Morocco Trip - Day 4

March 24th, 2016

Before we left for Morocco I wanted to book at least one excursion away from Marrakech.  There are dozens of companies that offer day trips from Marrakech.  The prices varied greatly, but it seemed like the services offered were about the same.  In the end I booked a day trip to the Ourika Valley through Authentic Tours Marrakech.  The Ourika Valley was only about an hour drive outside of Marrakech while the other excursions into the desert or to the coast would require 4 or more hours of driving.  I assumed the kids would not enjoy it as much.

The communication with the tour company was very efficient.  Due to rain, I changed the date of the excursion from Wednesday to Thursday at the last minute.  Our guide, Mohammed, was waiting for us with a big SUV at 9:00 in the morning.  He was very friendly and explained a little about the sights we were passing along the way.  Maybe the highlight of the excursion was a visit to a Berber house where we were invited to have tea with a Berber family.  First we got a tour of the property and Mohammed explained how this family lived.  Then we sat down to have fresh mint tea and homemade bread prepared by the woman of the family.  We enjoyed our tea and bread while trying to communicate with the Berber family.  For the first time in 3 years I was really able to use my French.  In Paris I found that almost everyone spoke to us in English, but in Morocco knowing French was extremely useful.  Even those who could speak English were much more fluent in French and when I switched to French I found that we got much better service.

first stop on our way to the Ourika Valley

Entering the Berber home 

the bathroom and shower

Area for animals 

This family must be ready to sell souvenirs

Stone for grinding flour

the kitchen

Grandmother preparing the mint tea 

bread with butter, honey and olive oil

After our visit with a Berber family we headed into the High Atlas mountains and got to see how the heavy rains from the previous days changed the landscape.  The river in the Ourika Valley was flowing very quickly and had turned a muddy brown colour and several parts of the road were flooded.  It was not a problem for us in the SUV, but we had to stop and rescue another driver out of a big mud puddle.   Once we reached the small town of Setti Fatma, we met our local guide, also Mohammed, who would take us on a hike up to the waterfalls.  The sun was shining and it was almost too hot as we made our way across the river and up the side of the mountain.  We passed several makeshift shops and rest stops along the way.  There were a lot of other groups making the same climb so it was pretty crowded at spots.  The climb was pretty steep and slippery in some areas, but the kids were ready to run up the mountain.  Our hike lasted about two hours and then Mohammed took us back to the restaurant where we had parked and we ate lunch right on the edge of the river.  After lunch Mohammed, our first guide, drove us back to Marrakech.

muddy water pouring into the street

The river downstream

The SUV we travelled in 

One of the many precarious bridges crossing the river

Listening to our local guide Mohammed

Walking through the berber rugs

A stone carver

A clever refrigeration system

Looking down on the village

having lunch by the river

Morocco Trip - Day 3

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. 

Back in the Jemaa el-Fnaa Square

The best Moroccan meal we had according to Bob and I

Moroccan salad

Beef tangine with prunes

pastries for dessert