Mirleft is a small, unassuming coastal town in southern Morocco known for its beaches, surfing, and ruins of a French fort overlooking town. Roughly 7,000 people live in the area, which varies from season to season.
We’re here to try out our very first Worldschool Hub. What’s that, you ask? It’s a physical gathering point where traveling families come together for education and social connection. Usually, there’s a coordinator and a fee that covers staff and activity costs.
Our Euro-African Journey (So Far...)
We’ve heard that these are particularly good for families just getting started with a nomadic lifestyle or worldschooling. Since we’ve already been doing this a number of years, we weren’t sure if something like this would be a good fit for us.
But these hubs do tend to offer two things that are hard to come by for us: An opportunity for the kids to be with a cohort of the same kids for an extended period of time, and some time apart (from us, their parents).
Morocco seemed like an ideal place to try this out owing to the lower costs involved, longer stay (we get three months in country, visa-free), and opportunity to do a hub in a beach town.
So, here we are, in our new home for the next 30 days: Mirleft, Morocco.
Our apartment is just steps from the ocean, but a 20-walk to town (you have to choose to be closer to one or the other in Mirleft—we’re happy with our decision). Fortunately, the Hub House (the center of many of the activities), is only a five-minute walk from where we are staying. So is this:
Our neighborhood is characterized by concrete houses like these. Most are either unfinished, actively under construction, or vacant for the winter months.
This is the main road through town and part of Morocco’s coastal highway. Theoretically, you could take this road all the way to Mauritania and beyond, but we haven’t met anyone who’s done that.
This is the commercial district and center of tourism in Mirleft where you’ll find most of the souvenir and surf shops, grocery stores, and some of the more established restaurants.
On our first morning, we hit up a popular spot for Berber omelettes. Then, it was off to stock up the apartment for the week. First stop, the very well-stocked produce store.
There are no large supermarkets anywhere near here. But it seems like they can grow or source just about any type of basic fruit or vegetable in this little town.
Then, it’s on to pick up some chicken.
There’s no mistaking what goes on here.
The live chickens seem unaffected by the state of their cousins in the next case over. If they’re cool with it, so am I.
We came for a kilo of chicken breasts, but were disappointed to only find whole chickens. Not a problem! This guy chops to order. Doesn’t get fresher than that.
Of all the places we’ve had to arrange so far in Europe and Morocco, our housing is in Mirleft was the easiest by far.
When we signed up for the hub a couple months ago, we asked the coordinator Aliyah what kind of housing options they had. She asked for our criteria and budget, presented us with a handful of options, and we picked one.
Two months later, we met the landlord at the house, paid the month’s rent, and moved in. No BS, nothing to sign. There were a couple hiccups along the way, but it was more or less that simple.
A recently-constructed, fully-furnished two-bedroom ocean-view apartment with terrace for US$700. There were cheaper options, but the terrace and proximity to the water were important to us.
The boys had a nice view out there window, and so did our private terrace.
Sunday, we gathered at the Hub House for a meet and greet. Then, we split into smaller groups for a little guided tour around town.
Staff pointed out the various recommended places to buy things, as well as the banks, health clinic, and where to grab transport—all stuff that Lori and I are used to figuring out ourselves, but it was kind of nice having someone else do it for a change.
The boys quickly made some new friends and were looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow on their first day.
Monday morning, we made the 15-minute walk to the bank (meet up spot) for the boys first day of the Hub. Sunday had been a bit cool and stormy, but the weather today was shaping up to be just about ideal.
Every Monday, the traveling souk (market) makes its way to Mirleft. The souk is filled with produce, second-hand items, bath and kitchenware, earthenware, and lots of random trinkets to peruse.
This first Monday Souk, the parents were invited to tag along.
Fortunately, our boys don’t ask if they can buy things. But there were some old coins and antiques that caught Noe’s eye.
We said our goodbyes to the boys for the first time in a couple of months and finished up the rest of our grocery shopping sans kiddos.
The boys went off to do fun things like learn Darija (the local Arabic dialect) and later, play at the beach with their new friends.
There were a number of other fun activities planned throughout the week, which we’d learn about the night before and get a summary of the night after.
Tuesday’s highlights were a photo scavenger hunt around town, and Henna “tattoos” with Ms. Mina.
We had some rain and colder temperatures the first week, but when the weather did cooperate, we tried to take advantage of it. Some days, that meant simply walking five minutes to check on the Atlantic.
The coastline here is rugged and stunning, particularly when the evening sun hits it just right.
Lori found a nice spot to workout in the mornings. Evidently, Riley thought it was a nice spot too.
On Wednesday, the hub kids went on a hike to the French fort overlooking town.
The ages of the hub attendees range from age 6 all the way to 19, with about 20 attendees total (not counting parents).
The Hub was originally supposed to be split into three separate groups, but in the end it was just two: Kids/Tweens and Teens.
Oftentimes, they’d mix the older kids with the younger kids, which Riley, in particular, appreciated. Noe, for his part, mostly enjoyed hanging out with the 8 to 12-year-olds.
We didn’t eat out a lot in Mirleft, but when we did, the food was pretty darn good.
Fein Burger became our go-to cheap and quick place to grab dinner. They whip up reliably good Moroccan tacos, wraps, and burgers in minutes.
We got the feeling that a lot of the other families shunned the place because it wasn’t Moroccan enough. By the time we arrived in Mirleft, we had already been in Morocco for a month and were ready for something besides the usual tajines and couscous (and honestly, these days, Moroccan tacos have become just as much of a staple among locals).
That’s not to say we didn’t have some tasty Moroccan food. This is perhaps the biggest couscous I’ve ever seen.
On Thursday, it was “Bestie-Bracelet” making and learning some traditional Berber dance moves and songs from some local musicians.
Every Friday, the hub house hosts a big lunch for all of the kids and their families. The first couple of hours is spent preparing local dishes, then everyone chows down.
Fridays hub days are a bit shorter, so afterwards, we still had plenty of time to head to the beach with some of Noe and Riley’s new friends and their mom.
There is a closer beach to our apartment (Aftas Beach), but we thought today might be a good time to check out one of the farther beaches (Imim Turga Beach).
In the warmer months, this beach is packed with umbrellas and beachgoers. Here in February, the water may be too chilly to swim in, but we have the whole beach almost to ourselves.
No matter where you go, mint tea is never far—even on the beach.
