A Treasure hunt through Morocco - A guide

On 1st November 2018, 14 people landed in Marrakech. They knew only that they were to embark on a 3-day treasure hunt, having been vetted for their skills and phobias and told to pack lightly.

It was Jan’s 30th birthday and he wanted to celebrate by doing something thrilling with people we loved. Landing on the idea of a large-scale treasure hunt, and not finding an experience we could pay for, we invented one ourselves.

When the race was officially over, we shared a meal at a long banquet table under the stars and the atmosphere was electric. A deep happiness was born from unexpected shared experience.

Here is a write up of the race itself, as told by one of the participants [link]. This article is for anyone that wants to to organise it themselves. So here follows a step by step guide to creating the same 3-day race that the participants said was one of the best experiences of their lives.

We describe the race in a step-by-step fashion, with each step containing a description of the Experience from the participants’ perspective, as well as a note on How we did it to help you re-create it. Finally, at the bottom of the page you will find a complete Resources directory with templated documents, links and tips.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Invitation & Registration
• Pre-Race Communication
• Thursday: Arrival, Teams & Rules of the Game
• Friday: Breakfast & Onboarding
• Friday: Marrakech Schnitzeljagd
• Friday: Airport Car Challenge
• Friday: the race to Cascades d’Ourika
• Friday: The Race to Imlil
• Saturday: Further into the Mountains in 4x4s
• Saturday: A Perilous Hike
• Saturday: L’Overai & finding their cars again
• Saturday: The Final Straight
• Saturday: Boss Level
• Saturday: Feasting beneath the stars
• Sunday: Post-race Relaxation
• The Directory
• Links and resources you might find useful

Introduction

• What: A 3 day treasure hunt style race
• Where: Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains
• Number of participants: 15 people in 3 teams of 5. You could add 1 more team without it becoming logistically much more difficult.
• Length: 3 days. Thursday night to Saturday night.
• Price: £4k. Each participant paid £160 + flights. Organisers paid the rest (about £2k)

The race was designed to test people’s physical, intellectual and emotional strength, whilst being enjoyed by a diverse group of people from low to high fitness.

It took place across Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains and a lake called Lalla Takerkoust. It began on Thursday evening in the city and ended once the first team had opened a treasure chest at a final, unknown location.

On arrival participants were divided into teams and given pre-defined roles. In order to progress, each team needed to travel to a checkpoint and complete a challenge, which would unlock a clue as to the whereabouts of the next checkpoint. The challenges were categorised as mental, physical or social.

Transport included lots of hiking, some running, a bit of swimming, taxis, rental cars and 4x4s. We could not make horses work without moving outside our budget. Accommodation included hostels, mountain lodges and Berber tents. Most meals were pre organised. The whole thing cost about £4k, of which the participants paid half.

Invitation & Registration

Experience

• 7 months before the race, 25 people received an email invitation:

Invitation Email

• 4 months before the race we created an informal Whatsapp group reminding people to buy flights.
• 2 months before the race participants received a Registration Form which asked about skills and phobias, and collected drivers licenses and payment details.

How we did it

• We used Typeform to create the invitation: https://typeform.com
• Typeform integrates with Stripe so you can easily collect payments
• 2 people dropped out even though they had already booked their flights — keep this in mind, especially if the cost of sign up is lower in your case.

Pre-Race Communication

Experience

• A week before the race, people were invited to a formal Race Whatsapp group, including all participants, with our logo as the icon. They were sent the following packing and arrival instructions:

• On arrival morning, Thursday, participants received the following message:

• When participants arrived at the airport they bought a Telecom Maroc sim card from the phone shop inside the airport. As you will see, data is critical for this thing to work, so it is important that all participants buy Telcom Maroc, not Orange, which has far inferior coverage across Morocco. This shop closes at 6pm and you need you passport a pick one up.

How we did it

• We intentionally did not include information about where they would meet us or sleep on arrival day, to keep the suspense as high as possible.
• The “The Race” Whatsapp group was our main way of communicating with the teams throughout the race. We used it for broadcasting messages to all participants.
• We recommend you arrange with the hostel beforehand for people to be able to leave bags, and communicate this to the participants.

