Aït Benhaddou
In the morning, Rachid, our driver picked us up and we began our long drive from the High Atlas towards the Sahara. The drive would take two days, broken up by an evening spent in the palm-fringed oasis of Skoura. The scenery along route changed enough to keep interest, as we climbed to 2260m, and back down again, but much of the drive was spent talking with Rachid, whose company and conversation would end up being a major highlight of the trip. Continue reading
The High Atlas
Our rather fast paced days in Marrakech didn’t leave much room, aside from brief breaks in the afternoon, for relaxing. This is ideal for me, I am terrible at sitting still on vacation. I almost never have “vacation reads” because I’d prefer to be too busy to read. For anyone that knows me well, they know beach vacations are not my favorite. I love the ocean, but sitting on the beach for more than an hour taxes my patience. A friend explained it well, vacation for those of us with unrelenting minds, are better suited to distract ourselves. If we’re left alone with our thoughts for too long, we’ll just make lists or worry. And so, when I read the itinerary for our next day that involved a quick hour drive out of Marrakech to Kasbah Bab Ourika in the High Atlas, followed by…nothing for the rest of the day, I had my concerns. Continue reading
Marrakech Rugs
The next two days in Marrakech involved Amine taking us all around the city. We walked for hours in the souks, to museums, and mosques. We also drove around the city visiting tombs and gardens. It was the most tourist heavy days we’ve had traveling, likely..ever. But it was great to see so much of a city and not constantly be estimating if the cost to enter something was worth it or not, since everything was included in the tour. We are pretty bad about nixing tourist activities that cost money (so pretty much all museums are out), and while generally I’d still maintain we prefer that method-exploring via other methods like wandering and eating, it was a nice change of pace. Plus, having a guide along to actually explain what we were seeing was extremely helpful. Continue reading
Les Villa Des Orangers
We arrived in Marrakech, in the morning, as the city was just beginning to wake up. Morocco is my 5th country in Africa, so I expected on some semblance of familiarity. I had little expectations, but imagined perhaps a confluence of Sub-Saharan and North Africa. It was immediately obvious, Morocco was unlike any other country in Africa I’d visited thus far. Throughout our time in the country it would become clear, Morocco is an equal blend of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Continue reading
Colliding With The Earth 