Moroccan Seasoning

Sarah's previous experiences in the north of Africa (Egypt) have led to feelings of reluctance and trepidation for both of us on arrival in Marrakech!

Rooftop view over Marrakech

Things get off to a good start, collected personally from the airport and dropped off outside the pedestrian area of the old town. We are met by Mohammed (who else), who guides us through the maze-like streets to our riad. We are thankful for his help as we would have absolutely zero chance at finding this ourselves at night, or for that matter in the day.

Riad with central pool 

 Amazing breakfasts in the riad

A riad is a high walled Moroccan house where the rooms are arranged around a central garden or swimming pool in this case. Stepping through the doorway we discover an oasis of calm in amongst the bustling chaos of central Marrakech.

Do we want to leave the riad??

Resident turtle

We pass on heading out for dinner that night and opt for the safety of our room. Turning on the TV, we discover that this evening coincides with the death of Gaddafi in Libya - a country we feel very near to at the moment (geographically speaking!)

Markets for the mornings 

Rooftop for the afternoons

A couple of days in Marrakech pass quickly. We spend our time exploring the medina (city area or market), haggling over prices of trinkets to take home. We take breaks from hustle and bustle in the afternoon to read our books and relax on the rooftop of our riad. Dinners are a treat and tagines quickly become a new favourite food - we try to fit them in to as many meals as possible!

Dinner 1 - poolside at home

 Dinner 2 - slightly braver above the market

Dinner 3  - very brave, streetside market dining, who knows what we ate?

The world cup final coincides with our time in Marrakech. Oli's attempts to find a TV showing the game prove futile, so we make do with our laptop and celebrate as best we can.

Children celebrating the All Blacks' victory

From Marrakech we take a bus to the port of Essaouira, also known as the 'windy city'. It is a popular tourist destination well known for beaches, surfing, wind surfing and good seafood. Unfortunately we did not get to enjoy any of the above.

Barren landscape en route to Essaouira

A lot of rain had recently fallen in the area, turning the sea murky brown, the waves to rubbish, and the streets muddy (and lets not even talk about the smell in the fish market!)

Locals still tried to charge us for the pleasure of sunbathing here...

We did enjoy the usual market activities and continued to indulge in our new-found love of the tagine, but four days here begins to drag.

Essaouira market - spot the odd one out 

Fancy a chop?

We are happy to jump on another bus to back to Marrakech, and an onwards train to the city of Fes, located 6 hours to the north.

Fes from our rooftop

In Fes, we are advised by our riad to take a guide for exploring the medina. As this our third medina now, we felt that we could probably manage this on our own, what could be so different right?
Thank goodness we took them up on their offer, as Mohammed (a different one) led us in to the nightmare that is the Fes medina.

Happy tourists before entering Medina 

The mode of transport within the medina

This is a completely different experience to the more tourist oriented markets in Marrakech and Essaouira. The meat markets, tanneries, and copper works are for real here and the smells are there to match!
We are given handfuls of mint leaves to hold over our noses as we are shown the leather tanneries - needless to say we didn't last long here!

Leather tannery - if only pictures could convey the stench

What was intended to be a day trip exploring the medina was shortened to three hours as our senses were assaulted to the point of overload. We were glad to have been able to see this 'real world' and we realise how lucky we are.

At this point we start counting down to our flight to Paris. We spend most of the next day reading on our rooftop, enjoying the sounds of the medina including the frequent calls to prayer announced through loudspeakers over the city.

Relaxing rooftop

We have enjoyed our experience in Morocco, but it is fairly safe to say it will be a once in a lifetime destination for us!

Never been happier to fly Ryanair

The three best things about Morocco:
- The tangines
- The riads
- Leaving