Was this a Mistake?!

On day 1 of an 8-day Morocco Tour with a company called Acanela Expeditions, I nervously climbed aboard the van to greet 8 other women I didn’t know, with a false bravado.  This was either one of my worst ideas in a very long time or I could end up with 8 new fabulous friendships by the end of the trip. (Well to be fair I knew one out of the eight really well).

Arriving in Casablanca

The trip started with my arrival in Casablanca airport where I easily found our fearless guide, Imad, holding up the Acanela Expeditions sign as soon as I came out of the airport. One by one I met up with the rest of the girls as their flights came in from different locations. We piled into our mini-van and drove for a few minutes along the coast, pulling up to a coffee shop along the coast to pick up another girl. The rest we would be meeting later that day. The “where are you from” barrage of questions from one another took up most of the ride to our final destination in Casablanca – the Hassan II Mosque. The largest mosque in Africa, it is one of only two mosques in the country open to non-Muslims. We walked around the mosque for a bit before our guided tour and we quickly established an easy rapport, even though we were all from different walks of lives. This set the tone for the rest of the trip.

Traveling with a Professional Photographer

From Casablanca, our journey brought us by road about 1.5 hours later to Rabat. I did not realize Rabat was the capital of Morocco and here we walked around the incredibly gorgeous Kasbah, its narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses, most of which were built by Muslim refugees from Spain. One of the perks on this Morocco tour with Acanela included having our own photographer. Seriously. Reggie Ann was a professional photographer and we were given the opportunity to take whatever photos we wanted, with her behind the lens. Many of us took advantage of individual as well as group photos to help capture precious moments. Imagine not having to worry about selfie sticks, tripods, or asking strangers who didn’t even know how to frame a shot! (You always had the option of skipping a photo session if you weren’t in the mood).

And that’s honestly the best part about a tour with Acanela. You don’t *have* to do anything you don’t want to. Other than traveling with the group from one city to another you can pretty much skip a day tour, skip meals, do your own thing for a bit and meet up with the group later or just hang in your hotel room if you needed some downtime. So, who exactly is this Acanela?! Read on for my Acanela review!

Acanela Expeditions Review

Introduction

Before I review Acanela, let me tell you how I first heard of this company. I stumbled upon Acanela Expeditions in early 2019 via Instagram and was hooked by their commitment to empowering local communities. Too often we simply consume and don’t give back enough, but here was a travel company that believed in my philosophy of positively impacting a place. In late 2019, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and signed up for a Girlboss themed trip to Morocco. Following is my Acanela review.

Who is Acanela Expeditions

Acanela Expeditions is a Utah, USA based company founded by Kylie Chenn, a hard-working, fiercely independent boss babe. I met her first on a Central Asia expedition and was highly impressed with her work ethic. I honestly don’t know when she sleeps! Upon talking to Kylie during our first trip together, I learnt that Acanela was born out of her vision to empower people all over the world. Her passion for using travel to create a positive impact on local communities intrigued me further.. Acanela works with local artisans to help them feel confident in their passions and skills. I asked Kylie why the name “Acanela”. She explained to me that in Latin, Acanela is the word for cinnamon. For Kylie this word embodied what she wanted her new business to be about: “creating meaningful experiences through the magic of food.” I know what she means by this because every time I have had a meal with a local family in their home, even though I didn’t understand the language, we connected with one another through the magic of food! Acanela gives you the opportunity to meet local artisans and immerse yourself in a cooking class in a Moroccan Riadh, a puppet workshop in Uzbekistan, a carpet-weaving workshop in Turkey or a climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Acanela curates experiences directly with local people in each destination which not only provides us, the traveler, with immersive cultural experiences, but also helps empower these locals to revive dying arts and crafts. This enables them to economically sustain themselves in the long-term. Now this I like!

