Tag Archives: Morocco Expert Tours

Essaouira on the spur of the moment

Posted on by
Reply

“Let’s go to Essaouira,” Dan said to me on our second day in Marrakech. We had only one more day and then we planned to catch a train back to Casablanca. The train takes about three hours, and we’d have to pack and check out and get to the station and all that, so we’d blocked out a day for the trip, with some comfortable loose time on either end.

“But there’s so much we still haven’t seen in Marrakech!” I protested.

“We can do it on the way to Casablanca.”

“But the train doesn’t go to Essaouira.”

“Let’s hire a car and driver. Then we can do it.” And he pointed out that it’s only a relatively short drive to Essaouira, and then–how pleasant!–we could meander up the coast roads from Essaouira to Casablanca, a distance approximately the same as that from Marrakech to Casablanca. It looked like a good idea.

Appearances notwithstanding, it turned out that Essaouira is not on the way to Casablanca, that the coast road was not something a person could meander up in just a few hours. The only reasonable way from Essaouira to Casablanca is to return almost to Marrakech and pick up the highway. No one, but no one, plans to drive from Marrakech to Essaouira, tour Essaouira in any kind of reasonable fashion, and then make it from Essaouira to Casablanca in just one day. But what did we know?

I called Youssef at Morocco Expert Tours, the company that had arranged our excellent desert tour, and explained what we wanted. Nothing much. Just to find a car and a driver at the last minute during the busiest season of the year to go off on a long all-day half-crazy drive. And Youssef, bless his helpful heart said, “Let me see what I can do.”

And sure enough, he found Hamid, an easygoing driver for us, and a car. And in addition to his willingness to take on our daunting task, Hamid also shared our sense of humor and laughed at our jokes!

You may remember the photograph of the goats in the argan tree with which I started the Morocco part of this blog.

smIMG_0986That was on the way from Marrakech to Essaouira.

And now for a word about Essaouira, with more details to follow in subsequent posts. The city is a delightful blend of many elements: eighteenth century fortifications embracing a quintessentially Moroccan city with a history that goes back to the Phoenicians. Wide beaches and surf pounding on treacherous rocks. A vibrant fishing port and a thriving tourist industry. It almost doesn’t seem these pieces could fit together, but…they do.

sm10 IMG_1001We had only (I forget) two or three hours between when Hamid dropped us off and when we’d agreed to meet again. So after enjoying the sight (but not the experience) of the beach…

sm 01 IMG_0988

…and noting with interest a wind farm across the bay…

sm 02 IMG_0989

we came to the port area of the old city.

sm 04 IMG_0991

We passed a boat yard…

sm 05 IMG_0995

and a vibrant and lively fishing port.

sm 07 IMG_3713

And then we entered the medina of the old city through the Bab al Minzah gate.

sm 09 IMG_1000 bab al minzah

 

Marrakech — Plaza Djemaa el Fna

Posted on by
Reply

Our guide Hicham dropped us off in Marrakech as evening approached. He got us as near to our riad in Marrakech as a vehicle could go, contacted the riad, and stayed with us until a person from the riad came to meet us. We were SO cared for! Thank you, Hicham, and thank you, Youssef from Morocco Expert Tours, for the great desert experience!

We stayed at Riad Nafis in Marrakech. It was inside the medina in a quiet neighborhood, a two- or three-block walk from the nearest vehicular street. Riad Nafis has comfortable rooms, a central pool in the courtyard, a pleasant roof deck with a great view, caring and helpful staff, and a wonderful cook.

After three days in the desert, we were eager to experience city life again. Besides, we had to change money. So as soon as we settled in and oriented ourselves, we set out for the main plaza of the Marrakech medina–the Djemaa el Fna. It was dusk as we passed through the gate that led to the vehicular street.

sm01 IMG_3676

Maybe I need to pause for a moment to explain this phrase: vehicular street. This is a street where cars and motorbikes (motorcycles, scooters) shoot by from nowhere at escape-velocity speeds and where it’s perfectly clear that when you try to cross, you might get killed. This is as opposed to pedestrian streets, where this can still happen, but mostly only with motorbikes.

The presence of motorized vehicles in the medina is a significant difference between Fes and Marrakech. “Marrakech is a real city,” Dan said to me at one point. “Not like Fes.” It was an interesting observation because Fes is actually a bigger city than Marrakech. Why did he feel this way? In part because we had to dodge traffic.

