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Tailor-made Holidays

Boutique South Morocco

Our wide range of cultural tours and cultural holidays covers many countries - you can see UNESCO heritage villages in Portugal or explore the culture of India. You could be camping in the Sahara Desert or on an archaeological tour in Syria. Regardless of your choice, all of our cultural tours are provided by small, independent guides and tour operators who are passionate about their region and their offering.

Tours & Itineraries / Reviews

Explore the Manu National Park, Peru

Explore Manu National Park in Peru

Peru

Get off the beaten track on this five-day guided tour in Manu National Park rainforest. Accommodation and meals included.

from £462 (9 days)

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Istanbul & Ephesus Half Term Holiday

Istanbul & Ephesus Half Term Holiday

Turkey

A perfect half term holiday for families interested in culture and ancient history exploring Istanbul & Ephesus.

from £498 (8 days)

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Berber Village in the Azzaden Valley

Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

Morocco

Combine walking in the stunning Atlas Mountains with a stay in a boutique Marrakech riad.

from £569 £525 (8 days)

10 reviews

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Istanbul & Cappadocia Family Holiday

Istanbul & Cappadocia Family Holiday

Turkey

A family holiday staying in hand-picked boutique accommodation & a perfect balance of culture & the great outdoors.

from £610 (8 days)

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Hotel Bozika

Tailor-made Boutique Dubrovnik Kayaking Holiday

Croatia

Tailor-made holiday combining a multi-day kayaking tours in the Elaphiti Islands off Dubrovnik with specially selected boutique hotels.

from £623 (7 nights)

2 reviews

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Wild Desert Camping Holiday

Wild Desert Camping Holiday

Morocco

Experience Marrakech,then head out to the desert, visiting kasbahs, palmeries and trek into the Sahara by camel on a wild desert camping trek.

from £671 (12 days)

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Boutique South Morocco

Boutique South Morocco

Morocco

A relaxing holiday in South Morocco staying in hand-picked boutique accommodation in Taroudant and Mirleft. Suitable all year round.

from £739 (8 days)

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Coast, Souks & Mountains

Coast, Souks & Mountains

Morocco

A tailor-made holiday taking in the highlights of Morocco; Marrakech, Essaouira & the Atlas Mountains.

from £754 (10 days)

2 reviews

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Overnight Valley Trek & Boutique Palmery

Overnight Valley Trek & Boutique Palmery

Morocco

A three day trek in the stunning Atlas Mountains, followed by total relaxation at an exclusive boutique hotel in the heart of the palmery.

from £775 (8 days)

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View from roof of Riad Dar Hanane

Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

Morocco

A holiday combining day treks in the Atlas Mountains, a stylish riad in Marrakech, a cookery course and a camel trek in the Agafay desert.

from £812 (8 days)

5 reviews

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Private Inca Heritage Tour

Private Inca Heritage Tour

Peru

A 7 Day private guided tour of Cusco, the Sacred Valley & the jewel in Peru's crown, Machu Pichhu.

from £1022 (7 days)

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Trek, Cook & Surf in Morocco

Trek, Cook & Surf in Morocco

Morocco

Trek in the Atlas Mountains, learn to cook in Marrakech & then head to the Atlantic; the perfect place to hone your surfing skills.

from £1071 (2 weeks)

1 review

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Average reviews for Tailor-made Holidays

(based on 35 ratings)

  1. We had a wonderful trip. The accommodation was all great. Dar Hanane was probably our least favorite but having said that I could not really find fault with it in any way. The taxis all arrived on time and the drivers were all extremely pleasant. The trek was great too. the food was excellent and our guide and cook were both extremely nice. We were lucky with the weather on the way up- cold but dry. we woke to snow on the following day which turned to torrential rain as we got further down the mountain! However we kept walking till lunch when the guides found us shelter and Mohammed sent transport to pick us up. I would certainly recommend your company to others, and indeed have already done so.

    MissingElizabeth Stirling reviewing Coast, Souks & Mountains

  2. The Imlil accommodation ( Dar Adrar) & food were just right (5/5) although it came as quite a surprise (albeit a pleasant one for us) that the last 10mins of the transfer from airport to accommodation was by foot & luggage by mule.

