Today we drove to our last town on the tour, Marrakesh. A few days ago, it was decided that we would draw names for a Secret Santa gift exchange. So at our 1st coffee stop, we held our gift exchange. People came up with great gifts for each other. I received a scarf and Amanda got a small tagine with cutouts to put a candle in.
Our next stop was a surprise to all of us; an Argon tree full of goats! They climb up the branches and just stand there. They don't move. Someone called it a Christmas tree with live goat ornaments. Apparently the goats like to eat the Argon nuts, but that is not what was happening here. We had to pay the owner of the goats to take a photo, and bonus: hold a baby goat. A sight I will never forget. So unusual, to say the least.
When we got to Marrakesh we saw a royal cemetery and a palace built in the late 19th century for the favorite wife of a prime minister of the king. We then went through the medina, through the souks, and onto the square, the most famous square in Africa. There you will find food vendors, monkey trainers, snake charmers, musicians, dancers, acrobats, magicians, goods sellers, henna artists...
They are there all day, but larger crowds gather at sunset. Don't dare try to take a photo or video without paying for the privilege. They will see you and demand payment. Keep coins in your pockets.
Amanda and I had dinner at a restaurant off the square (pastille!) and then took a taxi back to the hotel.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Day 16-Dec 24, 2013: Silversmiths and Silver Fish
Today was a free day, but Ismail took those of us interested to the silver jewelry co-op. Teenage students learn to do filigree and engrave over 2 years. There were beautiful things in the store and I bought myself a bracelet.
Then, a few of us went to the fish market for lunch. We chose our seafood from the seller, they weighed it, sold it to us, and then we took it to one of the "restaurants" behind the stands and gave our bag to the griller. He cooked the food for us and returned it to us on a plate. We had to separate out the parts that we wanted to eat; remove the head, skin, bones. Love the experience. Amanda started out in the group, but bailed on us, choosing to go eat pasta instead.
The rest of the day we wandered the souk, shopping and people watching. Some guy offered me a thousand camels. Thank you very much!
I chose not to go to dinner that night, 3 meals per day was catching up with me. Too much eating.
Essaouira is a much different place that those we had experienced so far, generally more upscale, less crowded, more laid back. Being more of a resort area I guess this makes sense. If I was ever to return to Morocco, this is where I would go.
Then, a few of us went to the fish market for lunch. We chose our seafood from the seller, they weighed it, sold it to us, and then we took it to one of the "restaurants" behind the stands and gave our bag to the griller. He cooked the food for us and returned it to us on a plate. We had to separate out the parts that we wanted to eat; remove the head, skin, bones. Love the experience. Amanda started out in the group, but bailed on us, choosing to go eat pasta instead.
The rest of the day we wandered the souk, shopping and people watching. Some guy offered me a thousand camels. Thank you very much!
I chose not to go to dinner that night, 3 meals per day was catching up with me. Too much eating.
Essaouira is a much different place that those we had experienced so far, generally more upscale, less crowded, more laid back. Being more of a resort area I guess this makes sense. If I was ever to return to Morocco, this is where I would go.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Day 15-December 23, 2013: "We're gonna need a bigger boat", OR "I just ate Ismail's tip"
We woke up to a decent breakfast, actually the usual breakfast, of hard boiled eggs, bread, jelly, honey, coffee, tea, orange juice, with the addition of Nesquik (YAY) and a hazelnut spread.
I couldn't wait to get out of there, though. I was tired of the cold and anxious to end this part of our tour. We walked back down the mountain to meet our van in Imlil. This town was full of shops selling supplies for the climbers going all the way to the summit of the Atlas Mountains.
We stopped at a grocery store to pick up food for a picnic lunch. Our picnic was amongst Eucalyptus trees on benches and tables made of concrete. Interesting.
We then stopped at a women's cooperative for Argon Oil. We watched the women working and were shown all of the products made from Argon Oil. They were really expensive. We didn't buy anything.
Our destination was Essaouira, a resort area on the Atlantic Ocean.
Our guide told us he liked Essaouira, even though it was full of hippies. He kept talking about curly hair, and we realized he was talking about dreadlocks. He was right. It was kinda hippyish. Fun.
Anyway, we were staying in the Souk, the open air market of shops. The difference between a souk and a medina, is a medina is a place where locals both work and live. Men with wooden carts wheeled our luggage to the hotel.
