13 days in Morocco
"Casablanca, El Jadida, Essaouira"
Morocco was great! We flew into Casablanca after an hours delay and 3 attempts at landing due to thick fog. It was about 2am when we finally arrived at the Crowne Plaza.
Casablanca is a bit of a nothing city, we had read, so after a night there we had decided to catch a Grand Taxi (big old Mercedes that go on the longer journeys) to the Royal Golf resort at El Jadida. We decided to opt for the driver who had taken us to the hotel from the airport as he was half the price of what the Crowne Plaza was quoting. The drive was pretty good - no death defying passing manouevres and it was really interesting scenery, especially seeing the people going about their daily activities.
El Jadida is by the Atlantic – quite warm still (20C) and we spent 2 nights there. Our room was excellent!!!– a suite on two levels – we think we got upgraded. There weren’t that many people at the hotel but they served a great Moroccan buffet one night so we got our first taste of what was to come. Had the best Harira I tasted on the entire trip.
During our 2 days there my partner played a couple of rounds of golf and we went around the town which was pretty small and we think we were the only tourists which was a bit disconcerting!
Next was Essaouira, a seaside town which is the fave hangout of all the surfers and windsurfers. Walked thru the souks and bought a lovely Thuja wood jewellery box. Saw the craftsmen making all the marquetry furniture and ornaments too.
Stayed in the Villa Maroc which had a great write up and looked fab – two old Moroccan houses joined together in the old walled centre of the city (Medina). Our room was a bit dissappointing though - small, but right on the roof of the hotel with a great view of the ocean and we got the joyful chorus of the screaming seagulls all night! The dinner and breakfast were included - and they were good but basic.
We were only there for a day and a night but felt we wouldn't have wanted to stay much longer as there wasn't that much to do other than walk around the souks or watersports - and unless it's at least 30C, I don't do the sea!!!
"To and from Merzouga"
We had booked a 4 day tour to Erg Chebbi dunes and the English Camel (ie: Land Rover) picked us up the next morning with Barra as our guide and driver.
We drove from Essaouira to Ouarzazate across the Atlas Mountain range which is pretty windy ( like a corkscrew ) – much like the roads that go up the mountains in the South Island of NZ. I had to sit in the front to prevent and imminent vomit attack!! There was snow on the caps of the mountains and when we stopped for lunch it was definitely much brisker than by the coast. The people's dress, especially the women's, was much more colourful and it seemed a pretty hard life. There were heaps of people selling minerals and fossils (mostly fake, I believe) on the side of the road.
Stayed the night in Ouarzazate – a town on the edges of the Sahara (Kenzi Azghour hotel - it was OK) and the next day (Christmas Day)drove to the dunes of Erg Chebbi. I always thought that the whole Sahara looked like the dunes - but most of it was just arid land. Got quite excited to see the first camel train!
We went via Ait Benhaddou, a really picturesque and old kasbah that was well worth a visit.
Our guide Barra was from the village of Merzouga on the edge of Erg Chebbi, where we stayed in a Berber Tent overnight. ( the place was called Bonne Chance I think and was just as you start to see buildings - on the outskirts of the village). It was Christmas so thanks to Elena who runs the tour company, we had a small Christmas tree and we ate our Christmas dinner of Moroccan food outside under the stars after taking a camel ride at sunset. It was a great spread – so much food and the best overall that we had the whole time we were in Morocco It was cold at night – 4 blankets were needed!
The next day we toured the village and went to the carpet shop. We told Barra we were interested in buying a carpet (they are supposed to be cheaper in the villages) but I'm sure we would have ended up in the village co - op anyway as the village tour guide was also the carpet shop ovwner!!! After two hours of being told about the carpets histories, drinking far too sweet tea and bargaining him down to a price that wasn’t absolutely hideous, we were co-erced into buying 2 carpets instead of 1 for a price that included as much medicines as we could spare and a pair of men's cargo pants!!! Both of us felt bloody exhausted by the time it was all over with headaches to boot. So now we just hope they turn up!!!
Drove back to Ouarzazate for the night, then the next day, back over that awful mountain road to Marrakech. You see all these men riding or ploughing the fields with their donkeys in djellabas (robes with pointed hoods), people with camel trains, or herds of animals and women carrying huge loads of sticks on their backs – just like out of a story book really.
"To and from Merzouga"
We had booked a 4 day tour to Erg Chebbi dunes and the English Camel (ie: Land Rover) picked us up the next morning with Barra as our guide and driver.
We drove from Essaouira to Ouarzazate across the Atlas Mountain range which is pretty windy ( like a corkscrew ) – much like the roads that go up the mountains in the South Island of NZ. I had to sit in the front to prevent and imminent vomit attack!! There was snow on the caps of the mountains and when we stopped for lunch it was definitely much brisker than by the coast. The people's dress, especially the women's, was much more colourful and it seemed a pretty hard life. There were heaps of people selling minerals and fossils (mostly fake, I believe) on the side of the road.