Thursday: Arrival, Teams & Rules of the Game

Experience

• At 21:00 everyone gathered on a restaurant rooftop near Jemaa el Fna and shared a pre-paid dinner of tanjines, couscous, fresh salads and tea. Highly recommend Cafe Guerrab.
• After introductions they received their first challenge, to find out who their teams were and discover their team name.
• They each received a gold envelope with their name one, containing just a section of map with coloured markings. They had to figure out that the sections fitted together to form 3 whole maps.
• The markings each circled a street name and had a number written next to them. They needed to figure out that the number referred to the nth letter in the street name, and then find a team name from the resulting anagram.

• Thus the teams came into being and each participant was each given a strip of material to tie about their person, denoting their team colour. Sultans (red), Berbers (blue) and Desert (yellow).
• We walked 10 minutes to our pre-booked B&B, were assigned dorm rooms, and then gathered on the roof terrace for the final reveal of the day. Rodamon Riad, Marrakesh.
• Each team were given a blue A4 envelope containing a team letter which included rules of the game, a Key Card, and Role cards explaining each role. Each team envelope contained a golden envelope with each person’s name on the front and their role card within:
• The roles included the Navigator — responsible for navigation and map reading, the Communicator — responsible for all communication from the race course to HQ, the Captain — the ultimate decision maker in each team, the Pilot — responsible for commanding any vehicles during the race, and…the Intern — there to support the grown ups.

An example of the Role card each person received (front and back)

Letter to the team introducing the Game

Key Card explaining power ups

How we did it

• We compiled all the envelopes the week before we flew to Morocco so we would not need to find a print shop there. The golden envelopes were inexpensive and a great touch.
• We visited the restaurant and BnB in the days preceding to confirm they were expecting us and pre-pay if necessary. We would recommend assigning rooms ahead of time and not giving participants a choice. This would have save a lot of time before heading up to the roof.

Friday: Breakfast & Onboarding

Experience

• Participants assembled at 7.30am downstairs in the breakfast area to receive a summary of the first rules, apart from our army officer friend who was sitting alone in the dark, ready to go at 6.30am.
• HQ gave an introductory talk, reminding the team about the rules of the game and how power ups worked. The mantra was, have fun… and win by whatever means necessary.
• HQ checked that each team had a working telephone and an individual Whatsapp group set up, including only that team and HQ.
• HQ also checked that each team was sharing location with the main Race Whatsapp group and had chosen a team icon.
• The 3 teams were presented with another team envelope which contained the rules of the Marrakesh Schnitzeljagd (‘treasure hunt’ in German). Atop the envelope lay a key with no explanation.

The Instructions for the Treasure Hunt Challenge in Marrakech (left) and The Map required to complete the Treasure Hunt Challenge (right)

How we did it

• Here it’s worth noting the concept of rubber banding, a common game mechanic employed in video games. For example, in Mario Kart, players at the back are more likely to get lightnings and red shells, while those at the front are more likely to get bananas. This increases the likelihood of a close finish, and makes the race more fun. This is the logic we used with our power ups.
• The team-specific Whatsapp groups allowed us to communicate with teams one at a time. They were used for teams to inform HQ when they had completed a challenge, and for HQ to provide them with clues.
• It’s also worth noting that it is wise to keep most clues digital, and not be reliant on things and people in the real world.
• We did not communicate the end day/time of the race, which participants later said they would have appreciated. They thought it might carry on until Sunday.

Friday: Marrakech Schnitzeljagd

Experience

• At 08.30am the teams were allowed to leave the B&B. HQ was having to hold them back from the door.
• Two teams went in one direction, the other went opposite, all teams could see each other on the Race Whatsapp group.
• Sultans opted for speed and clocked out after only 7 coins, requesting the clue to the next checkpoint. Desert and Berber went for all coins before moving to the next checkpoint which was to impact the game later.
• Started at 08.30am and the last team arrived at the next checkpoint — the airport — at 11.30am, which worked well.

