Broadening our Lens in Mystical Morocco 

A luxury photography and yoga retreat 

Join us on an epic and transformational journey to the mystical land of Morocco. This unique trip offers you the opportunity to experience Morocco both through the lens of your camera as well as through the lens of yoga.  We will stay at exquisite Peacock Pavilions, a high-end boutique hotel in Marrakesh recognized by Forbes, CNN, Elle Decor and others as one of the world’s most beautiful. 

While Jessica Riley will guide you through all-levels yoga classes at the start of each day, photographer Julia Cumes  will offer photographic guidance as we explore some of Morocco's most visually and culturally vibrant places.  No prior yoga or photography experience is necessary.  Participants may use phone cameras or DSLRs.  

Lastly, we will meet with girls from Project SOAR, a non-profit organization which educates and empowers teenage girls in the developing world. As part  of our commitment to fostering connection and understanding, we will  have the opportunity to meet with members of Project SOAR during our  retreat. We look forward to sharing a meal together, exchanging stories,  and engaging in meaningful dialogue. Through this interaction, we aim  to create connections, bridge cultures, and gain a deeper understanding  of each other's lives and experiences. 

By the end of the week, we hope to broaden your lens, shed layers of cultural identities that divide us, inspire you, empower you and fill your hearts.

Trip Highlights

• Explore the mythical and culturally intriguing city of Marrakesh including its famed Jemaa el-Fnaa square, medina and markets.
• Photograph the beautiful coastal city of Essaouira with its famed fortress, stunning beach and exotic shops.
• Experience the Atlas Mountains which have long been home to some of North Africa's most remote villages and cultures. 
• Visit the beautifully designed Majorelle Garden, Islamic Art Institute and Berber Museum.
• Enjoy an outdoor viewing of "Casablanca" with wine and popcorn in Peacock Pavilion's beautiful gardens

Peacock Pavilions, famed for its luxurious Moroccan decor and beautiful grounds, is located in a private olive grove on the outskirts of Marrakesh. Featured in dozens of magazines and television shows (CNN International, House and Garden Television, the New York Times, Elle Decor and Forbes among others), the hotel is a favorite location for travelers in the know.  It's also frequently used for fashion shoots, yoga retreats, creative workshops and celebrations of all kinds.

The estate is comprised of three pavilions: the Main Pavilion, the Atlas Pavilion and the Medina Pavilion, as well as a host of outdoor areas.

FOOD 

The hotel delights in menus featuring farm-to-table, elevated Moroccan cuisine so good it was featured in Food and Travel Magazine!  Food is prepared the old-fashion way – made from scratch.  The chef will provide a fixed daily menu that relies on local, fresh ingredients, some from Peacock Pavilion's own gardens.

Breakfasts - Fresh bread made daily from the village’s communal bread oven (rebuilt as part of their charity, Project Soar), homemade jams, eggs or muffins, yogurt, fruit, just-squeezed juice, coffee and tea.

Lunches – Light and fresh (soups, salads, quiches, etc.) served with cookies or fruit for dessert.

Dinners – Three delicious courses, served by candle light, ending in an herbal infusion from the garden to help you sleep

To enhance your experience, meals are served in several locations, depending on weather conditions.

Jessica Riley

Jessica has trained under Natasha Rizopoulos, Nicole Clark, Jill Abraham, Nikki Meyers, and S.N. Goenka in Yoga and meditation.  Jessica teaches vinyasa and restorative yoga, while investigating yogic themes that invite her students to go inward in order to be able to connect better outward.  

Jessica opened Evoke Yoga in Hyannis in 2016 with the intention of creating a supportive, energetic community, with opportunities to grow and thrive through the ancient wisdom of yoga. Though she sold Evoke in 2021, she continues to teach classes and teacher trainings.  She has been bringing groups of people on yoga retreats for five years, to different countries each time. This will be the seventh yoga retreat she leads. 

Julia Cumes is a South African-born photographer based on Cape Cod,  MA. She's passionate about storytelling and capturing real  moments of human connection as well as expressive portraits. Her favorite projects are focused on women and girls and the struggles they face around the world as well as wildlife conservation and she has worked on stories with these themes both locally and internationally. 

Over the course of her career, Julia has photographed for magazines, newspapers, humanitarian and wildlife rescue organizations, businesses  and private clients. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe and New York Times and  as well as a variety of other national and local publications.  

While she completed a B.A. at Brandeis University, an M.F.A. in writing at  Cornell University, a Masters in Photojournalism at Syracuse  University’s Newhouse School, she says "most of what I've learned has been from  being out in the field, listening to the stories of people I've been  lucky enough to meet and photograph." Julia has spent time teaching photography to children in Rwanda as well as to tribal Samburu Women at the On'gan Women's Cooperative in Kenya.  She also teaches photography workshops and classes locally and internationally and was chosen as the "2024 Artist of the Year" by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  You can see more of her work at www.juliacumes.com or on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/juliacumes/. 

Airport Transfers

6:30 Welcome Dinner

8:30 Welcome Circle

9:00 Yoga

10:30 breakfast

11:30 slide show, into to travel photography

1:30 Lunch

2:30 leave for the Medina (old world walled-in pedestrian section of the city with may narrow maze-like streets)

3:00 Guided Tour of Medina (4 Hours)

7:00 Dinner in Town (Nomad, Salt, Le Jardin)

9:30 Transfer back to hotel

8:00 Morning Yoga

10:00 Visit Essouira, an enchanting, laid-back city whose name means “little picture” in Arabic. It’s a painter’s dream location with a vibrant blue-and-white “medina” (inner walled city), enclosed by fairy-tale, sand-coloured ramparts and imposing stone gates. Beyond the colorful port, rolling waves and a wide beach stretching for miles complete the canvas. 

Sunset photo session at the beach 

Dinner in the Medina

8:00 Yoga
10:00 Breakfast
11:00 Transfer to Majorelle Gardens/Berber Museum/YSL Museum (180 MAD per person)
1:00 Lunch in Gueliz (Kawa Cafe, Cafe 16, Grande Cafe de la Poste)
6:00 group slideshow and photo critique with Julia
7:30 Dinner 
9:00 Outdoor Cinema with wine and popcorn (Casablanca)

 7:00 Morning Yoga

8:30 Breakfast

10:00 Transfer to Kasbah du Toubkal (Atlas Mountains; Imlil)

1:00 Lunch at Kasbah du Toubkal

3:00 Guided Hike at Kasbah du Toubkal

5:00 Transfer from Kasbah du Toubkal to hotel

7:30 Light Dinner in Medina Pavilion

 7:30 Yoga

9:00 Breakfast

10:00 Transfer Marrakech for photographing and exploring

1:00/2:00 Late Lunch in the Medina (nearby Cafe Clock has amazing camel burgers)

3:00 Additional Shopping in Medina

4:00 Transfer from Medina to Hotel

5:30 Final slideshow of everyone’s photos

7:30 Farewell Dinner 

9:30 Closing Circle

 Breakfast

Departures