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Moroccan Textile Tour

12 March to 4 April 2017

If you've ever dreamed of travelling, exploring and delving deeply into Morocco's textiles,
people, culture, food and landscape...then stop dreaming and take the leap.
Adventuress Textiles is thrilled to present a
bespoke 21-day textile-focussed Moroccan
adventure.
After my life-changing artist-in-residency living in
Sefrou, 30 minute from Fes, I have spent hundreds
of hours crafting a return trip to share the
experience with seven like-minded women.

Our adventure includes 9 days living in the 9th

century walled town of Sefrou, getting to know the
artisans and day to day medina life whilst living in a
stunning medina riad. I will give some natural
dyeing workshops as will the dye master there. We
will travel to Fes to meet the artisans and explore
the souks and take a cooking class. We will spend 3
nights sleeping in a Berber tent in the Sahara, 4wheel drive through the Atlas Mountains, visit
Berber towns and meet the Berber women who still
continue their ancient weaving craft. We will sleep in
a walled pirate port, travel on ancient trade routes
lined with kasbahs and immerse ourselves in a life
so dierent from our own.

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we

travel, next to find ourselves." Pico Iye

We travel to open our

hearts and eyes and
learn more about the
world than our
newspapers will
accommodate. And
we travel, in essence,
to become young fools
again- to slow time
down and get taken in,
and fall in love once
more. Pico Iye

This is the tour that I have created

for people like me. Adventuresses
who relish the old ways of life,
who don't mind some discomfort
here and there and stepping out
of their comfort zone, women who
love a challenge - explorers rather
than passengers.

I have honours in Archaeology

and spent my career as an ABC

Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Casablanca and
transfer to Fes and our gorgeous
traditional riad (TS). Dinner in the
medina.

Day 2: Travel by local taxi to

Sefrou and our 400-year-old
Rabbi's house in the centre of the
old medina with a private room
each. Orientation. Traditional
Moroccan dinner Dar Attamani,

TV producer and now have a

small gallery/shop/studio
Adventuress handmade and
tribal textiles in Port Adelaide. I
t r a v e l
searching
for artisans
w
h
o
continue
making
textiles as
t h e i r
mother or
f a t h e r
before them. I search for women
especially and where possible,
pay them directly. Morocco's
textile symbols and processes are
fascinating and this tour will focus
on this and includes short
workshops to actually learn from
the artisans themselves. No
textile experience is necessary.

Our riad in Sefrou. Photo Cat Wilson

Day 3: Visit textile artisans in

medina. Independent lunch.
Forage for local dye materials.
Dyeing workshop #1. Traditional
dinner at home.

Day 4: Dye workshop #2 Local

Sefrouian women join us to dye
scarves. Ind. lunch. Spindle
spinning workshop. Ind. dinner.

Day 5: Intro to Moroccan

embroidery and button making.

Visit women's centre. Friday

couscous. Group embroidery
session. Independent dinner.

Day 6: Visit to the holy town of

Moulay Idriss and ride a donkey

to the Roman archaeological site

at Volublis. Lunch at a farmhouse
and perhaps even take a dip in
the Roman baths.

Day 7: Taxis to Fes, meet the

artisans, independent lunch at the
Ruined Garden, talk from a carpet
seller on carpet insights, visit the
world's oldest library and Batha
Museum. Dinner Sefrou.

Day 8: Village visit hosted by a

family, meet the locals in their
homes and view their own
textiles. Traditional Moroccan
dinner back home in Sefrou.

Day 9: Using a simple lap loom

made for each participant, learn
traditional carpet knotting. This
loom is yours to keep and
continue with on the rest of our
journey with wool and scraps we
collect on the way. Taxis to Fes
for a cooking lesson and
exploring the medina. Dinner
back home.

Day 10: Dyeing workshop #3 with

Amina Yabis, Master Dyer at her
home in Sefrou. Independent
lunch, display of our work, henna
p a i n t i n g a n d fi n a l p a r t y
celebration.

Day 11: Depart Sefrou in 2 X 4wheel drives for a journey into the
Middle Atlas where we will visit a
village women's co-operative. If
possible, watch wool washing in
the river, carding, dyeing and
2

weaving. Stay the night in a

nearby town.

Day12 :Set o early for 5 hours of

driving through the dramatic
Middle Atlas where shepherd's
graze their sheep and goats, past
mud brick houses and ancient
crumbling kasbahs to Cafe
Tissardmine in the Sahara sands.

This artist retreat created by

English/Australian Karen Hadfield
is a castle-like mud brick Kasbah.

We will sleep in hand woven goat

hair nomad's tents (TS) filled with
nomad blankets and rugs, each
with its own bathroom. Traditional
Moroccan dinner is cooked by
our Berber
hosts with
breakfast on
t
h
e
verandah
overlooking
the desert.

Day 13:
C a f e s
Tissardmine.
R e l a x ,
desert walks, fossil hunt, sleep
and enjoy the solitude and
silence. Visit the local Berber
women in the community centre
nearby to watch them weaving.
Berber shawl embroidery
workshop.

Day 14: Visit the nearby desert

town of Rissani on an ancient
Sub-Saharan slave and trading
route, visit the market selling

meat, dates, spices and haggle

for shawls, artifacts and jewellery.