We were all anxious to take showers, since the previous night no one would have removed one bit of clothing. We probably went from temps in the 30's to temps in the 60's. I discreetly removed layers while in the van, even my pants to take off my long underwear. Had to be done. Also, 2 pairs of socks down to none and 3 shirts and a jacket down to one shirt.
This hotel had a room with a toilet and a little room with a shower, so the whole room was the shower. Amanda took the 1st shower and told me the water wasn't draining. I waited a while and then walked into the water. After a while Amanda yelled "turn off the water! You're flooding the room!" I quickly rinsed my hair and turned the water off. She was not exaggerating. I quickly dressed and went down to the desk to confess. Two well dressed guys came up to the room with a squeegee, a bucket and a couple of towels. They showed me that you need to push down on the center of the drain and it pops open. OOPS. They were trying to tell me that they usually keep it closed because of the smile. When I didn't understand, I eventually figured out they were trying to say smell. We all had a laugh, but I was a little embarrassed by what Amanda and I had done.
At 6pm we were still in our rooms and we heard the familiar call to worship, but A HUNDRED TIMES LOUDER. Apparently, our hotel is really close to the mosque. So we knew we would have a 6am wake up call!
We all went to dinner at a restaurant with white tablecloths and cloth napkins. It was quite a culture shock from our previous restaurants. The waiter brought a chalk board over with a long list of specials written in French. He didn't speak much English, but could basically translate the board. The last 2 items were lobster, one for 105MAD and one for 125MAD (Moroccan Dirham), or around $13-$15. It also said 100 grams, which he pointed out, but of course, it meant nothing to me. I guess I figured that was the size of the lobster. this was a really low price for lobster, but we were on the ocean, so it made sense. I'm guessing you can figure out what's coming next. When the bill came, it turns out the price was per 100 grams, and my lobster cost about $65! I was horrified. We had been doing great with our spending so far, nothing to feel guilty about.
I couldn't wait to get out of there, though. I was tired of the cold and anxious to end this part of our tour. We walked back down the mountain to meet our van in Imlil. This town was full of shops selling supplies for the climbers going all the way to the summit of the Atlas Mountains.
We stopped at a grocery store to pick up food for a picnic lunch. Our picnic was amongst Eucalyptus trees on benches and tables made of concrete. Interesting.
We then stopped at a women's cooperative for Argon Oil. We watched the women working and were shown all of the products made from Argon Oil. They were really expensive. We didn't buy anything.
Our destination was Essaouira, a resort area on the Atlantic Ocean.
Our guide told us he liked Essaouira, even though it was full of hippies. He kept talking about curly hair, and we realized he was talking about dreadlocks. He was right. It was kinda hippyish. Fun.
Anyway, we were staying in the Souk, the open air market of shops. The difference between a souk and a medina, is a medina is a place where locals both work and live. Men with wooden carts wheeled our luggage to the hotel.
We were all anxious to take showers, since the previous night no one would have removed one bit of clothing. We probably went from temps in the 30's to temps in the 60's. I discreetly removed layers while in the van, even my pants to take off my long underwear. Had to be done. Also, 2 pairs of socks down to none and 3 shirts and a jacket down to one shirt.
This hotel had a room with a toilet and a little room with a shower, so the whole room was the shower. Amanda took the 1st shower and told me the water wasn't draining. I waited a while and then walked into the water. After a while Amanda yelled "turn off the water! You're flooding the room!" I quickly rinsed my hair and turned the water off. She was not exaggerating. I quickly dressed and went down to the desk to confess. Two well dressed guys came up to the room with a squeegee, a bucket and a couple of towels. They showed me that you need to push down on the center of the drain and it pops open. OOPS. They were trying to tell me that they usually keep it closed because of the smile. When I didn't understand, I eventually figured out they were trying to say smell. We all had a laugh, but I was a little embarrassed by what Amanda and I had done.
At 6pm we were still in our rooms and we heard the familiar call to worship, but A HUNDRED TIMES LOUDER. Apparently, our hotel is really close to the mosque. So we knew we would have a 6am wake up call!
