a work in progress - hope to post photos soon!
WEDNESDAY FEB 12, 2014 - PREPARING TO LEAVE SECHELT
Well it was a very busy day and we started by finishing packing for our trip to Morocco to be sure that was completed! Always amazing how long it takes to pack all the small items even when you have a packing list to follow! It was nose to the grindstone on all the loose ends for work before it was already well into the evening when we were heading off for the 8:25pm ferry to Vancouver where we stayed the night at the Vancouver Airport Fairmont Hotel - a great hotel and a perfect location for tomorrow morning when we have an 8am checkin for our Air Canada flight AC150 to Montreal.
THURSDAY FEB 13, 2014 - OLD MONTREAL, QUEBEC
After an early morning of last minute online work, we finally got checked in at 9am - so not much time to wait to board the plane. Terry barely had time to buy his coffee and Timbits to eat for breakfast on the plane. We had preselected 2 side by side seats near the rear of the plane and had a comfortable ride watching "Captain Phillips" - fantastic movie - full of action and suspense! Based on the true story of an American freighter boarded by Somalie pirates off the horn of Africa.
FRIDAY FEB 14, 2014 - VALENTINE'S DAY, TO CASABLANCA & AGADIR, MOROCCO
We woke up to a white blanket covering everything outside the window! The SOCHI Olympics were playing on the TV and Canadian Patrick Chan won the silver medal in the men's figure skating, and the Canadian men's hockey team won 6 - 0 against Austria. A great start to the day.
Our day continued with an unexpected call at a medical clinic in Montreal. Without going into all the details we learned that in Quebec it is almost impossible to get an appointment with a medical Doctor so everyone has to use the walk in clinic which typically involves waiting around for a Doctor to be free. It cost $80 since we were out of Province but after 3 hours we did get to eventually see a Doctor and get a prescription.
During this process we went underneath the Queen Elizabeth Fairmont Hotel (La Reine Elizabeth) and discovered that this is exactly where the Via Rail train station is with many trains to Ottawa and Toronto.
It had been snowing all night and as we walked the streets of Montreal to the Medical clinic there were snow ploughs everywhere attempting to clear the 6 inches of snow! It was still snowing lightly and continuously - thank goodness we were wearing our sturdy hiking boots ready for what we might come across in Morocco! We also had long pants, warm hiking socks, warm sweaters, down vests and rain coats along with a polar fleece hat and gloves - and we used it all! The locals were all bundled up well and were wearing winter boots.
To maximise the couple of hours that we had before we had to head to the airport, we walked back to Old Montreal to take photos and look at the old buildings in the daylight after last night's walk in the dark! We thoroughly enjoyed the area and stopped to eat brunch at La Creperie - a lovely little restaurant and we had a table next to the window where we could watch the snowy world go by outside including snow ploughs that had a very difficult time trying to get by on the very narrow streets.
Lunch was excellent - onion soup gratinee, perfect for a cold snowy day, followed by jambon (ham), brie cheese and fresh spinach with bechamel sauce crepe - and there were two crepes - way more than I could finish! Terry had La Neptune - and as the description implied his were full of seafood - shrimps, lobster, crab, cheese and bechamel sauce - a really excellent lunch along with a glass of white chardonnay.
We didn't have time to waste and picked up a taxi outside to take us the few blocks back to the Fairmont La Reine Elizabeth ($8.60) where we picked up our bags and headed off to the Trudeau Airport ($40 fixed price)- the roads were snowy and busy but no problems. Our taxi driver was originally from Lebanon, where they speak French, English and Lebanese - he had been living in Montreal for 30+ years.
We were soon checked in with Royal Air Maroc for the 3,450 mile and 6 1/2 hour non stop flight to Casablanca Morocco which departed about 1 hour late by the time bags had been unloaded for 1 passenger who did not arrive, and then over to the de-icing station for the process of de-icing the wings on the plane before we could take off.
SATURDAY FEB 15, 2014 MOROCCO - we arrive!
Today we are due to arrive in Casablanca about 6:30am then change planes and continue on to Agadir, Morocco and the 5 star Hotel Atlantic Palace where we will tour the city with a local guide before checking into our hotel for a free afternoon and early to bed no doubt after the overnight flight from Montreal!
We arrived in Casablanca - a large city from the air although dawn was barely breaking as we landed. The directions in the airport left a little to be desired but we did walk through what felt like a very empty airport through to "in transit" where we waited for a couple of hours for our connecting flight to Agadir, further South on the Atlantic Coast. This was a cold waiting area with no instructions anywhere but eventually the bus did arrive and took us off to board the prop plane to Agadir, 1 hour 10 minutes and a very full flight.
Agadir, Morocco is about 400km north East of Tenerife and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It was after 11am and blue sunny skies when we arrived in Agadir where we met Mohammed our local guide, and Abdul the driver. Three folks luggage did not arrive!! so it was awhile before we drove the 45 minutes to check in to the Atlantic Palace Agadir for one night - a beautiful 5 star property with well tended grounds and a beautiful huge free form swimming pool with clients enjoying the sun around the pool.
After checking in and dropping our bags - the rooms were large, king size bed, lots of tile and white - we were off for a quick tour. The main view point in Agadir is on top of the highest point overlooking the massive harbour and coastline for miles. Outside the Marina the waves were smashing in along the beach coming across the Atlantic first stop after leaving the East coast of the Americas. The views were spectacular and this is a busy viewing area for tourists and locals alike. The winding road with switchbacks all the way to the top has a hand built short wall (maybe 3 to 4 feet high) like a castle wall. Leading inland were incredible views of the valleys leading through the??
Needless to say we took many photos and from here you could see the huge number of small and large fishing vessels - a huge fishing fleet out of Agadir, apparently one of Africa's largest fishing fleets.
At the top there were half a dozen camels with their owners trying to earn a few dollars for photos, also ladies painting henna deigns on hands, and a variety of tourist items for sale.
The first inhabitants of Morocco were berbers who came from Yemen and crossed the Red Sea to Africa when Yemen was suffering from the drought. Yemen built Maarib, the first dam built in the world (World heritage) and were the first people recorded who used irrigation to grow crops. Yemen was the first recorded location where houses were built with two stories. Yemen does not produce coffee today but actually was also the first country to produce coffee. The Romans were the first to name inhabitants "barbar" or barbarians (since they were not Roman) which translated to todays' Berbers'. Also during Roman times if you did not speak Latin you were called "barbar". amazegh means "free people". Today there are berbers in many countries including Mali, Tunisia, and many other places in Africa. The Romans were after military control and today you can still see ruins of cities originally built by the Romans. Largest city in Morocco built on 40 acres, Volubilus (named after volibilia purple flowers which bloom each Spring) and the large Roman port of Lexus in 50km south of Tangiers (1 hour away from Fez), now called Larache. Mauritanus used to be the name for all of North Africa, and the capital is now the country of Mauritania.
The Arab culture is an oral culture - and was interested only in poetry and used to organise a souk, or festival, of poetry (souk Okad) - many centuries before Islam. Writing was not common at the time but the Arabs loved to write poetry and still continues to this day. The Berbers and Arabs were pagans and there was no Islam before the 6th Century and around this time the Arabs started to convert from Oral to Written culture. So the artistic representation of literature was very important. The Koran written in Arabic, was learned by heart because it was poems. And it cannot be translated easily to represent what it is saying - and is easy for those who study linguistics it is easy to understand why it cannot be translated.
