 |
| Mountains of Olives |
|
|
Ten Days in Morocco! I know, we have neglected to tell you about our past month and a half in Cameroon, sorry. Cameroon is the best, but the reality is that the internet connections are way better here, making blog entry much more possible. Here's the brief tour of our last 9 days in Morocco. We head home tomorrow, get excited!
We made it to Casablanca, albeit one bag lighter and a few days of sleep lost, and hightailed it by train to Marrakech. The contrast from Cameroon to Morocco could not have been greater - we switched from African chaos to Muslim order. We slowly let the fight to survive seep out of us and embraced our new ease of travel.
 |
| Spices |
Marrakech is one of those amazing cities that absorbs tons of tourists but still retains its authenticity. The people are friendly, the food is great, and the Moroccan influence surrounds you in every tiled wall and pottery filled stall. We had a great time wandering the souks (stalls) filled with every spice, metal-work, pottery, and scarf you have ever wanted. We also hit up a traditional Hammam and got washed and massaged by a naked and slightly cross-eyed older Muslim woman.
 |
| Mint Tea and Milk Coffee |
The variety of food was a welcome change. We've feasted on crepes, pizza, tajines, couscous, and washed it down with gallons of mint tea. We arrived in Morocco at the very start of Ramadan, so every day we feel just a little bit gluttonous as we gorge ourselves in front of very hungry Moroccans. It doesn't seem to bother anyone though, and they remain smiling and friendly even in the evening hours before their break fast of bread and cheese, soup, figs, and mint tea.
 |
| Rug Shopping |
 |
| Rock the Kasbah |
We took a three day excursion to the desert to go see the Sahara. As cheesy as those group tours can be, it was totally worth it to see those sand dunes, straight out of National Geographic. No, our little iPod camera probably doesn't do it justice.
 |
| Small Donkey, Big Load |
The first day we drove through the Atlas Mountains, stopped at various sites, and saw forts and old cities. We got to know our motley tour group and held our own as the token Americans.
 |
| Twins! |
We arrived in a small desert town the second day, and from there took camels to the desert camp. Camels were fun for the first five minutes and painful for the next hour and twenty five. But the ride was beautiful and we watched the sand turn red with the setting sun. We were in the last caravan of camels and took a break at 7:30PM for our guides to break fast, so we finished the ride in the last minutes of dusk and arrived at camp in the dark.
 |
| Smiling Camel |
The night in our desert camp was no luxury hotel, but it was... an experience. Dinner was delicious even if we couldn't really see it. The guides jammed on their drums and wailed some songs for a bit. Then they passed out a few ripped mats and left us to pick our spots in the sand. Sarah and I scoped out a nice sand dune outside of the camp ring, but after two scorpion sightings we scurried back to the circle. The guides made fun of us. We lay on our pads and wrapped our heads in our scarves to keep the blowing sand out of our ears.
 |
| Camel Trek |
 |
| Sahara Sand Dunes |
Wake-up call was at 4AM for a breakfast of bread and tea before hopping (a bit sorely) back on the camels for a sunrise return. It was sad to leave the desert but great to have a sink to wash the sand layer off our skin.
 |
| Wow |
We spent another great day in Marrakech when we got back from the desert, and then headed to the beach for our last few days. We may or may not have had a weak moment at McDonald's when we returned from the desert. Sarah may or may not have been this excited to see a hamburger.
 |
| Sunset |
Essouira is a beautiful seaside town. Again it manages to see millions of tourists without feeling like a Disney attraction. The streets are small and cute and filled with amazing things to buy. Morocco has not been as nice on our pocketbooks as Cameroon.
 |
| Biking in Essouira |
 |
| Sarah's New Best Friend |
We spent a great day yesterday biking around the area on some rickety old mountain bikes. We were treated to dinner at an overly friendly shop-keeper's house last night. In fact, it is a good thing we are leaving tomorrow or we might not survive with the number of friends we've made :).
We love Morocco, but are super excited to return home. Can't wait to see you all!
