Doyle and Jaafar heroically joined Annie and me in Morocco to set off on an adventure across the southern part of the country, from Casablanca to Essaouira to Marrakech to the Sahara desert. I was so delighted and grateful for the excellent company and we had so many vibrant experiences that I could ramble on for days. But I’m already several countries behind in this blog, so a listicle is in order.
10. Ramparts at Sunset
Annie, Ryan, and I had arranged a driver to take us from Casablanca to Essaouira on our first full day. He turned out to be the best tourguide we had in Morocco. When he saw us passing around a cheat sheet of Arabic phrases that Maryam had prepared, he laughed, snatched it from, and told us how to say them the Moroccan way, all while mostly keeping his eyes on the road. He told us facts about the country throughout and then gave us excellent local tips for Essaouira. One of his best pieces of advice was to head to the roof of Hotel des les Ramparts, where’d we have a perfect view of sunset and free access to the live music at the bar below. Now united with Jaafar, we toasted and marveled at the fact that we were all together looking back towards America from the other side of the Atlantic.
9. Hiking to the Ruins of a Sultan’s Palace
Our first day in Essaouira, we ventured out of the buzzing fortified old city, medina, and crossed the beach to find the ruins of a sultan’s palace. We walked with our feet in the water until we reached the mouth of dried river, then turned inland. Only the corner lookout towers and a small central structure remain, buried under sand and scrub brush, evoking a mysterious lost world.
8. Shopping at the Source
I’m not really a shopper on vacation. It’s just not usually how I want to spend my time or money. But in Morocco, we were taken to small towns of artisans where we watched young boys throw clay pots then stick them in white hot mud kilns, an old man painting with ink that was invisible until you scorched the paper with a flame, a grandmother patiently cupping our hands show us how to make yarn then expertly integrating our flimsy threads into her masterwork carpet, and all-women co-op smashing argan nuts into oil to make every lotion and cosmetic under the sun. We even got the hang of haggling by the end – or some very skillful negotiators let us think that we did anyway. Special shoutout to Annie who juggled no fewer than 10 different ceramics on the plane ride home …we may have gone a bit overboard….
7. An Old Fashioned Scrub Down
On the last day, before flying out of Casablanca, Annie and I experienced our first hamman, a traditional steamroom situation. I was not prepared for what I was getting into. We were not sure if we should get fully naked or not, so ended up in paper thongs. Two women arrived and marched us into a dark steam room, telling us to lie down on the hot stone benches. That was the last command we understood. Lying in the thick fog, suddenly we were hit by a stream of water, then pushed over onto our backs and slathered with with sandpapery black soap. Then, just like that the two women were gone and we lay there for a while trying to suppress our giggles. Then, we Silence-of-the-Lambs got the hose again! And next they were dragging us up to our feet and giving us orders in Arabic which we pathetically, accidentally kept doing the opposite of, probably. At this point, all four of us were laughing hysterically, the women in charge included, as they pushed and pulled limbs to scrub us down everywhere – and I mean everywhere – with rough oven mitt-like gloves. I suddenly remembered what it was like to be a baby being dipped in a bathtub. Or, no, maybe it was more like when I give Dover and Fennel an aggressive sudzing on the stoop after they’ve rolled in something foul in Rock Creek. Finally, we were rolled up into towels and dropped on chairs in warmroom cackling, unsure of what had just happened. Anyway – wow – it was an experience. No photos please.
6. Tagines, More Tagines, and the Rare Non-Tagine
We ate very well in Morocco. And I don’t just mean well like delicious, I mean well like hearty, largely owing to the fact that almost every lunch and dinner was fragrant, spicy, thick stews cooked and served in colorful tagines.
One of the best meals was one we had the pleasure of cooking ourselves at Amal Cooking School, which primarily serves women and girls looking to gain culinary certifications so they can make a somewhat independent living – the goal is about $350/ month. The institute is outside the ramparts of the old city, situated in a beautiful garden of bright green grass, palms, and pink and yellow flowers. Jaafar and Doyle made a chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon. Annie and I made a fish tagine, elaborately covered with layers of bright vegetables and colorful spices. We put our tagines on the fire and bellowed away, then had coffee and futzed around in the garden for a while, then raided the herbs to prepare for a traditional tea ceremony, and eventually, hours later, we were allowed to enjoy our creations.
Non-tagine culinary highlights included:
5. Spectacular Riads
Morocco is known for its guesthouses, riads, generally consisting of palatial rooms surrounding a lush open courtyard with a pool or fountain. I love a good hotel and will obsess over finding the best room in the best one for the best price for months before a trip. So, sorting through the embarrassment of riches here was simultaneously my dream and my worst nightmare. I changed our reservations probably at least a dozen times, but in the end I was very happy where we landed.
