Reconnecting with old friends from Morocco eight years later
By Joe Piziali, 37-time traveler & Vacation Ambassador, North Muskegon, Michigan
My fiancé, Roberta Fleischmann—a 36-time traveler from North Muskegon, Michigan—and I traveled on OAT’s Morocco Sahara Odyssey adventure last year. It was our second trip to Morocco with OAT, after first visiting in 2001. We decided to visit Morocco again because I have always felt that Morocco is the most unique country I’ve ever visited. The history of the country, landscape, sand and mud buildings, desert, nomads, and culture are simply amazing. I travel to visit different places, people, and cultures. Morocco is truly a distinctive and wonderful destination.
While preparing for our second trip, I put together a small photo album of some of the photos from our first Morocco adventure. Unfortunately, Roberta and I couldn’t remember the name of our Trip Leader from eight years before, but we decided to bring along a few photos of him to show our new Trip Leader, hoping that he or she might know our first Trip Leader’s name.
So, imagine our surprise when we arrived in Casablanca and met our Trip Leader and recognized him as our original Trip Leader from 2001! His name is Kebiri Aziz, and he was just as surprised to see us again. We showed him the photos we had taken, which included a photo of him and his family during a visit to his home on our 2001 trip.
From left: The 22-year-old son of a Berber family, Trip Leader, Kebiri Aziz, and Roberta enjoy a visit to the boy’s family tent in Morocco.
But the real high point of our second Morocco trip didn’t occur until we were tenting in the Sahara Desert. After our first night in the desert, we were invited to visit a nomadic family living in a tent in the Sahara—much the same way they have lived for centuries. On our first trip, we visited a family whose father had just passed away before our visit, and their 14-year-old son had recently become the new head of the family.
We were beyond excited to learn that we’d be visiting the very same family! One of the photos I included in my album showed the 14-year-old son with me from our first visit. Fortunately, I brought the photo album along with me when we visited the Berber family for the second time. I opened the album to show the son—who was now 22 years old. He was absolutely amazed! I don’t think he had ever seen a photo of himself before. He took the photo and showed it to his mother, who was busy spinning camel hair yarn. She immediately stopped her spinning and stared at the photo of her then 14-year-old son. It was a very special moment for all of us.
Joe, pictured with the 14-year-old son of the Berber family visited during his first (and second) Morocco adventure.
The 22-year-old son shares a photo of himself from eight years earlier with his mother.
OAT’s Morocco Sahara Odyssey adventure is among my favorites of all of my 37 OAT and Grand Circle trips. And this particular trip was even more special because we had the opportunity to reunite with not only our original Trip Leader, but also the original Berber family we met during our first visit to the country! Being able to witness the son viewing his photo for the first time is a moment that no one in our group will ever forget.
Experience the daily life of a Berber family on our Morocco Sahara Odyssey adventure.