi Ahmed Al Barnoussi, a retreat sanctuary for Sufis from all over Morocco. We'll conclude the day with dinner and dancing in a Moroccan restaurant with Chaabi musicians.
The morning will be devoted to shopping in the Medina for musical instruments and other artifacts. We'll have an afternoon workshop in the Gnawa rhythms, trance ritual and customs. After dinner, we'll make a trip back to the heart of the Medina at the Mernissi Moorish palace for the Gnawa Ceremony, where we will experience a trance dance and Henna ceremony.
The first hills you see of the Middle Atlas seem oddly un-Moroccan. Evergreen pines, tall cedar trees on the peaks and poplars stand copiously on the foot hills, laced with flowing streams. The road across is almost ceremonial. Azrou, the first real town of the Middle Atlas, stands at a major junction of routes, it's an important market center, and it has long held a strategic role in controlling the Berbers of the mountains. The Middle Atlas cease at Midelt, where suddenly, through the haze, appear the much greater peaks of the High Atlas which formidably rise to over 12,000 feet behind the town to reach a massive range, the Dgebel Ayashi. The drama of this sight, tremendous in the clear, cool noon, is the most compelling reason to stop over for lunch. Erfoud, one of the most pleasing of all southern routes: a dry, red belt of desert, and then suddenly, a drop into the valley filled with date palm groves. Dinner and accommodations at the hotel.
Day 8: Merzouga Dunes / Rissani / Erfoud
We'll have a lecture in the morning on Berber tribal music with Hamid Mernissi. Visit the holy city of Rissani after lunch, then continue the quest to Erg Chebbi! An experience not to be missed is to watch the sunset from the spectacular Merzouga dunes of the Sahara. This sight is so beautiful that no words can describe it. Afterwards, we'll have dinner with the Touaregs and later the Rokba Tagmount Dance. We'll experience sensual music and Camping over the dunes.
The highest the narrowest gorges in the region are Todras, only 15 km from Tineghir. Traveling through the Dades valley in spring you will find the bloom of thousands of Persian roses filling up the air with an ethereal aroma certainly from heaven, cultivated as hedgerows dividing the different plots. Thousands of Kasbahs scattered in a surreal fashion as sand castles stand erect in the shadow of time along the Dades river. We'll experience Ahwash Megounamusic and dance in a Berber home. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.
Today, we'll travel through El Kelaa De Mgouna and Boumalne exploring the Dades Valley and continue to Ouarzazate: one large Oasis intercepting the flow of ages between the Dades, the Draa valleys and the Majestic High Atlas. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel. We'll experience berber Ahwash Howara dancers in a local home.
Day 11: Ouarzazate / Marrakesh
Today, we depart to Marrakech via Taddart and Tizi nTishka pass at an elevation of 11,000 ft. This is an impressive site, dividing these mountains in two distinct aspects: one side acts as a shield to protect the hinterland from the Sahara's harsh and dry expansion, the other side collects the moisture of the Gherbi winds from the Atlantic ocean, soft and evergreen. So is life of the Berber dwellers. Arrival in Marrakech the "Morocco City" as the early travelers called it for it has always been something of a pleasure city, a market place where the southern tribesmen and Berber villagers bring in their goods, spend their money, and find entertainment. For tourists, it's an enduring fantasy: a city of immense beauty, low, pink, and tent-like before a great shaft of mountains, and immediately exciting. We'll break for lunch at the hotel. Visit of the famous Jemaa El Fna square! We'll have dinner in a local home with the local Dekka music and the famous Gnawa music and dance. Over night at the hotel.
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Day 12: Marrakesh
The morning will be devoted to discovering the historical sights of Marrakech. We'll break for lunch at the La Paix Restaurant, an art deco French restaurant. Fare well Dinner at a Jewish restaurant in the Mellah, a typical festivity of Andalucian and Sepherdic music. Overnight at the hotel.
Early morning transport to Marrakesh airport, connect in Casablanca with the transatlantic flight to JFK with a memorable jouney to treasure for a lifetime.
Hotels We Use:
- Volubilis: 2 nights, Hotel Volubilis
- Fez: 3 nights, Riad Yacout
- Erfoud: 2 nights, Kasbah Toumboktou
- Tineghir: 1 night, Kasbah Lamrani
- Ouarzazate: 1 night, Hotel Tichka Salam
- Marrakesh: 2 night, Hotel El Andalous