April marked our first trip into Africa and a predominantly Muslim country—we visited Marrakech, Morocco. Dana and I really had no idea what to expect. We had a brief—albeit, somewhat unpleasant—experience in Turkey during our cruise the previous summer. We knew that a major attraction in Marrakech was the local market, or souks. We also knew that our past experiences in a Turkish bizarre had not been all that great—not bad, but not good. Needless to say, we were a bit apprehensive a few days before the trip.
Marrakech is unlike any place we had ever been. The culture, people, and landscape are so different from the world that we are used to it is mind boggling. At first, you watch everyone with a guarded eye, but eventually, Marrakech has you. Carrying you on broad shoulders, taking you places, smelling and seeing things you never could have imagined. Resist her, and you’ll end up as road kill. Accept her, and she’ll show you some of the most beautiful people, land, and culture in the world. Here’s what we saw:
We got off to a bit of a rocky start as our hotel failed to send the shuttle that I had pre-arranged. Once at the hotel, our 30 minute wait for the room turned into a 3 hour wait. But nevertheless, we were ready for Marrakech. We hopped into the shuttle to the city. Things were going smoothly until the taxi behind us sounded its horn—while we were still in the hotel driveway. Our driver slammed on the brakes and hopped out of the car. The passenger riding shotgun, a hotel staffer, reluctantly followed the shuttle driver. Over the next 5 minutes we heard lots of loud shouting in Arabic. Thoroughly intimidated, Dana and I sunk down in our seats expecting a knife fight to break out at any second. After having fully expressed his opinions of the taxi driver to the taxi driver, our shuttle driver hopped back in the van and we continued on our way. He didn’t say a word to us; we understood this to be normal operating procedure (a.k.a., NOP <– take note).
As we neared the city center, we began to realize that Moroccans have a bit of a different approach to traffic than Americans or even Italians—a collective people who believe they are Mario Andretti regardless of the car, road, or weather conditions. Imagine trying to merge a large shuttle bus with a million other cars, a ga-zillion scooters and bicyclists, and sprinkle in a few guys or horses pulling carts for good measure. Oh, and add the constant sound of horns. “Chaos” does not begin to describe the roads in Marrakech. Three lanes of traffic? Well, that means two buses, three taxis, 15 scooters, and a horse lined up next to each other, of course. NOP.
Now image trying to cross a road with all of that going on. We did and we survived. Just. We quickly realized that our best practice when crossing streets would be to get as close to a local as possible. Once you cross the road and get into a pedestrian walk way you’d think you’d be safe. Nope. Watch out for scooters, scooters, and scooters. Driving a scooter amongst hundreds of walkers at 35 mph? NOP.
Our first night was a bit of a blur as we spent our time dodging scooters and generally just trying to get a feel for the city. We opted to grab dinner in the Medina and tried the local favorite (at least for tourists): tajine. Tajine is basically a specific type of cookware that is used to cook a meat and veggies. One word to describe tajine: delish! Despite the excellent food, our comfort level still wasn’t very high, but by the middle of the next day, Marrakech had us.
We started the second day still a bit weary of the city. It’s just not easy adjusting to the hustle and bustle of the city. When you see a man on a bicycle with a 12 foot ladder under his arm, you stop to stare (and hope for some comedy); but you are soon informed (quite literally from a local) that this is just NOP. A mom on a scooter with one kid (4 years old) in front of her and one kid on back (6 years old), you stop and stare; but this is all NOP. Eventually, you begin to understand that the locals are resilient people getting by with what that have. It doesn’t matter if a pick up truck would be the best vehicle to transport 400 lbs of dirt—he’s got a few bags and a scooter. Just work it out; it’s NOP.
Throughout the day we visited many great sites (palaces and historical buildings) seeing incredible carvings, tile work and cats. Cats? Yeah, cats. They’re everywhere in that city (including just outside our hotel door at all hours begging for food).
Stunning details were everywhere.
Below is a shot of items two and three: incredible tile work and a cat.
I told you cats were all around.
Not only were the carvings and tile work the best, but they had some really nice iron work, too.
I'm a BAAAADDDD MAN!
Around midday we headed to one of the gardens that featured some crazy plant life in order to get a break from the heat.
Crazy Cacti!
Turtles for me mum
After a bit we headed back into the historic city for some souk shopping. Our first venture into the souks left Dana agreeing to pay $30 for a small box of dates, and me hungry to find some better deals. After a few stops, we finally got into our bargaining groove (that is, once Dana stopped offering 80% of the asking price). 100 Dirham? I’ll give you 10. Oh, it’s not plastic and you want 80? I’ll give you 20. I don’t care if it’s perfect for couscous or that it comes from the Sahara. I’m only willing to pay 30. No deal? I walk. It soon becomes a game, and you find yourself willing to bargain on anything. How much for the woman? How many cattle do you have?
While they are intimidating at first, the souks quickly become a haven where you can purchase just about everything. We walked away with some pottery, jewelry, and spices.
Spices, spices, spices
These dates don't cost $30
We finished up our day with a drink overlooking the main square. In this square, you’ll see monkeys, snakes, basket weavers, food trucks, and story tellers—an incredible tradition that has landed Marrakech on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
A story teller captivates his audience
Up next: a tour of the local valleys.
Italia 