Alice Morrison has been described because the “Indiana Jones for girls” and for good cause. Since transferring to Morocco in 2014, she’s tackled six marathons in six days throughout the Saharan desert, turn into the primary lady to stroll the Draa River, and lived off the land away from trendy civilisation. Her most up-to-date expedition, strolling with camels throughout Morocco, varieties the idea of her new e book, Walking with Nomads.
We sat down to speak with Alice about her adventures, from the purple dunes of the Sahara to the snow-capped Atlas Mountains.
Moroccan hospitality is unmatched
Everywhere you flip in Morocco you’re met with dramatic landscapes and wealthy historical past, but in addition beneficiant folks.
During her seven-and-a-half-month trek alongside three Amazigh Muslim males and their camels, Alice realized to say “Duyouf Allah” from considered one of her guides, Brahim, which suggests company are from God. She says Moroccans stay by this on daily basis.
“People laugh at my jokes and really make an effort to get to know me…I have found them to be the most welcoming, hospitable people I’ve ever met.”
Over the previous eight years of dwelling within the nation, Alice has been welcomed with affection wherever she goes, and is commonly invited into anyone’s home for tea. She says it’s normally the individuals who have the least to provide that try to provide essentially the most – together with freshly baked bread, goat’s milk, or a tagine from builders on the aspect of the road (true story).
“It’s so much fun if you go to someone’s house and get to meet the family,” she says. “Moroccans are so hospitable. You’ll meet someone for tea and then after that you’ll be like their long-lost sister.”
Listen to your interior voice
Alice’s travels as a girl, and sometimes solo, have allowed her to spend time with different ladies in conventional communities and doc their tales. While strolling throughout Morocco, she realized in regards to the challenges for nomadic ladies when giving beginning and elevating kids, and the way extra at the moment are prioritising schooling.
“Morocco is going through a period of great positive change now as universal education is implemented,” Alice says. “In just one generation, the rate of girls’ literacy has leapt significantly, and this often means these girls want a different life from that of their mothers and grandmothers.”
As properly as being rewarding, travelling solo also can include its challenges, and Alice recommends that different solo feminine travellers at all times take heed to their interior voice. “If you sense any danger or discomfort, you’re probably right.”
Despite dwelling in Morocco for a number of years, Alice nonetheless follows this rule. If she’s trekking a brand new route within the Atlas Mountains, she’ll at all times take a information, because the mountain circumstances can change rapidly.
She says it’s additionally necessary to respect the tradition and faith of wherever you occur to be. “If you want to approach locals and get closer to them, it helps if you consider their feelings. Be respectful to other people’s beliefs.”
“Don’t be frightened to communicate with people. Go to their homes and be with them and enjoy it, but be switched on.”
Do your greatest to journey sustainably
On her expedition by means of the depths of Morocco, Alice and her guides encountered all kinds of individuals, however the cloud looming over their journey was local weather change. While within the Sahel, the arid space of northern Africa, Alice observed that it “basically drying out”.
Hours had been spent questioning the place the subsequent supply of water was going to return from. A stark distinction for Alice, who comes from Scotland, a rustic with contemporary water working by means of faucets, rivers, and lochs. Now, caught out within the Sahel, she would spend hours trying into the gap, hoping to identify a properly or nomadic tent.
It was a first-hand look into how local weather change is altering nomadic life. “The Sahara has always sustained nomadic and camel herding life and now it’s starting to get to the stage where it can’t,” she says. On her journey, she met a household transferring their 300 camels by vehicles inland, the place they heard the grazing was higher.
Sustainable journey is an idea Alice thinks everybody ought to issue into their adventures. It’s as simple as planning the size of your vacation, or the way you’ll journey across the nation you’re visiting. “You don’t have to go to extremes and make it really difficult for yourself, just be more aware and do your best,” she says.
Walking is one of the simplest ways to actually uncover a spot
While on foot, Alice encountered dinosaur tracks and found a misplaced civilisation, all whereas dodging landmines and quicksand. For her, strolling is prime to what it means to be human.
“It’s what we used to do,” she says. “We became humans when we split up and started walking. I think it’s bred into all of us, this feeling of walking and moving and migrating.”
She encourages everybody to discover by foot. It’s gradual and purposeful and one thing almost everybody can do with only a pair of sneakers. It offers you time to soak up your environment and swap off your mind.
“You can smell what’s in the air, you can feel the weather. It’s a feast for all the senses. When I walk, I’m crushing wild thyme under my feet as it grows in the mountains.”
You should buy Walking with Nomads right here and observe Alice on Instagram right here
Intrepid is internet hosting an night with Alice Morrison in partnership with the Morocco National Tourist Office in London on June 23