return to Index

Drove from Casablanca to Rabat, along the coast. Picked up our guide (each city has official guide - it is compulsory to have one) near the King's Palace. Saw the outside of the King's Palace and the mosque where the King goes on Fridays. He travels to the mosque in a coach, goes back to the Palace on a white horse. Then we went to the Tower of Hassan, saw the memorial and mausoleum of Mohammed V, who died in 1961 and was the father of the present King Hassan II. Saw Chellah (old Roman town), dancers outside, water sellers inside. Gardens inside walls. At Mohammed V's mausoleum, someone was constantly reading from the Koran. Then to the Quadias Casbah, where we saw a courtyard, place for the 4 wives and some antique carpets. Then through the grounds to the Moorish Cafe for mint tea and a pastry. Kids playing in the gardens. Then through the Medina (old town) back to the bus. Lunch (lemon chicken, a local delicacy and one of the better local dishes. We were not too keen on the semolina base of couscous, but some of the stew-type meals were excellant, spicy and very tasty), a walk around the town (large flower market). Saw Museum of Antiquities (not very exciting - guides tried to show us around but fortunately they didn't speak English). Saw a man with flowers on the front and back of his bicycle.

City tour of Meknes - lots of walls around the old city. Saw some Arabian and Berber horses at a stable. (Army stud farm). Then saw the old stables (for the 12,000 horses that Moulay Ismail owned), granary, artificial lake. Moulay Ismail built the palace and surroundings so that he would be self-sufficient in case he was attacked by the Berber tribes. Then went to the main gate (Bab El Mansour), walked through a wool market, took a picture of a water seller. He wanted more than the 1 dirham that Tony gave him but when I took his picture with my Polaroid Camera as he and Tony argued literally nose to nose and he had grabbed the picture, he told Tony to take another picture of him with me. Then I had to take another photo of a couple of other fellows (plus a little kid that got in the picture at the last moment) - this photo was traded for 2 post cards. Then saw the palace where Moulay Ismail used to receive foreign ambassadors, also saw the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail - red carpet on the floor here. This is the only mosque in Morocco that non-muslims may enter, but not into the room that contains Moulay Ismail's tomb. Then walked around the old gardens of the palace; the gardens have now been converted into a golf course. Then into the old Christian prison, 4 square kilometers underground. Then a walk through the local food market - vegetables, fruit, live chickens, pigs feet, goat's heads etc. Saw a man on a donkey bargain for an urn. Then back to the Hotel Transatlantique for lunch. Windy and cold, we are hoping for warmer weather in Agadir.

After lunch we went past Moulay Idriss, the holy city where the founder of Islam in Morocco is buried, to Volubilis, Roman ruins, abandoned in 285. Then on to Fez in the rain, staying at the Hotel de Fes. Jackets to-night for dinner, not essential but a good idea. Before supper, we met a fellow from England (Essex), Ken who was glad to talk to some English-speaking people. He was supposed to have met an American girl here, but she had not shown up! He bought us beer and coke, we talked to him for approx. an hour - he had come to Morocco by bus and has travelled around a fair amount - lived in New Zealand for a while, travelled around Canada, U.S., Australia, Himalayas (hiking for a week - met Edmund Hilary there at one point). Many more people at this hotel, at least 2 other bus-loads. The other hotels that we have been staying at have been nearly empty. Tourist season doesn't pick up again until February.

All day tour of Fez. In the morning we picked up our guide and a young boy (we needed both to make sure that we would not get lost in the Medina!) and spent the morning walking around the Medina. Very narrow streets, alleyways, some quite dark. Donkeys but no cars. Wool section where they die wool, tannery which is supposed to have a bad smell so we were given mint leaves to sniff at, but the smell was not too bad. It is probably a lot worse in the hot weather. Drizzling off and on all morning, cool, so the streets were muddy and slippery. Saw the woodworking section, a couple of old universities which are not used any more. Old fountain. Then a carpet store where we were given mint tea. A good thing that we had a guide - it would be very easy to get lost in the Medina. There is a hotel at the entrance to the Medina, very expensive. Then we went to the Dar Tarjine restaurant, which is in an old palace, for a typical Moroccan meal.

Up early - 6:30 A.M. breakfast, 7 A.M. start for the nearly 500 kms. to Marrakesh. Crossed the Middle Atlas Mountains. Snow on the ground, quite foggy for a while. Passed some Berber people with their tents beside the road. Coffee break at one of the Berber villages. Lunch at Chems Hotel in Beni-Mellal. Tea stop at another village. Saw some camels beside the road at one point. Still cold but not raining anymore. Was glad to have my camel blanket on the bus today. Tony had an upset stomach all night!

Bus to market, walked around markets all morning, stopping for tea, coke, etc. at a cafe on top of the buildings overlooking Djemaa Fnaa Square - story-tellers, fortune tellers, snake charmers, acrobatics, dancers, boxing, monkeys, etc. Stopped at the leather goods shop. Back to the hotel for a Moroccan lunch.