In 1435 the prophet of Islam escaped from Mecca to the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia because the Arabs were wanting to eliminate the Koran since it was felt that the Koran was bringing in new ways , including slavery, and they didn't want change. The Muslims believe that Jesus is a human being and don't believe in the Trinity. (note medina now means "Old City" but the original meaning of medina was simply "city"
There is also a city in Morocco called MEDINAS) When the prophet died no one was chosen to replace him- he felt he had shown folks the way to follow, now choose the right person for the right place. This is where the split originated between Sunni and Shiite in the Muslim world.
The Shiite left Mecca and settled in Iran - the Sunni wanted to name a new guide so they named him Alii and named him the leader of the Muslims. Alii did not want to be the leader since he felt this was too heavy for his shoulders. The Shiite believe in one spiritual guide. The Shiite can wear white or black turbans, the black turban simply meaning, and differentiates, that they are descended from the original Shiite muslims. The Sunni believe he is a human being and can make mistakes. The Shiite are in South of Lebanon and Iran, while Morocco is all Sunni Muslims, along with Tunisia and Egypt but each country's Sunni's have their own traditions and music, and each person has their own thoughts and opinions.
Morocco is 65% Berber population and is run by the Monarchy with a King.
The Phoenicians from Lebanon were more interested in commercial business control, and were the first marine navigators who controlled the Mediterranean, the centre of the world at that time, by building boats and ships.
We had a quick tour of the Atlantic Palace Hotel (nice rooms, nice spa and great sunset bar). Then we headed back to the high outlook over the city to watch the sunset. After watching the sunset (no not really the sunset since the sun disappeared behind the marine layer on the horizon) it was back to the Atlantic Palace for a quick shower then back to the shoreline for dinner at Le Flor, a seafood restaurant on the popular boardwalk.
SUNDAY FEB 16, 2014 AGADIR - TALIOUINE - TAZNAKHT - OUARZAZATE (375KM)
Today the plan is to drive East 375km departing Agadir after breakfast for Ouarzazate via the Safran Road which runs along the Anti-Atlas mountains. Also planned is a stop at the Taliouine Village well known for the production of Safran (the yellow saffron spice, the most expensive spice in the world).
Tonight will be at the Kasbah Dar Chamaa hotel in OUARZAZATE.
Our wakeup call at 6am was sooo early! We are now on a time zone 8 hours ahead of Vancouver so it takes a few days to get on the right time zone in our body! But we were showered, packed and ready for a quick breakfast (buffet) before leaving at 8am. The best part was the coffee - made by automatic machine but a wonderful cappuccino with a little chocolate. (Buffet included eggs to order and hot items, with cheeses, cold cuts, bread, pastries, cereals, fruit etc).
We finally left the Agadir Atlantic Palace & Casino at 830am - one room received their wake up call late at 740am!! It was a typical Sunday morning - quiet on the streets, folks jogging and walking along the streets, the sportsfields full of men and boys playing basketball and soccer. Being right on the Atlantic Ocean the skies are hazy and full of moisture from the ocean. Most of the buildings here are low, no more than 5 or 6 stories high with lots of satellite dishes on the roof. First stop was at the Shell gas station, and we were looking for a comprehensive map of Morocco but the book store next door (superette journeaux) was closed but we soon had purchased an excellent road map for 200dh (about $18 ) so that we could orient ourselves and follow our itinerary. By 930am there had been so much whining I could hardly stand it - headaches, motion sickness and no one taking gravol - people moving all over the bus grrrr!!! After another hour had passed we had several folks asleep and others complaining about the air conditioning while Muhammad our guide continued to bravely soldier on with the history of Morocco.
We passed orange, banana and olive orchards as we drove as the air quickly left the coastal humidity behind and became very dry. Lots and lots of donkeys with carts attached patiently waiting to be loaded with fruit to transport to market. The water irrigation is supplied by the run off from the Atlas mountains - there are more than 30 dams in Morocco, no oil or nuclear energy. The government has built pipelines along the major roads everywhere in the country. We have seen no people walking along carrying water jugs nor donkey carts carrying jugs of water. The High Atlas Mountains (highest summit Toubkal 4167 metres second highest in Africa after Kilimanjaro, close to Marrakech) could be seen through the haze to our North East as we headed south east towards Talouine. Richard Branson's Kasbah luxury hotel (starts at 800 Euros per night) is halfway between Marrakesh and Toubkal
As we drove along the AntiAtlas Mountains were to our South - the longest, not the highest, mountain chain and the further we drove the closer and higher the Anti Atlas mountains became and there were acres and acres of squash, all shapes and sizes. We ate fresh mandarins on the bus - so fresh and sweet about 4 dirhams ($0.50) for 1 kg. Today Mohammed also bought Corn du gazelle for us all - almond pastries, and you could taste orange blossom flowers in them - mmm god! Around 11am in the vicinity of Alfaid we passed acres of flowering almond trees covered in white blossoms, and of course donkeys tied up and razing everywhere all with covers on their backs. This is the only place in the world where this old species of almond trees are found (they are called fossils), argan spinosa, where it takes about 60kg of almonds to make 1 litre of argon oil which is world famous and very expensive.
We turned right here towards Talouine and the land is extremely rocky, several herds of goats being taken by their owners down to drink. The goats can often be found at the top of the argan trees which they climb to eat the almonds. The oil is used for cooking and in cosmetics.
Dar means 'house" so for example Dar es Salaam means "house of peace". Auberge is another French word used here for "house". We stopped in the village of Talouine at the Auberge Askaoun for a pee break, saffron tea and tiny pots of saffron root. The male owner made the tea fresh in a large teapot and measured and then weighed each tiny pot of saffron root 35 dihra for each. There were pre measured pots in a locked glass case but the owner had to get out the scales and precisely measure new pots when no-one could locate the key to the glass case! He also gave me two saffron roots when he saw that I was interested in them as a "souvenir de Maroc!" This turned out to be a very long stop (no surprise) this is a very slow group to get moving! And there are only 12 of us!
2:00pm and we're going over a summit in the anti Atlas mountains and through Ourzazate where many movies were shot including Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra,- we even passed the film set of The Hills have Eyes (a horror movie) where 2 locals were there with a sign saying we had to pay to take photos! Right opposite between two hills is another brand new dam being built - there are also taps everywhere which the water supply function of the government has installed to deliver potable water to everyone - there must be a huge network of pipes carrying all this water. Certainly during the very interesting drive today we have seen huge natural dry runoffs with steep sides which must be flooded when it rains and have huge flash floods .
We passed nomadic homes, which were caves in the hills, and when it rains the nomads and their herds of goats all hide in here to protect themselves. Apparently If you use the land for more than twelve years (squatters rights) and you can prove it, then the land becomes yours.
