This year I had an amazing opportunity to visit Marrakech and take part in so many activities! I organised my trip through Original Volunteers who organise several volunteering activites (so you get a wide range of experiences), combined with tourism and a chance to see their beatiful country. All of the volunteers stayed in a traditional riad minutes away from The Square so you get the real deal!

Being in a Muslim country over a their festive Eid was something I had not seen before. The city wakes up in the early hours (some as early as 5am!) to pray at the mosques and give out friendly hugs and kisses. As all volunteering activites had stopped over the Eid period, we decided to take a trip to the Sahara Desert. A long 14 hour mini bus journey with many sight seeing stops on the way – including Ait Ben Haddou where Game of Thrones, The Gladiators, and more has been shot – we eventually get to the Sahara Desert. The two things you can be confident you are going to get in Morocco is their tagines and mint tea served in their traditional tea pot set. And that’s exactly what we were welcomed with at the Desert.

The best thing about volunteering with Original Volunteers was defintely the wide range of activites they had planned for us. The activities included caring for babies in a baby orphanage, fund raising in a village, teaching English in a few schools, visiting a hospital for sick kids.

It has truly been an amazing experience. I made some friends who I have even visited after coming back home and I can’t wait to go back to Morocco again! If you’re thinking about going but you aren’t sure, I will say do it! You won’t regret it!