We had a long trip from Rwanda/Uganda just to get here. There were no direct flights, and the most reasonable (price and time) forced us to fly via Brussels, Belgium and Lyon, France. With connections, it's always a risk to miss your next flight or lose your luggage. Thankfully, the only problem we had to deal with was in Lyon, where the airport was severely short-staffed. They did not have enough security to process all the passengers in our terminal. Add to that a police issue in the city that detracted some officers from their normal post in the airport, and you end up with severe delays. For us, that was 3 hours.
On our arrival into Marrakech, there was a terribly long queue for immigration. Officers were just taking their time to process hundreds of people. And there were only 5-6 officers to vet each passenger individually. Fortunately, once we got out of the airport, it was just a short ride to the old city, or the Medina, to our riad. And we were able to just spend our first evening in Marrakech recovering from our series of flights and delays. A riad is a traditional Moroccan house with an interior garden or courtyard. Our's was beautiful, although cozy, but so decorative that it distracts you from the size and mesmerizes you. Many riads also have rooftops that are accessible and give great views of the city.
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People here wake up late. And things open after 9:30am. I believe it's because people are really trying to avoid the midday sun and stay up late for work and entertainment. Many even eat late in the evening because they take naps in the middle of the day for the same reason.
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The Medina in Marrakech is a series of alleyways that, for the most part, restrict vehicular access. It's pedestrian, save for the occasional motorbike zipping through. Everything in the old city is walkable within 20 minutes, and it is very safe, even late in the evenings.
There are few main attractions in Marrakech, which we like.
Jemma el-Fnaa is the main square. You can find food stands and plenty of good for sale. Every stall is marked with a number so you can remember who has what and how good that product is. If there's anything you have to get in Morocco or even this square, it's a nice glass of orange juice. At 4 MAD ($0.41) for a glass, it's the best deal you'll ever get. In fact, just get 2.
And not so far away is the
Ben Youssef Medrasa, which is the the largest college in Morocco. It is fun to walk through the school and pop into and out of the former dorms of the students.
There's also
Bahia Palace, one of the many palaces in the city, which is supposedly the most beautiful. And you can spend time a short walk away at the Saadian Tombs where the former sultan and his family are buried. Its beauty, like that of Ben Youssef Medrasa, is in the decorative artwork.
It's simple to visit the sites in a day and then spend the rest of your time wandering the streets, eating the local food, saying hello to the shopkeepers in the souks, or marketplace. Or if you want to treat yourself, an afternoon at a
hammam will relax you, clean you, and keep you out of the heat.
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This is our first predominantly Muslim country on this trip. There are consistent calls to prayer coming from the numerous mosques at scheduled times throughout the day. In the small villages, 10-12 families share the mosque. Mosques even serve as places to host guests of the village.
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Morocco's Southern and South Eastern areas are mostly desert but the Atlas Mountains that cut the country diagonally have snow in the winter. This mountain range somewhat serves as a border between desert and non-desert lands.
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Tajin is a clay pot used to cook delicious authentic Moroccan dishes with various spices for full bold flavors. I can't tell you how many tajin dishes we've eaten along the way. Haha.
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For 4 days and 3 nights, we arranged for a desert tour. Our guide, Hamid, was very informative but at the same time, gave us the space we needed to explore, take pictures, and enjoy ourselves. There's plenty of driving to do just to get to the desert. First you must pass the Atlas and then you traverse Southeast towards the small village of Merzouga, near the border of Algeria. Along the way, we made stops for the first 2 nights. The first night was in Dades Valley and the second was closer to Merzouga. The last night we spent in at a nomad desert camp in the Sahara.
Some things we learned about the villages along the way:
- Sunday is market day
- Transport goods to mountains on donkeys
- Coffee is from Ethiopia
- Tea is green tea from China
- Mint tea is only for summer
- The tea is poured from high up to cause bubbles because otherwise, it's just water.
- There are 4 main languages spoken in Morocco:
- Arabic
- French -2nd language taught in school
- Berber
- Spanish
- AND many people speak all 4 or more! Many people speak so many different languages here. It makes the United States seem so poorly educated. The restaurant guys can all speak at least 5 languages and can say various words and phrases in many other languages. It's quite amazing.