After lunch we walked down the street to visit AIT BEN HADDOU, the oldest kasbah in Morocco from the 17th century and just North from Timbuktu in Mali where we were several years ago. KASBAH means fortified house or group of houses. AIT BEN HADDOU was built on top of a mountain with incredible views (protection from folks coming from every direction) and along the Asif Ounila river. It was a spectacular visit - we walked along the pathways and to the top of the hill to view the Kasbah and the surrounding areas 10 families still live in the AIT BEN HADDOU kasbah, and many of the homes had a room filled with tourist items for sale. scarves, gowns, carpets, tagine cooking casseroles, silver jewelry
We arrived in Ouarzazate at the Dar Chamaa Hotel in the dark - but how romantic with all the Moroccan lamp shades everywhere - we were in room 104 on the first floor (1 floor up) and it was welcoming, warm and comfortable with red blankets on top of the bed. Dinner was at 830pm which gave us enough time to pack our small backpack to take with us to the Bedouin camp tomorrow night, essentially nothing except warm things and knee braces since I find sitting on that camel so hard on my knees.
Dinner was very good - starting with Moroccan soup (again) which we enjoyed more than the lunch time Moroccan soup, followed by Moroccan cigars which were really a spring roll, followed by roast chicken with vegetables and potatoes, then orange crepe - way too much and very good! We drank red wine with K C , and sat talking for way too long and it was after midnight when we went to bed.
MONDAY FEB 17, 2014 OUARZAZATE - N'KOB- ERFOUD - MERZOUGA (362KM)
Today the plan is that we drive 362 km leaving Ouarzazate with Erfoud as our first destination passing through N'Kob, the village of 45 kasbahs, which have been restored and maintained and give undeniable charm to the peaceful village of N'Kob standing in a lunar landscape before continuing on to Agdz at the start of the Draa valley.
After arriving at the hotel in Merzouga, which is in the sand dunes and only 40km from the border with Algeria, we take a camel ride (oh no!) to the Bedouin camp in the middle of the desert dunes, about a 4 hour ride!! Help!! We eat dinner tonight in the camp and spend the night in a Bedouin tent.
Morocco is 2.3 times larger than France (population 33 million) and we saw an excellent infrastructure as we travelled close to 400km every day - water pipes, power lines, a massive solar power generating plant, excellent roads.
We were fast asleep when the alarm went off at 7am - that's what happens between jet lag and late nights!! We were soon packed and eating breakfast buffet style (excellent crispy stye pancakes called mssemen with honey!!) with coffee and ready to roll before 9am which was the set departure time - Abdul was waiting for us with a nice clean bus, so today we took the front seat after bouncing around in the back seats yesterday.
The sky was very hazy which is a shame since this morning we drove through the Anti Atlas Mountains so the views would have been even more spectacular. In the middle of nowhere we passed by a cop with a radar gun (flashing lights from an oncoming bus warned us ahead of time) and Mohammed told us that the radar gun is connected to Marrakesh so any fine goes to the Police department not into the Cop's pocket.
There is little Chinese presence in Morocco - in fact we were told it is hard for Chinese tourists to get a Visa - only business Visas are issued for Chinese which are very expensive. Morocco lost 90,000+ jobs to China in the last year. Many European companies including Hermes get their products made in Morocco - good pricing and excellent quality. The minimum wage in Morocco is 300 Euros per month plus mandatory medical insurance 700dh per month (approx $100 Cad). There are both private and public medical facilities available.
65% of Moroccans Berber alphabet is Tifinagh which is different than Arabic. Education is mandatory, and there are both public and private schools. Mandatory is French, Arabic and Berber. In College (like High school) you can start to choose various threads. When you get bacca laureate you can choose to go to University - all public University is free (e.g. Law, Engineering, Medicine). Moroccan education is based on the French system so it is easy for Moroccans to move to France since they have the same degrees and diplomas. Taxes are based on the French system and are extremely high, much higher than Canada (Mohammed used to live in Montreal for 6 years).
We continued heading south East and at 945am we pass through the town of An Saoun and continued gaining altitude on winding well paved roads through valleys and along the sides of cliffs with deep drop offs. The scenery is nothing but switchback after switchback - fabulous and breathtaking. We had the JBEL SARHRO mountains (the Eastern extension of the Anti Atlas Mountains) to the North East with the DRAA river below heading towards the DRAA valley - I can't explain how amazing it was to see all the layers of sedimentary rock from when they were covered by the sea some 10 million years ago. By 1030am we had several folks feeling very motion sick (a couple of stops for fresh air) and we stopped in the small town of AGDZ for a pee break and short rest (5 to 10 minutes for this group means 55 minutes). Before leaving AGDZ we stopped to refuel and take photos at the overlook of the amazing and very fertile DRAA valley - full of palm trees and very long. It was such a shame that there is so much dust in the air obscuring the mountains and everything - but that's the real world here.
Mohhamed continued educating us on Morocco as we travelled. Morocco was a French protectorate and got their independence November 11, 1956. In Agdz we found a couple of excellent photo books in the gift shop (Northern and Southern MOROCCO) 220DH for both (about $30 CAD). Interestingly, the most Northern part of Morocco is Spanish (with two Spanish cities of Melilla and Sabta - next to Tangier) and even Moroccans need a visa to go there! There is a fast train currently being built between Tangier and Casablanca to be completed by 2015, the next phase of the rail line between Casablanca and Marrakech to be completed by 2020.
The very first US Embassy in the world was located in Tangier, this was, and still is, a very large and busy international city. This year 2014 Morocco has adopted new rules to regulate immigration from other countries for permanence residence - many refugees have been arriving from Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Syria to try and cross to Northern Europe from Tangier and many drowning in the Mediterranean during the process. In fact several years ago, one night the border in Morocco at the Spanish town of Melilla was rushed by large groups of refugees trying to get into the Spanish town. The Spanish police fired and killed many of them causing an international incident with Morocco telling Spain they can't shoot Moroccans in Morocco with Spain and the EU telling Morocco they need to control the border.
Spain and Morocco were Arab countries until 1492 when Columbus went to the Americas). Many Spanish words and town names are derived from Arabic, like Algarve which means Spain in Arabic. When Islam wanted to expand, led by Tarik Iben Zayed, they left Morocco and headed North in their ships landing in Gibraltar where they burned their ships so that they couldn't return to North Africa. note: Ben means "son of" and in Hebrew ben also means son of - Hebrew and Arabic are very similar languages).
There was a focus on science, philosophy and mathematics - in fact the very first University in the world was built in FEZ, and was built was a woman Fatima Al Fihriya,(as Terry says maybe that's where the academic title proFEZor came from!!)
We arrived in N'Kob at 1225pm, and this is one end of the off road experience that you can take between Boumaine Dades and N'Kob (oasis of 45 kasbah's) which sounds like a wonderful trip that we'd love. A kasbah is a fortified house (or collection of houses) like Morocco's oldest kasbah from the 17th century that we visited yesterday AIT BENHADDOU. Mohammed and Abdul put on a BUDDAH BAR CD for us to listen to as we covered the many miles - playing the Qanoud string instrument in their lap.
The movie called BABEL (Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt) was filmed in Morocco and took the name from the town of Tazzarine that we drove through at 1pm and used the name of Tazzarine in the movie. SPY GAME was also filmed in Morocco with Brad Pitt and Robert Redford, Alexander the Great, The Diamond of the Nile all filmed in Morocco. By Tazzarine there is a protected area with rock carvings from 10,00 years ago showing elephants, giraffe, wild goat and showing this used to be a green fertile area with lots of wild life - now there are no wild animals in Morocco, all hunted and killed. There are also dinosaur skeletons from 140 and 280 million years ago, up to 90 metres long.