Why travel with Acanela Expeditions

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a tour company type of gal. I love my independence, I love getting up when I want, eating where I want, and meeting tons of locals. I’m also a great trip planner! But there I was, signing up for a Morocco tour with 9 women, most of whom I had never met before. Here are a few reasons why traveling with an Acanela tour *can* be the right choice for you:

1. Time: If you don’t have time to research and plan your trip, traveling with Acanela can be convenient. We traveled from Casablanca to Rabat to Fez to Chefchouen to Tangier to Marrakech – and I didn’t have to worry about how to get there. Traveling logistics within Morocco is also not the easiest.
2. Conservative destinations: If you are heading to a destination such as Morocco, where traveling as a solo female might be intimidating, a group trip with Acanela can be greatly comforting. Marrakech definitely felt a little more aggressive and I’m glad I was with others.
3. Friends: Traveling with Acanela allows you the opportunity to keep to yourself OR to make instant friends with like-minded fellow travelers. I made some long-lasting friends with a few of the gals whom I have already met on another trip after the Morocco tour.
4. Photos: Have someone to take photos of you, without constantly having to take a selfie, manipulate a tripod or ask strangers. Heck I’m so grateful we had a pro photographer; it was a game changer and super fun!
5. Cultural Immersion: Traveling with Acanela can also provide you the opportunity to meet with locals in a different way. Lots of artisans work only with tours to host workshops etc. We had the pleasure of attending a potter workshop, and a cooking workshop in a gorgeous, traditional Riadh. We also learnt about carpet weaving and the culture surrounding this – an incredibly immersive experience that took place inside the carpet factory nestled inside a narrow alley in Fez’ medina.

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Pros and Cons of a Tour

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all tours are created equal! Sometimes traveling with a tour can be a nightmare.

After 22+ years traveling solo, with friends and my partner extensively and most recently with Acanela on the Morocco tour here are my pros and cons of traveling with a tour:

Pros:

1.Stress-free travel – With a tour, you don’t have to worry about directions to your next destination, your hotel for the night, where to eat, how to get to the next point of attraction etc.

2.Access to unusual destinations – On the Morocco tour with Acanela, we had the pleasure of an impromptu, very local Hamam experience that all the girls took part in and it turned out to easily be one of the highlights of the trip for everyone! While this doesn’t happen on every tour, we asked for this experience one evening and our local guide was able to accommodate it.

3.Tour guides – With a tour, you always have access to an English-speaking guide and you have the amazing opportunity to pick his or her brain anytime, giving you deeper insights into the destination. I became friends with our guide in Morocco and I still keep in touch with him over social media!

4.Social opportunities – With a tour, you don’t have to look for friends. They are readily accessible in a non-intimidating environment, and it is up to you if you want to develop a friendship or if you want to keep to yourself.

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Cons:

1.Pre-planned itineraries – You don’t have the opportunity to deviate from the planned itinerary in a group tour.

2.Lack of free time – Sometimes, the itinerary becomes packed due to delays and before you know it, dinner is almost upon us and you end up going to bed exhausted. This happened to me on my Morocco tour.

3.Schedule issues – Sometimes meals can get delayed if we are running behind schedule, especially if some of the people on the tour are super interested in a specific museum, or a specific store, the rest of us are sort of stuck just waiting. During the Morocco tour we went carpet shopping and some of us bargained for what seemed like hours and lunch got delayed as a result by several hours.

4.Personality conflicts – The worst part about a tour is if you don’t get along with someone else. There isn’t much you can do other than avoid that person and try to focus on the beauty around you.

Is Acanela Expeditions Good Value

Let’s be real. Tours are always going to be more expensive than what you can put together on your own. You have to recognize you are paying someone else to plan the trip for you, including all the logistics, meals, activities etc. With that said, I think Acanela tours are good value because they have a variety of tours designed to meet any budget.

Join Me On My Next Trip

I hope you enjoyed my Acanela review. If you are looking for a group trip, then consider joining me as I lead a small group to Cuba in November, 2020 and an epic 7 day trek to Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2021. The first 8 spots will be discounted so please contact me at theeagertraveler@gmail.com or Acanela at expeditions@acanela.com if you are ready to sign up!