Dan and I did a whirlwind tour of Morocco, basically covering the whole country in 6 days! We saw a ton and had an amazing experience but it was exhausting, one of those vacations you need another vacation from:) Morocco was beautiful and so varied, we started our trip in the busy city of Marrakech, climbed over the snowy Atlas mountains, drove through incredible gorges, camped in the Sahara desert and then saw monkeys in the cedar forests outside Fes. We also got a nice dose of Arizona-like sunshine to keep us going through another couple months of dreary London before summer kicks in (hopefully.)
Upon arriving in Marrakech, we checked into our beautiful riad, Dar el Souk, right in the center of the old town (the "medina.") We had a gorgeous room on the third floor overlooking the center courtyard and just a staircase away from the sun soaked roof terrace.
our seating area, where we ate breakfast each morning:
roof terrace:
courtyard plunge pool:
After sitting down for some mint tea with the riad owner and getting some basic tips on getting around the city, we ventured out. Our first stop was the Djemaa el Fna, the main square and hub of the city. The square is full of vendors selling their wares or food, snake charmers, and guys with monkeys offering to take your picture.
After getting our fill, we headed towards the Place des Ferblantiers, or "tinsmith square" as it is so called because of the tinsmith shops along it making tons of beautiful lanterns. We had a quick tajine lunch (our first of many on the trip) before checking out the royal palace. The El Badi (Royal) palace was built by sultan Ahmed el Mansour in the 16th century and is mostly in ruins now. El Badi means "The Incomparable" and was built during one of the most prosperous periods in Moroccan history.
lanterns on tinsmith square:
El Badi palace:
stork nests (these were on the tops of buildings all over):
another huge stork nest:
After El Badi, we visited another, more in-tact palace from the 19th century. The Bahia Palace was built by the grand vizier to the sultan in 1866. The beautiful, elaborate plaster design and wood coffered ceilings were very reminiscent of Sevilla's Alcazar.
After the palaces we headed back towards Djemaa el Fna square to check out the city's main mosque, Koutoubia. As a non-Muslim you are not permitted to go inside most mosques in Morocco so we just checked it out from outside and explored the beautiful gardens.
We then headed back to the hotel to soak up some sun on the roof terrace and enjoy a delicious private dinner in the salon.
The next morning we woke up to beautiful sunny skies and had a delicious breakfast right outside our room. We then ventured over to the Jardin Majorelle, large botanical gardens just outside the old town. The gardens were beautiful and very well maintained (they were funded by Yves Saint Laurent); most of the plants were familiar to us from Arizona but they had things from all over the world. We ate lunch at the cafe in the gardens and as we ate it started to cloud over and began to sprinkle so we headed back to the hotel to put on some warmer clothes.
Cafe Bousafsaf:
After a quick stop at the hotel we decided to tackle the souks. The souks are a huge area of winding alleyways full of shops selling all kinds of Moroccan specialties. There are rugs, lanterns, tea sets, wood carvings, shoes, dresses, spices, leather, everything! And most of it really is made right there, in some areas you can watch them making shoes or carving wood, it's pretty neat. I bought some sandals and we bought a salt and pepper holder similar to the one shown above at the cafe.
After getting really lost in the souks, we finally found our way to the Ben Youssef Medersa, a koranic school where students learned the Koran by rote. It was established in the 14th century, then rebuilt in the 16th and continually used into the 20th century. The central courtyard is beautifully decorated and it was fun to wander around the dormitory style rooms.
After leaving the medersa we were strolling back through the souks when we got stuck in a crazy thunderstorm. It started to hail and then absolutely pour down rain, much to the delight of the little kids that had just been let out of school and likely don't see rain very often! We huddled in a shop front waiting for the rain to let up and when we realized there was no end in sight, decided to just try to find our way back. We quickly got lost again in the souks and not in the mood to wander endlessly in the pouring rain, we hopped in a taxi back to the hotel. After drying out, we headed out again for dinner at Le Marrakchi, a traditional Moroccan restaurant right on Djemaa el Fna. We were seated up on the top floor where we got some great/scary views as another insane thunderstorm rolled in. It was raining so heavily that water was seeping in the tile walls and they had to keep coming in to mop up the floors. But it was a great dinner, complete with live traditional music and belly dancing.