    The guide Lasan and the cook Rashid were both excellent and literally went out of their way, an extra 3 hour walk for them, to help us on our return trip, it having snowed quite alot during the night, and so making the original planned return route difficult. Both 5/5 and Rashid's meals (5/5) produced on a mountainside were better presented, better tasting, and better quantities (too much sometimes) than some of the restaurant meals we subsequently had in Marrakech.

    The Riad Dar Hanane was also good with very attentive service (perhaps occasionally over attentive for our tastes) and the overall feel of the Riad was perhaps a little sterile, but again that is a matter of taste; and breakfast quantities were a little spartan (4/5 - a loaf each instead of one to share is all that is needed and to be fair we did not request this at the time - I suspect it would have been granted). Aziz was very genial and, as it turned out, the hand drawn maps by Mohammed were valuable for navigating Marrakech.

    The behind the scenes organisation in Morocco appeared faultless (5/5)

    The UK bookings advice & service also good.(4.5/5)

    Overall we had a very enjoyable break (5/5). Thank you

    MissingRichard Fuller reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  3. The Imlil accommodation ( Dar Adrar) & food were just right (5/5) although it came as quite a surprise (albeit a pleasant one for us) that the last 10mins of the transfer from airport to accommodation was by foot & luggage by mule.

    The guide Lasan and the cook Rashid were both excellent and literally went out of their way, an extra 3 hour walk for them, to help us on our return trip, it having snowed quite alot during the night, and so making the original planned return route difficult. Both 5/5 and Rashid's meals (5/5) produced on a mountainside were better presented, better tasting, and better quantities (too much sometimes) than some of the restaurant meals we subsequently had in Marrakech.

    The Riad Dar Hanane was also good with very attentive service (perhaps occasionally over attentive for our tastes) and the overall feel of the Riad was perhaps a little sterile, but again that is a matter of taste; and breakfast quantities were a little spartan (4/5 - a loaf each instead of one to share is all that is needed and to be fair we did not request this at the time - I suspect it would have been granted). Aziz was very genial and, as it turned out, the hand drawn maps by Mohammed were valuable for navigating Marrakech.

    The behind the scenes organisation in Morocco appeared faultless (5/5)

    The UK bookings advice & service also good.(4.5/5)

    Overall we had a very enjoyable break (5/5). Thank you

    MissingRichard Fuller reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  4. We had a great trek and thought the Atlas mountains were really beautiful. The tour guide and the muleteer were both excellent and would score 5/5 without a doubt. The standard of the food we were served was excellent and probably the best we had on our whole holiday. I couldn't believe the trouble that Samir had gone to on the first day when we arrived for our lunch of freshly prepared food and mint tea.

    MissingChristine Wardle reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  5. We had a great trek and thought the Atlas mountains were really beautiful. The tour guide and the muleteer were both excellent and would score 5/5 without a doubt. The standard of the food we were served was excellent and probably the best we had on our whole holiday. I couldn't believe the trouble that Samir had gone to on the first day when we arrived for our lunch of freshly prepared food and mint tea.

    MissingChristine Wardle reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  6. Our trekking guide was great, walked at our pace, and taught us a lot about the mountains, we met his family while sheltering from the rain and had tea and cakes.

    The accomodation at both Riad Tzarra and the Kasbar near Ilmil were great, staff could not be more helpful, or kind.The only thing we might have asked is that as we were the only guests in Riad Tzarra that after the initial welcoming from the Manager of Riad Da Hanne - was that she had come back during our dinner in the evening just to answer a couple of questions we had (but i think that was due to our actual manager being on holiday).

    Food was delicious in both accomodations particulalry at the Berber Guest House. We even asked for a recipe for some of the food to take home with us.

    Would definately go away with tourdust again and will reccomend to friends (as it was recommended to us via a friend).

    It provided us with a really interesting authentic experience, with the ease of a tour without feeling like you were on a tour. All taxis and guides and arrangements were perfectly on time and perfectly suited to what we wanted. It allowed us to fit so much into a short stay.

