Marra-krazy

Marrakech is loud, crazy, dirty, hectic, scary, hassling, frantic and down right mad. But in saying that it has its own mystical charm, that looking back, makes you feel like you have stepped into the land of Aladdin. Its medina is a maze of never ending souvenir, spice, carpet and clothing markets, where if the shop keepers don't hassle you the motor bikes and push bikes surly will. Getting lost amongst the numerous back alleys is almost a must and just when you thought you have found your way out, you turn the corner only to find more more shops with the same thing but apparently at a cheaper price. When you eventually find your way out of the human ant farm, usually when the sun is setting, you may stumble across Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech's main square. This football field sized area is great to people watch any time of the day, but it's at dusk when the fun begins. As the sun goes down crowds of locals, tourists and even some animals flock to the square to watch their favorite busker, snake charmer, story teller, magician, monkey handler, acrobat, fortune teller or musician. The main affair in the evening is the market restaurants that set up in the square, Ryan and I went back repeatedly and took mum and dad back to our favourite. We dined on various dishes from lambs head, meat skewers, fig tagine, meat ball kefta tagine, all delicious and inspirations for new meals to make when we get home. Another great cafe we found while in marrakech was the henna cafe, a project to help local women learn English, it had excellent lunch food, such as lamb Kefta sandwich and salads, definelty go their if you are ever in Marrakech to enjoy the delicious food while supporting a great cause.

But Marrakech isn't all just hassle and bustle, and if you find yourself a little drained from saying 'la shukran' all day, there are peaceful places you can go to recharge the batteries. One of the nicest we found was Jardin Majorelle, located just outside the median this tranquil garden is not only home to over 1500 species of cacti but beautifully laid out and a great place to escape the Moroccan midday heat. On another day we walked to the Saadian Tombs, which have been traced back to the time of the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur and the rediscovered and stored in 1917. While there was an abundance of stray cats, the Italian marble graves and gardens are a nice spot to escape this crazy city.

- Ryan & Louise -

Desert Safari

Having spent over six weeks in Morocco its a little hard to pinpoint our favourite place, as they were all amazing and different in their own way. But if we had to choose, without a doubt our desert safari trip from Essouira to Fez would definitely be the standout. For 7 days Louise, her parents and I were treated to an incredible and unforgettable adventure through ever changing landscapes where we learnt a lot about their traditional lifestyle and even got to participate in an Islam holiday. Without going into too much detail here is a short summary of our trip:

Day 1:

After a confusing game of 'find our driver', we eventually met up with Siad, who not only spoke perfect English but was also a great driver and always happy to answer any of our questions. Having driven past numerous Argan trees in our journey, we were really interested in stopping at one of the cooperatives where the local woman produce and sell Argan products. As interesting as Argan oil production is however, what really caught our attention was one of the methods used to collect the nut. For any of you who have never seen an Argan tree, it is a small evergreen style shrub, which grown a little over 2m and has many sharp thorns throughout its hard branches. So rather than climbing the tree themselves, risking painful scratches resulting in numerous spongbob square pants band aids, the ingenious Moroccons let the goats do it. That's right goats, I must admit I was a little confused at first when I saw a tree full of goats and had to get Louise to confirm that goats DO NOT grow on trees. But infact this is just the norm in Argan country as we continued our drive from Essouira to Taroudant we soon got use to seeing the goats hard at work.

Day 2:

Our second day was mostly a travel day, driving from Taroudant to Fint, a small oasis just outside of Ouarzazate. Along the way we stopped at a few different gorges to sample the local produce. The most notable stop was in a town called Taliouine, which is predominately known for its saffron. As Siad was going home for the holiday he decided to stop in and pick up a few grams for the family and after seeing the high quality and ridiculously low price of $4 per gram we all also decided to buy some. With the sun close to setting, our last stop for the day was at one of the most famous kasbahs in Morocco, Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou. Featured in numerous Hollywood blockbusters, like Gladiator, Prince of Persia, Indiana Jones and more recently Game of Thrones, the UNESCO listed site today is still home to 4 families who maintain the original structures just as they were 200 years ago.