We all went to dinner at a restaurant with white tablecloths and cloth napkins. It was quite a culture shock from our previous restaurants. The waiter brought a chalk board over with a long list of specials written in French. He didn't speak much English, but could basically translate the board. The last 2 items were lobster, one for 105MAD and one for 125MAD (Moroccan Dirham), or around $13-$15. It also said 100 grams, which he pointed out, but of course, it meant nothing to me. I guess I figured that was the size of the lobster. this was a really low price for lobster, but we were on the ocean, so it made sense. I'm guessing you can figure out what's coming next. When the bill came, it turns out the price was per 100 grams, and my lobster cost about $65! I was horrified. We had been doing great with our spending so far, nothing to feel guilty about.
Day 14-Dec 22, 2013: Gite with no Heat
I forgot to tell the most interesting stop from yesterday. It was at a Berber Herbalist Pharmacy. The pharmacist told us what the products were used for, and let us smell and sample them. The prices were reasonable.
Today we drove 5 hours into the High Atlas Mountains. There was snow on the ground at one of our photo stops. We left our van at the town of Imlil and our daypacks were loaded onto 3 donkeys for the rest of the journey up the mountain to our gite. A gite is basically a Bed and Breakfast. It was a fairly steep walk up the mountain path. Amanda and I did get to ride the donkey part of the way up. It was cold but comfortable with the physical activity. It took us about an hour to get to the gite. There were 5 bedrooms with 3 mattresses on the floor of each room. There were 2 toilets, 1 squatty potty (hole in the floor), and 2 showers. No way anyone was going to use a shower. There was one small propane heater in the main room. That was it. And it was cold, probably in the 30's. Three generations of the family who owned the house lived on the basement level. We were served tea at our arrival and then Ismael entertained us by writing all of our names in Berber, Arabic, and then gave us a Moroccan name. Dinner was a vegetable and potato tagine, and some meat, supposedly beef. The beef was full of fat. Not the best meal. After dinner, Ismael had some games planned, but I couldn't stay in that room any longer. It was too cold. I had to get into my sleeping bag with the heavy blanket on top.
Today we drove 5 hours into the High Atlas Mountains. There was snow on the ground at one of our photo stops. We left our van at the town of Imlil and our daypacks were loaded onto 3 donkeys for the rest of the journey up the mountain to our gite. A gite is basically a Bed and Breakfast. It was a fairly steep walk up the mountain path. Amanda and I did get to ride the donkey part of the way up. It was cold but comfortable with the physical activity. It took us about an hour to get to the gite. There were 5 bedrooms with 3 mattresses on the floor of each room. There were 2 toilets, 1 squatty potty (hole in the floor), and 2 showers. No way anyone was going to use a shower. There was one small propane heater in the main room. That was it. And it was cold, probably in the 30's. Three generations of the family who owned the house lived on the basement level. We were served tea at our arrival and then Ismael entertained us by writing all of our names in Berber, Arabic, and then gave us a Moroccan name. Dinner was a vegetable and potato tagine, and some meat, supposedly beef. The beef was full of fat. Not the best meal. After dinner, Ismael had some games planned, but I couldn't stay in that room any longer. It was too cold. I had to get into my sleeping bag with the heavy blanket on top.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Day 13-Dec 21, 2013: "Come With Me to the Kasbah"
The above quote was familiar to me, but I didn't know why. I looked it up and it was from the trailer of a 1938 movie called Algiers, but the line was not actually in the movie, and NO, I wasn't around then. It starred Hedy Lamarr and Charles Boyer and apparently it received attention because of Hedy Lamarr's beauty. It was later a radio show, and it was the inspiration for the movie Casablanca that was filmed in 1942. Anyway, I'm guessing my dad used to say it.
Anyway, we started the day by visiting the town of Ouarzazate, called the Hollywood of Morocco, because of the 2 film studios there. Some of the movies filmed there were Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, The Mummy, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Hills Have Eyes, and some of the TV series Game of Thrones.
We continued on to the village of Ait Ben Haddou where the Kasbah exists. A Kasbah is a type of fortress. The Kasbah is about 1000 years old and some people still live there. It has been carefully restored, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Only 3 of our group chose to cook our own dinner in the hotel kitchen. We made a chicken tagine. Amanda and I will be continuing this cooking skill at home.
Anyway, we started the day by visiting the town of Ouarzazate, called the Hollywood of Morocco, because of the 2 film studios there. Some of the movies filmed there were Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, The Mummy, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The Hills Have Eyes, and some of the TV series Game of Thrones.