- Argan oil is similar to olive oil or almond oil with many uses such as cosmetic and cooking. The taste is light if in oil form but can be like peanut butter, thick and pasty, if using the actual nut as opposed to extracting the oil.
We visited
Aït Benhaddou, which is a village between Marrakech and the Sahara Desert. Inside the walls of the village are half a dozen Kasbahs or merchants houses. It's a great example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture. This place is most famously known for being the location of many films being shot, including Gladiator and The Mummy.
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On our drive, we passed by a solar power panel project in the desert. Supposedly, by 2020 it will provide power to some places in Europe. It's like a solar panel farm.
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Beginning in 2017, a ban on the use of
plastic bags in Morocco is in place, similar to the efforts in Rwanda.
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Observations:
- Dades Valley is lush green on The Valley floor but anything else is the reddish brownish rock / sand color of the desert. The surrounding mountains are all dry and mostly barren. It's such a contrast of colors.
- Dades Valley has fig and olive trees. Todra gorges has palm trees.
- Valley of the roses. Women collect the rose flower early in the morning before the desert sun dries them or forces them to close. Evenings are cooler and allow them to bloom. Roses are used to make various products like rose water or oils or other cosmetics. Products are exported from here.
- Most structures here are built in block forms. There are no round shapes for any building.
- Dromedary are like camels but with only 1 hump.
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Oasis land is shared by up to 400 families to grow palm, dates, and other vegetables. Each family gets a small square of land to work with. The water comes from below the sand dunes and is channeled to the oasis. It is potable. I always thought that an oasis was a false sighting of water or something in the desert. It turns out, that's a
mirage.
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Riding through the Sahara desert on a camel is different from any experience we've had before. Yes, we rode camels in Mombasa, Kenya on the beach but going through the desert is a bit different. You go up and down the sand dunes and feel the animal balance itself and struggle on the uphills and carefully navigate downhill. They don't seem to be the most surefooted but I've never seen one fall either.
The wind in the desert is constant and gusty. You constantly get sand in the face. It sticks to your hair; you find it in your ears. It's impossible to get out of anything without a proper wash. In some cases the wind swirls and you get a tornado in a sandstorm. It's pretty painful to constantly get pounded by sand. Getting it in your eyes and mouth are probably the worst. The only way to prevent it is to wear proper attire. Sunglasses and a scarf or face cover are necessary. If you can get a turban, that will cover your head and face very well also. Turbans also keep the warmth of your head during cooler nights and cold winters.
Our camel ride was about 30 minutes to get to a lookout point where we could sit out on the dunes to watch the sunset. By 7pm the sun was falling below the horizon. It was then that we started our last 30 minute journey to the overnight camp.
A night in the desert after our camel ride was very comfortable. We were out up in a luxury camp. We had a tent with a kind size bed and even a bathroom with shower. Dinner was served in a dining room tent, and we shared this time with some other guests. After dinner, we sat outside by the campfire and listened to some music provided by the locals and workers. Much of it was drum based, loud, fast tempo, and exciting. The stars up above were very bright in the sky.
The next morning we got up at 5am to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, we got very little sleep because the wind woke us up at around 1am from shaking the tents and making all kinds of noise. But the sunrise peeking over the dunes was yet another beautiful sight. Sunrises and sunsets never get old.
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A 7hr drive out of the desert took us to the city of Fez, a former capital city of Morocco. Our riad is in the Medina and very comfortable. Because of a double booking they moved us to the best room on the top floor with a great view of the city from the rooftop terrace. Because of our late arrival here, we have 2 nights but only 1 full day to do siteseeing.
On our 1 full day we did a half day tour with a guide. The main objective was to see the souks and make it to the tanneries. The Chouara tanneries are the largest in Northern Africa. Here they produce numerous leather goods that are cleaned, colored, and designed in this factory of sorts. There is a strong smell in the area from the processing. The staff even gives tourists sprigs of mint to smell while taking the tour. In particular, they use pigeon poo as ammonia in the process and that gives a foul odor in addition to the 1000s of goat, camel, sheep, and cow skins all over the place. To color the skins they use all natural products. Orange is henna, red is poppy flowe , green is mint, brown is cedar wood, yellow is saffron, and blue is indigo. The dyeing takes 15 days after which they are dried on the roofs and then later taken to the designers to create the various products. They have bags, shoes, jackets, belts, and many other leather goods. It's an amazing cool site but the sales people are quite rude and really looking for a sale. Our guy even went as far as to say that we were a waste of time. Oh well. We didn't buy anything but there's no reason to be rude. It seemed like other tourists were coming out of there with the same experience. If it wasn't such an experience or site to see, I'd suggest that no one give them any time.
