Oh Morocco… the last port!
In that final week between Ghana and Morocco, when most people were furiously studying and worrying about finals, I was buried in thought.
No surprises there, right?
But seriously, I just couldn’t fathom that this trip was coming to a close.
So, because Morocco was so long ago (nearly one month,) and because I refused to accept that my trip was in fact ending, I present to you, Morocco… in a nutshell. No tears here.
Hahaha… kidding! There’s WAY more to Morocco than the desert!
On the first day, I had a Semester at Sea trip, which I had zero desire to attend now that I had made friends and wanted to travel with them. But, seeing as how I had already paid for it, I went.
Our trip started out with a lengthy drive to Marrakech, during which I took the picture above. For the first few hours, Morocco looked a hell of a lot like rural Texas—flat and brown.
Then, miraculously, as if out of nowhere, Marrakech began to appear.
It was incredible to see these beautiful pinkish-brown city walls spring up on the horizon as a literal oasis in the sea of desert. In a matter of moments, we went from desolation to metropolis. It was one of the few times in my life where I actually almost didn’t believe my eyes.
Our first stop in town was lunch, which was long overdue after our drive.
Thankfully, Moroccan food wasn’t lacking in awesomeness… or quantity.
We FEASTED!
And those were just the appetizers.
We ate chicken tagine which was probably my personal favorite.
And vegetable couscous which was a close 2nd.
But what really took the cake… was the Moroccan tea!
Coincidentally, it also came with cake.
Apparently the long-pour is all part of the magic. Regardless, the tea was AMAZING.
From there, we hit a couple major tourist spots in town.
We saw the Bahia Palace, which had some impressive architecture and even more impressive art and decor.
We also toured the Majorelle Gardens, home of the monument to Yves San Laurent.
The gardens were stunning although there was a lot more cacti then I expected… Guess I forgot I was in the desert there for a minute.
From there, our tour decided to brave one of Morocco’s greatest traditions—the souks.
These puppies put any market or mall you’ve ever seen to shame.
You can buy LITERALLY anything you could ever want and more. Well, you can try anyway. Whether or not you’re successful at bargaining is up to you.
My personal favorites were the fruit and nut vendors.
Once we finally wound our way through the maze of the souks, we were rewarded with our first glimpse of the square—Djeema el Fna.
Place was PACKED!
Apparently, 6pm is the sweet spot for visiting the square. Talk about rowdy.
After a couple pictures with the local mosque, we headed back to the hotel for the night to regroup for another expedition the following day.
The next morning, our group took a tour out into the nearby Atlas Mountains. Once again, I was amazed by the terrain which flowed seamlessly from desert, to city, to rolling mountain ranges in just a few miles.
So much green!
We stopped at the base of one of the mountains to stick our feet in the water and take some pictures of the scenery.
Gorgeousness… really.
Great stuff.
From there, it was time for lunch, but not before a brief stop to disobey my mother.
Bahahaha!
Sorry, Mom!
I promise I went right up and right back down again. Literally 2 minutes of my life, but it was worth the pictures. Hope you don’t kill me when I get home…
Once we finished our photo-op, we continued on to lunch at a local Berber family home. It was a pretty special experience to be served local food by women whose families had lived on that land for generations, cooking the same food, passing down traditions over the years.
Plus the view definitely didn’t suck.
After lunch, the SAS trip was over, so my friend Jennifer and I decided to check out and find our friends in Marrakech. That proved to be slightly more difficult than we had imagined. Two hours later, after 5 taxis, countless Moroccan conversations, and one near-meltdown, we rewarded ourselves with beers and one of the greatest views I’ve ever seen.
Djeema el Fna at sunset… can’t beat it!
That night, I finally got to meet up with my friends from the ship, most of whom were staying at the same hostel in Marrakech. This was my first hostel experience, so I had no idea what to expect. I was floored when I opened the door (which was in a sketchy alleyway, mind you) and saw this:
SO CUTE!
That night, we celebrated finding each other and enjoying our last port. We went to several different clubs, including one connected to a casino that was pretty ridiculous. The craziest part for me personally was biting the bullet and trying hookah for the first time. When in Morocco…
The next day, our group of 20 split up into several factions to explore the city. About 9 or 10 of us decided to walk around to find some food. We ended up at this amazing wine bar where we relaxed and reminisced about the trip… there was lots of reminiscing from here on out, just fyi.
After lunch, it was souvenir and gift-buying time. But not before one more big group taxi ride!
Always a fan favorite.
The souks were great. We bought scares and leather goods and other randomness. But the best part of the afternoon was our interaction with a man who sold local soaps and oils. He was the sweetest person we had met thus far. He gave us countless samples and taught us all about life in Marrakech. It was a pretty special experience in what had largely been a very overwhelming city.
That night was our last night in port on Semester at Sea, so after a touching speech by one of the boys (I’m still tearing up, Kyle), we decided to have a few drinks and head to one of Marrakech’s most famous clubs to dance the night away.
Literally.
That night, I only left the dance floor one time while we were at the club, and that was to sprint to the bathroom and back so I didn’t miss too much of the action. When I finally looked down at my watch and saw that it was 4:30am, I honestly couldn’t believe it. We danced for no less than 4 hours straight, without taking a break. It was amazing.
Great night with great friends.
The next morning was slow going, as you can imagine. But it was our last day in port, so we got up, had lunch and saw a little bit more of the city before heading back to the ship. It was this finally train ride back that made me realize how thankful I should have been for the bus ride on the first day.
We had waited too long to book 1st class tickets, so we were in 2nd class without reservations. On top of that, we arrived at the train only 15 minutes before departure, so we were not only without reservations, but we were without physical seats. That left the 5 of us squeezed into the doorway of the train.
When I say doorway, I mean doorway.
Like hanging out of the open door of a moving train.
This was our view for 3 hours:
Sorry, Mom. But there was nowhere else to go!
After 3 hours of standing and shoving and sweating, we finally made it back to Casablanca to board the ship for the very last time.
Tear!
Morocco was a really special port for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because almost all of our friends were able to meet up in Marrakech to celebrate our voyage together. I’m so thankful to have met such amazing people on this journey.
I had expected these places to change me… but I never expected these people to affect me so deeply.
But before I get all emotional, I’ll just stop and save the sappiness for the next post on the end of the journey.
Three more days to Spain!
Question of the Day: What’s your favorite trip to reminisce about?
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