Morocco 2018 Retreat Recap

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Can you believe that Morocco marks our THIRD annual international nutrition retreat? In our inaugural retreat, we hiked the jungle in the Runaway Bay, Jamaica. Last year, we stayed at an eco resort in Bali, Indonesia. This year, we had a sight-seeing adventure in the architectural digest dream that is Marrakesh.

This was also our FIRST time in Africa, which made this retreat even more special. The truth is, there is no place in the world like Marrakesh. From the terrain to the people, to the food and the architecture, this place is truly one of a kind.

Now before we get started on our photo recap, we want to give a special thanks to our amazing hosts, the dynamic duo known as Jeff and Kalisa from The Runaway Experience. They were the backbone of this whole retreat and we highly recommend being a part of one of their curated travel experiences. If you want to learn more about this power couple and their travel entrepreneurship, check out our interview with them here.

This year marked our biggest retreat yet, with 25 participants in total. We literally sold out overnight. Every single woman who attended was incredible. When we say these are the types of ladies we would gravitate towards as friends in real life, we mean it. (We still have an active group chat going.)

Each day during our trip was jam packed with adventure. But before we started any of the sight-seeing, we held a nutrition workshop. Topics ranged from starting a joyful exercise routine, to using intuitive eating to make peace with food, to creating healthy habits that last. Here are a few photos from our workshops:

After the workshop ended, we headed out for a day of adventures. On our first day, we attended a presentation from a local herbalist and got to take a tour of his herb and spice shop.

Then we took a tour of a local rub shop, that makes beautiful, handcrafted Moroccan rugs. We even got to take a stab at weaving the rugs ourselves.

Then it was time for food. The signature Moroccan dish is a tagine, a stew-like dish which is named after the earthenware pot in which it is cooked.

There were also a LOT of vegetables at each meal.

And the meat eaters were happy too.

We even did a couple of local cooking classes. In the first class, we learned how to make a delicious tagine. I don’t meant to toot my own horn, but the tagine that I made was my absolute favorite during the trip.

We even went to a bread making class. Who knew making Moroccan-style bread was so easy?!

We also got to witness a local argon oil extraction, which was actually way more labor intensive that you would think:

After that, we toured a local herb garden and learned about all the plants native to Morocco.

Including this Aloe that was larger than life:

There were also a LOT of museums. My favorite was the Yves Saint Laurent museum, but the other’s were magical too (and had perfect photoshoot backdrops).

Then there was the bike ride. Think dirt and desert, which made for a rocky ride. WE LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.

Oh and did we mention the camel ride? No big deal.

The best part of the trip was where we stayed (Jnane Tamsna) and the woman behind it all: Meryanne Loum-Martin. She’s the only black hotel owner in Morocco and she is black girl magic incorporated. Seriously. Here everyone is the first night she had us over to her house for drinks. Her energy, and her story, are absolutely mesmerizing.

This is Meryanne:

Here she is with her husband. Adorable much?

Here are some photos we took throughout our trip at the hotel:

This retreat was 8 days of laughter, stimulating conversation, beauty, and adventure. We hope to have another one just like it next year. If you want to get in on the next one, make sure to sign up here to be notified! 

A special thanks to:

• Jeff and Kalisa, the hostesses with the mosteses from The Runaway Experience
• The amazing participants, who took a chance on our retreat and made our experience so rich. We loved having each and every one of you there, and we can’t wait for our reunion.
• Jnane Tamsna, the stunning space where we stayed at during most of our retreat. The staff was so kind, sweet, and accommodating. And thank you to the woman behind it all, Meryanne.
• Our retreat photographer, Alana Peters, who took gorgeous photos of the retreat from start to finish.

 

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