How we did it

• We designed the Marrakech Schnitzeljagd based on locations chosen on Google maps before we got to Morocco. When we got there we did the course and made 2 amendments. The course was designed so that the whole thing would take at least 2 hours if walked.
• We had been told by a co-founder of the Crystal Maze experience in London that teams would cheat if at all possible. This proved to be true immediately — e.g. teams chancing extra points for photos of locations that looked similar to what they were supposed to find. Attempted cheating was a major component of the race experience as it turned out, and we were pleased to have designed the whole of it with cheating in mind.
• We did not check opening times of two of the challenge locations, and in fact 2 places opened only 30min after race start — keep that in mind.
• In the meantime, we took a taxi to the airport with one of us navigating the taxi, the other on HQ comms.

Friday: Airport Car Challenge

Experience

• Once they had swapped 5 coins for the next clue, each team was sent an airplane emoji to their team Whatsapp group. Once they got to the airport, they were sent a photo of a license plate. After 10 minutes they were sent a map of the airport car park with an area demarcated in which to find a car.

The clue that followed the Treasure Hunt Challenge (left) and Team Sultan arriving at the airport (right)

• Once they found the car they had to figure out how to open it. One team checked on wheels and under the exhaust before realising it was unlocked. They found the rental car desk inside the airport and sent HQ screenshots of their database. HQ immediately recalled them from the airport terminal.
• At some point they would look around their vehicle and see HQ, Jan and Lucy, sitting in a car directly opposite them.
• Once inside the car, a book under the drivers seat held the clue to their next destination. Letters were highlighted throughout the book, spelling “Cascades Ourika”.

The airport car park clue (left) and the last team trying to figure out how to open their car — the others’ had left already (right)

How we did it

• We found an app called Rentalcars easiest to use. We booked the cars on there a month beforehand, and chose Hertz. We opted for the 2nd cheapest car option.
• We rented one car for each team and one for HQ: 4 in total.
• This required all Pilots sending passport and drivers licenses in advance through the Race Registration form. Note that the deposit was £1k per car, and we got full excess insurance. You only get the deposit back 30 days after you give the cars back.
• Went to the airport 1 day before to make sure our debit cards worked (only credit cards or mastercard debit works, you can’t use visa debit), rent the cars and get the keys.
• Sitting in our car at the airport, watching the teams running around the car park searching for their car, and eventually noticing that we were in a car watching them, was one of our favourite moment of the race.

Friday: the race to Cascades d’Ourika

Experience

• They drove from the airport to Cascades d’Ourika . They walked up from the bottom, about half an hours walk to the waterfall to take a photo.
• Once they had sent a picture of the whole team in front of the waterfall, they had an enforced break of 30 mins before receiving the next clue.
• Colourful restaurants with outside seating lined the river at the bottom, where all teams ordered lunch. Some had a good rest, others did not: “We’ll have 2 omelettes and the bill”.
• 2 teams succumbed to a tourist trap and parked at a location which was a significant walk distance away from the water falls.

Enjoying lunch at Ourika Cascades

How we did it

• We picked the cascades from online research but neglected to go ourselves in our reconnaissance mission as we ran out of time. This meant that we were not not specific enough about where exactly at the waterfalls to take the photo, and did not realise there was a tourist trap that could confuse the parking.
• Some people expected group lunch — we should have pre-empted and told them that would not be the case.
• It was here we first realised that data wasn’t available to those who had Orange SIM cards in lots of remote locations, whereas Maroc Telco coverage was great.

Friday: The Race to Imlil

Experience

• After the enforced break, the team received the following clue, directing them to a specific bridge in the mountain town in Imlil. It also told them they needed to extract a gift from someone before bed.