    MissingCharlotte Sparke reviewing Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

  7. We really had a wonderful time (despite us being unwell for a few days of the trip) and we found Anna at Tourdust and Mohammed in Morocco both really supportive, flexible & accommodating when we had to change our itinerary at the last minute due to being unwell. All of the staff at our riads and hotel were equally as fantastic & I think overall we would give the customer service and the trip itself five out of five!

    MissingMiranda Williams reviewing Coast, Souks & Mountains

  8. It was obvious from the start of the trail that the guides know their job well I've been trekking and mountaineering for 30 years and I was confident that the group was in safe and experienced hands.

    We had a great trip and will be back again in the future for more of the same.

    MissingEugeneMulholland reviewing Sahara, Souks and Mountains Explorer

  9. Tourdust has just delivered us a superb 5 day holiday in Morocco. Everything worked smoothly from the planning to the support on the ground. We stayed in 3 different places - each one true to the description on the website. Food that was included in the trip price and the food that we purchased at the Riad was of exceptional quality - fresh produce and huge portions. We were welcomed by the local hosts with generosity. We would not hesitate to recommend this trip to others.

    MissingPaul Bullen-Smith reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  10. Tourdust has just delivered us a superb 5 day holiday in Morocco. Everything worked smoothly from the planning to the support on the ground. We stayed in 3 different places - each one true to the description on the website. Food that was included in the trip price and the food that we purchased at the Riad was of exceptional quality - fresh produce and huge portions. We were welcomed by the local hosts with generosity. We would not hesitate to recommend this trip to others.

    MissingPaul Bullen-Smith reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  11. I'd be lying if I said our holiday started of in the smoothest of ways (with a phone call telling us that high winds and stormy seas looked set to spoil our week at the surf camp) but it was with this news that the proffesionalism and customer service skills of Tourdust really shone through! Within the hour the guys at TD had arranged to put us up in the most beautiful of Riads (Rhiad Dar Thania) in the busy city of Marrakesh. This Riad proved to be the perfect oasis to escape from the excitment of the city at the end of the day. I'm pleased to say that we did make it to coast eventually where we spent 3 incredible days learning to surf with 'Blue Morroco' a surf school expertly ran by Azhar and Alice in the tiny town of Sidi Kaouki. Azhar's passion for the sport and the ocean is evident in his teaching style and I can honestly say that he and his wife Alice made us feel more like friends rather than guests in their beatiful Berber beach front home. I for one will certainly return to Morroco and Sidi Kaouki in particular in the future and will have no hesitation in using Tourdust to do so. If anyone would like to see photos of our trip please find these in the album named Morroco 2012 on my facebook page at the link below:

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150606289819288.413565.818599287&type=1

    As a final note I would suggest to anyone who plans to go to Morroco that mastering a few basic phrases in french or Arabic would improve their experience. These are by no means essential as nearly everyone in the tourist industry speaks English but I found my basic knowledge of Arabic and my girlfriends ability to speak french certainly came in handy on the odd occasion!

    MissingRob Davis reviewing Trek, Cook & Surf in Morocco

  12. Our Guide was first class on our trek, very knowledgeable and always open to questions and was especially open in terms of background to the villages, the people of Morocco as well as the history of where we were trekking. The food, and Chef who prepared our meals, were delightful as well. The food was always more than enough and in the circumstances (on the side of a mountain pass) was first class and fresh. It really made a difference to have the meals prepared fresh and they were always plentiful. We were worried about the Taxi due to Marrakesh being notoriously difficult to find any location due to the mazey streets but the Taxi picked us up from our hotel dropped us at our Trek, and vise versa, no problem at all, which was a relief and very welcome after 2 days trekking. As far as the the whole experience all we can say is that we both loved it and are planning to use Tourdust again in the near future. The service from the booking process, Taxi Driver, Guide, Cook and anyone else we encountered on our experience was second to none. I cannot recommend Tourdust highly enough.

    I would just like to add though it might be nice if you add some info on the website about the villages. What I mean in that is we visited a family in a village that had very little but were kind enough to invite us into our home. We also encountered children in the village. Rather than handing out money like confetti we would of liked to have brought some simple items from home which may have been well received by the children, colouring books, pens or something as simple as balloons, playing cards or something of that nature. Something that is practical rather than tipping being the only currency. I realise that this might not be for all your consumers but as a side note I think it would of made a world of difference to us, we did feel slightly uneasy when visiting the village and the warm reception we recieved that we couldn't offer something back that would of been better than trying to tip someone.

