COLORFUL | CHAOTIC | DIVERSE
Our final stop in Africa was Morocco, which I was very much looking forward to. I arrived in Marrakech a few weeks before Kathleen and made the most of a great gym and coworking space in our neighborhood. I wandered the Media for hours and took countless photos. Once she arrived, we did tons of exploring, ate our weight in Tajine and drank lots of delicious tea. There were things we loved (the sights, smells and colors - a photographer’s dream) and things we didn’t (getting hassled everywhere) but overall I’m happy went and feel fortunate to have had the experiences we did.
Marrakech
One of the craziest places I’ve ever been, perhaps made to feel less so by the fact that we came directly from Zanzibar. The Medina is overwhelming and the energy is unmistakable. Everyone is hustling in one way or another and in order to get around you have to look like you know what you’re doing and where you’re going. The food is cheap and generally great, although its easy to get sick of Tajine after a several weeks!
In Marrakech we did a photography workshop with Veronique and Marc that was both informative and fun. They have been living in Morocco for years and had an interesting perspective on taking great pictures in addition to knowing the best places to go in the city. For beginners and aspiring pros alike, I would definitely recommend their tour. In Morocco you must be very careful about taking pictures of the locals, who are intensely private, however we were able to meet a few people who have lived there for their entire lives and take some portraits which is not something I normally get to do.
Essaouira
Because we were in the country for so long, we did multiple excursions, including a long weekend in the seaside town of Essaouria, which is known for its colorful street markets, comfortable riads and ramparts that drop straight into the ocean. We slept to the sound of waves crashing each night and spent our mornings eating all the carbs at the breakfast provided by our riad. At dinner on our first night, we made a friend who treated us to a lunch of fresh caught fish at his restaurant and grill.
Atlas Mountains
Dividing Morocco on an angle from East to West are the Atlas Mountains. You must drive over and through them in order to get to the desert from Marrakech and several other cities. The landscape you see over several days of driving is as diverse as any we have experienced, from alpine forests to volcanic rock formations to lunar-esque plains with miniature dust storms dotting the horizon as far as the eye can see.
Sahara Desert
From Marrakech, we did a 3 day tour over the Atlas Mountains, into the Sahara Desert and through the Dades Valley to Fez. We rode camels, drank lots of sugary mint tea, listened to the best driving music in the world and bought two beautiful overpriced rugs and shipped them home. It was easily a highlight of our travels and something that everyone should experience. There is something about traversing extremely different landscapes in a single day that gives you a sense of the vastness of our planet. Spending the night under the stars, listening to traditional Berber music, surrounded in all directions by fine golden sand as far as the eye can see is bound to be a highlight for anyone.
Fez
While Fez was not our favorite, we had a wonderful apartment and met some nice people. I also discovered one of the most down and dirty gyms on the planet. We did a walking tour of the Medina and surrounding streets, visited the tanneries where we almost bought leather jackets and had a beautiful dinner at one of the nicest riads in the city where our Airbnb host’s husband was the manager.
Chefchouen
Known as the Blue City, Chefchouen is in our opinion the gem of Morocco. We were nervous upon arrival when our Airbnb host took us up at least a dozen flights of uneven stairs, but over the course of 2 weeks we came to love the city. We spent our days lounging in the sun, enjoying the perfect weather and working on our roof deck with the most spectacular view. Conference calls with the call to prayer blaring out of dozens of speakers in the background were interesting to say the least.
We happened to be in Chefchoen during Ramadan, which made for the ultimate authentic experience. During the days, the cafes, normally packed with people (mostly men) smoking and drinking mint tea, were emptied with the exception of a few morose-looking stragglers staring at their phones or into space. At night, the city came alive with the sound of people eating, partying, shooting fireworks. There was a single hotel in the entire city that served alcohol, so we went there for beers in the evening. The family we stayed with provided breakfast as part of our Airbnb fees, but during Ramadan they invited us to join them and their 4 year old daughter for dinner. While we could speak no arabic, the host spoke better Spanish than we do so we found ourselves sitting at their table eating and drinking and trying to converse through an intermediary language that none of us were fluent in. This was an experience we will never forget.