Blogs from Rabat, Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer, Morocco, Africa - page 5

We hadn't planned on stopping in Rabbat, the capital of Morocco, but it was convenient to break our drive from the North to the South. We didn't realize it was Christmast day until the hotel put on a special Christmas breakfast. It didn't rain on the drive down from the Rif mountains, but the clouds were ominously menacing. Made for a nice drive, because it didn't get too hot.... read more

Last night’s dinner at the Novotel Casa was an unusual experience. The food was delicious and the staff were attentive. However, the colour changing lights, which provided such a wonderful ambience in the bar area, made having a meal rather interesting. When they were on green the tomatoes were black and when red everything was rather dark and the lettuce was a funny brown colour. All this was accompanied by an ‘easy listening’ compilation of some of your favourite songs. Imagine Smoke on the Water, Wonderwall and Stairway to Heaven done in a soft-shuffle jazz... nice! This morning we visited the Hassan II mosque. This is a fantastic place to visit and one of the very few mosques in Morocco that non Muslims can enter. It is built out over the Atlantic Ocean – a beautiful ... read more

My plan for today was simple; get up early, have a quiet breakfast in the hotel, taxi to the train station and head to Marrakesh. I was able to do 3 out of the 4. The train was to leave a little before 9, so I was there by 8:30; however, when I checked the board, all the trains were leaving well past 9 and the time was 9:30. I knew I had set my watch back 2 hours when we landed, set my travel alarm and double checked the current time online. What I didn't plan on was the fact the today was when Morocco switched to Daylight Savings Time and moved forward an hour. Hmm, it would have been nice for the hotel to mention that when I checked in. But, it's all part ... read more

DAY 6 4th March 2011 Our pick up was 09.00am for the fairly long drive on the motorway to Casablanca and to our hotel in Rabat (Hotel Helnan Chellah) We left the mountains behind quite quickly and the landscape became very dry and sparse with a few settlements and villages. This soon changed to a much greener landscape with fields of orange and yellow flowers and as the land here is rich in phosphates there is also a lot of agriculture. We arrived in Casablanca about 12.30am and had a drive through this modern city past all the huge houses and avenues until we reached Mosque Hassan ll which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It was commissioned by King Hassan ll in 1980 and completed in 1993, can hold 25,000 worshipers inside and a further 80,000 in ... read more

My volunteer placement in Rabat, Morocco was at Le Feminin Pluriel, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1999. This organization has a small center that focuses on women’s empowerment and educational programs. They host conferences such as the one of the Mediterranean women’s writers every year and bring in guest speakers on various topics to their center on every Thursday. Last week someone came and spoke on “Technology.” The programs are mainly in French. There is also a library and a computer lab for the members to use. Leslie and I were asked to teach English for two hours each day to the women and occasional men who are interested in learning. They have ongoing classes in the daytime and evenings, taught by volunteers from other organizations. The biggest challenge here was that we didn’t ... read more