5 things PAX learned about Morocco with Insight

Last week, PAX joined Insight Vacations, alongside 30 top-selling travel agents from Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Thailand on an exotic tour through six major regions of Morocco, Africa — Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes, Marrakesh and Essaouira.

The eight-day journey, called A Taste of Morocco, focused on local cuisines and customs in Arabic, Islamic and African cultures. From visiting the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, to experiencing medieval markets in the Medina of Fes, to booty-shaking with bellydancers in Marrakesh, the cross-country trip was the epitome of adventure, and left many changed and inspired.

But what can be said about the touring company that made the trip happen? Here’s five things we learned about Insight Vacations along the way.

1) You don't just watch culture. You become part of culture.

Insight Vacations is a luxury touring company that has been around for more than 35 years. Their tours cover India, Asia, North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, the U.S., Canada and, notably, 42 of 48 countries in Europe. “And we’ve mastered it down to a science,” said Lauren Wong, marketing specialist at Insight Vacations Canada. While that includes crafting tours that include iconic attractions, such as the Djemaa El Fna Square in Morocco, it also means digging deeper by adding experiences that go off the beaten path. For our group, that meant dining on lamb tagine in a Moroccan family’s private home, or bargaining, repeatedly, with shopkeepers in Marrakesh square over the price of a scarf or bangle.

2) Dinners aren’t your average meat and potatoes.

Insight prides themselves on providing unique dining experiences that go above and beyond what’s on the plate. While the menu in Morocco included traditional fare, such as sweet-and-savoury pastilla pie made with pigeon meat to the freshest breads on earth, no dinner was complete without a touch of local entertainment by magicians, belly dancers and musicians playing Arabic rhythms.

3) More leg room? Yes please.

While most of Morocco was spent exploring on foot, our coach bus became our second home as it transported us past goats in the countryside, around winding roads in the Atlas Mountains, and through chaotic traffic jams in metropolitan cities. But why was it so comfortable? Insight actually removes one row from their coach to allow for more leg room. “We also stagger the seats for optimum panoramic views and so no one’s view is blocked,” added Wong.

4) Insight travellers are curious travellers.

The average Insight customer is between the age of 54 and 64 — baby boomers who don’t mind spending extra money on comfort and luxury. “For them, it’s not about price. It’s about the quality of the experience they’re getting,” said Dave Salisbury, general manager of Insight Vacations New Zealand. In Canada, the average Insight consumer spends approximately $3,000 on a tour, noted Wong.

5) Insight tour guides love, and I mean love, their jobs.

Tour guides can make or break a trip. Fortunately, in Morocco, we had two brilliant advisors, Javier Soto and Abdulwahab Barrak, whose knowledge not only expanded our understanding of local culture, but also maintained the comfort and safety of everyone’s experience. “You have to make people happy,” said Barrak, a native Moroccan, whose passion for hosting tours in his home country was quickly recognized. Barrack and Soto’s knack for storytelling, charisma, humour, and reputation for going out of their way to make things happen kept everyone engaged, laughing and continuously impressed. For example, it wasn’t unusual for Javier to discreetly slip a few dirhams to a roadside food merchant so everyone could taste something unique and local, such as pure pomegranate juice, escargot, sea urchins or a juicy prickly pear. Greta Stonestreet, sales manager of Insight Vacations in the UK, considers this business as usual at Insight. “We don’t say to guests, ‘If you want to buy one, buy one.’ We actually buy it for them,” she said.