    MissingLeighton Harvey-Smith reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  13. Our Guide was first class on our trek, very knowledgeable and always open to questions and was especially open in terms of background to the villages, the people of Morocco as well as the history of where we were trekking. The food, and Chef who prepared our meals, were delightful as well. The food was always more than enough and in the circumstances (on the side of a mountain pass) was first class and fresh. It really made a difference to have the meals prepared fresh and they were always plentiful. We were worried about the Taxi due to Marrakesh being notoriously difficult to find any location due to the mazey streets but the Taxi picked us up from our hotel dropped us at our Trek, and vise versa, no problem at all, which was a relief and very welcome after 2 days trekking. As far as the the whole experience all we can say is that we both loved it and are planning to use Tourdust again in the near future. The service from the booking process, Taxi Driver, Guide, Cook and anyone else we encountered on our experience was second to none. I cannot recommend Tourdust highly enough.

    I would just like to add though it might be nice if you add some info on the website about the villages. What I mean in that is we visited a family in a village that had very little but were kind enough to invite us into our home. We also encountered children in the village. Rather than handing out money like confetti we would of liked to have brought some simple items from home which may have been well received by the children, colouring books, pens or something as simple as balloons, playing cards or something of that nature. Something that is practical rather than tipping being the only currency. I realise that this might not be for all your consumers but as a side note I think it would of made a world of difference to us, we did feel slightly uneasy when visiting the village and the warm reception we recieved that we couldn't offer something back that would of been better than trying to tip someone.

    MissingLeighton Harvey-Smith reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  14. Tour dust facilitated our tour of Ethiopia, which is an amazing country! It is a beautiful country with rich cultural varieties. The mountain trekking on Bale Mt was a great physical challenge, but with a great reward. We saw many different animals and birds that I had never seen (or heard of) before. The trip through Omo valley was like a trip back in time, a view of life before it was cluttered with the conveniences of technology. The tribes are advanced in their own rite, by surviving without modern conveniences, off of the land. Our tour guide, Minalu was very knowledgeable and gave us great insight and information about the tribes. There were people from many of the tribes who not only knew him as a tour guide, but as a friend of the family. This made the experience a more personal one for us. One definitely needs to be a bit adventurous to travel in Ethiopia, but the inconveniences are well worth it. Thanks so much! These are memories that will not soon be forgotten.

    MissingMindy Unger reviewing Tribes of the Omo Valley

  15. We had a great time thanks, the guide was excellent as was the lunch in the mountains, really good.

    The only downside was that unfortunately my wife, who'd been so keen and excited to go, got a stomach bug the Sunday night so wasn't able to come on the trip on Monday. A real shame but otherwise a big success.

    Missingmark naylon reviewing Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

  16. I would definitely recommend this to other travellers.


    This trek was the highlight of our trip to Marrakech and couldn't have run smoother.
    The pick up from our hotel was on time and the driver was fantastic, making up feel very confident and safe in his driving, along with giving great information about what we were seeing along the way into the Mountains.
    Once we arrived our guide was waiting for us and after a chat about how long we wanted to trek for we set off. Again very informative explaining things along the way.
    On descent we stopped at the Berber village Imlil and had lunch at the family-run guesthouse Dar Adrar, which was the most delicious food we had eaten during our stay in Marrakech and the greeting and hospitality fantastic.
    Afterwards feeling well fed and tired we were driven back to our hotel again by our very competent driver.

    I couldn't recommend this trek enough as a little taster and will definitely be going back to take on the longer trek through the Atlas Mountains and Sahara.
    Thanks Tourdust!

    MissingEmma Reed reviewing Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

  17. We really enjoyed our trip. The driver arrived at the hotel on time. The
    car was very clean and in good condition and most importantly he turned
    out to be a very safe driver which is a must in the Atlas Mountains!