Clue received via Whatsapp at Cascades Ourika

• There were two possible routes to Imlil, one mountain pass and one longer road. Unexpectedly, Google encouraged the teams to take the mountain pass, which was pretty hairy. It was high, unpaved and lacked barriers. Fortunately all the pilots were confident drivers and cool under pressure.
• 2 of the 3 teams took a wrong route and reached a dead end.
• It was on this difficult stretch that the ‘incident’ occurred. Pilot went for a discreet pee next to the road, the communicator followed. Back on the road they rolled up the window as “there must be a sewage works near”. The smell got worse. After a silence the Pilot braved “Communicator, um, could you look at your shoes?”. Communicator looks down and realising that the shoes and the car are covered in diarrhea, starts yelling. Everyone is screaming. An abrupt stop, pulling detachable pieces of carpet out of the car. The pilot washing communicators shoes some way up the road, everyone in else pieces. No excess, baby.
• At arrival, they see Lucy sitting in yellow scarf on the bridge, who records their arrival time, and takes them up to lodge.

Arriving in Imlil

How we did it

• This was straightforward and does not need explanation.

Friday: Dinner & A Gift

Experience

• The teams arrived at Imlil a few hours apart. Once at the lodge, they showered and walked around the town. Each couple had a room to themselves, and everyone else shared. In these silent mountains we all felt like we had entered a world entirely different to the hectic city we had started in this morning.
• We huddled around the fire drinking mint tea. It was the first time everyone had been together since 8am. Spirits were high and talk was only of tactics and antics of the day.
• Dinner was delicious couscous that we ate was at a long table with large windows. At dinner each team was given their start times the next morning.
• During dinner, each team was called one by one to the next room where they found Simo, sitting wrapped in a shawl. Simo had been helping us set the whole thing up for weeks.
• The teams knew they needed to extract a gift from Simo, but did not know how. They quickly figured out that they were required to give him a gift in order to receive one. Their gift, of course, was the next clue.
• This clue was an envelope containing a map, a set of co-ordinates and an olive branch. The teams spend the rest of the evening pouring over the map before an early bed.

Team Sultans figuring out the next day’s challenge

How we did it

• We stayed at Riad Toukbal. We visited them in our reconnaissance mission and met the owners. We requested that everyone stayed in the same lodge, as there are 2, and we took the one further up the hill. You will probably be speaking to Aztat.
• We requested a special dinner (couscous over tagine), for them to prepare lunch boxes, and they found maps that included both Tizzi Oussem and Ouirgane.
• We had a few communication mishaps such as the pack lunch not being ready in time and payment at the end. To avoid this, make sure everything is agreed beforehand and keep communication up.

Saturday: Further into the Mountains in 4x4s

Experience

• Breakfast was served at 7.30am
• Each team received a packed lunch, made by the lodge.
• Start times for each team were 8.25, 9 and 9.25.
• At their start times, they were each led down to their car at which point they had to hand over their car keys and were bundled into a 4x4 that was parked 10 metres away. The participants thought they had the day planned out, and this sudden change shocked them all. HQ loved watching their faces as they were whisked away up the mountain.

How we did it

• We calculated starting times thus: 1st place starts 20 mins before 2nd, which starts 20 mins before 3rd. For every minute each team arrived before the last team, they gained 20 an additional seconds.
• This allowed us to contract the distance between each team.
• We arranged the 4x4s the week beforehand via Ilias. Find him on airbnb, he is really helpful and knows the area. You could also book them through Riad Toukbal.
• As it was November we were warned of snow but roads were fine in the end. We did unfortunately plan the ascent on market day when, all of the villages drive to nearby Ansi, so this journey took 2 hours, not 1.
• Teams could have left all their stuff in the cars, but we made them carry it all on their backs. In retrospect, we think we should have let them put everything in the boot of their cars.

Saturday: A Perilous Hike

Experience

• The teams were dropped off near a telephone mast on the way to Tizzi Oussem. The picture below is of Jan when we were doing our reconnaissance mission.

Just in front of the telephone mast where teams need to get out of the 4x4

• They descended down a river bed, and walked in the direction of Ouirgane.
• After the drive, the teams were roughly 40 mins away from each other
• The walk would have taken took 6 or 7 hours, so every team hitched some kind of ride. Lucy’s mum jumped onto the back of a kid’s bike. Team Sultan paid far too much to huddle in the back of a van for 5km, being spotted by Desert as they passed them on the road.
• Everyone agreed the walk was stunning.
• Unfortunately there was no data for Orange users so power ups could not be used for the majority of the walk.
• As soon as data was available near the end of the walk, there was a hail of Punches and Lightning Bolts. This activity increased when all teams received a message from HQ that team Desert had reached the final checkpoint.

