So let me begin by letting you know that it will be extremely difficult for me to articulate exactly what this trip entailed. It truly was a once in a life time experience. On that note... This was our Winter Break so we had a 5 day weekend (I chose to not attend class on Friday). A bunch of our friends who studied here last year went on a Moroccan desert tour and said it was great so we tried it out. We left Friday afternoon for Marrakech, but we were immediately confronted with a problem. My friend/roommate Joe accidentally printed off the wrong boarding pass and was unable to make the flight. This was really disappointing, but we tried to look on the bright side and hoped he would make another trip somewhere else for the long weekend. Once we got to the city and to the main square we were immediately bombarded by all kinds of people and an atmosphere unlike anything any of us have experienced. There were constantly people trying to tell how to get somewhere, trying to sell us things, or just asking for a little something from our pockets. We even had to be careful taking pictures because a lot of times people who just happened to be in the picture would come up to us and try to charge us for taking the picture. After we found the hostel and got situated there, we went out to explore. Let me tell you, Marrakech at night is a sight to behold. There were monkeys jumping on people, everyone trying to get you to come to their stand to buy something, little kids even selling knick-knacks. That night we had dinner in one of the tents and tried a bunch of different kinds of food. We weren't sure what a lot of it was but I do remember the couscous and chicken, along with a lot of bread (this would be a recurring meal throughout the trip). While walking around I bought a hat that looks like it could have belonged to Indiana Jones and some cheap sun glasses so I would be ready for the desert in a couple days. We tried to go to bed early though so we would be well rested when we woke up at 6:30 AM to start the adventures.
The first day of the actual tour got off to a rough start. We were told that the driver would pick us up at the hostel, but he never showed up so we were left waiting at the hostel for 2 hours. We tried calling them, but didn't get a hold of them until the second call. We finally found out that they were waiting for us at the main square since the streets were too small for the van to fit through. Of course we tried to make the most of the situation, but I won't lie by saying we weren't a little worried we were getting ripped off. The tour guides actually went as far as calling one of my friends parents, which probably didn't make them feel too good. But in the end it all worked out and we were on our way to the desert. Overall, there was a lot more driving on the tour than we expected, but a lot of times this was good because it gave us a chance to nap or play those fun car games we all have come to know and love. Our drive began with going through the Atlas Mountains which was really cool and a little scary at times. The driver was a pro at going through them so he cut the turns a little too sharply for some of my friends. The first stop took us to Ouarzazate, which was very surprising. It turns out that the town has been used as a site for movies like Gladiator, Prince of Persia, Kingdom of Heaven and more. We were not expecting this at all and it was cool to get the tour of the town with a little cinematography lesson too. After this trip, we went on our way to another town where we got a tour of some of the families' fields, then went to an exhibition of the Berber rugs that the native Moroccan people make. At the end we all caved and got at least one. My roommates and I for next year split it and got a really cool orange one to hang up in our apartment. Another car ride took us to an old "well field." This is the best term I can come up for it. It consisted of hundreds of wells all interconnected underground. I asked to climb down it and to my surprise they let me. I climbed down all 40 metres with out a rope or ladder. In the bottom of the well, it was dark and I kept imagining a snake would attack me. We enjoyed a quick drum session and were on our way again. We finally made it to our hostel for the night around 7 at night. It was in a valley with a terrace and a great view. We had a dinner of chicken and couscous again and then hung out underneath the stars. Day 2 ended with exhaustion and a great deal of anticipation for what will come next.
These days were pretty similar with a lot of driving, stopping to see some sights, and lots of camel riding. Day three finally led to us riding the camels! This was the most anticipated part of the trip and none of us were really ready for what we were getting into. We met at a small town and had some more green tea. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but the green tea we had was soooo good. It was sweet and we would have it almost anytime we got to a town or camp. The Berber people called it their "Berber Whiskey." So the camel ride was really cool, a lot better than walking, but very uncomfortable after awhile. We rode them for about an hour and a half. I named mine Jorf, because Joe was the only one not with us on this trip. Once we got to the dune by our camp where we would stay the night, we decided to get off so we could climb it to see the sunset. Unfortunately we decided to take the longest, steepest way up the 400 foot dune and got the most intense work out most of us have had since we got here. But it all paid off when we made it to the top finally and were able to see the sunset. We took a moment to take it all in and for the first time in our lives we experienced truly deafening silence. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Running down the hill after the sun was a type of enjoyment I haven’t felt since I was a child. We all looked like little kids giggling down the sand dune, falling periodically, and then continuing on. The night's activities included dinner of couscous, chicken, and steamed veggies again followed by a drum session by the fire. We all tried the drums and found out most of us don't have much rhythm. (but I did finally get the right beat at the end of the night) We hit the hay pretty early since we would be getting up at 5:30 to see the sunrise, and my friend Matt and I slept under the stars while the others slept in the tent. Let me tell you, it can get pretty darn cold in the desert at night especially when the wind starts blowing. But we made it through the night, and mounted our camels at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise which was another sight to see. The next day brought another car ride to the city of Zagora which was a really nice city and a big difference from some of the small ghost towns we seemed to constantly driving through. We were brought to more camels after this, and I picked a winner this time. Drooling and taking care of his business everywhere we went, Hans did the job and even trotted every now and then. That night was really entertaining because we stayed at a camp with people from all over. We met people from France, Sweden, Australia, and more. We were also in for quite the surprise… So do you remember how my friend Joe missed the flight? Well everyone was in the big tent waiting for dinner when Joe came strolling in! We were dumbfounded and immediately began asking questions. He explained his ordeal and even mentioned that he was in Marrakech during some riots. This made us even happier that we were in the middle of a desert. Dinner was followed by more drum playing and dancing by everyone. Unfortunately we had to call it a night early again because we had to be the first group out of camp in the morning. We had a seven hour car ride ahead of us to catch our flight back to Madrid. We made it with time and all of were looking forward to getting back. (Some of us decided it was a good idea to not shower so we kinda smelled) Overall, Morocco was quite the experience. I tried my best to articulate this experience as best I could. I loved my time in Morocco and it was eye opening in a number of ways. This is something I will never forget (along with all of my experiences here) and especially because I have no idea when I'll be able to do something like this again. This weekend is Cadiz for Carnival which is going to be insane. I have my costume picked out and I'm looking forward to seeing the Spanish version of Mardi Gras firsthand! Good night and good luck...
Main Square in Marrakech. Monkeys, hats, and riots!
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