As we continued on our drive the dust storm was heavier and very rugged country, very sandy and certainly turning into true desert although no sand dunes yet - Mohammed said no-one wants to live here so inhabitants are few. But then we reached the town of ALNIF and stopped at La Gazelle Du Sud for lunch (another 1 1/2 hours) where we had chicken brochette (kebab) with rice, french fries and tomato slice and pieces of the large round fresh bread (cut into large chunks) they make here which looks like a triple sized and thick pita bread and tastes quite good - they serve with a very light olive oil for dipping. 75DH each about $10.
Terry and I decided to quit eating lunch, we really don't need it and especially at 3pm in the afternoon - we think a short walk or wander around the tiny town would be more enjoyable and better use of time. Our seats were low to the floor along the sides of a low table - that is definitely how most of the dining rooms have been in the restaurants that we have seen, definitely Moroccan style. It was 3:20 pm. when we got underway after lunch and we still have more than 100km to go to ERFOUD where we drop our bags at the hotel before taking the 4 x 4 out to where we mount the camels to head to the Bedouin tents.
The road deteriorated somewhat after lunch with pot holes requiring slower speeds - we saw a couple of eagles in the trees, and apparently in this area you can see wild life including gazelles, we saw maybe 8 camels including 3 young camels. We also saw more than a hundred beehives in one location - apparently these bees are to pollinate the sidra flowers and then the honey produced by these bees is sought after and very expensive. We thought that perhaps there was not quite so much dust in the air but that may have been our imagination! or wishful thinking!
Around 445pm, just before we reached the town of RISSANI, most of the bush (which like acacia trees but are not) has disappeared and the sand is building up - along the sides of the road there is a "sand fence" (like our snow fences in Canada, made from palm leaves to stop the sand from covering the road. We also started seeing date palms - dates being one of the few fruits that they can produce in this dry arid area.
Entering RISSANI we went through the fancy city gates where we picked up large bottles of water to take to the Bedouin Camp with us tonight. It's very dry here and we've been drinking water all day. With the dust in the air it's likely dryer than usual.
By the time we reached the KASBAH TIMBUKTOU hotel to drop off our bags, the light was fading quickly. We transferred into a 4 x 4 to drive out to the sand dunes where our camels were waiting for us, along with Alii and Jusef - our camel drivers. Alii helped put on my head scarf in the traditional fashion and then loaded my small shoulder bag onto the first camel "good eyes" which I would be on. Good Eyes is a large and well behaved camel which is why he is the lead camel. Alii leads Good Eyes,with a rope through his nostril, and every other camel is tied to the one in front - we had 2 groups with 6 camels tied together in each group. They were all sitting down on the ground waiting for us.
It took a while to get everyone's bags and passengers onto each camel but eventually we were all on and the camel stood up. This requires you to hang on for dear life as the camel raises its' back legs first, which means that for a few very critical seconds you have a steep slope in front of you teetering over the camel's head. These camels had a narrow metal pipe in a "T" in front to hang on to - this is so necessary since on a camel every time you go downhill you have to "hold on and lean back please" and going up hill "lean forward an hold on please" - all trying to help the camel carry your weight and balance in the soft sand up and down the dunes.
We finally started off and it was soon dark - there was a full moon but there was so many sand particles in the air that we couldn't see the moon or get any light from it. But Alii and Good Eyes knew their way perfectly along the ridges of the sand dunes with the continual small ups and down but no mistakes going head first down the steep slides of the massive dunes! The dark became pitch black and it's amazing how disorienting that can be - not sure whether you're going up or down or on the flat - similar to skiing down a steep hill in a white out and feeling like you are stopped!
The camel ride trip was probably 1 1/2 hours long and most definitely my rear end counted every minute (it may be permanently re shaped or bruised) - but it was an amazing and wonderful experience that I would repeat if I have another chance. Arriving at the Bedouin camp it was almost dark band in a complete circle with the tents built around the inside of the circle with wood poles and blankets forming the walls, roof and the bed coverings. Our "tent" was a space with a blanket hanging in the middle with two twin beds for two other clients on the other side to us - so you just looked straight over the top when standing and had only 1 light in the middle of the tent. It had a bed on the floor and that was all.
Nadir was at a welcoming table serving us our sundowners of hot tea. We drank that and then switched to the red wine we had bought with us. We have tried several different Moroccan red and white wines here - all very good varying from 70Dh to 130Dh ($10 to $20 Cad) . Some of the other ladies had brought chips and cheese, and it was probably 9pm by now. The night time desert winds had arrived and it was very cool - we were all wearing heavy socks and hiking shoes, pants, sweaters, vests, jackets, hats and gloves - just how we had dressed for the ride to the camp on the camels. So we went into the dining tent and again sat on pillows on the floor and were served bread, followed by family sized plates of chicken, potatoes and vegetable, then a casserole of vegetables served in a Tajir, and dessert plate of whole oranges and apples.
After dinner the men of the camp entered the tent and played their drums.
TUESDAY FEB 18, 2014 MERZOUGA - TINGHIR (200KM)
After a wonderful night under the somewhat sandy skies in the ERG CHEBBI desert we get back on the camels, if we can, and head back to the hotel in Merzouga to pick up our luggage and enjoy a full breakfast. Then it's off to explore the magnificent Southern Moroccan countryside, including the Todra Gorge located on the traditional route of the oases, as we head to Tinghir and the Hotel Saghro (200km today if we don't count the miles on the camels!!).
We were woken afbout 6:30am and managed to get dressed again ready for the camel ride back to Kasbah Timbuktou. A quick trip to the bathroom and then a few of us decided to climb the huge sand dune right behind us for the view! It was hard going and became harder the higher we went as the sand got softer! We gave up when we were about half way up - but later when we were standing further back we could see that the sand dune was much higher than we could see and we were probably only 25% of the way up! But it was still grand views from the point that we reached! I also went out by our group of camels who were tied together but still kneeling down and relaxing while I took photos of them. Alii soon came over and tied on my scarf and our bags onto our camels and then we waited for the rest of the group to appear.
Once on the camel we again had to hold on very tight while the camel stood up - Alii had everyone sitting on their camel and then one by one (starting with me at the front) and watching very carefully ready to respond quickly should anything go wrong as the camel stands up with you as the heavy load on his back.
The ride back was wonderful - incredible views of the hundreds of sand dunes was awe inspiring and I could gaze at them for a very long time. There is something quite calming and spiritual about sitting on the top of a sand dune gazing out - although the ups and downs on the back of the camel brings you back to reality pretty quickly and keeps you focussed. And I say that I laugh when I remember back and seeing our guide Mohammed - he sat back wards on the camel, facing us all, and not holding on to the bar on the camel with his camera in hand taking photos of us all as we rode along!
The sun continued to rise and even though we couldn't see it because of the dust particles in the air it did get brighter and the horizon clearer. The wind blew and we could see the sand blowing off the tops of the higher sand dunes - as we traced our steps back along the sand dune ridges, it was amazing how much of or footsteps from the previous evening had all disappeared. All too soon we were back where we had started from the previous evening where the 4 X 4 dropped us off. Alii quickly opened a little sack that he had and offered us some small trilobites to purchase. This was easy because we were wanting to give Alii a good tip so we acquired a couple of small items and paid a good price with no bartering- win win for us all!
