June 20, 2024
Hello again, parents and friends of Spain and Morocco 1A!
I’ll cut to the chase: Everyone made it to the summit of Toubkal (the highest mountain in Northern Africa, standing at 13,671 ft)!!!!!! WE ARE SO PROUD!
Last you heard from us, we were on our way to the hotel to then go to the airport in Madrid. When we arrived in Madrid, everyone checked into our lovely hotel rooms and then we walked to the main plaza in Barajas. We ate tapas outside around the square and then got some ice cream and cookies for dessert. Nikhil wanted to try something new and got a 5-layer lollipop that was sour, then sweet, then filled with gum. Everyone was laughing at Moonup because his mouth was so blue. We headed back to the hotel where we ran into the other Spain and Morocco Moondance group, and they gifted us some pizzas as a snack. This crew LOVES to eat! During Moonup, CC was selected as the first person to be LOD for a second time due to her constant joy she radiates within the group. We went to bed eagerly looking forward to our Moroccan adventures ahead.
The next day, we headed to the airport for our flight to Morocco. Everything went off without a hitch except for our peanut butter, which was confiscated by security. We arrived in Morocco and transferred to Imlil, often referred to as the “gateway to the Atlas Mountains.” We arrived at our riad and were so psyched. The terrace and bedrooms were decorated with traditional, colorful Moroccan rugs and pillows. It overlooked the Atlas Mountains, and we could see Toubkal in the distance. We immediately had tea time where our guide Eunice taught us how to properly pour the famous Moroccan mint tea. After tea time, we were served a spread of potentially the best food of our trip: tuna salad, fresh bread, chicken kebabs, and Moroccan spice blends. We FEASTED and basked in the warm sun. It was the perfect chill afternoon to prepare for our hiking days ahead!
Monday morning, after a plentiful breakfast with numerous beverages (tea, water, coffee, hot chocolate, fresh squeezed orange juice), we began our hike up to Toubkal Base Camp. After 8 miles steadily uphill, we were beat. However, this group showed tremendous growth and how we truly are a family. After Phillip’s suggestion, Preston rallied some of the other boys to help carry some of the packs. Hayes, Phillip, Judson, Preston, and Nikhil rocked two packs for the last two miles and encouraged everyone the entire way. Katie Hayes (Kayes) continued her endless trail talk. Preston endlessly chanted repeat-after-me war chants to keep the group motivated. Around halfway, Nikhil indulged in some fresh squeezed orange juice from one of the mountain huts. It was a tough day, but I knew after we completed this day, this group would have no problem summitting.
Tuesday was summit day!!! We woke up early and hit the trail. It was steep, extremely windy, and rocky. Each step we relied on our trekking poles to keep us balanced, but with each step, we were closer to our goal. The trail curved and we could see fellow hikers in the distance making the final stretch to the peak. As the hikers ahead got smaller, we were encouraged knowing we were gaining on them. After 6 hours uphill the day before, only 3 hours felt like a breeze. We reached our long rest stop before our final push and were in awe of the mountains for miles. After refueling with a quick snack, Will turned on the speaker, pumping everyone up. With the peak finally in view and tunes filling our ears and spirits, we climbed the last hundred or so meters. When we reached the top, joy lit up everyone’s faces. The wind had subsided and the views were spectacular. We could see the town of Imlil, where we started our journey, down below, and Eunice pointed out the other 4000-meter peaks around us. We gathered for our group photo, waving the Moondance flag proudly with smiles all around. Everyone reveled in their accomplishment in their own ways. Evie and CC took a moment of quiet together, many of the boys kicked back on rocks basking in the views, Phillip perched on a rock getting all the angles on his GoPro, and Hilliard and Lauren blew their candy whistles at the top in celebration. Will and I cannot express how proud we are of this group’s resilience and support for one another!
Our descent down from Toubkal was met gladly after a day and a half of only uphill. Mills, Evie, Katie Hayes, and I discussed our favorite childhood movies, determining that iCarly takes the cake. We made it down by early afternoon and propped our feet up on the terrace, chatting and playing Empire with Toubkal as the backdrop. Lauren, our gracious Empire host, laughed at the horrendous spelling of our characters and Judson’s constant need to clarify who his character was. At moonup, our summit LODs Katie Hayes and Phillip left us with a thoughtful question about the biggest decision we have ever made that has impacted our lives. Sitting at the base of Toubkal, all our decisions felt a little bit smaller, and we were reminded that we can overcome seemingly huge challenges.
