As a part of our trip to Spain, we decided to jump across the Mediterranean Sea and go to Marrakech, Morocco. Marrakech is filled with mosques, palaces, markets and gardens. The main part of the city is the medina, which is the densely packed walled neighborhood of the city. The medina is maze and you could get easily lost. Our Riad gave us directions to the market as 3 lefts, 1 right, 2 steps and 1 lefts and we were only 100 yards away! Locals told us not to venture outside of the walls and that there is nothing for tourists out there. We obviously listened to that advice and stayed inside the walls. If you are planning a trip to Marrakesh, you really only need one full day to see the city. Then i advise on taking a few day trip to the Sahara.
The highlights for us were Moorish minaret, 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, and the marketplace. We used the Moorish minaret as our guide to make sure we did not get lost because it is visible in most parts of the city. The other highlight was the market place, that sold traditional textiles, jewelry, pottery, etc. The market is grand but the walkways are narrow and fills up with people fast. So I recommend going early to avoid the crowds. What caught our eye though are the street performers that are scattered around the courtyard. They have snack whisperers, fire breathers, sword swallower, monkey's on leashes and much more.
Like I said before, after exploring Marrakech, I recommend a trip to the Sahara. I have dreamed about going to the Sahara Desert since I first saw Aladdin as a kid. I could just imagine the endless sand, Arabian nights playing, the long shadows of the camels across golden red dunes. I must admit, our trip out to the desert lived up to this expectation and more. Although, I never dreamed of being bit by a camel.
Due to a time constraint, we traveled to the desert in Zagora (2-day trip) rather than the larger dunes in Merzouga (3-day trip). While the dunes are smaller, the experience is incredible. Our trip started very early the first morning where we met our bus outside of our riad at 7am, well before the sunrise. From there we met up with the rest of our tour group and were on our way. After winding our way through the mountains on narrow, somehow two-way roads, we arrived at our first stop, Ait Ben Haddou. Famous for its many appearances in films, Ait Ben Haddou is an ancient city situated along a river in the middle of the desert. You may know it as Astapor in Game of Thrones. Four families still live within the walled city with no access to water or electricity, and walking through this city definitely brings you back to ancient times of camel trade caravans traveling through the desert. After our tour through the city, we drove a while further and stopped for lunch at a traditional Moroccan restaurant, then drove a while further before arriving at our final destination for the night.
Our campsite was an hour camel ride into the desert. As the sun was setting, we mounted our camels and rode on to our campsite. As the sky changed and then the dunes turned from orange to a dark red, we rode step by step to our campsite. The camels have a slow gate which gives you the time to just relax and soak in the views around you. When we arrived in our campsite for the night, we were assigned tents and put our stuff down and spend some time talking with our fellow campers. We had five total people at our site (including the two of us), so we got to spend our time getting to know everyone really well. Our dinner was another traditional Moroccan dish (lamb or pork with couscous and roasted vegetables, and we enjoyed it while watching the moon rise over the horizon. Out in the desert the stars were incredible and our guides told us the different stories of the constellations, as well as our fellow campers from Denmark. I have always loved constellations and the stories behind them, and it was even more amazing to hear these new meanings from other countries. After dinner, our guides started playing the drums for us and taught us their desert tunes.
In the morning, we enjoyed a desert breakfast and hopped back on our camels to ride back to the bus. On the ride out to the campsite, our camels were very friendly and obedient. On the ride back in the morning, not so much. Kyle's camel kept messing with every camel in front of him, after being rearranged in line multiple times, he ended up behind me. His camel suddenly decided that irritating camels wasn't enough and bit onto my leg while we were walking. Luckily, it wasn't able to break through the four layers I was wearing (desert nights are cold), and we were back on our way in no time.
For day two, we spent the day driving back to Marrakech. We stopped in a small town on the way and took a tour with a local guide. Overall it was a relaxing day driving back through the mountains. This was a much needed day at the end of our long trip.
Our trip to Morocco was wonderful and had a great time. We recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the Sahara. We will be back to Morocco soon to explore Casablanca.
***Since many people asked, they have two humps and you sit on a saddle situated in the middle of the humps. It is very uncomfortable for both you and the camels to sit right on their humps. Either way it is going to be uncomfortable for the gentleman. An hour camel ride was plenty for Kyle.
