Travel
As part of my Cosmos tour in January 2003, I had five days to explore some of Morocco.
We visited Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakesh, the Ourika Valley, Fez and finished in Ceuta.
| Read
about Fez and the journey to Ceuta Read about Rabat and Casablanca |
Marrakesh and the Ourika Valley
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woke this morning to see a clear view of the Atlas Mountains from
our hotel room, a little more in the distance than I had imagined.
While I waited for the bus to leave I watched the morning traffic
go past: there were many horses and donkeys with carts carrying loads.
As we began our tour of Marrakesh we were told that the city was first established in 1070 and that it has always been an important geographical meeting place. It links north and south, and is not far from the Atlantic coast, the Sahara desert or the Atlas Mountains. We passed down the Avenue de France, wide in the French style, with palms edging it and plants, including Seville oranges, in the middle of the road. We visited the Menara Gardens, full of olive trees and boasting an irrigation system through which water has been brought down from the Atlas Mountains. This was part of an impressive bit of engineering from many centuries ago. Olives are harvested here in three stages, to get the green, red and black olives we saw in the market later in the morning. People are able to picnic in this garden and apparently the city makes money from the harvest to invest in schools etc. Next we saw the mosque with its 12th century minaret, a triplet with the Tour Hassan in Rabat and the Giralda in Seville. We posed for a group photograph complete with ceremonial tea-sellers. The most fascinating place for me was the old palace. This was a large ruin that had been stripped of all its fine marble and tiles by a conqueror who wanted to make his palace in Meknes. Adorning its old walls now were many storks in their nests. Our
final visits were to see the market side of Marrakesh. We visited
a 17th century house where carpets were sold, and we had a very
good explanation of the kinds of carpets (Berber, Royal, idiosyncratic
Berber.) Several people from the tour had been waiting for this
opportunity and bought carpets to carry home. Next we visited the
Medina, a huge square that had it all - tooth sellers, snake charmers,
women decorating others with henna, water sellers, medicinal lecturers,
monkeys…. |
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Ruins
of the old palace at Marrakesh
Notice all the storks nesting on top. |
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View
over reddish, flat-topped buildings of Marrakesh from the palace
ruins
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| I had signed up for the optional excursion to the Ourika Valley in the afternoon and this proved to be a real highlight of my time in Morocco. We left the city and headed into the mountains. The valley landscape was fascinating, but the real privilege was being able to share afternoon tea in a Berber home. The mother of the family had prepared a feast of a traditional Berber bread. It was simple, nourishing and freshly made. We were privileged to receive hospitality here with this family. Our guide told us that fifty per cent of Moroccans live in the rural areas, and I was grateful for the chance to leave behind some of the tourist trappings and meet a family in their own home. All the buildings in this valley were made of the red earth that surrounded us. This mud house had TV, but electricity has only reached the area in the last year. The home had two levels and in the lower courtyard we saw a sheep, being looked after especially for the feast of Eid Al Adha. In the heat of summer, this cooler valley is a refuge from the heat of Marrakesh. |
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Typical villages in the Ourika Valley |
| Go back to read about Casablanca and Rabat. |
| Go to the next page to find out about Fez. |