Wednesday morning, we hiked down from base camp, thinking wistfully about our relaxing days ahead at our riad in Marrakech. Juliette and Hilliard chatted for easily 6 of the 8 miles about all things pop culture. Katie Hayes and Phillip attempted to solve Will’s riddle. Hayes kept the group on pace, always near the front and being a steady presence. We gratefully loaded into the vans and a couple of hours later, we arrived at our riad in Marrakech and immediately changed into our swimsuits for a pool extravaganza! Despite a long 3 days, this crew had seemingly endless energy for pool games and lots of dinner time chatter. We played hours of Marco Polo, and Preston and Judson somehow managed to get so close splashing and taunting “Marco,” yet rarely got caught. We did moonup around the pool led by Mills and Hayes. It feels like we are in our own little palace here!
Updates to come about our market experiences and cooking class in Morocco as well as our final night together in Madrid. Each member of the group has a little shoutout and love they’ve sent below!
Lauren: Hi Mom, Hi dad!!! this trip has been so fun! I have made a lot of great friends! I’m bringing home a lot of stuff from Spain!
Mills: Hi family!!! This trip has been amazing and I can’t wait to see you soon and tell you all about it. I hope you are doing well. We just submitted Toubkal which was beautiful and I know you would love it. Dad, happy late Father’s Day and I hope you told Hardin goodbye for me while he is at camp. I miss you all and love you so much. I am so grateful for this experience.
Hilliard: Hi mom and dad!! my trip has been so fun and I’ve made so many great friends! The hikes, although not very fun, have been so worth it in the end; every view has been so pretty! I am so excited to see y’all and loulie and cannon when I get home, I miss you all so much
Juliette: Hey mom, dad, and Bao. Spain and Morocco have been so amazing. My group is great and we’ve been having so much fun. The hiking has been very difficult but it’s been so beautiful and rewarding. I can’t wait to tell you guys all the stories when I get home. I love and miss you all so much.
Philip: Hi Mom dad and Wes, the trip has been incredible. My group is awesome, the hiking has been really cool, and the views are better than anything that I have ever imagined. Thank you so so much for everything. I miss you all, I can’t wait to get back and show all of you the photos that I have taken while I have been here!
Preston; Hey mom! The trip is awesome, Can’t wait to see you and chase when I get home. Hayes and I have gotten some great photos. My group is really fun and I can’t wait to tell you all the stories of this trip, also I have unfortunately ran out of money as Moroccan Duran had run me broke anyways love you!!
C.C.: Hey Mom, dad, hud and everyone else. Spain and Morocco has been absolutely amazing. I have falling in love with so many things here and am so happy to be here. Everything is so amazing and the food and views are unbelievable. I miss y’all so so much. I wanted to thank you for this great trip I’m on with people I have made so many good relationships with. I’m so grateful to be here and am really thankful. I have been getting lots of good photos and can’t wait to show y’all when I get back! Even though I have been struggling on some of the hikes because they are hard, I never gave up and always thought of y’all. Can’t wait to see y’all when I got back! Love and miss y’all so so much.
Evie: hey mom!! this trip is incredible!! I have been having a blast hiking, canyoneering,
surfing, trekking, and enjoying the group. I currently am on the bus back from mount toubkal…. It was insane but I am definitely exhausted! the next two days are more chill. We are heading to Mohamed’s house to relax and then we go to the market tomorrow! I hope to get some stuff (although I lost my wallet). i have now had enough bread for the rest of my but the food is so so yummy. I can’t wait to tell you more and to show you the photos!! Give the family my love. I miss and love you so much and will see you in a few days!!
Katie Hayes: Hi mom! I’ve been having so much fun on my trip! I have lots of fun pictures and some European sunscreen (make sure to tell Ms. Emmie). Climbing Mt. Toubkal was so insanely cool! We are going to the market tomorrow and I’ll make sure to bring cool stuff back. I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip when I get home! I love you so much and make sure to say hi to Hank and Franklin for me! I miss you and the puppies but don’t worry I’m having a great time!!
Judson: Hi mom and dad this trip has been great so far my group just finished hiking mount Toubkal after three days and now we are headed to the markets for the next two days. Canyoneering and hiking the Picos were both amazing experiences but y’all would have both loved the view of Africa from the top of mount Toubkal. I miss y’all so much and I can’t wait to tell y’all more about it in a few days.
Hayes: hi mom and dad this trip has been so much fun dad I hope that you had the best birthday/fathers day I hope that mom let you go to the beach I’ll make sure to get you and mom both a suvienear from the market so far we have hiked that Picos and Mt Toubkal witch was definitely something that I think both of y’all would have enjoyed today is Wednesday on week two I’m very excited to see y’all both when I get back on Saturday and am so excited for the end of this trip.
Nikhil: Hey mom and dad! Trip has been incredible, view from the top of tube-cal was stunning. I will be sure to bring back a souvenir from the markets of Morocco. Hope you guys had a great Father’s Day and I miss you!
June 11, 2024
Hi Spain and Morocco Families!
Everyone has landed safely in Madrid and the group is well on their way to their first activities. The trip is off to a wonderful start and we cannot wait to share more about their adventure.
-Moondance HQ