    The guide once we arrived at the Atlas Mountain was also good and the
    food that was prepared for our lunch was really tasty and fresh, a real
    treat.

    MissingEsmeAllen reviewing Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

  18. Very impressed with Tourdust right from enquiring about experiences to our departure. Always very helpful and efficient. We went on the cookery course in Marrakesh and recommend it to anyone of any skill level. The hotel was amazing with fantastic kitchen facilities and when we went to the spice market we were taken through all the herbs and spices and all there uses! A great experience all in all!

    MissingSallyStrudwick reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  19. Very impressed with Tourdust right from enquiring about experiences to our departure. Always very helpful and efficient. We went on the cookery course in Marrakesh and recommend it to anyone of any skill level. The hotel was amazing with fantastic kitchen facilities and when we went to the spice market we were taken through all the herbs and spices and all there uses! A great experience all in all!

    MissingSallyStrudwick reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  20. An exhilarating two day trek soaking up beautiful scenery in the High Atlas. The guide was excellent, spoke good English and very knowledgable. We had many laughs with him. The picnic up the mountain was a very happy moment... a freshly cooked tagine tastes so good in the mountain air. Highly recommended

    MissingYoTakatsuki reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  21. An exhilarating two day trek soaking up beautiful scenery in the High Atlas. The guide was excellent, spoke good English and very knowledgable. We had many laughs with him. The picnic up the mountain was a very happy moment... a freshly cooked tagine tastes so good in the mountain air. Highly recommended

    MissingYoTakatsuki reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  22. I'd give it a 5. Can't think of improvements. The experience itself was great and the guide/muleteer were both fantastic - friendly and generous guys who obviously knew what they were doing. It was the best experience of my holiday there - both the agency and the guides themselves were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. So much of the trip exceeded my expectations and I wouldn't hesitate to book again.

    MissingMarcus Perry reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  23. I'd give it a 5. Can't think of improvements. The experience itself was great and the guide/muleteer were both fantastic - friendly and generous guys who obviously knew what they were doing. It was the best experience of my holiday there - both the agency and the guides themselves were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. So much of the trip exceeded my expectations and I wouldn't hesitate to book again.

    MissingMarcus Perry reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  24. As you predicted, we didn't have one drop of rain and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and already recommended it to our friends.

    So to rate your customer service, it must be 5, and our experience of this trip's rating is also 5.

    Thanks again and keep up the good work.

    MissingWilliam He reviewing Day treks, Camels & Boutique Marrakech

  25. We had a wonderful and rewarding time in the Atlas Mountains. We loved the flexibility of the route and pace, which was possible because we had the guide to ourselves. This is definitely something Tour Dust has above the rest. Ali the cook and his trusty mule were also a bonus!

    MissingCLARE MACDONALD reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  26. We had a wonderful and rewarding time in the Atlas Mountains. We loved the flexibility of the route and pace, which was possible because we had the guide to ourselves. This is definitely something Tour Dust has above the rest. Ali the cook and his trusty mule were also a bonus!

    MissingCLARE MACDONALD reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  27. This was a great trip, although you do need to be prepared for a lot of travel, however that was certainly part of the fun, looking out for motorbikes loaded with livestock, families, kitchen appliances. The landscape was breathtaking, and our guide had lots of information to help us understand our surroundings. The homestay was clean and comfortable, the family fed us extremely well, and were very friendly.

    MissingKaren reviewing Ba Be Lake and Homestay in Vietnam

  28. we have just returned tonight from Morocco and would like you to know how much we enjoyed our Atlas Valley Trek. The guides were fantastic and we were very impressed with Atlas - they responded extremely well to a situation which unexpectedly presented itself : Nanette's leg was causing her some pain so our schedule was slightly altered to give a shorter trip on the 2nd day (the anticipated 6 hours of walking was actually more like 8 hours which in the circumstances would have been too much so the 6 hour day which was then provided was preferable).

    Just to give you some feedback - the change of plan was in fact a benefit in other ways as we did spend a very cold night in an unheated shelter on our first night and the change meant that we had a delightful night in a guest house in Imlil instead of a second freezing night in unheated lodgings. It might be useful in future in terms of info you give out to your guests at this time of year - winter sleeping bags are required even for an indoor mountain stay as the mountain gites aren't heated although the guest house in Imlil was. We both had adequate sleeping bags but hadn't expected to be quite as cold as we were when we got into them!

