THERE’S A certain type of person who can’t bear to be thought of as a tourist. He or she much prefers the epithet “traveller”.
By the same token, the last thing they want, when they travel, is to be among other travellers. What they want
from a holiday is to live like a native.
Unfortunately, really going native typically requires an extended stay, not something many of us can afford to do right now. As for doing it with kids, forget it.
It is, however, not entirely impossible. UK holiday company Responsible Travel (not Responsible Tourism, you’ll note) has a mini-break that allows your family live with a nomadic Berber family in the Moroccan Sahara.
No monstrous 4x4 desert safari this, instead you’ll be crossing the Erg Chebbi dunes on a camel, eating tagine from the family pot, helping bake the daily bread, feeding sheep and bringing the donkey to the well by day, and sleeping in a tent by night.
And, lest you veer close to a touristic image of sitting cheerily round a campfire, forget it. You’re specifically asked not to request a campfire for your own enjoyment here, but rather let the family conserve their fuel for cooking.
The host family benefits not only by directly receiving an income but because it helps their children learn foreign languages too, a valuable skill in the region.
Guests are also welcome to donate items of clothing to the children when they
leave, a socially acceptable gesture.
What’s more, you can do it all in a three-day mini-break, at a tour-only price of £87 (currently just over €100) per person excluding flights.
* responsibletravel.com