This past November a group of 14 Saskatchewan farm women visited Majestic Morocco to discover how they sustain themselves in this developing country. They were more than amazed as traveller Michelle Rea describes in detail in her daily blog to the folks back home.
Wow! What an AMAZING (I’m going to use this word a lot)
trip!!!
Nov. 11: Casablanca – Zac, our French/Moroccan Guide and
Abdoul, our chauffeur met us at the airport
where we got our money and went to Rick’s Café and had a wonderful
meal. Then we were off to the Hassan II Mosque. A really beautiful
place and we learned about their religion and beliefs which we referred back to
for the rest of the trip. Then off to the hotel. We had a couple of
hours to relax which was nice. Zac took us on a little walking tour in
the evening…he noticed something was going on. Everyone was celebrating, with
the cars honking their horns and waving their flag. Zac said that Morocco
was playing an important soccer game and they had scored a goal. So, we
suggested going to a bar to watch the game and experience this excitement too.
The hotel bar was packed, and what a
great time we had! Morocco won 2-0 so at the end of the game everybody
got up to dance and celebrate. We discovered Casablanca beer here…mmm.
Nov. 12: Pottery & Essouira – We had a nice walk on the
beach in the morning near our hotel. It was Sunday, so there were about 5
soccer games happening there. Then off to do some pottery shopping in
Safi. Pottery, pottery EVERY WHERE!!! The Moroccan people are the
most generous, kind people anywhere in the world most of them speak English
even though their official language is French. We went for lunch on the
beach! The fish had their heads and eyes
and teeth! But we powered through it. They gave us a couple of
complimentary dishes, sea urchins and clams. The drive up the coast to
Essouira was magnificent and humbling. To see what the land is like and
where they are trying to grow crops! It
was evening when we reached our hotel – what a magnificent place right on the
ocean edge.
Nov. 13: Essouira – Went for a tour of the port with the
fisherman. That way of life is so interesting to us prairie gals.
We saw a shark and a sword fish come off a boat! Then we toured the old
fort. And I learned something else about Morocco – no matter where you go
for a “solution” (Zac’s word he used for bathroom), they were all incredibly
clean! We decided we had had enough of fish so Zac and Abdoul found us a
restaurant that served Italian food (spaghetti & bolognese). Then off
to the woodworking shop – where of course, we shopped some more! I would
have liked to have taken some big pieces home, but didn’t. Then we just
spent some time walking around the markets and relaxed in the “party” room once
more.
Nov. 14: We went to the Argan Oil Women’s
Co-operative. What a great experience this was! It was very
interesting how the work and the profits are divided evenly amongst the
women. After that, we took a little detour from our agenda – Abdoul knew
of a camel cheese place where we could have lunch (and assured us that there
would be wine there too), we said of course! An older gentleman came out
on his scooter and asked where we were from. When we said “Canada” he
asked if any of us were “Habs” fans! When we said we were from
Saskatchewan, he knew we were crazy Rider’s fans!!!! This gentleman had
been a professor at a University in Ottawa for about 20 years! He was so
pleased to have us there that he gave us 2 bottles of wine for our lunch.
Considering that 16 of us showed up out of the blue, this was probably one of
our best (if not the best) meals we had on our whole trip! Of course we also
ordered many bottles of wine to go with our meal.
Nov. 15: Leaving Essouira and off to Imlil – Zac &/or
Abdoul knew of a winery on the way so we stopped there and had a tour and of
course some wine. After we had been driving for a while, we saw a truck
that had an ice cream ad on the side of it, so of course, we needed ice
cream. Abdoul to the rescue again! Found us a little place to load up on
ice cream and snacks. Driving in the mountains is a little harrowing for
us as many times throughout the trip people had to switch seats on the bus and
gravel was enjoyed by all. What a quaint inn in Imlil. It had so
much character and we loved the dining room with the fire. It was late
when we got there and Abdoul really wanted to show us the sunset in the
mountains, so we threw our luggage in our rooms and were off again. Abdoul is a very competent driver and got us
to a beautiful spot to watch the sun sink in between the mountains. We
also brought a couple of bottles of wine which we shared and Zac had some nuts
for us to eat. Back down the mountain where we had supper.
Nov. 16: IMLIL - THE MOST AMAZING AND FREAKY DAY OF OUR
TRIP!!! We met Abraham who was our guide for our trek up the
mountain. Zac didn’t realize what sort of trail we were going to be
walking on. It wasn’t physically hard but it was certainly mentally
challenging for us! The trail was only about a foot wide and there was a
sharp drop off down the mountain. Anyway, we all made it safe and
sound. There was one little “shop” on our way up the mountain – I
couldn’t believe it. So, of course, we had to stop and shop there.
