May 20, 2013 - Loving Marrakech

Hi Dear Friends I am having a ball in Marrakech! Great atmosphere and sights !! .... After struggling with a head cold and sinusitis for over a week, (not helped by a couple of long & necessary travel days ), but luckily I am on hols so if I am crook it doesn't matter too much! I am rolling with it... We are staying on the top floor of Riad Zolah, really comfortable and tranquil, and I have aching thighs already from going up and down all the stairs.This will hopefully compensate for the box of traditional cakes I bought for us as tasters...

May 19, 2013 - Desert tour from Marrakech - Marrakech desert tours - Sahara tours from Marrakech -

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May 19, 2013 - "Auto-Exoticism"

New York: Ritz alongside the squalor of homelessness, Rock and Roll, overt commercialism, high rise buildings and ice creams, hustle and bustle. FAMILIAR London: gentility alongside soccer hooliganism (encountered at the pub- but that's another story), pints of bitter, the underground, Indian Restaurants, cricket (NZ are playing England at Lords), rich history. FAMILIAR Even South Carolina: the absolutism, that comes from a binary existence- good V evil; black v white; heaven v earth; and left/liberalism v right/ freedom, platitudes and...

Mar 10, 2013 - Colors, Scents & Sounds

Our first organized group tour! There are 9 of us travellers - all about the same age, all very active and even more compatible. Our young tour guide, Youssef, is having trouble getting the group to "yalla! yalla!" (let's go! let's go!) There are two couples from Australia, a couple from Windsor, Ontario, and a single woman from Montreal. Morocco is a land of colors, smells and the sounds of daily calling to prayer over loud speakers wherever you are. The landscape is very diverse from lush green valleys, to the high, brown Atlas...

Nov 2, 2012 - Entry 17

11/2/12 Marrakech We took an overnight to Marrakech, which was about a 3 hour buss ride. We were told we were going to be camping, and that is all the information we received, even the staff didn’t know what to expect. Upon arrival, we met a tour guide who gave us a tour through an old palace, belonging to a former king. We saw the bedrooms of his 4 wives and the room where his 27 personal concubines lived. We learned that the current king recently made polygamy illegal, making Morocco one of the few Arab countries to not allow it. ...

Sep 17, 2012 - Morocco

Well, we are now in Marrakech after 5 days traveling around Morocco. Morocco has lived up to it's name in every way and everywhere we go, there is always something different. The landscape always changes from rocky outcrops to desert, to lush green oasis and they even have snow fields in the winter time! The weather has been lovely and warm but we have had long trips in the bus which can be tiring. Our tour guide is English and she reminds us of a cross between Dawn French and Hyacinth Bucket! Her English humor has us laughing and she tells...

May 24, 2012 - Merzouga - Marrakech

24 May – I wake up early to voices outside. The group has returned from overnight in the desert. They are sore from camel ride and tired; they got up at 5:00 to get back in time for 7:00 am departure back to Marrakech. Their experience – at the camp, they sat on stool waiting for dinner and then slept in a tent - confirm my decision to stay. In fact, my adventure in the Wadi Ram was a lot nicer. It is a long – 600 km. – ride back without air conditioning. I am glad when we reach my hotel in Marrakech. I take a long shower, exit to buy some...

May 21, 2012 - Second day in Marrakech

I consider myself an astute person and savvy traveler, and yet this morning I felt pray to a scam– why must a person always be on the lookout(same was going on in Egypt and in Istanbul)? Anyway, I was walking to the Museum, happy I did not get lost, when a nicely dressed man informed me that the museum was closed until the afternoon. However, he said, I was lucky because the tanneries were nearby, interesting to see and open only on Monday (they are open every day, I found out). As he was giving me directions, he saw someone that worked...

May 20, 2012 - Imlil to Marrakesh

After a nice breakfast, and goodbye gifts from Ahmed and his wife, it is time for goodbyes. Jahaj gives me a lift into Marrakesh. On the way we stop to buy argan oil for me and olive oil for him. We buyolive oil at a little place where the owner shows us how they make it. He gives us homemade bread to taste the oil. The oil smells of olives, it is so good; it reminds me of the olive oil I purchased in Greece from villagers. After, we continue on to Marrakesh and the Medina where my hotel is. After the peaceful time in the mountains,...

May 15, 2012 - Milano - Marrakesh - Imlil

After short night in Milano – five am wakeup call – I fly into Marrakesh. From the air the land looks barren and arid; it does not show the life and colors (and heat) of Marrakesh. All the houses are terracotta red (Morocco red) and so is the dirt. I do not see much of Marrakesh as we drive straight to the High Atlas and Imlil the last village before the Mount Toubkal (@ 13,670’ the highest mountain in Africa). The driver speaks French hence we are able to converse along the 65 km drive where the flat land gives way to hills and then...

Nov 19, 2011 - Mystical Marrakech

The shower was a disappointment – only lukewarm water! Breakfast was at a coffee shop two doors down the street: a round bread which was cut in half and filled with Amlou (the argan nut butter – like peanut butter) and of course fresh orange juice. Mandarins and oranges are everywhere at this time in Morocco. We took a taxi to “La Place” to meet our local guide Youssef to do a tour through the old city with three other group members. First we saw the Koutoubia Mosque from the 12th century with a minaret that is 65m high; then to the...

Nov 18, 2011 - Essaouira to Marrakech

Moroccan Independence Day! Another holiday. Taking advantage of our free morning, we slept in a bit, showered (nice hot showers), packed our stuff, delivered it downstairs at the reception to be stored until this afternoon, and stepped outside into beautiful sunshine! It sure was a day for sandals, t-shirts and sunglasses - up to 22 degrees C today! We walked over to the Main Square to have breakfast on a terrace in the sunshine. We met Mark there and he joined us in having a "petit pain avec chocolat" (croissant with nutella) and of...