My favorite spot was Riad Baladin in Essaouira for its boho chic M.C. Esher rooftop, perfect location next to the ramparts, and fantastic host who organized all our transfers and gave great local tips. Plus, they had a very fun card game for our evenings.
In Marrakech, we stayed at Riad Bamileke, which had a fabulous main suite covered in elaborate mosaics and wood carvings in the style of its architectural contemporary, Bahia Palace.
We opted to splurge a bit on our desert adventure which landed us at Dar Hnini in the Draa Oasis, where we had our own villas, complete with deliciously freezing plunge pools, tucked away among hedges of tropical flowers. Then, on arrival in the grand dunes of the Sahara at Erg Chegaga, we slept in in a row of upscale beduoin tents at the aptly named Desert Luxuy Camp.
Back in Marrakech for a final night, we were lead to Riad Julines by a very kind woman who found us wandering lost with all our suitcases in the not-so-touristy part of the medina. We were greeted by the extremely friendly riad kitten, Mish Mish, who hung out with us for the evening until he got distracted and somehow fell in the lovely courtyard pool. Don’t worry, he was back in good form at breakfast, just a little fluffier for his strife.
4. Crossing the Atlas Mountains
Towards the end of our trip, we arranged for a three day tour over the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara. I knew that the desert would be the highlight of the trip, but I wasn’t expecting the journey across the mountains to be so fascinating.
We crossed through so many diverse landscapes, from epic canyons, to clay cliffs in pine forests, hardpacked grey moonscapes to bright green palms set against a purple table mountain. Around every turn, a new world.
Hands down the highlight of the mountains is the ancient Amazigh village of Ait Benhaddou. A series of interconnected mudbrick kasbahs, built up a steep hillside, dotted with palm trees and a sunset-like spectrum of flowers and separated from the world by an ocassionally flooded riverbed, you may not know it’s name, but I guarantee you’ve seen it.
From Game of Thrones to Gladiator to the Mummy, it seems any time Hollywood wants to evoke a 1,001 Nights dreamscape, they are here, nevermind whether it’s supposed to be the Maghreb or the Levant, Arabia or Persia. Honestly, I was not expecting to be quite as giddy about the movie-production angle of this historic wonder, but we cooed over the guide’s photos of himself and his friends as the Unsullied, Saladin’s army, and Trojan soldiers. Like, you have to admit it would be so fun to get to spend a few days each year dressed up in Hollywood-grade period piece costumes playing pretend with your besties and neighbors. Plus, serving as its own union, the town negotiates group contracts for all the extras and sets to best serve the locals.
We also learned a lot from our guide about Amazigh culture, (sometimes known as Berbers, though that is just one subset of traditionally nomadic indigenous people). Amazigh means “Free People,” symbolized by the “Free Man” symbol on their flag. In fact, the Amazigh dedicate a full two letters of their alphabet to symbols meaning the free man and the free woman, which speaks to their priorities. Amazigh people converted to Islam long ago, however, according to our guide, it is only in recent years that the government has increased forced assimilation, proscribing traditional face tattoos and requiring all newborns be given Muslim names.
3. Sandboarding by the Light of the Full Moon
I had really been looking forward to seeing the stars in the desert but we ended up there during a full moon. That, however, provided the amazing benefit of a fully illuminated nightscape, allowing us to set out into the dunes and try our luck sandboarding. The sand is much slower than snow, so it only took one run each to realize that the only winning strategy was to just bomb it down the slope. Happily, the sand is also quite soft on the bum!
2. Marrakech Bike Party
Folks, if you are here, you probably know that I love the monthly DC Bike Party. The music, the atmosphere, the exercise, the anarchy. Of course, this is high on my list of things I am sad to miss during my months of traveling. So, imagine my delight when Doyle booked us a bike tour in Marrakech and it turned out to provide that same level of sketchy urban chaos. We dodged tourists and motorbikes in the souk, cruised through the ancient gates of the medina walls, and were briefly swept along in traffic on the wide avenues of the new city. What a hoot!
1. Saharan Sunset
Abdullah, our patient driver on the desert tour was not great at keeping us on schedule but he was great at driving fast, so despite our shopping and dilly-dallying we made it to the desert just an hour before sunset. We quickly hopped on four camels and were led out to the base of a mountain of sand. We hoofed it up, trudging through thick powder, learning that the best spot to walk was right on the tippity top of a ridge for maximum compactness, and finally cresting right as the ruby red sun hit the horizon sending a prism of color across the sea of sand. The scene was majestic and to be all the way out there with three of my most beloved people in the world was absolutely overwhelming. We are just so lucky!
Bonus: Jaafar with Cats
They just can’t get enough of this dude! (Must be the hat.)
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