The Djemaa el Fna is a huge open area in the middle of the old medina. It’s almost shocking, actually, to see so much space deliberately left open in the midst of such ancient density. The square was filled, though, with booths, carts, vendors selling… well, mostly selling food.

sm02 IMG_0874

sm03 IMG_0875

sm04 IMG_3677

sm05 IMG_3680

As darkness descended the crowds increased, and vendors cooking full meals in temporary stalls actively solicited customers to buy a dinner and eat at the tables set up in ranks in the square.

In the morning, the plaza was deserted. An entire bustling marketplace had disappeared!

sm01IMG_3682But vendors were setting up for the daytime activities: selling food and other items, of course; snake charming; henna painting; and more. A new, different bustling marketplace was being set up.

sm04IMG_0877

sm07IMG_0879

Also, all the shops around the plaza opened for business.

sm10IMG_3683

sm14IMG_3687

sm16IMG_0880

We decided to have a cup of coffee and watch the plaza come to life. An attractive second-floor cafe seemed the right spot for this–and there was a table right by the railing. But first we had to ask the current occupant of the table to allow us to use the other chairs.

sm24IMG_0905With her consent, we enjoyed a great view of the busy-ness below.

sm27IMG_0906

sm30IMG_3693

 

 

Boutgharar in the Valley of Roses

Posted on by
Reply

We emerged from the desert into the village of Boutgharar, the last town on the road high up in the Valley of Roses.

sm010IMG_0667

We crossed the Asif M’Goun River, where a group of women washed clothes in the traditional way, and then entered the village, passing by the ruins of an ancient kasbah.

sm020IMG_0668

sm038IMG_3654

Boutgharar is the family home of our wonderful guide Hicham, who works for Morocco Expert Tours. Though his English was quite good, he didn’t learn it in Boutgharar. His family are farmers, and so he had to support himself at the university in Marrakech, where he completed two years, majoring in math. He dreamed of becoming a math teacher, but such jobs are hard to come by in Morocco. Meanwhile, Hicham learned and practiced English by hosting a Web site visited by people all over the world. Now he’s found he really likes being a guide.

Hicham had arranged for us to have lunch at a riad owned by his uncle. Herewith, an unusual architectural element and the panoramic view from the rooftop terrace.

sm186IMG_3656

sm160IMG_3660

Our lunch was served in a traditional dining room, where, it being low season in the Valley of Roses (December–not a rosebud to be seen), we were the only guests. And it was delicious.

sm205IMG_3663

sm210IMG_3664

Other sights around the village include a typical street, the wall of a butcher shop (fresh goat meat tonight, I’d bet), the well-ornamented Chez la famille Moulay, and a stork’s nest upon the tower of a nearby kasbah. Storks, we were told, bring good luck to the place where they nest.

sm140IMG_0673

sm150IMG_3658

sm040IMG_0670

sm123IMG_3665

 

Todra Gorge

Posted on by
Reply

The walls of Todra Gorge are in some places a thousand feet high. It’s, er, well… gorgeous.

sm IMG_0554sm IMG_0564

We arrived in the evening and spent the night in a small hotel called Dar Ayour, located in a small settlement at the beginning of the gorge, right on the edge of the Todra River. It is an extremely modest establishment of some charm. However, although they had confirmed a particular room for us, by the time we arrived they had given that room to someone else. The two rooms that remained for us to choose between were poor and poorer. This was without doubt our worst night in Morocco (or maybe anywhere), and though our guide Hicham and also Youssef from Morocco Expert Tours tried to intervene, and although the people at the hotel were very apologetic, nothing could be done at that point. Alas.

On the other hand, oddly enough, the dinner at this hotel was delicious!

Early in the morning, we were up and out. Hicham drove us to a narrow spot in the gorge, where we could enjoy a half-hour’s walk. There was one lodging picturesquely located right in the canyon; we yearned to have stayed there, but we were told that it is a hostel with no private bathrooms. Ah, to be young!

sm IMG_0556sm IMG_0566

Dan and I were walking so early that the souvenir vendors were just setting up. The place was peaceful, serene, cool. I can imagine that the experience of this gorge might be quite otherwise once the tour buses start arriving.

sm IMG_0563sm IMG_0557