The next morning we were up early to start our 4 day desert tour. After waiting 30 minutes past when we were supposed to be picked up, our driver and guide arrived. Turns out, they had picked up another group of people from our hotel who were meant to be doing a day excursion. After Hassan, our guide, started to explain the itinerary for the next 4 days, they realized the mistake and turned back around. Then, right as we were pulling onto the main road, we ran into a guy on a moped (or he ran into us, not sure)...so needless to say it was a rough start! But it quickly improved as we made our way into the Atlas mountains. The Atlas mountain range runs just to the south/southeast of Marrakech and the highest peak is 13,665 feet. There was still snow on the tops of the mountains and it made for a beautiful backdrop to our drive. We made our way up and over the mountains through the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with a stop along the way to check out how they produce argan oil. Argan trees are prolific in Morocco and they use the oil to make hair and bath products, and also to eat, alone or in spreads. The spread was really delicious, almost like peanut butter, and we bought some to bring home.
making argan oil:
Tizi n'Tichka pass:
After crossing the mountains, we stopped in the town of Telouet and visited the kasbah there. Kasbahs were the palaces/homes of the local Berber leader of the area. Berbers are the ethnically indigenous people of Morocco and their villages were set up much like the European feudal system. So, the kasbah was basically the home of the feudal lord. This one was mainly in ruin but there were some rooms still in tact with beautiful tile and plaster work. After touring the kasbah, we stopped in at a traditional Berber mud brick home for some mint tea.
Berber home:
From Telouet, we continued along the original camel caravan route (running from the Sahara to Marrakech) through the Ounila valley to Ait Benhaddou. Ait Benhaddou is a fortified city, or ksar, and a UNESCO world heritage site. Eight families still live within the walls and run shops in there. We had lunch just across the river and then explored the ksar. We also bought a picture of the ksar painted with tea and then burned so it comes out a smoky brown.
mud bricks:
From there we drove through the town of Ouarzazate, which is known as the Hollywood of Morocco. It is where many film studios are based and where movies such as Lawrence of Arabia and parts of Gladiator were shot. We stopped in a silver factory here as there are large silver mines close by so they produce a great deal of silver in this area. From there we continued along the "Road of a Thousand Kasbahs" to Skoura where we stayed in a kasbah converted into a hotel. It was made of traditional mud brick with thatched reed ceilings and sat up on a hill so had great views of the Skoura oasis. We had a delicious dinner with a live musical performance (which we were invited to participate in by playing the drums - hysterical since I am completely without rhythm.)
Dar Ait Ben Hada:
restaurant pavilion at our hotel:
Dan playing with the waiter and our guide, Hassan:
Dar Ait Ben Hada:
The next morning our guide, Hassan, took us on a pretty walk through the Skoura palm grove. Skoura is a sleepy oasis town and the palm grove was laid out in the 12th century. Tons of fruits, vegetables and grain are grown here to take advantage of the fertile soil. We stopped in at another hotel, Dar Panorama, for some tea and great views of Skoura and the Atlas mountains beyond.
Skoura kasbah:
Dar Panorama:
From Skoura we continued through the Kelaa Mgouna"Valley of Roses", where children line the roads selling garlands of roses grown in the area. There are also tons of stores selling rose products such as perfumes, lotions, etc. After taking a little nature walk through the valley, we stopped for lunch, where we met an American/Australian family living in Amsterdam who were doing the same tour as us. We continued to see them at each of our stops for the next couple days.