    Overall this was a great tip and we would definitely use your company again for booking similar holidays in other areas.

    MissingJune reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  29. we have just returned tonight from Morocco and would like you to know how much we enjoyed our Atlas Valley Trek. The guides were fantastic and we were very impressed with Atlas - they responded extremely well to a situation which unexpectedly presented itself : Nanette's leg was causing her some pain so our schedule was slightly altered to give a shorter trip on the 2nd day (the anticipated 6 hours of walking was actually more like 8 hours which in the circumstances would have been too much so the 6 hour day which was then provided was preferable).

    Just to give you some feedback - the change of plan was in fact a benefit in other ways as we did spend a very cold night in an unheated shelter on our first night and the change meant that we had a delightful night in a guest house in Imlil instead of a second freezing night in unheated lodgings. It might be useful in future in terms of info you give out to your guests at this time of year - winter sleeping bags are required even for an indoor mountain stay as the mountain gites aren't heated although the guest house in Imlil was. We both had adequate sleeping bags but hadn't expected to be quite as cold as we were when we got into them!

    Overall this was a great tip and we would definitely use your company again for booking similar holidays in other areas.

    MissingJune reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  30. Tourdust made the booking of our 2-day trek in Morocco extremely easy. I called them up first to ask a bit more about the trek that I wanted to do and what kind of equipment we should take with us. These were all answered very quickly and I even got some advice for other parts of our trip in Morocco. The trek itself went exactly as it should have done, we were picked up promptly from our Riad, the guide was extremely knowledgeable and very friendly and the walk itself was off the beaten track and we saw only 2 other travellers during the full two days which was excellent and made for the true walking experience we were looking for, nothing touristy at all - Thank you!

    MissingRebecca Hardy reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  31. Tourdust made the booking of our 2-day trek in Morocco extremely easy. I called them up first to ask a bit more about the trek that I wanted to do and what kind of equipment we should take with us. These were all answered very quickly and I even got some advice for other parts of our trip in Morocco. The trek itself went exactly as it should have done, we were picked up promptly from our Riad, the guide was extremely knowledgeable and very friendly and the walk itself was off the beaten track and we saw only 2 other travellers during the full two days which was excellent and made for the true walking experience we were looking for, nothing touristy at all - Thank you!

    MissingRebecca Hardy reviewing Boutique Marrakech & Atlas Mountains

  32. Mary and Alison were great - and we learned a lot. Everyone was just so helpful and thoughtful.

    MissingJudith reviewing A weekend of rediscovery

  33. Along the dirt tracks of Masiphumelele, we arrive at the bicycle shop, stocked with imported, second-hand bikes and operated by local residents. One of the first things I notice is a striking mural, which graces the walls of one of the containers. ‘This was painted by the children,’ our guide, Mzwamadoda Zwai explains proudly. ‘This was painted by the children?’ I gasp. In fact, all of these containers comprise an entire complex for the youth including; a sewing centre, a small church, an arts and crafts centre and the bicycle shop itself.

    We are each handed sublime, old fashioned bikes with long, curved handle bars, which you have to pedal backwards to brake. After a rusty start (it’s been years since I’ve ridden a bike!), we are soon cycling through the streets of Masiphumelele, with nothing to separate us from the shacks, houses, dirt tracks and local people. I already feel part of the experience.

    I don’t believe in God, but I’m smiling. I can’t help it

    Our first stop is a Sunday church service and we can hear the rumble of gospel, beckoning from within. We take a seat at the back and observe throngs of people of all ages, in joyous song; dancing and clapping with such energy. When the church leader orders everybody to shake hands with, or hug the person next to them, we are no longer voyeurs, but have folded into this scene. The congregation are shaking us by the hand and offering a warm embrace. ‘I know you,’ one woman says to me, ‘You have a familiar face’. I don’t believe in God, but I’m smiling. I can’t help it. I glance around and the rest of the tour group are too.