In the late afternoon we will travel

to Derb Chebbi, a massive series
of sand dunes, meet our Berber
guide and ride camels for about
an hour and a half to a nomad's
camp where a Berber woman will
c o o k
o u r
dinner
and we
w i l l
sleep
t h e
night on
a simple
pile of
blankets
and tell
stories lying under a blanket of
stars.

Day 15: Wake early to ride our

camels as the sun rises over the
sand dunes. Our cars will be
waiting and we drive along the
base of the mighty Atlas, along
the Valley of the Roses where
precious rose oil is made, to Ait
Ben Haddou the fortified mud
brick town and palace (ksar)
established in 757, and listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
where we stay the night.

Days 16 & 17: We now head

towards the coast to Essaouria
for a totally dierent experience.
This walled Phoenician port with a
history of pirates and slave
trading today is a photographer's
dream with blue painted boats in
a b u s t l i n g h a r b o u r ( fi l m i n g
location for Game of Thrones).
The town battlements are still
topped with canons and the
narrow medina streets are home
to shops full of gorgeous crafts,
from raa shoes to fabulous
Boucherouite rugs...all with fresh
sea air, seagulls, quirky cafes and
the freshest seafood right from
the wharf. We also visit a
women's co-operative that

produces Argan oil, famed as a

beauty and hair treatment.

Day 18, 19 & 20 A short drive and

we arrive in Marrakech for 3 days
of completely sensorial
experiences - crowded souks,
incredible street food, storytellers,
snake charmers, spell makers,
monkeys, water carriers and
sellers who pester and annoy at
every step! A shopper's

dream...or nightmare. Every craft,

artifact, antique, jewel, lantern,
basket, leathergood, carpet. We
will explore the souks, museums,
Yv e s S t L a u r e n t ' s J a r d i n
Marjorelle and just sit and watch
wild, magical Marrakech unfold
around us.

Day 21: Morning transfer to

Casablanca and fly home.

Once a year go somewhere

you have never been before.
Dalai Lama

Everything else you

need to know

Cancellation:

I have researched prices widely

and believe this tour is the most
c o m p e t i t i v e y o u w i l l fi n d
anywhere for a bespoke, small,
specialised tour. I have also tried
to balance the tour so that it is
comfortable yet real.

The first seven women to pay

their deposit will be guaranteed
a place on the tour. Once the
tour is filled I cannot take late
payments but can put you on a
wait-list for a spot if someone
cancels.

Tour price : $5,800

Various accommodation from a
private room in Sefrou to twin or
perhaps triple share elsewhere
depending on location as we are
staying in small traditional riads
rather than western-style hotels.

Tour price includes:

All transport in Morocco - taxis,
transfers to and from the
airport, if travelling with the
group from Adelaide to
Casablanca return, 4-wheel
drive travel, camels, donkeys,
buses or trains if needed.

All breakfasts, many lunches

and many dinners.

2 . We d n e s d a y 3 0 A u g u s t .
Deadline for payment of $1000
deposit. Moroccan food and Q&A.
Email to RSVP.

3. Wednesday 7 December.
Deadline for payment of balance
($4800). Moroccan food and tea.
Any questions answered. Email to
RSVP. Credit card fees: 1.95%
Visa/MasterCard; 2.9% Diners
Club; 3% American Express

4. Wednesday 1 March for a final

tea and chat and any questions
before we head o on our
adventure! Email to RSVP.

Tour price excludes:

Air fare Australia-Morocco
return.

Travel insurance (which is

compulsory and must be
comprehensive).

Personal spending money.

Some lunches and dinners not

listed in final itinerary.

Three information nights:

Tips to drivers, hotel sta,

restaurants, guides etc. for
excellent personal service.

Wednesday 10 August at
6-8pm at my home for
couscous and mint tea with
slides and a show-and-tell
with all your questions
answered.
Email
adventuresstextiles@yahoo to
RSVP.

How are your knees?

Everyone will need to be
reasonably fit and have pretty
good knees to climb the many
stairs in traditional houses,
navigate squat toilets often in
rural areas, enjoy walking on often
uneven surfaces and get into and
out of 4-wheel drive vehicles.

This is a bespoke tour that is

chock-a-block with activity
however you are welcome to do
your own independent exploring if
you wish. Adventuress takes no
responsibility for injuries or theft.

Drinks and snacks.

All workshops, tours, drivers,

entry fees, some tips.

1.

Cancellations must be notified in

writing to Keryn James at
adventuresstextiles@yahoo.com
no later than midnight 31
December 2016. Cancellations
made by this date will result in a
full refund less $150 to cover
administration costs. As an
alternative to cancellation your
booking may be transferred to a
person on the wait-list by 31
December without incurring a
cost penalty.

After this date:

1-12 January 2017 full refund less

$500.

13-31 January 2017 forfeit 25%

of total fare

1-28 February 2017 forfeit 50%

1-11 March or non-appearance

forfeit 100% of fare.

Items of a personal nature mobile phone and data costs,

p h a r m a c y,
laundry,

Keryn James

116 Lipson Street Port Adelaide

0467361753

adventuresstextiles@yahoo.com

adventuress.com.au

independent activities.