Back at the KASBAH TIMBUKTOU hotel we ate breakfast and enjoyed coffee and freshened up before getting back onto the mini bus to continue our trip North West on our Desert Circle Tour which we are enjoying so much. I made my coffee with a little brewed coffee, a teaspoon of hot chocolate powder, and hot milk- yummy! Our "pancake" today were square HARSHA pancakes made with semolina flour and topped off with fresh honey - yummy!!
After leaving KASBAH TIMBUKTOU shortly after 11am we passed the rally for the hundreds of old RENAULT cars covered in logos and stickers with a huge tent set up and overnight meeting centre for this stage of their rally across Morocco - the huge line of sand dunes providing an amazing backdrop. The race starts in France down through Spain across to Tangiers, then all around Morocco and back to France.
After a short drive we stopped to enjoy the music of the Groupe Des Bambaras, who specialise in GNOA music, loosely based on the Sufism beliefs. These are the black skinned Moroccans, originally from various sub-SAHARA countries, who escaped during the black period of slavery when over 11 million slaves were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas, with 2 million of them dying in the overcrowded ships with dreadful conditions as they crossed the Atlantic and were unceremoniously thrown overboard.
Today with Mohammed we had discussed SUFISM - the belief that there is far more to life than materialism. Morocco is considered the "nest" of Sufism in the Muslim world. A Sufism Festival is organised every year in FEZ for people from around the world to come and recognise and participate in this festival and its' music.
The Bambaras group sang and danced for us, after first serving us refreshments of hot tea served in small 4oz glasses, and peanuts. The instruments used are like crackers Qrakekb,variey of sizes of drums; derbouka and string instruments: hejhouj or guembri (guitar), oud (lute), quinoun. Their dancing has very specific steps and the men all move together and shake the qrakekb and move as one forward and backwards - all wearing long white gowns, white scarves around their heads and soft leather slippers. For some songs they sing, and they also had the guests join in for their version of a dancing conga line.
RISANNI is the town where the current dynasty has its' origins and the first King is buried here - so it is called the Holy Town of RISANNI, so we stopped for 5 minutes to take photos of the gates of the city.
Next stop in Erfoud was amazing Macro Fossiles Kasbah (operating financially through Bouatch Ammar in Erfoud) - Terry and I were blown away! They have huge amounts of rock here with trilobites - some whole some partial, some big blocks with multiple trilobites - carved fountains, wash basins, plates, trays, you name it! It was fantastic - and in the workshop and back yard were the grinding cutting and polishing equipment! We were so fascinated we could have spent hours there. We couldn't resist a couple of small items that we could actually carry home with us so we didn't get the fountain, wash basin or dining room table that we saw! We were talking to the Manager - quite young - whose father started the business in 1972. This chap told us how he loved all the trilobites and still goes out to the quarry himself to cut into the rock and find the trilobites himself. He said he would have no problem taking a group that we brought out to the quarry to explore and see the rock and trilobites as they are cut from the rock. After settling with a mix of cash and credit card, we climbed back on the bus with our precious cargo.
We stopped around 2pm in ERFOUD for lunch to eat metfuna - a local food, like a tortilla - similar to a pizza but with everything cooked inside: onion, garlic, meat, chicken, vegetarian, and cooked in an oven. This dish is local and is not available elsewhere in Morocco. We really enjoyed our metfuna (50dh and 60dh about $7each) sharing both the vegetarian and chicken version, but finding the vegetarian version much tastier and the chicken somewhat bland. It was 3:45 when we left!! And we still had 162 km to Tinghir to go!
While waiting for the others to finish and pay for their Metfuna and drinks (coke, orange juice, coffee - no alcohol available), I checked out the small store next door - well the owner came in from the street when I entered and took me downstairs - it was huge! Lots of trilobites, clothing, scarves, thousands of earrings and necklaces, bird cages, doors, sceptres - you name it he had it!!
Back on the road heading Northwest to Tinghir, we passed underground channels, still in use today, along the sides of the highway which are underground irrigation channels, dug by hand to collect and deliver water from the Atlas Mountains to the desert plains so that there was still good water available in the sand storms. Today these underground irrigation channels can be visited by tourists. What was also wonderful is that the skies started to clear as we drove further away from where the sand storm had been. The High Atlas Mountains were on our right to the North, and the Anti Atlas on our left to the South as we drove through the valley between both mountain ranges.
Part of our information today from Mohammed was explanation and discussion of the Islam COMMANDMENTS
#1 Believe in One God and the prophet is MOHAMMED. This is a summary of all religions so one also has to respect and believe in Isaac, Abraham, Jesus etc.
#2nd commandment of Islam to pray 5 times a day: sunrise, midday, middle of the day (330 4pm), sunset (4th prayer is called Magreb the sunset prayer), last one at 830pm called Isha. You must first do your ablutions (wash yourself) before going to pray.
#3 commandment RAMADAN spiritual break - to fast from sunrise to sunset - no food no water no sex, but Ok after sunset. This is to allow you to purify your body and soul and to share with the poor.
#4 ZAKAT Charity - 2.5% of your net earnings each year to the poor (if you have goats you give goats, if you earn a salary you give your salary) and do this within your family and community to keep the social balance. Take from the rich and give to the poor.
#5 HAJ Pilgrimage means to go MECCA once in your life if you are able to (not obligatory). You go only when you are at ease in your life and physically able to do it.
We got to Tinghir just as the sun was setting and the views and colours were spectacular - this is a large city. There are 45 kasbahs along the most scenic river gorge here and we would have loved to spend longer looking and taking photos - this will definitely be a repeat on our next trip to Morocco - as will everywhere we have been so far!. We continued the drive into the gorge gaining altitude and winding around the spectacular high cliffs - absolutely fantastic and so high. But too dark to clearly appreciate their true grandeur.
The Hotel Songha is an older hotel and probably the busiest one that we have stayed in yet. It was about 7:30 by the time we got to our room and then we headed out for dinner at 8pm. This was probably the least inspiring meal to date. Stuffed pepper again, and more baked vegetables in a Tajir . No bread this time and no other main course or additional dish. Shared a couple of bottles of wine with KC and Nicole and Jeannie before heading off to bed to get an early start tomorrow at 8am.
WEDNESDAY FEB 19, 2014 TINGHIR - OUARZAZATE - MARRAKESH (366KM)
The plan is breakfast then depart Tingjir (that bed was so comfy after the Bedouin camp) and head back towards Ouarzazate via the Dades Gorge. We will visit the Auberge Chez Pierre towards the end of the Dades gorge before continuing our route following the route of a thousand kasbahs set in enchanting landscapes with fortified villages, kasbahs, and Ksours. This is part of our circle route as we continue towards Marrakech via the Tizi 'n Tichka pass along it's winding serpentine road, the highest pass being 2260 metres. Eventually we hope to reach our hotel, the 4 star Imperial Plaza, where we have dinner and spend the night.
