Marrakesh, Morocco

4 June 2012

It was a real struggle to get up this morning in order to see the sunrise in the desert. This was due to a number of factors--staying up late, but also the peacefulness of the desert. In South Dakota, it's pretty easy to go out into the wilderness and be the only person for miles. However, it's never quiet. There's always the noise of crickets, birds, and leaves rustling. In the desert, it was completely silent, and I slept like a baby. It didn't help that the first alarm that we set to wake us up either didn't go off or someone immediately shut it off.

 Thankfully, as the sun was just getting ready to peek over the mountains, I woke up again and got up in time to watch the sunrise--truly one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. The peace and beauty of the desert left me feeling rejuvenated....

 Which lasted until we had to get back on the camels to head to Zagora. Let me just say that riding a camel the second day was shear agony. Every movement of the camel hurt my already sore body. Eventually, I just felt numb.

Back in Zagora, we stopped a shop to look at Berber carpets. They were extremely beautiful. I wanted to buy one, but had neither the money nor the space (or home!) for such a thing.

 We continued our journey back to Marrakesh--stopping to enjoy the views as well as the city of Ouarzazate. Like Ait-Ben-Haddou, it's been used as an international movie studio for movies such as Lawrence of Arabia, Kingdom of Heaven, Daughter of the Nile, and Babel. The picture above is the kabash--fortifications.

 After a long day of traveling, we made it back to the city of Marrakesh, and promptly ran into some people that we know! We knew that some friends of ours were going to be in Marrakesh, but we didn't expect to run into them on the streets. Later, we met up with them to eat at a restaurant near the central plaza. I wasn't really hungry so I ate a soup called harira--a tomato and lentil soup.

Eventually, we headed back to the hostel and hung out with our friends and the new friends we made at the hostel. It was an interesting group of people--from Germany, the US, and Australia! Every had cool stories to share about their experiences traveling the world!

Desert Dunes

3 June 2012

This morning dawned bright and early. To be honest, too bright and early for me! I find it difficult enough to get up at 8 AM each morning for school--so 7 AM was a bit of a struggle.

However, it was well worth it! A lovely breakfast was made fresh for us by one of the guys that works at the riad. We had little pancakes that were a spongier form of crepes, and a thicker pancake that reminded me of frybread from my home state, South Dakota. We also had freshly squeezed orange juice!

Before arriving in Morocco, we found a company that would take us out to the desert (on camels) to see the sunrise over the dunes. This morning, our Berber guide picked us up from our riad to begin our two-day trip to and from the desert. Our guide, Kamal, was extremely nice and knowledgeable. Since we had a private guide, we were able to ask questions about basically everything from the Berber nomadic lifestyle to the educational system in Morocco (a particular interest of mine) and from Morocco's climate to its history. We wouldn't have had this same opportunity if we'd gone on a generic large group tour.

As I've mentioned an interest of mine is the educational systems in different countries. Many of the people I'd spoken to in Morocco (so far) spoke excellent English. Some admitted that they were self-taught, but I was curious what the system is like in Morocco. In Spain, students can go to school starting at age 3--though it isn't obligatory until age 6. In Morocco, students start school at age 7. There are even some schools (sort of like boarding schools) where students who live in more remote areas live while attending school. Moroccan children start by learning French and Arabic and when they are older (around 14 years old) they start learning English. This really surprised me because it can be more difficult to become fluent in a language at that age.

We spent approximately 7 hours riding in a car out to Zagora. Of course, we stopped periodically to take in the amazing views and learn more about Morocco. One of the places we stopped was a women's cooperative where they sell products with Argan oil. This oil comes from a plant native to Morocco and is known for it's medicinal and beauty properties. We saw how the women take the pits (that goats don't eat) and crush them in order to release the oil. The oil is combined to make different kinds of spreads--one of which tastes like peanut butter. It's also used in beauty products--like soaps and chapsticks.

Here is a Berber village. Approximately 40% of Moroccans are Berber--though more probably have Berber ancestry. Berbers have traditionally been a nomadic people. They tend to herd animals--with the women using the wool from the animals to make products like Berber carpets.

This is the ancient city of Ait-Ben-Haddou. Historically, it was an important stopping point for caravans--especially considering it took 52 days on camel to reach Timbuktu. More contemporarily, many movies have been shot here--such as The Mummy, Prince of Persia, Kingdom of Heaven, basically any movie with a desert setting.

Another beautiful view in the High and Little Atlas Mountains...

Later, we reached Zagora--where we would be taking camels into the desert. Riding the camels definitely added something to the experience--although I started to get uncomfortable 5 minutes into the journey. This just goes to tell you that I wouldn't have made it during the 52 day camel journey to Timbuktu.

The ride to the desert camp at sunset was breathtakingly beautiful--though the picture below maybe isn't the best representation of that. It's quite difficult to take pictures from a camel.

At the camp, we met two fellow travelers and our guides in the camp. For dinner, they made us an amazing tajine. After all that we had to eat that day, I had hardly any room for any more food!

Then, we took turns playing drums and other musical instruments. My "theory"was that our terrible playing was meant to scare away wild animals.

All too soon, I decided to go to bed in order to get a couple hours sleep before waking up at 5 AM to see the sunrise!