How we did it

• On our reconnaissance mission, we took a 4x4 to the telephone mast and can attest to the fact that this drive is not for the faint hearted.
• We did the walk route on rented mountain bikes, rented from this helpful place. In fact, you can just rent them from Imlil. We did mountain bikes because Lucy’s knee prevents a long walk, otherwise we would have done the walk for ourselves. It was one of the best bike rides of our lives.
• The route was a little too long, however if we did it again we would not shorten it. The physical challenge combined with the creativity in securing alternative transport, added another level of emotion and bonding.
• Unfortunately we were not precise enough with dropping the pin on the map to direct the 4x4 drivers, which sent the teams 2k past the telephone mast. This caused a lot of confusion, particularly for the Sultan team, who ended up on a much more perilous route. If you tell the drivers to stop at the telephone mast on the way to Tizzi Oussem everything will be fine.

Saturday: L’Overai & finding their cars again

Experience

• Once the teams managed to get down to Ouirgane, they navigated to L’Oliveria. A haven of peace after an exhausting walk. They found their cars waiting for them in the carpark and the keys with the barman, along with the next clue.

Team Desert arriving at L’Oliverai (left) and The pool at L’Overai, not one managed a swim! (right)

• The next clue was a link to a spotify playlist they need to access. The song names told the teams were to go next (hotel Bohemia in Lalla Takerkoust).

The envelope with the barman at L’overai (left) and The Spotify based clue to the last Location (right)

• Only one team took advantage of a pre-paid for beer.
• Team Sultans and Desert was well ahead, power up’s being used as much as possible.

How we did it

• On our trial run we had scouted out Ouirgane and chosen L’Oliverai. We’d given £30 to the barmen for drinks should the teams want them, and explained that confused, tired people would be arriving in a few days looking for their keys.
• On Saturday morning, when the last team had set off from Riad Toukbal we drove all of the rented cars down to L’Oliverai. Simo had taken one early in the morning. This meant we had to do 2 trips back and forth to from Imlil to Ouirgane.
• We created the playlist, created the short link and printed it out before we left to Morocco.

Saturday: The Final Straight

Experience

• Team Desert took Google’s recommended route. Sultan, behind, took shortcut but on slower roads but raced, so was catching up.

The final straight.

• After being separated and arguing, Berber managed to get back on their feet — their Pilot had found the car at Ouirgane and raced back to rescue them all, but firmly in last place.
• Here the finest sabotage of the game came into play. Desperate but ingenious, team Berber’s Captain created a fake Whatsapp profile for Simo along with a group for the Captains of each team, without HQ. He then sent false instructions and sent the other 2 teams off-course.
• Desert and Sultan complied and went to Chez Omar, while Berber pulled past them and arrived at the final location first!
• HQ were oblivious to the sabotage until they received photos of Desert and Sultans in an unknown bar called Chez Omar.

Sabotage!

How we did it

• The above is self explanatory. The sabotage was sheer brilliance.

Saturday: Boss Level

Experience

• They arrived through two gates marked with the race logo, with a magnificent view over the lake to find a tent village and HQ sitting in front of a chest. They were pointed to a final challenge.

The lake where the clues were

• They ran down to the lake and found the items and then returned to HQ where they had to win 3 games in a row against HQ.
• Berber arrived first, due to their brilliant duplicity. They found their items at the lake and were the first to complete 3 games against HQ. However, during the run to the lake, the intern had lost team Berber’s key! Whilst the intern, Navigator, Communicator and Captain ran back to the lake, the Pilot rifled through the Sultan’s belongings trying to steal their key, unsuccessfully. Team Desert arrived 2nd but, true to form, over-analysed the clue and headed off in the wrong direction.
• The Sultans arrived last, quickly located their items next to the lake, defeated HQ and won the game. The underdogs, the meat-heads, the Sultans won the game! Opening the chest, 5 medals (keychains with the logo on) hung from the lid of the chest, ready for the winners to take.