    If doctors can’t heal your ailments, an African traditional healer can

    Our second stop in the township of Masiphumelele is the home of a sangoma (an African traditional healer). We cycle past a local shebeen – the music is pumping and loud, in stark contrast to the church from which we have just come. Off road, we dismount and our walk takes us through a myriad of dirt roads and small shacks. It’s raining heavily and large puddles block the majority of our paths. I’m wondering if these shacks suffer flooding when the rain hits. My thoughts are broken as we reach the home of the sangoma.

    This is where you come if doctors can’t heal your ailments; be it physical, emotional or spiritual. We are sat on wooden benches around a low-lit, bare room. A woman sits in a corner with a drum whilst a young traditional healer emerges (the traditional healer’s daughter). ‘Welcome,’ she says. Welcome is also written in many different languages on the walls.

    Mzwamadoda is teaching us some Xhosa words, but we struggle with the pronunciation. It doesn’t come naturally to us to make sounds with the back of the throat at the same time as vowel sounds. We simply don’t have the linguistic coordination. Mzwamadoda offers to translate my questions, as the sangoma doesn’t speak English.

    She is wearing an intricate headdress with tassels, which she tells me takes a full day to make. Her ancestors spoke to her and told her to make the headdress in the colours of red, blue and white. It is these beads that let her know when someone is coming and, thanks to her ancestors, she already knows what is wrong with a person, before they tell her. The bells on her feet act as a drum, when she dances to evoke her ancestors. Although the role of traditional healer is largely inherent in her community, they have been known to share their art with other traditional healers. Beneath the costume and dancing, the piercing eyes of a wise woman peer out. I stare back at her, wondering what it must be like to possess such ability.

    Masiphumelele: ‘We shall succeed’

    Our third and final stop is Charlotte’s Place – a small, but cozy shack which she shares with her granddaughter, Tamika. We huddle in from the rain and sit in her living room, sipping on welcome cups of tea (a detox tea, grown in the Cederberg Mountains) and nibbling on delicious chunks of Vetkoek. Charlotte recalls her childhood – her mother was a domestic worker for an Israeli family in Tamboerskloof, so Charlotte grew up in a large house, dining on mussels and herring, and playing with children from a local boarding school. When the Israeli family left, they bought her family a house in Mitchell’s Plein to thank them for their hard work. Township life, in contrast, took a little getting used to for Charlotte.

    Charlotte has been waiting for a house for a long time. She doesn’t work full time, which is what is required to qualify for housing, and her job as a tourist guide is seasonal. Despite this, she would never leave Masiphumelele, because she loves her community. It’s a community that shares, a community that toyi-toyi’s for better education for all and a community that campaigns to empower its women. In 2008, Masiphumelele was awarded the annual Reconciliation Award from the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), in recognition of it’s efforts to live in peace with foreigners and resist violence. ‘Tamika is always asking ‘why?’ and ‘what?’’ exclaims Charlotte, ‘Perhaps she will become South Africa’s first female president.’

    Before you think of typing ‘Xhosa customs’ into Wikipedia, or driving with your camera pressed against the glass of an air-conditioned bus, think of taking a bicycle tour of Noordhoek’s Masiphumelele instead. This great day tour is fully interactive and opens your eyes to age-old Xhosa customs and the township spirit of togetherness. It’s a unique opportunity to say: ‘I was there’.

    Lisa Nevitt
    Cape Town Magazine, 2010

    Capetownmagazine_icoCapeTownMagazine reviewing Township Tours by Bike

  34. We very much enjoyed the Ben Bikes Township Tour. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable and helped us get a glimpse into life in the Masi township. Seeing the township by bike was a unique and intimate experience. We found the township tour to be an important part of our trip to South Africa to gain an understanding and appreciation for how much of the population lives in these communities. The visit to the healer, the local businesswoman, and a local restaurant was a great experience.

    MissingTracy reviewing Township Tours by Bike

  35. The tour was absolutely brilliant, it was just the 2 of us, and we had the opportunity to meet and discuss with many people working on community projects in the townships all around Cape town. The guide was very friendly and knowledgeable!

    Missingceline reviewing Township Tour in Cape Town - Cape Care Route

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