Day 3:

Exploring the oasis with our local guide in the morning we then took a short drive back into Ouarzazate to go meet the owners of the tour company. After a quick meet and greet over a pot of mint tea, we were then back on the road, but this time it was only a half day of driving to our nights accommodation in Agdz. Along the way Siad pointed out numerous filming locations of some of the recent Hollywood flix, including the pass where Cate Blanchett was shot in Babel and the quite spooking looking petrol station from The Hills Have Eyes. Arriving in Agdz we were unfortunately informed that we would not be staying in a 17th century kasbah, but Siad did manage to organize for us to have lunch there.

Day 4:

Day four was a fairly busy day as we had a lot of ground to cover and plenty to see along the way. Our first stop took us to Dades gorge where we got to stretch our legs and follow the crystal clear water of Dra'a River all the way to its source. Next we passed through the valley of roses, and although it wasn't the right season to see them all blooming we did manage to stop in at a local cooperative and sample the large variety of rose products. Leaving the main highway we entered the old caravan route in search of some cave dwelling nomads. After about an hour of searching we came across one family who kindly invited us in for a mint tea and to show us around their home. It was extremely interesting to see how these people still manage to survive off the land considering how desolate it is.

Day 5:

Leaving the gorges, we continued our journey west out into the amazing Sahara desert. Along the way we passed some amazing wells that are stragically dug by each family running for over 10km and connected forming an underground aqua duct back to the town. Some of the channels had dried up long ago so we managed a short tour through the underground tunnels to get a first hand glimps of this amazing feat. After this we passed through Erfoud and Rissani, which is where the kings family originates before finally arriving at the edge of the Sahara. With the camels already prepared we all mounted up (Janice included) and headed out into the dunes for a spot of sand boarding and watching the sunset. Feeling pretty pooped from the long days drive and having to trudge up the sand dunes we were all extremely happy to find full size beds in our very plush Berber tents.

Day 6:

During the planning stages for this trip we got a lot of unfortunate rejections as our dates happen to fall over Eid ul-Adha, one of the biggest Muslim holidays. So when we finally got around to booking a trip we inquired about the possibility of being invited to Eid ul-Adha and luckily for us Siad's house happened to be along the route and he was more than happy to invite us to the party. Eid ul-Adha, for those who don't know, is similar to our Christmas where by the whole family gets together to celebrate the holiday. But unlike us where presents are exchanged and everyone eats and drinks too much, the Islam family gather together to sacrifice an animal, preferably male sheep, and feast on the liver and front right leg. Naturally this custom was a little strange to us, but Siad and his family were very welcoming and more than happy to share their sheep with us.

Day 7:

Our last day we woke up and said goodbye to one of the nicest hotels we stayed at during our tour. With the roads really quite due to the holiday, we made excellent time and were soon at our first stop Moroccon Switzerland. After all the barrenness of the desert it was quite a shock to see a place with rolling green hills, pine trees and European style houses that would not look out of place on the Swiss Alps. A little further down the road we also came across another unexpected sight, wild monkeys. Again this was something I didn't expect to see as I was under the assumption Morocco was all about tagine, camels and sand. After snapping a few quick shots of the cheeky monkeys we were back on our way again to our final destination, Fez.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, the desert safari was definitely one of the major standouts of our time in Morocco. The team at Desert Majesty put together great tours and are very easy and friendly to deal with. Our accommodation was first class and the meals were always traditional and tasty. We also could not have asked for a better guide and driver, Siad was extremely informative, professional and ever friendly. For anyone out there thinking of doing a trip do not pass up these guys as you will have an incredible time.

- Ryan -

Fes

Fes the ancient imperial city of Morocco has a long history as a place for trade and excellent shopping, particularly for leather, as it houses the largest tanneries in the world. Other then leather (ottomans, shouts, jackets, bags etc) the markets are overflowing clothing, fabric, rugs, jewelry and knick knacks. As Fes was one of our last stops in Morocco we managed to shop up and storm while exploring the more modern new part of town and the endless rabbit warren markets in they old city. The old city was extremely pretty with endless roof top terraces and numerous mosques regularly belting out the call to prayer.

One thing that despite how unpleasant it is, must be done in Fes is a visit to the famous tanneries. Yes, they stunk to high hell and yes it almost makes you feel unwell but where else in the world can you see anything like it? Equipped with our mint leaves we walked up the many levels of a surrounding leather shop to the roof top terrace that overlooked the neighboring tannery. As it was just after Eid ul-Adha the tannery was bustling with workers treating sheep skins, which were piled up as they cut off the wool, covered the skins and then dunked them in pool of pidgeon droppings before hanging them out to dry.