We were given our presents after breakfast. An orange necklace for me, a small water-carrier doll for Tony. The others had opened up their presents the night before. Left Marrakesh at 9 A.M., drove to Agadir, stopping at Imi n' Tanout for coffee etc. Checked into our hotel - the Sahara, 3 of us staying here, the rest at a variety of other hotels. Had lunch at a nearby hotel, then I had a snooze, Tony went into town for coke, beer and oranges to bring back to the room. We then went for a walk on the beach and had tea/beer at an outside cafe. Supper in the hotel. The route from Marrakesh to Agadir was desert-like in places, flat for a while, then hilly through the mountainous part before the plain of sous - red and yellow coloured hills.

The car arrived soon after 9am. We paid the money (1000DH or $200Can. for 3 days, unlimited mileage). We dropped the car rental agent off at his office, then drove to Inezgane - saw the market, then saw the Fantasia - Berbers on horses charging the tent that we were in; they charged quite a few times so we had plenty of chances to get photos. Also saw some dancers. Then lunch in the tent - leg of lamb (That means a whole leg of lamb that we all tore at with our hands), then couscous - vegetables and meat in the middle, semolina on the outside. Then drove on to Taroudant, which was the former Berber capital and over 1000 years old. It is surrounded by high walls. Drove throught the town, then just outside the town had tea at LaGiselle d'Or, an exclusive hotel set in gardens. Drove back to Agidir, up to the fortress above the city where Tony was going to take a picture of Agadir with camels in the foreground. It was suggested that I sit on a camel, for a photograph I thought. As soon as I was seated in the saddle, the camel got up and I went for a ride. It was a good thing that I wanted to go for a camel ride sometime, anyway! When we got back to the hotel, we picked up the 2 films that we had left for development on Sunday. Today is Mohammed's birthday, so the banks were closed.

Long day - breakfast in the room at 7am - still dark outside! Drove to Tafraout, stopping for some photos of villages on hills. Also stopped at an olive oil press - a man and a donkey walking around in a circle turning the grinding stone. I took a photo which I gave to a friend of this man, he then invited us into the hut where the olive oil goes, also offered us a drink of olive oil which we refused. Hard work! Had coffee and coke at the Hotel des Amandiers in Tafraout - a good hotel on a hill above the town. Walked through the market, then left just as the tour buses were rolling in - we had seen a number of buses lined up outside our hotel when we left in the morning. Then drove to Tiznit. Stopped at a well where a number of girls and women were getting water. After I took the first Poloroid photo, they started to uncover their faces, then they each wanted a photo. (6 photos were taken here). Tony got a lot of photos too when they were giggling over the Poloroid photos being developed. Took 2 more photos later on of a couple of young boys - we had stopped to take a picture of goats all over a tree, eating it. Stopped for a short while in Tiznit, not much of a town, the silver shops were closed - the tour buses were not due to arrive for a few hours and it was siesta time. Stoped for a coke at a restaurant (that had no food!) between Tafraout and Tiznit. A large building on top of a rock with nothing around - I think that they were still building the restaurant. We then decided to do the Sidi-Ifni-Guelmime route today rather than coming this way again tomorrow. Saw a double decker bus and some motor homes (small) on the road to Sidi-Ifni. Got lost in Sidi-Ifni but the army told us which way to go. Large army barracks here. Narrow road from Tiznit to Guelmime via Sidi-Ifni. Drove around Guelmime, not much here as expected since the camel market is on Saturday. Someone in the square told us that there was a caravan 5kms. south but we were stopped by the army and couldn't go any further. Bandits were the explanation, we think. Perhaps guerillas since there was a large army garrison at Guelmime and also the army was guarding the transformer station just north of the town. Desert on the way back to Tiznit. Dark by the time we got to Tiznit but the road was wider and much better than on the outward trip. Tiznit to Agadir in the dark, arriving back at 7:30pm - a 12 hour day! A number of people hitch-hiking today. Apparently that is quite common in this country. Went to the French restaurant in our hotel for supper and then to bed.

Breakfast in the room at 8am. Drove to Imouzzer - through high mountains, palm groves, greem valleys and narrow gorges. Coffee at a hotel in Imouzzer, then drove on to the waterfalls, which were not very impressive but the scenery getting there was interesting. Back to Agadir, late lunch at a cafe at the main square, then back to the hotel to read and laze around. In the morning we had traded our books in to the Horizon Tour Company's library, so we have plenty of books for tomorrow.

In summary, Morrocco is a third world country with good plumbing - with all the delights of travelling in the third world. Very scenic, good local food, some quite spicy to Tony's delight. (But don't count on getting acceptable American food), and a fascinating collection of local people. Too cold for comfort when we were there, but probably idyllic in March/April. An excellant country to drive aroud at ones own pace, little traffic and very courteous. It struck us as more Asian than African in feeling and appearance. The long, boring flights to get there and back were very wearing, I would suggest travelling via London or Paris with a stopover would be more enjoyable.

return to Index