After lunch, we drove along the Dades gorge past beautiful rock formations and lush valley floors. Our hotel for the night, Chez Pierre, was right along the gorge, built into the cliff, with a swimming pool and gorgeous views. We lounged by the pool for a bit (the water was freezing) and then had a delicious french dinner, a nice change from the tajine and couscous we had been eating for the past 5 days.
The next morning we drove through the town of Boumalne Dades, then on to Tinerhir and along the Todra Gorge. With sides over 650 ft high, the gorge is dramatic and beautiful. We took a stroll along the river that created the gorge and watched as people rock climbed up the cliffs.
Boumalne Dades:
Tinerhir:
Todra gorge:
hard to see but there are people rock climbing this cliff:
From the gorge we headed into the serious desert and made our way to Merzouga, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. From here we started our camel trek into the desert. It was just Dan and I and the guide and about 5 minutes into the trek, Dan's camel sat down and refused to go any further. The guide asked Dan and I to switch camels and once we did the lazy camel seemed fine and made it the rest of the way (apparently Dan was too heavy for him, haha, although in his defense he was also carrying our backpack.) It was a peaceful ride out to the camp with amazing views of the rolling dunes and setting sun.
Our guide made me a Berber turban:
We arrived at the desert camp where we had a large tent all to ourselves. Unfortunately, we did not have the camp all to ourselves. There was a huge group of American college students from a Semester at Sea program and a another big group of young Arabic people who arrived with a generator which they ran half the night and loud club music that they played until 2am. Needless to say it distracted a little from what we had imagined would be a serene, peaceful night in the desert. Funny enough, the first American student we talked to was from southern NJ and went to Moorestown Friends! Small world. Anyhow, we climbed the dunes to watch the sun set and had a lovely dinner in our tent. Afterwards, we ventured over to the American tent to listen to some traditional musicians but not long after we sat down, people started jumping up and yelling fire while pointing towards our tent. We rushed over to see the kitchen tent where they had prepared our dinner (and clearly forgot to turn something off) completely up in flames. Luckily it did not spread to our sleeping tent but our guides lost all their possessions and cooking equipment and we felt really badly for them. After that we lay gazing at the stars for a while (and trying to play with our camera to capture them) before heading to bed.
our camels:
the camp:
our attempt to capture the stars, does not do it justice:
The next morning we were up to watch sunrise over the dunes and then camel trek back to the dune line for breakfast and much needed showers. From there, we headed north towards Fes, making our first stop in the town of Erfoud to check out the many fossils that have been discovered there from the time that this part of the Sahara was under water.
Erfoud fossils:
After that we headed back over the Atlas Mountains, through the town of Midelt, and into the cedar forests where the Macaque monkeys live. We were fortunate enough to see a lot of monkeys who were all very photogenic:)
From there we moved through the town of Ifrane, known as the "Switzerland of Morocco" for it's European style chalet houses, ski resort, and snowy peaks. And finally, our tour dropped us off at our beautiful hotel in Fes, Riad Layali. Due to a mix-up by the riad, we were put in the luxury suite on the top floor. Too bad we were only there less than 12 hours! We popped into the main medina area of Fes for dinner and a quick walk through the souks. We didn't venture too far as Fes is known for being easy to get lost in and we had a car coming to take us to the airport at 4:30am.
with our guide, Hassan, in Ifrane:
our suite at Riad Layali:
Riad Layali:
Bab Boujloud, gate into Fes Medina:
Unfortunately, our trip ended with an exhausting day of travel. We knew we had an 8 hour layover in Casablanca but thought we would be able to leave the airport. However, because we received exit stamps in our passports in Fes, we were told once we arrived in Casablanca that we could not leave the airport. Then, after sitting around in Casablanca for 8 hours, our flight departure time came and went with no plane, no announcement of any kind, and no one working at the gate to ask what the heck was going on. It was another frustrating 2 hours before we actually headed home. An annoying end to an otherwise great trip!
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