Student Spotlight: Sadie Daniel

My name is Sadie Daniel and I’m participating in the Leadership Through Outdoor Education program in Rabat, Morocco. Today our vibrant, yet small group of 5, ventured off to the Atlas Mountains right outside of Marrakesh to Terres D’Amanar. Terres D’Amanar is both a hotel as well as an area full of several incredibly fun adventures. The location has everything from horseback riding to the longest straight shot zipline in Africa at a whopping 430 meters long. 

Around 7:30 AM, me and one of my peers/friends in the program got up and went down to the lobby in our Marrakshi hotel, Hotel Diwane, to grab some breakfast. At 8:30, our group had packed up, checked out of the hotel, and set out on our hour long journey to Terres D’Amanar. The drive there was beautiful. Sprawling mountains, camels, and people just living their daily lives could all be found around us. I sat by the window of the bus and stared outside while listening to some music I found suitable for the drive. There was more than one occurrence where I sat there, mouth wide open, in awe of my surroundings. We eventually pulled up to the location and stepped out into the sweltering heat of the Moroccan desert. The sight was beautiful; I looked around and saw mountains, cliffs, and canyons for miles. 

We soon learned that we would have to wait about 40 minutes until the ziplining section of the park was open, so we headed over to an outdoor seating area, and I sat by the side of the (fenced off) cliff to savor in the sun and get a bit of a tan. CIEE covered any and all drinks at the park so we got a few bottles of water and a soda and hung out for a while. Eventually the park’s workers told us it was time to start and led us over to a small example area where the worker explained to us how to position ourselves while ziplining as well as how to slow down when signaled to. We hiked a bit towards the starting point where several workers helped us into our gear, and hairnets. Then as a group of helmeted lunch ladies, we trekked up the hill and hooked ourselves up to the first section. 

The course contains 4 ziplines as well as two bridges, starting and ending with a bridge. When we first stepped onto the bridge, it was shocking. We were standing over a canon, staring death in the eye (although nothing bad would happen if we fell); it was thrilling. One by one we got across the bridge, as did others participating in the course with us. We walked up from there to the first zipline and flew across the valley, trees sprawling below us. It was an experience of a lifetime. We worked through each zipline, each more thrilling than the last, flying all throughout the Atlas Mountains. 

Then we came to the last zipline, 430 meters in length, going almost further than I could see. The team warned us we may not make it all the way across and might need to pull ourselves up the last 10 meters. I hooked myself up to the line, laid all the way back, knees as high as possible, and set off. It felt like nothing could touch me; I was having the time of my life. Sadly, I didn’t make it the whole way, and had to pull myself for a couple seconds, but it was completely worth it. We all made it across and finally, hooked ourselves up to the last bridge, which was far longer than the first one, and made the final trek to the end. We took off our sweaty helmets and hairnets, took a quick dishevled selfie, and headed back to Marrakesh for lunch, and later, Rabat for dinner.