The chest which held the winners’ medals

• There was great disappointment amongst the losers, and pats on back for the Berbers for the enormity and ingenuity of their sabotage attempt.

How we did it

• We did not arrive at HQ in enough time after ferrying the cars from Imlil to Ouirgane, so next time would not have a beer next to the pool at L’Oliverai (ahem).
• We had not thought out the final stage in as much detail as the rest of the race. If we were to do it again, we would instead put the chest next to the lake in a small inflatable boat that was tethered to a rock on the lake bottom. In this version, the first team to arrive would have to run down to the lake and swim out to the chest with the key. The game would end at that point.
• The final challenges were fun but participants said that they were elated on arrival and then disheartened when they realised they had yet another thing to do.
• While we and Simo tried with all our cunning, local police forbid swimming in the lake, or the use of an unlicensed boat. Otherwise we would have made the teams swim right across the lake.

Saturday: Feasting beneath the stars

Experience

• We shared a meal on a long table, cross legged on the floor, in the middle of our berber tents. A fire burning, wine accompanied the meal for the first time in the race.
• Each person received a keychain, and as they received it their team bestowed on them the reason they were receiving the award. “Most fearless Pilot”, “Most Thoughtful”, “Best communicator”, “Best Son Award”.
• Dinner consisted of endless conversation about each person’s experience, detailed analysis of race strategies and tactics, people sharing how they had cheated without anyone noticing.

A banquet beneath the stars

Our tents near the lake, after the race has finished

The medal each winner and participant received

How we did it

• Simo completely sorted us out. We found him on Airbnb and he was eager to help from the beginning. His motivation is to help the local economy and has lived in the US, Germany and UK. He sorted tents, food, the location, the fire, speaking to the council about using the lake, helping shuttle cars. He is an amazing guy.
• We ordered medals from this website. Everyone still has them on their keyring.
• We had bought wine when we rented the cars the week before from a supermarket near the airport, and kept it in the back of our car.
• Note that there were no loos or showers where we camped. No one minded.

Sunday: Post-race Relaxation

Experience

• About half of the participants left early on Sunday morning, the other joined us at a hotel called Le Flouka. We relaxed by the pool, looked over at the snow peaked mountains we had raced through and ate lunch by the lake. Lying in the cool water of the pool was a welcome contrast to the physical adventure that had preceded it.

Jan, content.

• Everyone drove the rental cars back to the airport.

How we did it

• We found the hotel on our reconnaissance mission and booked a table.

The Directory

Here are all the documents, contacts and guides you need to make this race happen.

This is a link to a dropbox folder. It contains:

• A rough budget
• Invitation email
• A link to the Race registration survey
• Our Logo. We used this as our whatsapp icons and on all clues/correspondence.
• Head Quarters’ daily checklist. Edit this so it suits your purposes and then print it out and put it in a folder. Review every morning and night. HQ don’t get much sleep during this race. Note that Simo is the person that we enlisted to help us before we arrived in Marrakech.
• Finding your team challenge. Finding what team you are in. Remember each person is given a slice of a map in an envelope. They have to find everyone with a bit of the same map and then work out their team name. The markings on the each map circled a street name and had a number written next to them. The number refers to the nth letter in the street name. They decode the team name from the resulting anagram.
• Team Envelope which includes i) Team letter ii) Key card explaining how power ups work. Use the psd file to edit who is in which team on the front of the key card. iii) Role cards explaining each role. Place each one of these in a golden envelope with the person’s name on the front.
• Marrakech Breakfast Challenge
• The Spotfiy clue to Lalla Takerkoust. They receive this at L’Ovilerai, printed on a piece of card. This card is in a golden envelope with their car keys, their team name printed on the front.

Links and resources you might find useful

• Rental car
• Riad Toukbal in Imlil
• Argan Sports — Rent mountain bikes in Marrakech
• Ilias, who can organise 4x4s and knows the Imlil area well.
• Simo, who can organise the tents and food on Saturday night
• The hotel we relaxed in for Sunday Lunch, Le Flouka.
• Ordered the keyring medals from this website