Blogs from Marrakech, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz, Morocco, Africa - page 33

DOS MOCHILAS POR MARRUECOS -3- Quien alguna vez leyó, vio o escuchó algo sobre Marruecos sabe de su existencia. Probablemente no recuerde su nombre o en que ciudad se encuentra pero sí que es enorme, que se ven muchas cosas típicas y que se llena de gente todas las noches: es la plaza Jema le Fna de Marrakech, el centro vital de la ciudad y la puerta a través de la cual entran la mayoría de los visitantes del país. Quizás le acudan a la memoria imágenes de hombres vestidos de rojo tocados con coloridos sombreros cónicos, de encantadores de serpientes que acercan sus caras a las viperinas lenguas y de grupos de percusionistas que se pierden en el toque de sus tambores. Todas ellas son ciertas pero la plaza es mucho más y mucho menos ... read more

Well about 30 hours out of Zanzibar via Nairobi via Amsterdam via Heathrow via Gatwick we arrive in Marrakesh. All this instead of flying direct from Tanzania to Marrakesh to save a mere $2000.00! Thanks to Ben for providing us with comfort, a much needed shower and a great meal at a Thai restaurant during our brief stay in London. We didn't get the heat in "Africa Proper" re Tanzania/Kenya, as one of our fellow English travellers said, but we sure got it now! 45 degrees was waiting for us at Marrakesh airport. Off we went to try our bargaining skills on the local taxi crew. He was a tough nut to crack for us polite Canadians, but we agreed on 130 dirhams about $20 cdn. Higher than Lonely Planets suggested cost, obviously due to the ... read more

Ellie- Morocco has an excess of three things: people, cats, and mopeds. There are a gajillion cats around every street corner meowing and begging for food. In the town square in Marrackech, there aren't even any stoplights or street lanes! Yet I haven't seen a single car crash or even any road rage. There is this huge marketplace called The Suks, and it is CRAZY! You kind of get used to all of the hawkers and people trying to sell you stuff. About the food in Morroco: it's delicous! I have already fallen in love with this dish called Tajine Berbere, which is basically chicken, potatoes, pickles, olives, and saffron(which makes everything turn yellow!) piled into this special kind of pot called a tajine. It is sort of like a primitive slow-cooker. My mom has discovered ... read more

OK. Morocco. Beautiful place. It was my first time in North Africa (and all of Africa for that matter). Flying into Marrakech hits you quick. I arrived 4AM or so and had no intent of finding my way downtown in the middle of the night so I bunkered down in the arrivals hall with some rogue cats. Terrible terrible moroccan music was blaring on the loudspeakers, probably to deter folks like me from some shut eye. Once the sun rose I decided to head in town. The sign in front of the taxi rank said that rates dropped by half at 6AM but clearly the taxi drivers were having none of this. A taste of things to come..... Well eventually I was having none of them and they folded. Morocco. Gorgeous. Far out. Marrakech is amazing ... read more

(Very) early Saturday morning Nick, Carly and I touched down in the heat, colour and mayhem of Marrakech. We spent four blissful days there. Each morning started with the most delicious breakfast of fruit, freshly baked breads and fig and apricot jams on the roof of our riad (the wonderful Riad El Ouarda if anyone is planning a trip). Then followed hours of exploring the narrow, winding streets and the souks, jumping out of the way of donkeys and motorbikes, marvelling at snake charmers and all the colourful spices and potions on offer that filled the air and made our noses itch, and stopping to barter - or banter - with the stall owners ("just looking" we would say when they tried to entice us inside their shops, "that's ok, I'm just selling" they would grin). ... read more