This was my fourth trip with Zegrahm…
This was my fourth trip with Zegrahm and the first three were great. I had been told by other travelers that the quality at Zegrahm had slipped and this trip reinforced this view. The only way to get to La Praia by the start of the trip was to come in a day early and paying for an extra night; we arrived at 1:30 a.m. and the trip started at noon the next day. The first night should have been part of the trip especially since so many had a hard time getting there. The local guides in the islands were fine but those in Morocco were not. We pay more to travel with companies like Zegrahm to avoid the usual stops at stores that give kickbacks to the guides. Thus, we knew what was coming when a day earlier the guide said that the souk was very dangerous and we should only go to those places that he approved. Thus, as my wife related, the entire group got delayed when a couple tried to get out of a purchase when they saw the storeowners laughing at them for being so stupid. The guide, of course, did not want to lose his kickback. I went to the Atlas Mountains on that day and the guides were poor. They said that our morning walk would only be 2 hours; 5 hours later after struggling through rain and mud, we finally got back to the van. We had begged for the van to come to the town and pick us up but were told that the van couldn't negotiate the road to the town even though other cars and trucks easily made it there. Thus, with all of us dead tired, we had to struggle up the hill to the van. Those who stayed in Marrakech got a sumptuous lunch; we just had a crummy sandwich and a half a cookie from the hotel in a box. Since there were a number of restaurants where we stopped for lunch, why wouldn't Zegrahm simply spring for a hot lunch; as it was, we got thrown out of a restaurant for bringing out our box lunches. The observation point there was a short walk but half the group were already so dead tired that they stayed back. Also, a major reason that we signed up for this trip was that Mark Brazil was listed as the ornithologist and we had always wanted to travel with him. Jim was fine but he had never been to any of these places before and didn't even bring a spotting scope. Except for Rich Pagen and Mike Messick, the other leaders also seemed to be the second string especially one who just seemed to make up her presentations on the fly and another who shamelessly kept pushing his own trips, even following people into their rooms. The food was good but we didn't expect the extra charges since we have been and will be traveling with Apex where the payment is all-inclusive.
By THOMAS E.