2008 Easter Morocco Trip

Thursday: Start in Marrakech

Easter time again and I’ve managed to find myself on another trip to see more amazing sites of

Europe, well North Africa this time. I shared my trip with a number of friends that I’ve met in London, similar to myself, they’re also aussie who are also working/living in London. I left London before the main group due to cheaper flights that I found. Arriving in Marrakech, I had to first find my way to my riad (traditional house) that I was supposed to spend the night. Little did I know that the streets were planned my some madman with a fetish for mazes, with a little lighting and street signs. Eventually with the help from a helpful teen I managed to find my hotel and check in without too much problems. Luckily the riad was close to the Djemaa-el-Fna (main square).

This square was amazing, there were numerous stands serving all sorts of food, unfortunately they were fairly repetitive after a while. The feel of the square was not dissimilar to the night markets in Taiwan, with the exception that all the vendors were very pushy in getting your attention to buy stuff. There were story tellers, musicians and other street performers as well, all surrounded by big groups of people. After trying some snail soup, chicken tajine washed down with some super sweet mint tea, I called it a day.

Friday: Explore Marrakech / Meet group / Skoura

Getting an early start on the second day, I headed towards the tall minaret that I saw the previous night, but not before I got a photo with some snake charmers on the main square. From the mosque I headed through the souks (markets) and managed through to ramble through it to find a couple of additional mosques towards the north of the medina. Meeting up with the group, and our driver Hussin, we headed through the Atlas mountains via Ouarzazate. Our lunch break, and first real Moroccan meal for the group, was in a roadside diner with during lamp carcasses hanging in the entrance. Back on the road, towards the peak (2650m or something), it started to snow all around us, it didn’t last long though was we wind down through the other side along the valley. I think we were all very surprised with just how lush the valley floors were. Sam managed to arrange a lovely accommodation for us in what appeared to be a small farmstead and the end of winding roads through the village.

Saturday: Through Dades Valley to Sahara

The next day we started driving through the Dades valley towards the Sahara Desert. The first stop was in a gorge, where we saw villagers still washing cloths in the stream shared with goat herders coming down from the hills to water their flock. Bryce and I found a small cave halfway up the cliff walls and decided to climb up and have a look. Little did we know that everyone else was waiting for us to get a move on. That slight delay and the extremely slow lunch service meant that we missed our sunset camel ride towards the campsite in the desert. Instead we rode out under moonlight on camels with names such as Barry White, Jimmy Hendrix and Heartbreak Hotel. I think after a whole day cramped inside the land cruiser, Sam was a little stiff and found the camel ride to be very uncomfortable. It probably didn’t help that the rest of us managed to find some kind of rhythm with the ride and ended up laughing Sam with his groans and moans at every bump.

For some reason our evening meal had rice, a tropical wet climate produce. The desert was incredibly cold, which wasn’t that unexpected I guess. The stars above were amazing, but due to the full moon that we had, we didn’t quite see as many as you might have away from city lights.

Sunday: Sahara through Draa Valley

Early this morning, Colin and I woke up just before the sunrise and climbed the biggest sand dune that we could see. Climbing up loose sand was incredibly hard, especially towards the top when you’re absolutely knackered and your boots sink into the sand. It was well worth it though; the colours and shadows cast by the nearby dunes were amazing. It didn’t take long for others to join us, but unfortunately the remainder of our group didn’t manage to make it to the summit before our camel drivers called us down for the return ride.

After breakfast, we packed back into our four wheel drive before heading back towards Marrakech via the Draa Valley. Unbelievably, we had to ask for couscous at lunch, an ingrediate that we thought was a staple in Morocco. That night we stayed in a Kasbah (desert palace) not far from the Ait Benhaddou.

Monday: Marrakech

The final drive back towards Marrakech was fairly uneventful, as most of us slept through most of it due to the late night card session back in the Kasbah. Those that did stay awake took photos of the valley at an incredible rate (Maria/Sam averaged 60 photos in an hour). There were a few opportunities to get out and stretch our legs, the first on a stretch of the path were it was easier for the land cruiser to go ahead with out us, the second in a historical Kasbah, which used to be the residence of a local pasha.

The limp back into the city was a big surprise to us all, who have now spent the past few days in the wilderness. The hustle and bustle of the city was overwhelming, many of commented that it resembled the busy streets of South East Asia. We spent the evening eating and shopping in the main square. My personal highlights being the stewed sheeps head, a gingsing tea and chocolate sweet and my jedi robes.

I’d like to thank Sam for organising this trip and the others in my group for such a fun time in an exotic location.