Ya know, everyone is so poor there and to spend a 100 or 200 dirhams is really
nothing for us – we couldn’t just walk by a place like this and not spend some
money there. Then we got to go to Abraham’s home and what a beautiful
place it was. Abdoul showed us how to make mint tea and how to properly
pour it. We helped prepare our meal.
Abraham’s family was delightful and it really was the best day, being
able to take part in the “real” Morocco. The trip down the mountain was
way better for those of us who walked – on a different path than what we came
up on. Some took a taxi down – they had quite an adventure. Drinks
then another wonderful meal at the inn. After this day, we all agreed the
camel riding would be a breeze.
Nov. 17: Marrakech – Off to Marrakech. What a crazy
busy city this is. We did a little walking tour when we got there to
stretch our legs. We all agreed we were getting tired of tagine, so Zac
& Abdoul found us another Italian restaurant to go to and enjoy a cold
beverage. The place was lovely and had great spaghetti and
bolognese. The Berber Pharmacy was quite interesting…we shopped.
Then off to our wonderful Riad – beautiful! After some mint tea we were
off to the spa. So, I have never had a massage/pedicure/manicure because
I don’t like to be touched, but I am all for experiencing new things when on
these adventures. When we got there I knew we were booked for an hour
massage but the lady asked who would like a scrub too? I had no idea what
that entailed, but I stuck my hand up. WELL! Chandra, Sherry, Linda
and I go into this dimly lit room and before we know it we are all naked!
(We are now best friends.) Well we giggled and made inappropriate
comments and had a great time. I felt amazing after my scrub and then of
course I had my massage and it was awesome!
Nov. 18: Marrakech – We visited the Majorelle Gardens.
Zac had left us at the garden’s on our own, which was weird because he never
left us alone anywhere. BUT…he and Abdoul were arranging our caleche
rides. Let me tell you, Abdoul showed up in style! Then we were off
to the Sultan’s Palace. Zac tried to get us a tour guide who knew a lot
about the palace, but when he didn’t show up we told Zac that he would be great
at giving us a tour. We told him to tell us what he knows and make up the
rest – we wouldn’t know the difference. As it turns out, he knew a lot
and we very much enjoyed our tour with Zac. In the midst of our stay in
Marrakech we also visited the markets a few times and shopped… Oh
ya, I almost forgot another wonderful thing that happened because of Zac.
He knew of an Italian restaurant just down the street from our Riad that was
run by an Italian who made his own gelato. (Apparently, Zac loves ice
cream) We of course wanted to go there for lunch. On the way there
we pass a building that had been torn down and another that had the door to the
courtyard open. This courtyard was nothing but concrete and some old doors
in it – this seemed to interest Zac. After lunch we headed out and passed
this courtyard again. Zac asked us to wait and he went in and started
talking to the owner. Then he came back and said there was a family owned
museum underneath this courtyard that wasn’t going to be opened for business
for a year or so. The owner agreed to let us come in and see the most beautiful
treasures including, clothing, weapons, furniture from all over the
world!. This was all privately owned and the owner said she was wanting
to open a gallery and have an area for tea. This was another highlight of our
tour and I bet Zac will be keeping an eye on it to see if it should be
officially added in the future.
Nov. 19: Ouarzazate – On the road again…another great day visiting
the Ait Ben Haddou Kasba. Ouarzazate is an interesting place because of its
great movie history. The fortress we visited was very interesting and our
guide, Muhammed was a character. He is a very proud black man because he
has blue eyes. We did some shopping here too & bought some art from
local artists. After our tour we went to the co-operative where
they do the embroidery and weave some amazing cloths. So we
shopped. This is where I spent the most money on one item - $1200 dirham
for a beautiful material that can either be a bedspread or a table cloth – I
just fell in love with it. Then off to our hotel for some drinks, a meal
and a much needed sleep.
Nov. 20: Zagora – Funny story…our guide from yesterday
called Zac last night and wanted him to tell us how much he enjoyed us on the
tour. Also, he wanted us to know, he is single…J The last leg of our journey and we are all a little
sad that it is coming to an end. Another wonderful hotel. In fact
it was “super”! After another lovely meal at the hotel, our rooms weren’t
quite ready so we went for a walk to a place where they take in the people’s
things they need to sell for needed funds. I guess kind of like a pawn
shop. We had a great little tour and then what did we do? We
shopped… They served us mint tea and started showing us some amazing rugs,
jewelry, furniture – just about anything you could want. Then we walked
back to the hotel and got settled into our rooms. Before supper we
decided we needed to shop for scarves for our trip into the desert the next
day. So Zac and Abdoul took us shopping – bless them. After supper
we gathered in one of our rooms for drinks and said “good bye” to Abdoul.
