Blogs from Meknès-Tafilalet, Morocco, Africa - page 16

Our blog entries are a little out of sequence, this is mainly due to internet connections and general frustration. In between Marrakesh and the Sahara, we toured to the coast, Essaouaria and then inland to Ait Benhaddou and the Todre and Dades Gorges before reaching the desert. We rented a car and as it turned out, it was a good idea, A/C or not, mainly because we got to see a little of everything and in a shorter time than if by bus. After leaving the sweltering Marakesh, we arrived in Essaouaria. It was a beautiful little town on the coast with a walled UNESCO city center. The cool breezes and 'cold' nights were welcome and I had the best Lamb tajine cooked with apricots and prunes, a strange but scrumptious combo. We left Essaouaria and ... read more

I'm not feeling my best, but my schedule - and the train ticket in my purse - requires that I make it to the train station for a 5:00 am train to Casablanca. I can do this. At least this is what I have been telling myself since I got up just after 3:00am, and, let's face it, on many other occasions during this trip. And indeed I can. I made it to Casablanca in time to catch a taxi to the Hassan II mosque, the third largest mosque in the world and one of the only mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims. As advertised it was quite impressive, built partially over the sea in reference to a verse in the Koran that specifies God's throne as being built upon the water. Inside there is space ... read more

March 15, 2008 After waking up this morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel. They had a lot of pastries and fresh orange juice. They were very good! We had a change of plans, and stayed in Fès for awhile. We went to the Royal Palace to see the walls outside, the gardens, and the guards. We drove a little more to a market area called la medina de Fès. There were a lot of little streets with people walking around selling things or at their stores. It is so different than anything I have seen before. It shows how lucky we are in the US. Our local tour guide took us to three unique and very cool stores. The first place was a rug store. It used to be a mansion, and now women make ... read more

March 16, 2008 We woke up and went to breakfast this morning. It was probably one of the best breakfasts in awhile. I ate a lot! We left the hotel to make our way to the Sahara in Toyota Land Cruisers. We first went to the Valle de los Fosiles, a museum of sorts. The guide showed us various rocks that have fossils in them. They make furniture and figurines out of these fossils. While I was there, one of the sales guys came up to me and said, “You are very nice. You are very pretty. You can live with me in Morocco if you want.” I told him I had to go and left! I ended up choosing the best driver for our 4x4’s. He has been doing off-roading in the Sahara for 20 ... read more

Last night we were too exhausted to set alarm and this Morning when we woke at twenty to one we realised that was a slight oversight. We packed ever so hurriedly and went to find out if we could leave our bags anywhere. The cleaner put them in a room for us and demanded 20dh. We couldn't be bothered with the aggravation so we paid and left to explore. Azrou is a beautiful little place and just outside of the centre there are some quite big, expensive houses. We were both immediately concerned with eating, so we found a place that made up Sandwiches for us. We had a sandwich each with cheese, salad, rice, potato, etc and then a cone of chips for 14p each. We couldn't believe how cheap it was. We sat and ... read more