We woke up to an incredible crystal clear blue sky and the views over the valley were spectacular. We were fast getting ready after our 6am wake up call, and I managed to sit in the lobby where the internet is available (not in the rooms) and get my blog updated for Morocco - there was noone else working at the same time so I had great response time, but not enough available time to upload photos as well. Breakfast buffet style was mediocre but I enjoyed a lukewarm coffee, croissant, hard boiled egg and cream cheese triangle.
We saw nomads with their goats at the base of the mountains by the caves that they use for protection as they move across the country. Shortly afterwards we saw more nomads on the plains in their tents with their goats. After being on the road just 30 minutes the High Atlas mountains were getting closer, they were higher and covered in snow - it was going to be a great day for scenic views.
It was a beautiful gorge - non stop amazing views and around every corner there was still more to see. We finished our tea and pee break at the Auberge Chez Pierre - a wonderful small hotel with 12 rooms, from doubles, triples, quads, an apartment that holds 9 - all on different levels built up the side of the gorge. Not wheelchair accessible but simply beautiful, chic, comfortable and very new. The cuisine is top notch, and as the owner would say "no tajine here!" Highly recommended and repeat business climbing by the day due to recommendations from super satisfied clients. This can be used when doing the off road trip down to N'Kop and two nights to allow 1 day for trekking if desired.
It's 178km to Marrakech and since we have to go over the pass on switchbacks that is supposed to take about 4 hours. We have just driven past the intersection with the road to AGADIR (South west on the Atlantic Coast) - was it really Sunday, just 72 hours ago when we arrived at this intersection and headed West?
Today the plan is to spend the entire day in Marrakech, the second oldest Imperial City and known as the Pearl of the South in Morocco. Marrakech was founded by the Almoravides at the end of the 11th Century and there is lots to see including the Menara Garden (we never did get there), the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace, and the Koutoubia.
Missing a paragraph here that was cut about the square and Medina
We passed by the most expensive hotel owned by the Royal Family called "Royal MANSOUR" with unique and exclusive 1, 2 and 3 bedroom riads. Along the road we saw an advertisement for a 3 day buss pass for 14 DH about $2.
As we listened to the history of the Moroccan people there were many horse and carriages passing by taking tourists for short trips sightseeing. The activity and noise was constant but projected a vibrancy and positive energy - not confusion and rush or panic even though there are over 70,000 motorbikes in Marrakech!
Also available for purchase were every shape and size of silver teapots, sugar and cream pots, oils, spices, creams, herbs, remedies. We even spent 45 minutes in a naturopathic store and were educated on each of the natural products grown in Morocco and how they are exported all through the world. If we bought everything we would be healthier and never age (that's the cynic in me but there were certainly wonderful products available).
We finished lunch by 310pm and headed over to the JARDIN MAJORELLE Gardens. These gardens were developed in the 1920's by French Painter Jacques Majorelle, an avid plant collector. It was later bought by designer Yves St Laurent who lived there and restored the garden with his partner Pierre Berge, but St Laurent now is buried here with a memorial in the gardens. These are fantastic cactus gardens and pools with huge and healthy cactus species I have never seen before - very peaceful with an expensive designer boutique and small cafe. If you love visiting botanical gardens you would enjoy these small private gardens. Yves St Laurent was actually born in the country of Algiers next door to Morocco (Algiers and Morocco have an ongoing uneasy relationship or feud).
Later we visited the Imperial Plaza Hotel and this is worth a visit by all tourists in my opinion for the amazing roof top Sky Bar where lunch and drinks are served with uninterrupted 270 degree views of Marrakech and the beautiful snow covered High Atlas Mountains. There is also a lovely swimming pool on the roof top with sun cots available for hotel guests.
After this 40 minute shopping spree, where we bought nothing, Mohammed had arranged for us to ride back to the Atlas Medina hotel in a horse and carriage. I rode up front with driver Ibrahim and his two well fed and looked after horses, Coco and Memory. This was probably a 20 to 30 minute ride in the dark and how Ibrahim manages and controls the horses with their bridle and reins I will never know! There are cars and motorbikes whipping past, roundabouts to manoeuvre and all in the dark but a very neat experience as we rode through the gates and along the old 11th century walled city. The cost was about 200dh ( $30 Cad) per carriage according to Mohammed with 4 passengers in the carriage, two
facing forward and 2 facing backwards and myself high up front next to driver Ibrahim. On the way back to the Atlas Medina Hotel we even passed the La Mamounia luxury hotel where Winston Churchill had stayed, and also Alfred Hitchcock stayed and wrote "The Man Who knew too Much" which was also filmed here in Marrakech.
We arrived back at the Atlas Medina hotel at 740pm and were back in the lobby at 8pm for our dinner reservation at the brand new contemporary Kech hotel opened in October 2013 and already running at 65% occupancy with French and UK visitors. We ate dinner with General Manager Yasmine a delightful lady who had been schooled in Montreal and spent several years in Canada before returning to Morocco where she was born. Dinner was excellent with exquisite appetizers served at the table and a buffet for the main course. My favourite being the beef and prunes cooked in a tajine so it was very tender and flavoured wonderfully by the prunes.
Needless to say it was another late night - well after 11pm before we arrived back at the Atlas Media and fell into bed. If this seems like a very full day then I am understating everything that we did!! Marrakech was overflowing with sights, smells, experiences and mind stretching history - awesome!! We thoroughly enjoyed Marrakech. Felt so comfortable everywhere. Even in the souk you were welcome to browse without being hassled like in so many souks, especially in Egypt.
FRIDAY FEB 21, 2014 MARRAKESH TO ESSAOUIRA (177KM)
The plan today is to head to Essouira, which is a port city known today for its' watersports including windsurfing and kitesurfing because of the powerful winds that blow constantly. We also visit the Scala Kasbah of Essaouira, the Medina and the Port. Can it really be that today is the last day of our tour of the DESERT ROUTES OF MOROCCO and tomorrow we head back to Canada? We stay tonight at the Hotel Atlas Essaouira and Spa for our farewell dinner and last night in Morocco.
The day started with a wake up call at 6am which felt way too early for me. We were soon packed and ready for the buffet breakfast although first we checked the SOCHI Olympic results and found out just how tight the final game for the Gold had been between USA and Canada Women's hockey had been, the score was 3-2 to Canada who got their 3 goals, 2 in the last 4 minutes of the game and their third and last in overtime!!
Within 30 minutes of leaving the hotel in Marrakech and heading East with sun behind us rising in the blue sky, the land was flat with the beautiful snow covered High Atlas Mountains to our left (South) as we passed through many orange groves, and a huge vineyard area in Oudaya. There are massive vineyards in the area around Meknes (South of Fez) - Morocco produces good red and white wines, and we have managed to taste just a few this week. Last night the white Medallion wine we had was very light and twice the price of the wines we've drunk previously this week, we don't know if that's because we are in a city, or the wine was a better wine? Morocco's also grows wine vineyards in the area South of Casablanca. Maybe next trip we should include wine tasting in Meknes?
We reached Chichaoua by 945am, halfway to Essaouira , still very flat with more new construction and fields of lima beans by the road side and shortly afterwards we stopped at a very large road stop CAFE ATLAS for a break and efficiently served coffee at the tables - there must have been room for 1,000 clients to sit down and enjoy refreshments in comfortable chairs inside and outside in the warm sunshine without a cloud in the blue skies. It was 26 degrees C yesterday in the afternoon even though the day started at just 3 degrees C.