We were truly sad that he was leaving us. I cannot say enough good things
about him. There were a few tears.
Nov. 21: Sahara Desert – Packed up our rooms and met with
our new drivers. We went to the Library and met with Mohamed (a different
one). He was an educated young man who explained about the school there
and then we got to see the REALLY old books! Then he took us on a walking
tour and honestly we were all very quiet as the poverty here was
palpable. He took us down the “street” he was born on and grew up on –
nothing more than a small dark alley, but he told us some funny stories of his
childhood and you could tell he was very proud. Then we ended up at a
community run pottery place. Again, we were quiet – it was a little
sad. Zac thought something was wrong as he had never seen us so
quiet. Chandra told him that he had 12 mom’s here who are feeling very
sad for the way these children have to live and are grateful for our
children. They took us to their pottery store where we absolutely had to
shop – there was no way we were going to “haggle” with these people. We
paid what they asked. Some of the kids were asking us for money.
Our guide told us not to give them any as they would think it is better this
way and quit school. Zac went and bought them a soccer ball instead and
some of the ladies kicked it around with the kids. We then went to the
hammam for lunch. No swimming, the water was cold. We did sit
outside in the sun. Then off to the
camels! We had fun! The guides were wonderful and our camels were
very well behaved. Our camp was great and we were very happy to have
modern bathrooms there. We climbed the highest dune to see the sun set –
but nothing can rival the sun sets we have in Saskatchewan. Back down to
camp where we relaxed and had some mint tea and of course, we brought drinks
too. After a great supper, we all sat around the camp fire and enjoyed
the entertainment. But then they wanted us to sing. We said we
didn’t know any songs and one of them said, “What about Hotel
California?” That is my very favourite song so Shannon and I sang a
couple of courses of that. And then all us women sang “Koombya”. It
was fun.
Nov. 22: Zagora – Back to Zagora today for our last full day
in Morocco. We did nothing all day – it was super. A few of us sat
around the pool and our waiter just kept bringing us beer. Then Zac had
them make fries for us and they even found some ketchup! Court &
Chandra took a very quick dip in the pool before supper. Another super
supper and a few drinks and then off to bed.
Nov. 23: Leaving Morocco – sad, sad, sad. The airport in
Zagora was kind of funny because the scanner that we walk through wasn’t
working right, so the security people were shaking it and kids were running in
& out and around it. Zac made sure we made it through to the correct
places at the airport in Casablanca – we had to do a couple of little different
things there, so we were once again glad we had “Super” Zac.
CANADA! The rest of our trip went well and no matter
how sad we were to leave Morocco, we certainly realize how lucky we are to live
in Canada.
The enjoyment of this tour definitely had a lot to do with the people of
Morocco. Anita, who has traveled all over the world said she has never
met such kind and helpful people. These people have so little but they
are happy and there wasn’t one tour we went on where our guide or some other
Moroccan didn’t make a joke. Also, Zac and Abdoul were so wonderful!
ABDOUL: What a kind, caring man he is. His knowledge
of Morocco enabled us to have some experiences we wouldn’t have had without
him. He came shopping with us in the markets and wouldn’t let any of us
out of his sight. He would also try to help us bargain with the shops and you could tell sometimes he wasn’t happy
with what I paid for something – but he wouldn’t tell me that! He came on
the mountain climb with us and took a video of our experience climbing which is
great so we can show people. I didn’t know him long, but I consider him a
friend.
ZAC: What can I say about Zac? That man put up with 14
women for almost 14 days! He was so tired of shopping by the end of the
trip. Both Zac and Abdoul are very proud of this country and they really
wanted us to experience the “real” Morocco. Zac has a great sense of
humour and can give as well as he takes. He was willing to answer ANY
questions we had, and if he didn’t know the answer, he would get it for
us. When he showed us a picture of his wife and kids and told us her
name, for some reason we couldn’t get it and just called her “Aphrodite”
because she is beautiful. Although, I was sad to part from Zac, I
don’t think it’s the last time we will be seeing him.
Morocco is such a stunning, country. I encourage
anyone who is interested in visiting a beautiful country, different culture,
and some of the most amazing people in the world to not hesitate to visit
Morocco.f
Sincerely, Michelle
