MOROCCO

Tuesday, May 5th 2015

After a two hour flight, we arrived at one of my favorite cities in the world: Marrakech. I had never been there, but this city was on my bucket list for many years.

Luckily we arrived at six o'clock in the morning so we could already spend the whole day visiting the "red city".

After taking a quick shower at the hotel, we took a taxi to 'Jamaa el Fna'.

It is a well-known main square at the heart of the Medina. First we soaked up the atmosphere by walking through the market to taste all of the various foods and fare. Afterwards, we went lunching on a rooftop restaurant which gave us a beautiful overview of the city. We also sat down with a cup of tea next to a snake charmer. A really great (but scary) experience!

After lunch, we drove by buss to Agadir to cool down and enjoy the lovely beach. It was a two hour drive, but is was definetly worth the wait. When we finally saw the Atlantic, we jumped out of the buss and ran immediately into the sea.

Later on, we noticed we were actually the only women in bikinis. All the other women wore their headscarves and their long robes while they were swimming!
We felt a bit ashamed and agreed to wear next time bathing suits instead of our tiny bikinis. After all, we enter their culture so we have to respect their rules.

After a few hours enjoying Morocco's natural beauty, we drove back to the hotel, drank some Moroccan tea and went to bed.

Good night and see you tomorrow!

Xxx Céline V.d.S.

Wednesday, May 6th 2015

7 o'clock and the alarm goes off! We got quick out of bed because an hour later, we were leaving for a day (and night) trip to the Sahara Desert. It was only a short car ride. When we got out of the car, the view was just breathtaking. We had our breakfast in the desert - How cool is that?! - and took off by camel. The dunes of 'Erg Chebbi' came to life in vivid shades of peach, orange and gold.

By midday we arrived at a small village in the middle of nowhere. That's where we would spend our night.

While we were playing with the kids, the women prepared our meals. Everybody was just so kind and hospitable! We ate some delicious briouettes, couscous and tangine.

After our meal, we sat around the bonfire. The women told us how difficult it was to be a woman in Morocco. It used to be quite peaceful. Until the extremists started to dominate the country.

They said that the Moroccan people got afraid living in their own country. Because if somebody doesn't live by the rules of the extremists, they could get punished or even killed.

Around 9.30 pm the sun set and what followed literally took our breaths away. We were stargazing out on Erg Chebbi. Millions of stars appeared. Because we were very tired, we got in our berber tents and fell asleep.

- Céline V.d.S.

Thursday, May 7th 2015

After breakfast, we took a taxi to visit the 'Grottoes of Hercules', also known as the Caves of Hercules.

They are situated 14 km west of the city Tangier. This cave is a significant tourist attraction. Something which often has a lot to do with its association with Greek mythology. Unfortunately there were already a lot of tourists, so there was a two-hour waiting line!
Luckily there were people selling drinks and snacks to kill time.

But once we entered the caves, it was really magical!

Hercules is believed to have slept in these grottoes before attempting one of twelve labours. These twelve labours were given to him by King Eurystheus of Tiryns and took Hercules twelve years to complete. Hercules traveled all over in order to complete these tasks. But what were they?

Kill the Nemean Lion, Kill the Lernean Hydra, capture the Cerynian Hind, Capture the Erymanthian Boar, clean the Augean Stables... Certainly no easy tasks there!

The Grottoes of Hercules are of archeological, historical and mythological significance as well as a great beauty. Clearly, anyone taking a trip to the city of Tangier, should make a point of visiting the Grottoes of Hercules.

By one o'clock in the afternoon, we continued our excursion with a visit to Casablanca. It was quite a long ride, but we had to take our flight there. So we took the opportunity to visit the city as well.
We really wanted to see the 'Hassan II Mosque'. Because the mosque is the second largest one in the world.

A French architect, designed the Hassan Mosque and its accompanying minaret. Pinseau designed the building in such way that it is able to endure earthquakes. At night, the minaret has lasers that shine in the direction of Mecca.
Today, the minaret is considered the tallest in the world, standing at 210 meters. Literally amazing!

Unfortunately, this was where our Moroccan-journey ended.

We had a blast, but we were also very excited about our upcoming adventure: Cuba!

Lots of love and see you soon,

Céline Van den Steen

Source: http://goafrica.about.com/od/moroccotopattractions/tp/best-things-to-do-in-morocco.htm