Morocco 2016

Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco at this time of the year is usually a calm one-hour ferry crossing. Not so for us - a windy, drizzly, cool day resulted in a very rough passage. The ferry staff were kept busy handing out sick bags - they were extremely attentive and did a wonderful job. Thankfully our group of 4 weathered the crossing unscathed.

Kasbah of the Udayas

Morocco has some of the oldest cities in Western Europe. These ancient cities have such a colourful history. So much to learn - so little time. Rabat is the capital of Morocco, and the King has his palace there. While there we visited a kasbah (fortress) built in 1150 AD. It still functions as a small village with homes, shops and gardens. It was also home to numerous cats! Some of the ancient doors were amazing. 

The land was green and fertile up north near Rabat, but became progressively dryer as we got closer to the Sahara Desert further south in Marrakech (350 km from Marrakech to the middle of Sahara Desert). Water used to be found at a depth of about 40 meters, now they are lucky to find it at 100-200 metres. Shepherds with small flocks of around a dozen sheep were seen at frequent intervals - wandering the paddocks that we could see from the bus. There aren't many fences, instead walls of cactus often provided a barrier, so the shepherd has to keep his sheep out of farmers' crops as he meanders his flock along. Some shepherds also had a cow or two along with their sheep. 

Hassan 11 Mosque

Then there is the city of Casablanca, made famous by the movie with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (there are currently 9 Rick's Cafe replicas in Casablanca), and home to the second largest mosque in the world: the Hassan 11 Mosque built right beside the Atlantic Ocean. 

To me, Casablanca was nowhere as near as impressive as the 'red city' of Marrakech. The red refers to the colour of the buildings using local sandstone - similar to my memories of beautiful Sedona in the USA.

Market Marrakech

The marketplace in Marrakech was an eye opener - we saw the snake charmers and other entertainers during our lunchtime visit, but the place really comes to life after 5pm - the pickpockets and wandering street sellers become a pest as the crowds increase, so we were glad to get out once we had a good look around under protection of our tour guides! Not for the faint hearted. We had a most entertaining and knowledgeable city guide, and during our tour of the Bahia Palace he provided us with a fabulous insight into how a wealthy Sultan lived with his 4 wives and 32 children. He also explained why Moroccan homes have no windows on the outside, and the philosophy to build a house with a plain exterior, and save the beauty for inside. Fascinating to hear him explain the way they think. We also visited a herbal pharmacy and learnt about local products and their medicinal uses. Marrakech is part of a triangle which is the only place in the world where Argan trees are grown - Argan nuts have traditionally been used to make cooking oil, but recently they have been touted as the latest wonder ingredient by pharmaceutical companies who use the nuts in face creams, body lotions, hair products and numerous other potions! Marrakech is a very popular destination for many Europeans - especially French visitors, as it is almost the second language here! Did you know that Winston Churchill loved coming to Marrakech where he spent many hours enjoying his hobby of  painting. Yves St Laurent loved Marrakech and spent the years from 1962 until his death in 2007 living in Marrakech.

Belly Dancer in Marrakech

The 500 km drive North East from Marrakech to Fes was long, but there was always something interesting to see. You could never go very far without seeing either a shepherd with a handful of sheep, or a few cows grazing along the roadside. Or else there would be a field with a single man using a scythe to cut the wheat or other crop and pile it onto a cart pulled by a donkey standing patiently. Laborious work. We didn't see much machinery at all until we got close to Fes. Nearly all the land was under cultivation due to the healthy rain catchment area between two sets of mountain ranges: crops included cherries, olives, almonds, peaches, apricots and citrus, and the crop of sugar beets were being harvested as we drove past. All crops looked very healthy, but the villages we passed by looked so derelict. The recent rains (unusual for this time of year) turned village centres into mud baths - but the locals just seemed to go about their business as usual.

Life in Rural Morocco

Fes

Old Medina, Fes

Our last stop in Morocco was the ancient city of Fes, in the central north. Click on the photo above to do justice to the panorama photo. Founded in 789, it now has a population of just over 1 million. It is also home to the oldest, yet still operating, university in the world. We visited the old Medina (original city) that was built in the 9th Century  - it's easy to get lost in the labyrinth of 9,000 alleyways. We visited the oldest tannery and both Murray and Peter bought a handcrafted leather belt. Donkeys are the work horses of the Medina, and 800 are used for removing rubbish, and many others are used for carting goods, and even used as a taxi service within the medina as no cars are allowed - in fact it is reported to be the largest car-free urban area in the world (Wikipedia). On our last night we dined and experienced a mock Moroccan wedding ceremony inside a 14th Century traditional house that had intricate mosaic panels on the floors, walls and supporting columns. The ornate carved and painted ceiling was at least two storeys high and designed to help dissipate the heat of hot Moroccan summers.

Donkeys carting rubbish in the Medina, Fes

Asleep in the Onions!

Along the way, we saw some amazing sights. like this gentleman catching a snooze in a cart full of onions that were on their way to market. Perhaps he had been up all night pulling them out of the ground. 

Some of the teens

Our scariest moment of our tour of Morocco came as we were about to catch our ferry to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. The Strait is only 14 km wide at the narrowest point and is a bridge from the African continent across to Europe. Consequently, many illegal immigrants try to get access into Europe from this point. We had been warned to expect young males to try and stow away under our bus during stops at toll booths or red traffic lights, but we were unprepared for the sheer numbers trying, and their desperate actions to get underneath, even when the bus was still moving. At the last toll booth before our ferry, there were 16 young lads, and 6 successfully climbed under the bus. The driver knew he had seen 2 lads, and so he pulled over and the police came to check. Not a single teen was found initially, but a group of those who didn't get a handhold kept looking at our bus and the police search, so we knew there had to be at least one teen left under the bus. After a few minutes a teen scrambled out, then another few minutes, a second one did. We thought that was it, but the group of teens kept looking at the search, indicating that perhaps there was one more teen. The police and others kept searching without any success. Eventually, another - not one - but another 4 teens ran from their hiding place under the bus. It was unbelievable. Little did the lads know that due to the stowaway problem, the bus goes through an electronic scanner which can detect a heart beat of even a cat. After we pulled away from the toll booth we approached a round-about, and some youths tried again to clamber underneath. A police car turned on its siren and the boys fled, and from that point we had a police escort all the way to the ferry terminal. Phew, I thought we might even miss our ferry! At least the crossing was nice and smooth, unlike our trip coming over.

It has been such an eye opener visiting Morocco. We learnt so much in 5 days and are richer for the experience. 

Baby camel with mother at Berber village