We continued on to the village of Ait Ben Haddou where the Kasbah exists. A Kasbah is a type of fortress. The Kasbah is about 1000 years old and some people still live there. It has been carefully restored, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Only 3 of our group chose to cook our own dinner in the hotel kitchen. We made a chicken tagine. Amanda and I will be continuing this cooking skill at home.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Day 12-Dec 20, 2013; Farm and Fossils
We got up at 6am and left camp on our camels at 6:30 so we could see the sunrise. It was so early and so cold and dark, nobody said a word. It was a little cloudy and the sunrise was anti-climatic. Luckily, we took a shorter route back to the Auberge. It was assumed that we would want to take showers when we got back, but we were too cold. I had pointed out to the group that the showers were hand held, so we wouldn't be able to warm up in the shower. After breakfast we left the town of Merzouga and Ismael thanked me for explaining the difficulty of the hand held showers, especially if you want to wash your hair. He said he relayed the problem to the hotel manager and they were going to fix it.
We stopped at a farm (I guess) with goats and camels so that we could try camel milk. I had a sip. It was OK.
Then we stopped at a manufacturer of tables, lamps, countertops, etc. made from mined marble/granite with fossils imbedded from the Paleolithic period.
We arrived at our destination of Tinehrir and the Todra Valley. There was then a walk in the Todra Gorge, but I stayed in the hotel. I was so chilled, I couldn't get warm and I was getting a cold. Dinner was in the hotel. I got a lemon chicken tagine, the best tagine I have had so far.
Power goes off at 11pm. I hope I feel better tomorrow.
We stopped at a farm (I guess) with goats and camels so that we could try camel milk. I had a sip. It was OK.
Then we stopped at a manufacturer of tables, lamps, countertops, etc. made from mined marble/granite with fossils imbedded from the Paleolithic period.
We arrived at our destination of Tinehrir and the Todra Valley. There was then a walk in the Todra Gorge, but I stayed in the hotel. I was so chilled, I couldn't get warm and I was getting a cold. Dinner was in the hotel. I got a lemon chicken tagine, the best tagine I have had so far.
Power goes off at 11pm. I hope I feel better tomorrow.
Day 11--Dec 19, 2013; Sun and Sand/Camels and Cold
Today was a free day until our departure at 3pm on camel into the dunes to our tent camp. The air was cold but the sun was hot while we lounged on the patio overlooking the dunes during the day. We packed our bags with just what we needed for the night in the desert. I put on long underwear, 2 shirts and a jacket for the ride. And we all had the scarves we had purchased at the medina wrapped on our heads by our guide, Ismael, for the proper look for the photos. It was perfect. It was about one hour before we arrived at the camp. We dismounted the camels and climbed up a dune to watch the sunset. It was a tough climb and some of us didn't make it all the way to the top. We sat down and the wind was blowing so hard the sand was flying around our faces. We didn't enjoy the crunch, so after the rest, we continued up to the top to join the others. Amanda was sand boarding and everyone was impressed with her skill. I got it on video. We took photos and watched the sunset, and then went down the dune to the camp.
We sat around low tables on cushions, and were served by the camp staff wearing traditional garb.
Every meal in Morocco starts with 2 bowls of olives, 1 bowl green, 1 bowl black. And baskets of bread. And then we were served a beef tagine with potatoes and vegetables. A little too spicy for me. And then the usual fruit for dessert.
And then the staff built a fire and got out drums and a symbol-like instrument and started playing and singing what I presume is traditional music.
I had added another down jacket and hat and gloves, and it was still freezing. They had thick blankets for us to wrap ourselves in. We slept in canvas tents with rugs on the ground and mattresses and pillows. We had our sleeping bags and the blankets from the camp. There was electricity for lights in the tent and 2 flush toilets and a sink behind the tents.
We sat around low tables on cushions, and were served by the camp staff wearing traditional garb.
Every meal in Morocco starts with 2 bowls of olives, 1 bowl green, 1 bowl black. And baskets of bread. And then we were served a beef tagine with potatoes and vegetables. A little too spicy for me. And then the usual fruit for dessert.
And then the staff built a fire and got out drums and a symbol-like instrument and started playing and singing what I presume is traditional music.
I had added another down jacket and hat and gloves, and it was still freezing. They had thick blankets for us to wrap ourselves in. We slept in canvas tents with rugs on the ground and mattresses and pillows. We had our sleeping bags and the blankets from the camp. There was electricity for lights in the tent and 2 flush toilets and a sink behind the tents.
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