Yallah! Reflections on my visit to Morocco
Tuesday, November 26, 2024 at 07:43AM
Just being a tourist. (Me, not the camel.)
After experiencing a rather lonely time traveling in Malta solo last November, I decided to join a group tour for this November’s getaway. (Being retired, I am not exactly sure what I am getting away from.) I had heard good things about Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) and found a great discount on their 16 day tour to Morocco, a country that has been on my bucket list. So I signed on.
The lively Square in Marrakech. Our riad was in the corner of it.
The trip itself was somewhat less active than the hiking and biking excursions I usually do. There was more bus-riding, more lectures, more guided touring, more long group meals, more craft demonstrations followed by sales pitches, and a slower walking pace than I am accustomed to. But the trip’s activities aligned 100% to the trip itinerary provided by the company and we were busy every day. If I was surprised by anything about the trip, it was because I had not read OAT’s description of it carefully enough.
Morocco has often been used as the setting for movies such as Game of Thrones and Gladiator near Ouarzazate.
A few take aways:
One of many group photos.
There are pluses and minuses of group travel. I am, by nature, an introvert. I cherish my time alone. But I also appreciate the company of others when in new, strange, and sometimes confusing places. This OAT trip had 15 participants, two of whom dropped out after about three days due to ill health. I am guessing we were all between the ages of 65 and 75. There was one Canadian and the rest of us were from all over the US. One major issue I have with group travel are stragglers. I have to say, most of these folks kept up pretty well with only a couple of individuals taking rather a long time to finish purchases at gift shops or stop to take photos. Maybe I was the one everyone else complained about being slow.
Entrance to our riad in Rabat.
The sounds and smells and looks of Morocco took me back to my days spent in Saudi Arabia as a teacher for the ARAMCO schools in the 1980s. I loved hearing the call to prayer echo throughout the towns, even into my hotel rooms. I only remember about a half dozen words of Arabic and the Arabic of Morocco differs somewhat from that of Saudi. “Yallah” was the guide Wahid’s indication we needed to get going. We heard it alot.
Like many Arabic cultures, Morocco is what I would call inward looking. The alley above, reached by zigzagging down several like it from a main road, would give no hint from appearances that the doors off it opened to riads - former homes and palaces converted to luxurious guest houses. (I have a number of photos on my SmugMug site linked below to some of these rooms.)
Pool, restaurant, bar and open skylights, the place was spacious and beautiful - as were the rooms. We stayed mostly in riads, a couple very swanky hotels, and two nights “roughing it” in the desert in tents that came with king sized beds, electricity, and hot water. (Riads are converted private homes.)
Dawn from our hot air balloon ride.
One thing this trip made me admit is that there are joys in doing touristy things. The camel ride in the Sahara and the hot air balloon ride near Marrakech were both designed solely to entertain visitors. And that is OK. Every trip perhaps needs a little Disneyland in it.
Our camel trek
The balloon ride was breathtaking. Starting at dawn, we floated silently over the Moroccan landscape watching the other balloons being inflated and then rise with the sun. I will remember that balloon trip, like I do my first one in the 80s in Kenya, with great fondness. Only five of the 13 in our group did the balloon ride. The camel trek was also a unique experience. Our guide got us all scarves we wore as Arab headdresses and for about an hour we slowly plodded up and down Saharan sand dunes. Most memorable.
Forgive me here but I will be using the terms Berber, bedouin, and nomad interchangeably. I am not sure they are. But OATs made sure we got a real feel of the life of these desert dwellers, living in isolation in desolate-looking parts of the country. The Berber are the indigenous peoples of Morocco, conquered by the Muslims many centuries ago. Today they still herd goats and sheep as a primary source of both food and income, spin their own fabrics, and make their own clothes. It was not uncommon driving through an isolated area to see a single individual herding a flock of sheep - or simply walking alone through the wilds. I felt a bit uncomfortable peering into individuals' private homes and watching them make mud brick, cut alfalfa, or make bread baked directly on open coals. But we were served mint tea and they did not seem bothered by our presence. When asked about what future they wanted for their children, the reply was often “a continuation of our nomadic lifestyle.”
We covered a large part of the country, primarily by bus. (We used 4x4s in the desert.) The country is divided by the Atlas mountains and includes a fringe of the Sahara desert in its southeast, bordering unfriendly Algiers. We had two days of stunning views of the mountains traveling from Erfoud to Marrakech.
