I went along with G&T Weekends as their photographer for the kind of weekend away you always wanted to organise for 20 or so of your best friends. These guys find amazing villas, lodges and mansions in out-of-the-way places and pull together 20 to 30 people, mostly strangers who definitely become friends, to take the place over for the weekend, throwing lavish meals and soirees, taking us out for unique, local adventures during the days.

I’m the kind of traveller that takes things slow and as they come. I don’t plan much in advance, I leave things open-ended and rarely travel in groups. This is all great but if I’d done Morocco my style, I wouldn’t have seen the things I saw on this trip. And I treasure these experiences I had.

Holding on for dear life on the back of a quad bike as we flew through the desert sands, up and down over the pink and green pastel sands to join a nomadic Berber man (with his own Nokia mobile phone) in his tent for tea. Hiking through the Atlas Mountains single file snaking through the mountains and tiny villages with no other tourists in sight, looking up to see the most surprising pink mountain ranges surrounding us. And lunch afterwards with a Berber family cooking our meal, the best meal of the trip, using ingredients grown in their garden. Long lunches and candle-lit dinners, communal, out in the open at the villa nestled in the olive trees with nice wine flowing. A final evening driven out to the middle of the orange sand desert for drinks and dinner in our own tent, where we decided to impromptu hike, up a giant hill to get the best view of sunset. Afternoons sipping the local brand of beer they call ‘Special’ in the pool floating around and laughing.

It was nice for a change to be a part of a group of people. But if you like me are not one for partying into the night, request a room away from the action like I did so you can get your rest. But if this kind of partying is your style, these guys really know how to throw a good house party too.

With so many photos from this trip, I'll be posting a few more posts from some of our experiences with G&T Weekends.

G&T Weekends >