Una mesa para seis - Table for Six: Morocco Trip

March 23rd, 2016

We met Akmed in the lobby of the hotel at 9:00am. We were very fortunate that the sun was shining! We took a taxi to La Palmeria, an area just north of the city where Akmed had arranged for us to ride camels. La Palmeria is a desert oasis where you can find lavish estates and huge luxury resorts. He arranged for us to go on a camel ride for 100 MAD per camel. Everyone got their own camel except Cole and I shared. The guide led the head camel, and the rest of the camels followed in a line as we explored the oasis. It was such a neat experience for the kids.

After our camel ride, we headed back into the medina to visit the Ali Ben Youssef Medrasa, which was an Islamic College founded in the 14th century. One thing that surprised us was how cheap entrance fees are in Marrakech. To visit the Medrasa it was 2€ per adult and the kids were free. Our guide explained a bit of the history of the college and then we went inside to explore. The elaborate woodwork, plaster and tile work is very similar to Muslim architecture from Andalusia in the South of Spain.

We walked around the Medina a little more and this time I resisted the temptation to buy more things. Then we took a taxi back to the hotel for lunch. Unfortunately it poured rain all afternoon and evening, so we didn't get to do much else that day.

I had never experienced an all-inclusive vacation before, nor had any desire to eat all my meals at the hotel, but when I booked the hotel through Destinia, there was no other option. In the end it was very convenient being able to eat at the hotel because it's difficult to always find a restaurant that will please four kids. The hotel offered a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a wide variety of different dishes every day. The kids enjoyed being able to eat whatever they wanted. Bob and I inevitably ate too much, this is the problem with all-inclusive. Inside the hotel there were also 2 other restaurants that you could eat in if you made a reservation. That evening we ate a fantastic meal in the Moroccan restaurant at the hotel.