Stayed the night in Ouarzazate – a town on the edges of the Sahara (Kenzi Azghour hotel - it was OK) and the next day (Christmas Day)drove to the dunes of Erg Chebbi. I always thought that the whole Sahara looked like the dunes - but most of it was just arid land. Got quite excited to see the first camel train!
We went via Ait Benhaddou, a really picturesque and old kasbah that was well worth a visit.
Our guide Barra was from the village of Merzouga on the edge of Erg Chebbi, where we stayed in a Berber Tent overnight. ( the place was called Bonne Chance I think and was just as you start to see buildings - on the outskirts of the village). It was Christmas so thanks to Elena who runs the tour company, we had a small Christmas tree and we ate our Christmas dinner of Moroccan food outside under the stars after taking a camel ride at sunset. It was a great spread – so much food and the best overall that we had the whole time we were in Morocco It was cold at night – 4 blankets were needed!
The next day we toured the village and went to the carpet shop. We told Barra we were interested in buying a carpet (they are supposed to be cheaper in the villages) but I'm sure we would have ended up in the village co - op anyway as the village tour guide was also the carpet shop ovwner!!! After two hours of being told about the carpets histories, drinking far too sweet tea and bargaining him down to a price that wasn’t absolutely hideous, we were co-erced into buying 2 carpets instead of 1 for a price that included as much medicines as we could spare and a pair of men's cargo pants!!! Both of us felt bloody exhausted by the time it was all over with headaches to boot. So now we just hope they turn up!!!
Drove back to Ouarzazate for the night, then the next day, back over that awful mountain road to Marrakech. You see all these men riding or ploughing the fields with their donkeys in djellabas (robes with pointed hoods), people with camel trains, or herds of animals and women carrying huge loads of sticks on their backs – just like out of a story book really.
"Marrakech"
Marrakech was lovely and just what we needed to relax after all the travelling.
We spent 5 nights there in a riad - traditional Moroccan home that’s been converted to include guesthouses or rooms, called Dar Tinzouline that was 6 kms out of town – it was like a feature in an Interiors magazine – gorgeous layout and accessories. The owner Anne was French - just lovely and very accomodating. They've only been open for a matter of months. Transport was a bit of a problem at first as half of the grand taxi drivers don't know where it is yet, and they can take ages to turn up, but we managed to get to know a couple of them and basically used them most of the time.
More golf was played and shopping was magnificent in the souks. They're like a labyrinth - we were wary but were not hassled too much at all and one day commandeered a young boy called Mohammed who did a great job of showing us around the bits we never would have found.
Had a drink at the bars in both the Sheraton (saw very pretty girl walk in that ended up being a prostitute) and La Mamounia (very palatial indeed!) Ate dinner at both Bagatelle and Villa Rosa which were both excellent meals.
Spent New Year initially in the Djemaa El Fna among the snake charmers & performing monkeys (both half dead – I even felt sorry for the snakes, and I hate snakes), food stalls, acrobats etc, then got sick of all the crowds and smoke and took a taxi back to the riad, sat in front of the fire in our sitting room and drank champagne.
Travelled by train back to Casablanca on the 1st and flew back home early on the 2nd.
"Marrakech"
Marrakech was lovely and just what we needed to relax after all the travelling.
We spent 5 nights there in a riad - traditional Moroccan home that’s been converted to include guesthouses or rooms, called Dar Tinzouline that was 6 kms out of town – it was like a feature in an Interiors magazine – gorgeous layout and accessories. The owner, Anne, was French, married to a Moroccan with 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat - she is just lovely and very accomodating. They've only been open for a matter of months. Transport was a bit of a problem at first as half of the grand taxi drivers don't know where it is yet, and they can take ages to turn up, but we managed to get to know a couple of them and basically used them most of the time.
More golf was played and shopping was magnificent in the souks. They're like a labyrinth - we were wary but were not hassled too much at all and one day commandeered a boy called Mohammed who did a great job of showing us around the bits we never would have found.
Had a drink at the bars in both the Sheraton (saw very pretty girl walk in that ended up being a prostitute) and La Mamounia (very palatial indeed!) Ate dinner at both Bagatelle and Villa Rosa which were both excellent meals. Mind you, I enjoyed eating at the street places just as much.
Spent New Year initially in the Djemaa El Fna among the snake charmers & performing monkeys (both half dead – I even felt sorry for the snakes, and I hate snakes), food stalls, acrobats etc, then got sick of all the crowds and smoke and took a taxi back to the riad, sat in front of the fire in our sitting room and drank champagne.
Travelled by train back to Casablanca on the 1st and flew back home early on the 2nd.
rooftops in the morning..view from the Villa Maroc