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Not many places accept credit cards in Morocco. It's mostly a cash based system. We tried to explain the credit system to our formerly nomad tour guides and they thought the system was crazy. How could you spend money that you don't really have? Really looking into it, they system is pretty ridiculous. The country, government, and its people (the USA) all exist because of borrowed money. It seems like the place and people are so wealthy but is it even owned internally? Or is it borrowed from China? Is it borrowed from the bank? Is it borrowed from someone else? Yes. It is. If it wasn't for borrowing, the United States may be in the same condition as a 3rd world country. Right? Is America really great? Or are 3rd world countries and people that are self-sufficient greater?
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4 hour bus ride from Fez lead us to a small hillside town of Chefchaouen. It is known to most as the blue city. Most people here can speak Spanish as opposed to French. The people are friendly. There are not so many touts or people trying to make money from you. The town is quiet and peaceful. It's easy to walk around the entire Medina, or old city. It is mostly cobblestone and cars are allowed, although there are random motorbikes that zip through. Children play everywhere and are so smiley. I can't say the same for the adults who immediately seek cover when they see a camera raise in their direction.
We were in Chefchaouen on the first day of Ramadan. In the days leading up to this month long holiday, we were already hearing how people were preparing their minds for the fasting that goes on. It made us think of how difficult it is to fast if you work in the food service industry. We heard that some people even shut down their establishments to avoid exerting too much energy during daylight hours. Others planned to reverse their sleeping schedule so that they would be up all night and be able to eat and drink then sleep throughout the day.
A candid photo of the local people is really hard to get because they are so aware of their surroundings and so against their image being taken. Strangely, they believe that their pictures will be used to make money elsewhere. They don't want to be used as a cover photo or digitized and exploited in the media. And it's somewhat understandable but we're not paparazzi. We're just regular tourists trying to capture moments that are interesting and beautiful.
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5 pillars of Islam - we witnessed some of these on a daily basis. For example:
- A man in the street who was clearly homeless or poor was given milk and a jacket by a random stranger.
- The suffering through hunger on the first day of Ramadan was evident.
- Constant prayer 5 times a day was not so evident. We didn't see many people go to the mosques and obviously didn't have access to peoples' home to see if they really prayed. But we still have to imagine that they do this without fail.
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Children running around Chefchaouen were a nice reminder of what it was like to be a kid. When there was no internet and I wasn't allowed to watch tv, I played outside. I was with the neighborhood kids playing football or street hockey or riding bikes or playing basketball at the park. These kids have far less than I did, but they seem to be having fun. They chase each other through the alleyways of the Medina. They duck in and out of each other's doorways. They kick a little ball down the cobblestone streets. Adults and random parents are scolding them for causing a ruckus. Some kids are being given treats by the hole in the wall convenience stalls. It looks like fun to be a kid here.
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Somewhere between Souk Elarbaa Du Gharb and Rabat (closer to the former) there is farmland that is specifically used for growing sunflowers. As far as the eye can see, there were acres and acres of sunflowers. What do they do with them?
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Normally a 4.5hr ride by car from Chefchaouen to Casablanca is 5.5-6hrs by bus as it needs to make some stops. It only cost $14 per person. Had we taken a private taxi, it could have been upwards of $150. And because it's Ramadan, it's likely they would have charged more.
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Casablanca is the largest city and financial capital of Morocco. We've learned that we're not such big fans of the cities as we prefer to be off the beaten path and in the smaller villages or towns. The cultural aspects of the city can sometimes be lost amongst the buildings, cars, and other modern amenities. That being said, we found ourselves at an
AirBnB outside of the city center but walking distance to the main attraction here, the
Hassan II Mosque. This is the largest mosque in Morocco, 13th largest in the world, and it's minaret is the tallest in the world at 689ft. Unfortunately, because of Ramadan, the tour hours are limited, and we were unable to take a tour inside. It is the only mosque in Morocco that is open to non-Muslims. But the view from the outside is pretty grand. Being on the Atlantic Ocean gives the area a cool breeze while the sun beams down from above.
