Where you stay, what you eat, how you get here.

Full-board shared accommodation in a traditional Moroccan rammed-earth home in Oasis Tighmert, rented by Firm Foundations for the year.

This is a rammed-earth family house, not a hotel or a riad. The walls are thick and the rooms stay cool, which is exactly why they are built this way. Expect simple, shared, practical accommodation.

• Traditional
• Simple
• Communal
• Practical
• Naturally suited to the local climate

Some weekend accommodation on the coast is in tents or chalets rather than in the house.

Rooms accommodate two, three or four people depending on the size of the room. Accommodation is shared throughout.

Some of the rooms are long — up to about twelve metres — which is why the number sharing varies from two to four.

Private rooms are not offered on this course.

Rammed earth is the traditional construction here, and it is traditional because it works. The walls are thick enough to hold back the midday heat and to keep the warmth in during the cooler months. They also absorb and release moisture, so the air inside stays comfortable rather than dry or clammy. People who have slept in an earth house tend to remember it.

Each attendee is provided with:

• A mattress
• A blanket
• A pillow
• Bed linen

A sleeping bag is on the recommended packing list and is genuinely useful for the nights on the coast.

Meals are included throughout the course, apart from anything bought independently.

• Morning refreshments, cakes and biscuits
• A second traditional beldi breakfast
• Tajine or couscous for lunch
• Tajine or couscous for supper
• Friday-night BBQ
• Prepared weekend meals and drinks
• Beach BBQ
• Farewell South African braai

The beldi breakfast

The second breakfast at Firm Foundations is the traditional local one, typically including:

• Bread
• Olive oil
• Honey
• Cheese
• Butter
• Amlou
• Eggs
• Moroccan green tea

• The bread

  Round flat bread, baked over a palm-frond fire in a clay oven. It is worth arriving hungry for.

• The tajine

  A two-part clay cooker — a heavy dish with a high rim and a cone-shaped lid that seals into it. Set over gas or charcoal it works as a low-pressure cooker, so meat and vegetables come out tender. It appears at lunch and again at supper, and does not get boring as quickly as you would expect.

• Friday

  The tradition locally is couscous for lunch after the Jumuah prayer, followed by fresh fruit or something sweet.

The course fee of £580 covers the fourteen days: tuition, full-board shared accommodation, the included meals listed above, and the organised weekend travel and activities described on the Weekends page.

• Tuition for the whole fourteen days
• Full-board shared accommodation
• Included meals, refreshments and the BBQs and braai
• Private-hire bus and organised weekend travel from Tighmert

Meals purchased independently from restaurants during time in Guelmim or Sidi Ifni are not included. Bring appropriate pocket money.

If your flights mean arriving a day early or leaving a day late, raise it with Yasin Fox when you book — arrangements for extra nights are agreed case by case and are not part of the course fee.

Attendees arrange and pay for their own flights and airport transfers.

The venue is in Ait Bookoo, Oasis Tighmert — not in Guelmim city. Oasis Tighmert is approximately 15–20 minutes from Guelmim city.

Once you are here, moving between the village and the city is straightforward and cheap.

• Grand taxi — village to city

  Shared taxis run regularly between Tighmert and Guelmim. About fifteen minutes; roughly 8 dirhams by day and 10 at night.

• Petit taxi — within Guelmim

  The red-and-white cars work inside the city only. Roughly 5 or 6 dirhams to anywhere in town.

• Long distance

  Taxis and coaches run from Guelmim to Tiznit, Agadir, Tan-Tan, Laayoune, Dakhla, Marrakesh, Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier.

Avoid travelling late in the evening, after Maghrib — there are noticeably fewer taxis about.

Days are warm and nights can be cool, and you will be both in a classroom and on a beach. Bring for both.

• Sleeping bag
• Towel
• Sunscreen
• Toiletries
• A torch
• Course books
• Notebook and stationery
• Warm-weather clothing
• Cool-weather clothing
• Outdoor shoes
• Indoor slip-on shoes
• Light fishing tackle — a two or three-piece rod travels easily
• European two-pin travel adapter

Please leave these at home:

• Drones
• Musical instruments

The organiser may assist after arrival with:

• Obtaining a local SIM card and credit
• Currency exchange
• Guidance on purchasing suitable Moroccan clothing

If there is anything you need to arrange before travelling, raise it with the Founder & Program Manager rather than leaving it to the day.