JOHHNY (Панама) We found Khalil on Tripzaza and thank previous reviewers for steering us to the best tour guide in Marrakech! Khalil is not only a great tour guide, he is a good steward for the tourism industry in Morocco and clearly cares about making sure we tourists have a great experience in his city. We did two afternoon tours with Khalil on the first two days we were in Marrakech, one in the Medina (including the souks) and one on the sights outside the Medina.
Abdul met us in the lobby of our riad the first afternoon, and took us on a walk through the Medina to the souks. He showed us all the different craft sections in the souks and when we wanted to buy something, he helped with the haggling (after letting us try on our own). He made sure we got fair deals and even had one shopkeeper give back some money to us (I am not a good negotiator with persistent, yet friendly, shopkeepers). He knew the good shops and helped us find what we wanted. At the end of the souk tour, lugging our many bags of goods (Abdul helped carry some too!), we ended up at Jemaa El Fna at about sunset. We wanted to take lots of photos of cobras, storytellers, water guys, monkeys, etc, etc. Khalill made sure we knew what to tip the guys we photographed. Then he got us to a rooftop restaurant overlooking Jemaa El Fna and somehow managed to find us seating at a table near the railing with a great view of Koutoubia Mosque and the sunset (which we photographed repeatedly). He also gave us good instructions on how to get a cab back to the entrance way in the Medina leading back to our riad and how much we should pay for the cab ride. After that one afternoon with Khalil, we felt comfortable enough to get ourselves back from Jemaa El Fna on our own and did it with no problem.
The second afternoon we went to Bahia Palace, Jardin Majorelle (Yves St Laurent garden - beautiful and a great place to photograph) and Museum of Moroccan Berber history there, and ended up at Palmeraie around sunset. All these places were great to visit and photograph. Khalil had interesting things to tell us about each of the places and made sure we saw the highlights of each place. He took care of arranging for comfortable transportation, purchasing the tickets, and made everything easy.
Aside from the tour duties, Abdul found ATMs for us, good places for a rest, and for beverages and bathrooms. He even found us a great bar for a drink in a posh hotel, which we liked so much, we went back several nights later for dinner. He recommended another restaurant to us that we also tried and loved. He was patient with our slower pace and our need to take a rest once in a while. He had some good jokes and good stories. We felt like we saw a lot - everything we wanted to see - but never felt rushed or overwhelmed. Khalil obviously takes great pride in his work in showing tourists his wonderful country and making us feel comfortable there. Khalil is the best!