Travel: Morocco - Casablanca & Marrakech

After 10 months in Mali, we knew that any travel outside of this country would involve some sort of reverse culture shock. Its amazing that when you talk to any PC Mali volunteer, they will tell you that relative to Mali, other West African countries i.e. Senegal, Ghana, etc “feel like America.” Therefore, rather than going straight to France and being blown away by the differences, we decided to readjust in stages, starting with Morocco.  And we were so happy we did, not only did this mean that we were not in Marrakech for the bombing that happened a week later, but that we were able to ease back into life with paved roads, French speakers, good tea, amazing food, toilets, hot showers, air conditioning, etc.

Our plane landed in Casablanca  at 6:30 am and  we had plans to meet a friend from Joye’s semester abroad in France in the afternoon. We spent the day touring the Hassan II Mosque which is the 3rd largest in the world and one of the few mosques which non-muslims can enter. It was HUGE and very ornately decorated. The other interesting thing about it is that there is a verse in the Koran about God’s throne being over the sea, so the mosque is built partially over the ocean. Jim and I enjoyed a picnic outside the mosque and reveled in the views and smells of the ocean which we had not seen in quite some time. That afternoon, we met up with our friend, caught a train down to Marrakech, and upon exiting the train station, caught site of the first McDonalds we’d seen in 10 months, which inevitably led to a feast on double cheeseburgers, fries, and McFlurries. I think we were both amazed that after so long in Africa, these things still tasted exactly the same to us, just all the more awesome for not having had them in so long. Here we were thinking the world, or at least our tastebuds, had changed drastically in our time abroad ;)

We spent the next few days in and around Marrakech, near the Atlas Mountains in western Morocco. The city of Marrakech is best known for its thriving markets so we spent hours wandering through the “souks” and admiring the beautiful pottery, colorful rugs, intricately designed clothing, glass lamps, handmade jewelry, etc. It was a blessing in disguise I think to have so little room in our packs! We also toured many famous ancient palaces, with the most beautiful tile designs and interesting architecture. Finally, we loved Moroccan food! Moroccans are most famous for their “Tajine” which is meat, vegetables, and famous Moroccan spices cooked in a uniquely shaped clay pot over a fire. Awesome. On top of that we feasted on couscous, strawberries, apricots, peaches, and actual orange oranges (the ones in Mali are green).  As the trip kept getting better and better, we kept stopping, glancing at each other, and saying “Best. Trip. Ever.”

After 2 nights in Marrakech, we took a guided day trip to the beautiful Ourika Vally in the High Atlas Mountains. Our group started by visiting a traditional Berber home where we ate a wonderful breakfast of homemade bread, olive oil, honey, and Moroccan mint tea. We continued toward the mountains stopping for a 20 minute camel ride up a scenic trail. And for those who are eager to ride a camel of there own, 20 minutes was enough! Very fun experience, but very uncomfortable! Leaving the camels behind, we drove on into the valley and then completed a 2-3 hour hike to a beautiful ice-cold waterfall carrying all the melted snow down the valley. We were blessed with beautiful sunny 80 F weather, incredible after leaving 110 F Mali in April. We finished off a wonderful day by driving to a restaurant with a terrace that looked over the whole valley and getting served a 3 course traditional Moroccan meal. When arrived back in Marrakech in the evening, Joye and her friend took advantage of the spa that was located in our hotel, while Jim graciously bought fresh fruit and prepared them a wonderful fruit salad for dinner.

 

We spent one more day in Marrakech, enjoying the huge Jamel El-Fna square which is filled with food stalls, orange juice stands, snake charmers, street performers, etc. Jim got a traditional Moroccan shave (including a face massage!) to remove his beard which he had kept to made him more intimidating to pushy vendors. Moroccan vendors are notorious for being pushy and hassling tourists. However, we learned a few arabic greetings, dressed in a culturally appropriate way, and made it clear that we were living in Mali and we had no problems with vendors. So while Morocco is incredibly different from Mali, we think that our Peace Corps experience helped us during our travels. We ended the trip by splurging on a meal at one of the most famous restaurants in town, stuffing ourselves once again with delicious food in order to make up for 10 months of a limited Malian diet.  After a wonderful meal, we returned to hotel and packed up our bags to head to France on the following day.

We’ll post more about France coming soon….

~Joye (and James)