The terrain was starting to change, very rocky and undulating up and down. Now we came across more almond trees argania spinosa (because the trees are spiny), ARGON trees. We had heard for days that sometimes the goats climb the argon trees to eat the nuts. Sure enough driving along the road and there were goats in the trees eating the almond argon nuts, so of course we had a photo stop and even got to hold a 10 day old baby goat (kid) that the owner brought to us. Next stop shortly after at the women's co-operative ARGON BELADI where we saw a demonstration of the process to extract the oil. We saw the nuts (almonds) being shelled and then the almonds being ground into a paste that looks very much like peanut butter. The oil is then extracted from this paste, and the remaining solid lumps fed to the goats. Here is the only place in the world where argon trees grow - as a result it is expensive, and used in all sort of cosmetics. Moroccan argon oil is world renowned. Here at ARGON BELADI they had pure oil for sale (400dh for 400 ml about $60). They also had creams, oils, soap - scented and non scented. One bar of soap 150dh about $20.
It was noon when we left to continue the journey West stopping at 1230pm at the overlook and seeing the widespread city of Essaouira along the Atlantic Coast below us about 15 miles away. This used to be a Portuguese city and many of the buildings are built in the Portuguese style and colours of blue and white.
Calligraphy - it was felt that painting was against God, so in the Arab world, the desire to paint was developed into calligraphy in the Middle Ages, and 7th and 8th centuries. The Ottoman Empire (Turks) controlled large areas around the Mediterranean but Morocco was never part of the Ottoman Empire so there is no influence of the Turks in Morocco.
Today in Morocco there are controls on the price of medicines and wheat since these are felt to be essential for every class of the population. Price controls were taken away on oil and gas since it was felt that only that portion of the population that can afford cars needs oil and gas, so the price of petrol is changed periodically changed (maybe every 3 months ) based on the current pricing of a barrel of oil on the world market. Sugar used to be subsidised but these subsidies were removed since it was felt that the bulk of sugar is used by big companies like Coke and the pastry and confectionery companies and they should not require subsidies.
France is Morocco's first business partner, and French people can live in Morocco. Today there are maybe 25,000 retired French people living in Marrakech and don't pay French taxes depending on how long they live in Morocco each year. There is also a
British ex-pat community in Marrakech as well. France is just a 2 hour flight away. The main food groups (milk bread vegetables fruit) and accommodation is much cheaper than in Europe - although meat is expensive for Moroccans, the prices about the same as in Europe. Milk is less than $1 per litre.
We arrived in Essaouira just after 1pm and checked into our rooms and waited a few minutes to ensure our bags were delivered - what a great room - like a junior suite with king bed and fat screen TV in the middle of the room that rotates so that it can be watched while sitting on the couch - and the view awesome - all out along the beach with people kite surfing, walking and riding camels. We even had a plate of 3 tiny cookies (all almond in different forms - my favourite was filled with marzipan) and two bottles of water. Shortly after it was off to Fanatic - a seafood restaurant right on the beach walk - so we enjoyed the views, breeze and sunshine while eating a lovely lunch! We shared a bottle of Sagar white wine and a seafood pastille - this is a very thin pastry shell in a square (like phylo) filled with vermicelli and seafood presented on a bed of very tasty fresh hand picked lettuce and a calamari ring on top.
We had a 20 minute walk to Fanatic restaurant along the sea front which was very warm in the sun - but we passed an ATM on the way and so managed to get some more Dirham (local currency approximately 7 to the Canadian dollar). After lunch we took a short walk out to the ocean across the beach - it is really shallow water here so when the tide comes in and out, it goes a very long way - and it was out after our lunch! Also the ocean was pretty muddy looking due to the run off from some of the short rain storms they have experienced over the last few days - we were lucky with pure blue skies.
After lunch Abdul, our bus driver, was waiting and he drove us to the port where our local guide Abdul explained about the fishing fleet - and it is huge! Massive numbers of small wooden John Dory type boats all tied together and rolling backwards and forwards as the water moved. There were also lots of these boats on top of the docks - and Abdul explained that they had recently had huge rough 20 foot waves and all the boats had been pulled out of the water. There were also many much larger fishing boats, both in the water and in dry dock being repaired. In one location there were about 10 fishermen all working on repairing their herring nets - huge masses of them. Further along a fisherman was cutting herring into 3 chunks, covering it with coarse salt , then threading it onto a fish hook and laying it in perfect stacks - he was doing this with a hundred foot line and thousands of hooks - so he was very fast, efficient and precise abut how he was cutting and threading everything.
From the docks we walked into the SCALA THE KASBAH and old town Medina which was when I discovered that my camera battery had died! fortunately our driver Abdul was close by with the bus and I soon had my new battery in the camera. The town of Essouira was designed by Frenchman Theodore Cornut who copied the fortification example of his teacher VAUBAN in France, so in a neat and tidy grid system unlike all the other medinas which wind and wander with no apparent logic. The French coastal town of Saint-Malo was an example for the Essaouira medina and the Scalas. The founder of the new town Essaouira was Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah who
ordered the construction of the Scala of the port and the Scala of the Kasbah which took 3 years to finish.
So as we walked into the medina the walkways were wide and clean and very pleasant to wander through. There were several restaurants in the square and blue "COCA COLA" signs. Since the history of Essaouira is Portuguese and most buildings in blue and white, COKE had agreed to provide Blue and white COKE signs instead of the red and white seen in every other place in the world!
We walked along the inside of the SCALA outer wall, built on two levels, which protected the town from any attacks from the sea - we were amazed as we walked along when we climbed to the top of the second level at the corner tower and fort (in amazing condition) and could see 19 bronze cannons along the top of the wall, all in excellent condition, some stamped 1780 Barcelona when they were made, but others of the 19 cannons were made by the Portugese and Dutch! I don't think we've ever seen so many cannons let alone in such excellent condition! And over the wall the waves were rolling in from the Atlantic with crashing white surf.
Along the bottom were the various shops and stalls of the souk - many beautiful wooden pieces with the craftsmen making them in the back of these tiny places - one that we went into the craftsmen was hammering a piece of thin steel making intricate Moroccan designs - amazing what he was doing all by hand, we saw it and if I had seen it the piece without watching him make it I would have sworn that it was done by machine. No wonder they told us that in many cities there are huge numbers of artisans, 85% in Marrakech for example.
Unfortunately at this point the rest of our group had wandered on. Suffice it to say we had no idea which direction they were going in, so we waited, then we returned to the port and then back to the wood carver - eventually we just wandered trough the souk and ultimately ran into them again. We were back at our hotel by 530pm and had a couple of hours to freshen up and watch the brilliant sunset over the Atlantic (and the old penal colony on the island in the bay) before meeting up at 730pm for the 5 minute bus ride to dinner.
Dinner was at L'Heure Bleu Palais - a Relais & Chateaux unique luxury hotel and restaurant just inside the medina. When we arrived back at the entrance in the wall to the souk, all the stalls had closed and the alleys were quiet and dark - but when we walked into L'Heure Bleu off the alley it was like entering another world - a courtyard with a beautiful setting and music in a unique environment. We went into a private room for dinner - 2 tables set for 6 and we spent over 2 hours enjoying a private set menu dinner - salad, lamb tajine, fresh oranges, tiny shortbread type cookies with wine to complement. A lovely evening sitting with Mohammed, Martin and Jeanne - Norman started with us but unfortunately got sick and had to head back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel after 11pm we crashed very quickly - fortunately we had packed our bags before we went out for dinner so the alarm was set for 5am and soon we were fast
asleep for our last night in Morocco - these were probably the most comfortable bed and pillows we had slept in for the last 7 nights, and it was also quiet on the street out front running along the beach.....
