{"id":52721,"date":"2022-05-24T11:27:58","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T01:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=52721"},"modified":"2024-01-10T07:04:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T20:04:20","slug":"alice-morrison-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/alice-morrison-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventurer Alice Morrison on what she learned while walking across Morocco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alice Morrison has been described as the \u201cIndiana Jones for girls\u201d and for good reason. Since moving to Morocco<\/a> in 2014, she\u2019s tackled six marathons in six days across the Saharan desert, become the first woman to walk the Draa River, and lived off the land away from modern civilisation. Her most recent expedition, walking with camels across Morocco, forms the basis of her new book, Walking with Nomads<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down to chat with Alice about her adventures, from the red dunes of the Sahara to the snow-capped Atlas Mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moroccan hospitality is unmatched<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Everywhere you turn in Morocco you\u2019re met with dramatic landscapes and rich history, but also generous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her seven-and-a-half-month trek alongside three Amazigh Muslim men and their camels, Alice learned to say \u201cDuyouf Allah\u201d from one of her guides, Brahim, which means guests are from God. She says Moroccans live by this every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople laugh at my jokes and really make an effort to get to know me\u2026I have found them to be the most welcoming, hospitable people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past eight years of living in the country, Alice has been welcomed with affection wherever she goes, and is often invited into somebody\u2019s house for tea. She says it\u2019s usually the people who have the least to give that try and offer the most \u2013 including freshly baked bread, goat\u2019s milk, or a tagine from builders on the side of the street (true story).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much fun if you go to someone\u2019s house and get to meet the family,\u201d she says. \u201cMoroccans are so hospitable. You\u2019ll meet someone for tea and then after that you\u2019ll be like their long-lost sister.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to your inner voice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alice\u2019s travels as a woman, and often solo, have allowed her to spend time with other women in traditional communities and document their stories. While walking across Morocco, she learned about the challenges for nomadic women when giving birth and raising children, and how more are now prioritising education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMorocco is going through a period of great positive change now as universal education is implemented,\u201d Alice says. \u201cIn just one generation, the rate of girls\u2019 literacy has leapt significantly, and this often means these girls want a different life from that of their mothers and grandmothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As well as being rewarding, travelling solo can also come with its challenges, and Alice recommends that other solo female travellers always listen to their inner voice. \u201cIf you sense any danger or discomfort, you\u2019re probably right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite living in Morocco<\/a> for several years, Alice still follows this rule. If she\u2019s trekking a new route in the Atlas Mountains, she\u2019ll always take a guide, as the mountain conditions can change quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says it\u2019s also important to respect the culture and religion of wherever you happen to be. \u201cIf you want to approach locals and get closer to them, it helps if you consider their feelings. Be respectful to other people\u2019s beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be frightened to communicate with people. Go to their homes and be with them and enjoy it,  but be switched on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do your best to travel sustainably<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On her expedition through the depths of Morocco, Alice and her guides encountered all sorts of people, but the cloud looming over their journey was climate change. While in the Sahel, the arid area of northern Africa, Alice noticed that it \u201cbasically drying out\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours were spent wondering where the next source of water was going to come from. A stark contrast for Alice, who comes from Scotland, a country with fresh water running through taps, rivers, and lochs. Now, stuck out in the Sahel, she would spend hours looking into the distance, hoping to spot a well or nomadic tent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a first-hand look into how climate change is altering nomadic life. \u201cThe Sahara has always sustained nomadic and camel herding life and now it\u2019s starting to get to the stage where it can\u2019t,\u201d she says. On her journey, she met a family moving their 300 camels by trucks inland, where they heard the grazing was better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sustainable travel is a concept Alice thinks everyone should factor into their adventures. It\u2019s as easy as planning the length of your holiday, or how you\u2019ll travel around the country you\u2019re visiting. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to go to extremes and make it really difficult for yourself, just be more aware and do your best,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walking is the best way to truly discover a place<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While on foot, Alice encountered dinosaur tracks and discovered a lost civilisation, all while dodging landmines and quicksand. For her, walking is fundamental to what it means to be human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we used to do,\u201d she says. \u201cWe became humans when we split up and started walking. I think it\u2019s bred into all of us, this feeling of walking and moving and migrating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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