Page 15 - Explore Magazine Winter 2018

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We visited the Chaouwara Tanneries which have been there for We continued over very winding roads through the High Atlas
a century or so and were given a sprig of mint to hold under our Mountains to Marrakech, which is quite westernised and has a
noses to help with the smell: the hides are soaked in lime and relaxed and laid-back vibe. We were escorted to our riad, Jennah
pigeon poo to cure them and make them supple. After that they are Rouge, in the medina which was a cacophony of colours – right up
dried in the sun. my alley! We had only booked for one night but then decided to stay;
because they were full we moved to their sister riad which was just
Over the next few days we visited historic buildings such as the as nice with an even better terrace and more nice hosts to chat with.
Nejjarine Museum of Wood Arts & Crafts, several medersa
(religious colleges) and Al-Karaouine University, which were very The first day was spent checking out the infamous Djemaa el-Fnaa,
elaborate and interesting. a giant square in the medina which hosts snake charmers, monkeys
and tourists by day and musicians and locals by night.
Next came a four-day tour with our first stop at Ifrane, built by the It is filled with stalls, and a spider web of souks also leads off from
French in the 1930s in the style of an alpine resort. Very weird. At the square, beckoning you to buy their goods. We managed to
sunset we arrived at Merzouga on the fringe of the Sahara Desert squeeze just a little more into our hefty backpacks.
where our accommodation at Nomad Palace was like something out
of an exotic movie. An old caravanserai city with a chequered past, Marrakech
resumed its fall-back hospitality career in the mid-20th-century
Our tour included a sunset camel ride and overnight in the desert. My and became the nation’s breakaway success. Roving hippies built
camel was a very chilled-out one called Bob Marley and Josh’s camel the city’s mystique in the 1960s and ‘70s, and visits by the Rolling
was an aggro teenager. Stones, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin gave the city star power.
Our Berber camp consisted of a few tents in between sand dunes but In the 1990s private medina mansions were converted into B&Bs,
when we entered our tent we were surprised to find a comfortable just in time for low-cost airlines to deliver weekenders to brass-
double bed with three heavy blankets and a plumbed-in toilet and studded riad doors.
shower. In the desert! Luxury.
Despite some setbacks since, the tourist trade is burgeoning
An old caravanserai city with a chequered again and we visited the Bahia Palace (imagine what you could
build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years) and
past, Marrakech is quite Westernised and has the Maison de la Photographie, which showcases photographs
a relaxed and laid-back vibe. from everyday life from 1870 to 1950. It appears that life hasn’t
changed that much in Morocco.
We then drove through the Dades Valley which had beautiful Moroccan We split up the days up with a day trip to Essaouira, a fishing town
towns in the middle of nowhere with date palm groves which looked on the west coast and on the way there our minibus suddenly
very exotic against the brownish-orange earth. stopped next to a tree literally filled with goats, like a goat
Christmas tree.
The Todra Gorge is the biggest gorge in Morocco and was spectacular
with towering cliffs on either side. We then arrived at Ouarzazate to It was most odd, and clearly a ploy to get tourists to pay money for
visit Ait Benhaddou, the UNESCO World Heritage site, early the next a crazy photo, which sums up Morocco for me. Exotic, sometimes
day before it was swarmed by tourists. confronting, but truly beautiful and with amazing people.
Ait Benhaddou is an ighrem (fortified village) on the former caravan
route between the Sahara and Marrakech. The site has been used for
several movies and there are even a couple of movie studios nearby.

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