SATURDAY FEB 22, 2014 ESSAOUIRA TO CASABLANCA BY ROAD (406KM)
This will be our longest day of driving yet and was included because we wanted to see Casablanca while in Morocco and 7 days ago on our arrival in Morocco we had just transited the Casablanca airport MOHAMMED V on our way to Agadir by plane.
Casablanca is a big city with probably not too much to offer the traveller other than having the second largest mosque in the world HASSAN II- but who would not want to see Casablanca city after the wonderful movie of the same name by Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart & Paul Heinreid, set in 1942 as the Europeans fled South to Casablanca Morocco in unoccupied Africa when Hitler invaded Europe. Lisbon Portugal became the departure point to the Americas for those trying to escape but not everyone could get there by a direct route. The lucky ones followed the tortuous escape route from Paris to Marseilles, then across the Mediterranean to Oran Algeria, then by train or car across Northern Africa to Casablanca in French Morocco where the lucky ones managed to get an exit visa and on to Lisbon then the New World in the Americas. But many could not get the exit visas and waited and waited in Casablanca for the opportunity to leave.
With the romantic movie in our thoughts, we are planning to depart Essaouira at 6am and start the 406km drive to Casablanca with a private guide. In Casablanca our city tour includes the district of ANFA, the cliff of AIN DIAB overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Then it's a visit to the wonderful mosque of HASSAN II, then on to the Square of the Nations, and then through the city centre called MAARIF. All of this completed by 230pm in time for our flight at 510pm from Casablanca to Montreal Canada with Royal Air Maroc.
So our day started with the alarm going off at 5am but fortunately I had woken up at 450am and was ready for it! We were downstairs just before 6am - it was a long walk with our bags through a very dark quiet hotel! Norm from Ottawa was coming along with Terry and I - our Land Cruiser was out front and our driver Khalid arrived a couple of minutes later from the Prayer room where he had just completed his first prayers for the day.
We were soon travelling along the quiet dark roads with very little traffic and for the first couple of hours we retraced our steps from yesterday towards Marrakech, then turned North on the toll freeway towards Casablanca. We were actually quite surprised that we headed all the way east inland then North West back out to the Atlantic Coast to Casablanca - but apparently the Coast road from Essaouira North to Casablanca that we had expected to take is much slower, maybe 7 hours. We suspect it's an interesting and scenic road that we should take some day). We stopped after about 2 1/2 hours at a road side rest area and had a wonderful warm beignet with chocolate and cafe au lait - amazing for a highway refreshment cafe! We crossed the Small Mountains (not very
high) and it was amazing as soon as we hit the coast side everything became much greener - very fertile everywhere with a wide variety of vegetables being grown, carts with donkeys, trucks with cattle and sheep in the back, some with 1 cow and several men standing up - and in one town hundreds of children heading to school.
As we neared Casablanca the traffic increased hugely and in fact we missed the 11am tour of the HASSAN II mosque because we were held up by traffic. We still got to really enjoy walking around the outside of the mosque which is built right next to the ocean, in fact we head that the ocean runs underneath the mosque - it's massive and very ornate.
Third largest mosque in the world which was built on the Coast and holds inside 20,000 and outside 80,000.
We took a short walk along the CORNICHE - this is the seawalk all along the coast which is popular for joggers and walkers, and has a large number of open air bistros and restaurants, protected behind glass from the wind and surf breaking on the beach and rocks from the Atlantic. The very first McDonalds in Morocco is located on an amazing piece of waterfront property! Driving down to the CORNICHE you pass through very expensive real estate with stars like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion owning property here.
Afterwards we went over to RICK's Americain Cafe - the location setting for Casablanca - although believe this RIC's is only 10 years old. It is a beautiful restaurant many small rooms with wonderful furniture and Moroccan decor. We went into the bar which has a wonderful old bar, a roulette table covered in glass so it ca be used as a table in the bar, and other small table settings then there is a TV playing CASABLANCA wit English subtitles while over the speakers they are playing the music sound track from Casablanca. It was done very nicely and we enjoyed a wonderful cafe au lait while we took in all the surroundings (abut $4 each and served most graciously by the bar staff).
After a peaceful relax in RICKs, which by the way has security doorman on the front door - we headed off to the Square of Nations where there are hundreds of pigeons. Then continued walking down along the tram lines to the Souk in the medina. We wandered carefully for about 45 minutes (to ensure we didn't get lost!) and bought some wonderful nougat to take home, then back the way we had entered to cross the road to the Hyatt hotel and wait out front for Khalid to pick us up at 2 and drive us to the MOHAMMED II airport which took about 50 minutes - at places the traffic is quite heavy and the airport is about 20km out of town so you have to plan for that.
SUNDAY FEB 23, 2014 - MONTREAL TO VANCOUVER, CANADA
Yeah - today Team Canada play Team Sweden for the Gold Men's hockey - we'll be flying but no doubt the Captain will keep us posted! We depart Montreal for Vancouver at 6am via Toronto where we change planes.
It was hard when the alarm went off at 4am but we were soon checked in and sitting on the plane to Toronto. We had two hours to wait for our 1025am flight to Vancouver so we went for breakfast and Canada vs Sweden men's hockey had just started! So we sat and enjoyed all 3 periods seeing Canada shut out Sweden with a 3 0 score!! Canadian flags all around provided by one guest and lots of hollering and excitement. Perfect timing to pay the bill and then our flight was boarding. Even the breakfast was good with omelettes and corned beef hash and lots of very hot fresh coffee! In Sechelt our friends were up early (it's 3 hours behind Toronto time zone) and our local pub was open at 4am for folks to watch the game and cheer on our Canadian team. Go Canada Go.
So we are now truly back in Canada and can hardly believe how much we have done, seen and learned about Magical Morocco in the last 7 days!!
OUR MOROCCO SUMMARY - MAGICAL MOROCCO, " a cold country with a hot sun"
What an amazing country! There is so much to see and do, it requires several trips to see it all and we expect to be back sooner versus later. It is about 2.3 times the size of France with a population of 33 million people who speak French and Moroccan, plus some Berber and English, Education is mandatory. Morocco was a French protectorate until Nov 11, 1956 and Morocco is very much French influenced in every aspect of life.The people have been kind and generous to us on this trip, the vendors helpful and smiling - not aggressive like they are in Egypt. 65% of the population is Berber, and for religious beliefs as much as 99% is muslim and just over 1% Christian. The Moroccan constitution guarantees the free exercise of all beliefs, but anyone who tries to shake the beliefs of a muslim or to convert him to another religion can be imprisoned or fined. Many, if not most, of the women and young girls that we saw wear the hijab (head scarf) but I'm not sure we saw the full face hijab at all. Many of the men
especially in the South wear the full length DGELLABA with a hood - very practical to protect themselves from the sun and wind.