After doing a little research on restaurants in Fes we decided to go to the Clock cafe, named after a famous water clock near by. We had read that they served excellent food and were certianly not disappointed on our first visit, or second or third. Having traditional dishes like couscous bouhaloo and felafel both delicous, they also had their famous camel burger which was huge and extremely tasty. Much to my delight they served excellent desserts like orange blossom and fig tarts and chocolate pudding and smoothies flavored with almonds and dates. They also sold a cook book which mum picked up as a Christmas present - so we can try to recreate some of the meals at home!

- Louise -

Searching for the Slave army

After researching places in Morocco one beach town stood out as an interesting place to visit - Essasouria. Known for its windsurfing, surfing, camel riding and Jimi Hendricks castle in the sand, it is also quite famous for the scene in Game of Thrones where Dany buys the slave army in Astapor. Essasouria turned out to be much more then we expected with a white washed walled city, fresh fish stalls overlooking the water and a wide sandy beach with beautiful sun sets.

As we had decided to stay in Essasouria for six days, and spending a few days enjoying the shopping, mum and I decided to book in for a well reviewed cooking lesson to test out our tagine skills. We first made mixed seafood briwaittes, followed by a pidgeon pastilla and a sardine ball tagine, all ingredients fresh from the market that morning.

After our six days relaxing by the ocean and learning how to play bridge, we were ready for our desert sarfari.


- Louise -

Casablanca

The largest, and perhaps one of the most famous cities in Morocco is the port city of Casablanca, known as an escape route during the war in the famous movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Most of the reviews we had heard of the city were to land here and leave as there isn't much to do. However, as we had a fair amount of time in Morocco we decided to stay a couple of days at the beginning and end of our trip. While we agree that there isn't a lot to do in Casablanca, we immensely enjoyed our short stays in the city by heading to the central market for massive, freshly shucked oysters and crab, heading to the new medina and meeting the locals (notably more friendly then many other parts of Morocco). We also managed to find a highly recommended patisserie called Bennis and a camel butcher with the head of his produce on display (I sat back with a pained look on my face while Ryan photographed, much to the butchers amusement).

The Hassan II Mosque is one of the few Mosques that welcome tourist to see inside the decadently decorated structure built on a rocky outcrop of reclaimed land. Been the 3rd largest Mosque in the world approximately 25 000 worshippers inside and an additional 80 000 in the surrounding courtyards. The tour we took pointed out the titanium doors, hidden microphones, the places where the roof can be opened to the sky, the bathing chambers to prepare for prey and the Moroccan baths below. Admiring the amazing building made us imagine how special it would be inside this building when the roof was opened and 25 000 people were praying, apparently a large number of people convert prior to Ramadan - maybe to enjoy this experience (according to our guide on our desert surfari)?

On our return to Casablanca we were keen to have dinner at Rick's cafe, a place inspired by the cafe from the movie Casablanca. While waiting for our table we enjoyed a pre dinner drink and watch the movie before heading to the table to a fabulous meal shared with Mum and Dad. It was much fancier then we were used to after our tour through the desert, but it was a great experience.

- Louise -

Feeling blue....

What can I say about the small town of Chefchoune? It's well... BLUE!... Light blue, dark blue, sky blue, baby blue, indigo, sapphire and every other type of blue you can think of. So as you can imagine this was another great place to get the camera out and spend some time taking photos. Before coming here all the reviews stated that Chefchoune was a photographers paradise whether your using an SLR, point and shoot or the much dreaded iPad, well I'll let you all be the judge...

Being a little off the main touristy route it is also a great place to just wander around the typical Moroccan medina, soaking in the culture without the crazy hassle of the touts. In fact we found it so relaxing that our initial six night stay soon turned into eleven, which in turn made it near impossible to leave as we were having such a great time. I would really like to go on and tell you all about the amazing activities we did and all the wonderful experiences we had but unfortunately we didn't have any. During our almost two week stay in what some like to call 'the pettiest town in Morocco' most of our days were spent lazing around, reading, eating some great Moroccan food and writing posts for all you out there to enjoy. Now I know that all this may seem a little boring compared to the previous nine month, but everyone needs a holiday right?

- Ryan -