Marrakech
After the desert tour we met up with Chris and Carolyn again
and stayed in Marrakech for 4 nights at a fabulous riad (condo, but
Aladin-style) with three bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a pool. Shout out goes to Carolyn for a fabulous pick/connection that hooked us up with the accommodations. We spent 2 full days
just lounging by the pool and eating yummy things, like a huge watermelon
between the 4 of us in one day. The weather was pretty hot and the pool was
a welcome reprieve.
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| Eating watermelon by the pool |
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| Gorgeous pool |
Ouzoud Falls
One day we took a day trip to gorgeous Ouzoud waterfalls. C &
C had heard about it, but had never been there, so as we neared the end of the 3 hour drive and there was still nothing to see but the same dry and
dusty landscape, we began to have our doubts that we’d find anything more than
a trickle over some rocks. We were pleasantly surprised to see quite the
opposite and enjoyed a whole day beside the falls.
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| Lunch beside the falls |
In Canada, there would have been guardrails and viewing
platforms with a plethora of signs warning you to keep your distance. The
Moroccans dispense with such pleasantries and therefore you need to decide for
yourself how close is too close. We all differed in opinions on this topic,
with Chris the most comfortable near the edge. Yikes!
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| Christopher Regher, you get back here! |
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| The HM's and their new Uncle Chris |
There are wild-ish Barbary Apes living near the falls which
were fun to watch. They are in fact wild in that they are not kept, but they
are not wild in that they are very used to people and seemed to be hoping for a
treat. Moroccans also do not believe in the “Don’t feed the wildlife”
philosophy, so I think these apes get all the treats they need. I would have
called them monkeys, but Aria came to the trivia rescue with the tidbit that
monkeys have tails and apes don’t. Who knew?
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| What are you looking at? |
We then took a little “boat” ride near the falls and I got
to take a turn paddling the boat back. Even when I nearly hit almost everything
in my path, including people, and offered the reigns back to the driver many
times, the driver insisted that I finish what I started and I had to row the
thing right to shore.
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| That's Chris and Carolyn atop the cliff with the boats below |
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| Said boat. Note the flowers and the lovely upholstery. Oh Morocco, you're so silly! |
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| Getting some pointers on my rowing |
We also took an evening to visit the Medina, which is the
old walled part of Marrakech where there is a market everyday and evening. And
when I say market, I really mean that it’s a small city in it’s own right. It’s
the size and scale of the Mall of America, but 10 times the assault on the
senses. It goes on forever and you nearly need a guide to make your way
through. So many shops are all selling the same thing that you wonder how any
of them make money. We tried our hand at bargaining and walked away with a few
gems, but our tactics did not work on scarves. Leather shoes – cheap. Scarves –
not so much. Go figure. Supper was Brochettes (skewers) and chips (fries), with
a big bag of dates for a little sweet finish.
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| The Medina = maze of shops, with our fabulous tour guides of course |
Zip-Lining and Ouladia
Then we were off to Ouladia, a little beach town on the
coast, but we first made a stop at an amazing ropes course and zip-lining
facility. Nothing like a little adrenaline-therapy to keep you young!
In Oualadia, our accommodations were not as posh but our
view was worth a million as we could both hear and see the Atlantic from our
balcony. After a supper of Schwarma (doner, kebab, gyro…same sandwich,
different names) we hit the hay.
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| Mmmmm...schwarma! |
We checked out a little surfing school down on the beach the
next day and got ourselves signed up for a surfing lesson. We arrived for our
lesson, got suited up in our wetsuits and headed out. It has been the girls’
dream to try surfing and they were over the moon about giving it a try,
counting down until our lesson time. Carolyn volunteered to be the official
photographer as her knee is giving her trouble. The instructor gives you a
quick lesson on the sand and then you’re out in the waves giving it a go. Everyone
experienced some measure of success and we all agreed that it was so much fun
that we had to try again the next day. Unfortunately the waves weren’t as good
and the water was much more crowded the 2nd day out, but it was
still a lot of fun. Aria shouted, “I’m the luckiest girl on earth!” at one
point. How many days in your life do you get to say, “I should be in school,
but I am SURFING off the coast of Africa instead!!!”
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| Surfing (but just barely) |
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| Kaija catching a wave |
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| Rick's windsurfing skills served him well |
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| At one point, Aria yelled out to me "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" |
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| Chris was a natural, naturally |
We ended our time with 2 nights in Casablanca before saying
good-bye to Chris and Carolyn and to Morocco. Aria thought that it might be a
good idea to miss our flight and stay a lot longer – a sign that Morocco will
definitely be one of the highlights of the trip. A huge thank you to Chris and Carolyn for being our tour guides. It was great to see Morocco with them, but more importantly it was great to get to know them better.
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| Our pad in Oualadia |
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| Goodbye Morocco! |
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