A typical tajine prepared meal
Even great food gets old. Our meals primarily consisted of a continental breakfast and then a plated meal of salad or soup with a main course of meat (beef, fish, lamb, or chicken) and vegetables cooked in an earthenware pot called a tajine. Nicely flavored, not too spicy, I enjoyed it very much. For the first dozen or so meals. I got hungry for pizza and hamburgers and tacos. Oh, olives were served at every meal - including breakfast. Morocco is a major olive producer and we drove by acre after acre of orchards and even stopped to try our hand at harvesting them. I thought the Moroccan wine was excellent - a legacy of being a French colony for many years. Dates and mint tea were commonly served with many dates also being grown in Moroccco.
The larger cities are sprawling, clean, and modern suburbs circling a medina - a walled area which is filled with small alleys and courtyards stuffed with shops, homes, and even tanneries, as is the case in Fez. It is very, very easy to get lost in these mazes and one only narrowly avoids motor scooters and carts ramming their way around. It was certainly one of those times I was happy to have a guide.
Copper market in Fes in operation for centuries
Relaxing in the tub. (Guide said I was lucky not to have gotten caught doing this.)
Strolling through markets seemed to make up a lot of our days. Like the food, the experience got a little old for me, but then I’ve never been much of a shopper. Bargaining was mandatory. I would have liked a full day dedicated to hiking through a Moroccan wilderness. Not in the itinerary.
We visited a number of museums and factories, including a Berber music museum where we had a chance to learn how to correctly beat a drum. We also toured a tannery, a ceramics factory, a factory where furniture and jewelry were made from slabs of fossilized rock, and a Berber carpet maker. Of course, there was encouragement to purchase the products at each of these.
I was amazed at how good the cell coverage was throughout this trip - even in the desert. I used a Holafly eSIM in my phone and it worked like a charm. Our weather was great - most days in the low 70s. I packed a puffy coat, concerned about the night time temps in the Sahara, but only used it on the early morning hot air balloon ride. One day of rain was when we were doing a long drive in the bus. (Coming home to Minnesota is a bit of a shock.)
I was charmed by the feral cats in each city we visited. I wish I could say they all looked healthy, but many did not. Some, like the ones pictured above, did have humans who fed them. I’m not sure cats are considered sacred, but the Prophet Mohammad loved cats (not dogs), so they are respected.
Looking down from the Great Wall of China in 1988, I watched tour buses arrive in the parking lot. While my daughter and I climbed up the wall, walked along it, and even posed on a camel on top of it, most passengers on the tour bus did not. Some, I believe, did not even exit the bus. It was then I vowed to travel while I could be active and not wait until I was old and could only view the world through a plate of glass. I always got out of the bus this trip. I hope I continue to do so for many years.
All my photos from this trip can be found here: https://dougj.smugmug.com/Travel/2024/Morocco-
Reader Comments (7)
Great pics Doug! You could become a 21st century A Bell!
Another fine, informative entry of another splendid trip. Loved reading about it. Missed our hiked in your absence, but I can see we probably need a 3 or 4-miler through Lebanon Hills to get your fix of wilderness. Enough of Marrakech markets! Let's visit the trees. Well done, Doug.
Thanks, Neal. Being compared to Al Bell is high praise indeed!
Doug
Thanks for the comment, Cary. I write so I remember this stuff. Looking forward to our next therapy hike in a couple weeks. Happy Turkey Day!
Doug
Love the photo gallery from your trip, especially the one at the top of you perched on the camel. Very serious expression. Or nervous? :-)
I also share your thoughts about group travel. I've been very lucky with the packaged trips I've taken over the past decade, in that they've been very well organized but also offered options for those of us who like to split off on our own occasionally. Although I'm not sure I would be inclined to do that in a country like Morocco.
Thanks for the story about your adventure. I've never considered travel to Morocco but I'll have to take a closer look.
Hi Tim,
A happy Thanksgiving to you. Thanks for the note.
The camel ride was not particularly frightening so the expression was probably just my old, crabby resting face! I will say this, Morocco is a very photogenic place. Consider it!
Doug
Sounds like an interesting trip! My 17yo daughter went to Morocco in May with her high school Arabic class and loved interacting with the people and practicing the language (to the extent she could—you are right, the Moroccan dialect is VERY different to the standard!). But I agree with you, I would find the shopping and markets to become a bit tiresome. I do love reading about your trips, so thank you for continuing to share them.
Hi Becky,
Thanks for the comment. I am grateful for the health and money to be able to travel - and it's fun to reflect and share one's experiences. Glad you enjoy the posts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Doug