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This year we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit Morocco for geography. We had to be at school for 2:45, but had to wait for the teachers to make an arrival. We flew from Gatwick to Marrakech but had to make a landing at Casablanca as there was heavy fog at Marrakech. So after a 7 hour flight we eventually arrived at the hotel. After getting changed we went to lunch at a rooftop restaurant and some of us tried Tagine for the first time. We went on a city walk to get a feel for the culture of Marrakech and see some of the main sights such as the Jamaa el Fina square. We received many charming comments like “are you from Obama land”, “are you Nicki Minaj” or “Lady Gaga”, and “I like your dreadlocks” to Laura. The roads in Marrakech took some getting used to, with cars coming at you from every direction.

After an early start, we left our hotel and drove up to the High Atlas mountains to visit a Berber village. We were greeted by the “man of the house”.  We took our shoes off and went out onto the balcony for some mint tea- which was delicious.  They also offered home grown walnuts and we learnt how to make Tagine and mint tea. Some of us had to get used to using a stand up toilet, which was a challenge!

After visiting the Berber village, we drove to Ouarzazate and stayed at a Kasbah style hotel. This hotel had a lovely pool in which we all froze to death.  We had yet another Tagine for dinner.

On Tuesday we left Ouarzazate and started the long drive to the Sahara Desert. We stopped off at a pottery shop where we learnt how the local people make pots. We also heard some drumming from the guide and George. Josh and Theo had over two litres of Fanta each and everyone else was surprised how they were not on the toilet all the time.  We eventually arrived at a remote town on the edge of the Sahara, where we mounted our camels.  One memorable thing was seeing Jack on a camel. He looked like a bright pink snail! After naming our camels, we started the 2hr trek to the campsite. When we arrived at the campsite, we raced up the sand dunes (easier said than done), with Josh winning. We stayed on the sand dune until the sunset, and then went down for dinner. After dinner, the camel drivers made a campfire and sang some traditional Moroccan music based on revolution. Mr Maurice led a game of Mafia where Theo had an unfortunate ending involving sharks. After that we went to bed in the tents and the camp was woken by Thrift Shop, someone’s alarm. The boys then went up the sand dune again to watch the sunrise, when the rest of us had breakfast. After breakfast we got back on our camels and started the trek back to the small town. About a minute away from the end Josh’s camel was scared by a motorbike (as were we all) and tried to run off, but luckily the camel driver noticed in time and caught the rope. We then had a nice 10 hour drive to Marrakech where we had dinner at the rooftop restaurant again. After dinner the teachers handed out awards to 5 people and the others got postcards. Jack got a prize for learning the most, Kai was the best dressed, Shanyah the most cheerful member, George for being most entertaining, and Alex for being the funniest. After one last night of fun, we went to bed to prepare for the early start and flight home.

We would like to thank the teachers for organising this amazing trip and would recommend it to everyone that gets the chance.

By Sarah Newman 10CK and Joshua Cresswell 10CK.