After spending 5 days in the beach resort town of Agadir, we headed to the city of Marrakesh for our last few days in Morocco. As I was first planning our week in Morocco, I wasn’t sure if we should venture away from Agadir or not — and how the logistics would work — but I’m really glad we did, as I feel like we got a much fuller sense of the “real” Morocco! Of course, I know our experience was still a touristic one, but we got to see more of what makes Morocco unique, as opposed to only experiencing the beach.
What I didn’t realize at first was just how large Morocco is and how many different cities and landscapes are possible to experience there — from the cities of Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat, and Tangiers, to the Atlas Mountains, to the Sahara Desert, to surfing on the Atlantic coast — I had no idea how much there was to see in this amazing country. We couldn’t possibly do it all — or even scratch the surface! That was fine, though, and I was glad for the opportunity to at least visit and see Marrakesh and the surrounding desert we drove through on the way there from Agadir.
To get between Agadir and Marrakesh, we ended up hiring a driver, which felt much less stressful and easier for us than trying to rent a car and figure out the directions. It was about a 2.5-3 hour drive and the boys took naps while we gazed out at the amazing desert scenery and the Atlas Mountains looming in the distance. We passed little villages made of red rock that looked like they were emerging from the rocky hillsides. On the ride back, our driver was playing a CD of really cool Moroccan/Saharan music, which set the tone for the exotic scenery we were passing through.
We stayed in a small family-run boutique hotel, called Villa Dar Ayniwen, in an area of Marrakesh called the Palmerie (a large palm grove/oasis). While most of the sites to see in Marrakesh are in the old town (called the Medina), we had heard it was nice to stay outside the chaos and bustle of the old town, especially with kids, to get a bit of a reprieve. The hotel was built from a family home on lush grounds with cacti, orange trees, a pond, an outdoor pool (which was heated, but still too cold for us to swim in in December!), and a fascinating collection of birds (parrots, love birds, etc). There was even a hotel cat that Isaac and Rafi loved trying to find and chase around the grounds! The hotel was small enough that you could almost feel you were the only guests there, and the staff was great at suggesting sites to see in town. A complimentary shuttle around Marrakesh was a big help, too, as they dropped us off and picked us up when we wanted to tour around the old town.
And the meals we had were really delicious too! Breakfast on the veranda beside the pool, and dinner in a tent lined with cushions and carpets where you felt you could almost be in a Berber tent in the middle of the Sahara. For dinners, we enjoyed the traditional tagine (kind of like a stew with various meat, fish, or vegetables) served over couscous. And the traditional Moroccan mint tea poured out of a silver teapot into colorful glasses was a lovely way to end the meal.
Exploring the medina of Marrakesh was truly a unique and fascinating experience! You typically get dropped off at the entrance to Jemaa el-Fenaa square, which is the huge main square in Marrakesh. At night, white tents start popping up and it’s transported into a night market, with a whirlwind of crafts, foods, acrobats, magicians, fortune-tellers, etc. But even during the day, the square is home to musicians, snake charmers, monkey-trainers, henna artists, and all kinds of people trying to hawk their wares. I had done a lot of reading beforehand on not getting ripped off by con artists in the square (and in the surrounding markets), so we tried our best to avoid showing interest in anything unless we were sure we actually wanted to buy it. I had also heard that if you wanted to take a picture of someone, you usually had to pay them a small amount, or they could get quite mad and aggressive. The photos I did take I tried to do as discreetly as possible! It truly was hard to capture all the sights, sounds, smells — it was a whirlwind of sensory input, particularly as we started to walk through the souks (markets).
Branching off of the main square is the labyrinth of souks where you can buy all manner of traditional Moroccan goods: carpets, slippers, jewelry, silver, leather, herbs, olives, and more. When you go to buy something in the souk, you have to bargain, which reminded me of the shuk (market) in Jerusalem. I was a bit nervous at first about having to haggle with the shopkeepers, but it was kind of fun and always ended fairly. Each type of craft has its own market, though they somewhat blended together from what I could see. It is almost impossible not to get lost in the souks! We had a map, but it really did very little good, as the narrow alleyways and passages didn’t seem to be marked with much signage, and the further you ventured in, the more turned around you felt! I have a pretty good sense of direction (the Glosser “map gland” it’s called in our family), and I was utterly and hopelessly lost! It was fun and part of the adventure to wander, so we weren’t too concerned. I had also been told not to ask anyone for directions, as they would expect payment or would lead you astray to their cousin’s/uncle’s/brother’s shop.
This kind of happened to us at one point — a young man with really good English saw me looking at my map and offered to show us the way to the tannery. He then “happened to run into” his friend who was on the way there, who led us further on and then turned us over to another “guide” who gave us a tour of the tannery before depositing us at a shop to purchase some traditional Berber products. Of course at the end, the “guide” did expect payment. Pretty quickly as we were being led to the tannery, we realized it was a tourist trap/scam, but, again, it was kind of part of the experience so we just went with it. It was interesting to see the tannery and learn about the process of how they take animal skins and process them to make leather clothes and crafts. It’s a craft that’s been practiced since Biblical times and is still done in largely the same way in Marrakesh (there’s an even larger tannery in Fez apparently) as it has for thousands of years. I wasn’t quite clear on the whole process, but all I know was there were stinking vats of liquid of various sorts (some had pigeon droppings, some had some kind of lye, and other things I wasn’t quite sure of) and animal skins in various states draped around in the sun to dry. It was stinky and strange, but definitely unique.
The boys were really quite amazing with all the trekking around and getting lost in the maze of markets. We had to keep a really close eye on them, as you never knew when a motorcycle would come zooming past you or a donkey cart would turn a corner in front of your path. We didn’t think we could bring the stroller, so we had Rafi walk the whole time, too, and actually had one of those little backpacks with a sort of “leash” attached so we could keep him close to us. I never thought I’d use something like that, but in this case, it was very helpful for keeping him safe and close.
When we finished our trek through the souks and the medina, we came back out to the main square and took one of the many horse-drawn carriages to a beautiful garden called Majorelle Gardens. The French artist Jacques Majorelle created this magical garden, and later the French designer Yves St. Laurent bought it and saved it from being destroyed for a hotel complex. When you visit, you can see why St. Laurent was enchanted by these gardens — the bright colors, shady paths, cacti and other plants, gentle ponds and fountains, and a hint of Art Deco. We only spent about half an hour there, but really enjoyed just wandering through and taking in the gorgeous colors and serene atmosphere (especially after the craziness of the old town!)
Our hotel shuttle picked us up outside the gardens and we went back and relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Our one last adventure the following morning before heading for the airport was a camel ride! Isaac had really wanted to do this, so we decided it would be a great end to our time in Morocco. The camel guide arrived at the gates of our hotel with two camels and helped us get on for the bumpy ride! Isaac and Jeff rode on one, and Rafi and I on the other. As we trekked around the palm grove surrounding the hotel, with the Atlas Mountains in the distance, and the shadow of our camels and ourselves on the ground, it felt like we were in another world — and it was one of those experiences we will always remember!
dublingers 