[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s Active World Journeys’ travel blog: “Morocco – Maze of Landscapes, Architecture, Tiles and Mosaics.”
Technically it’s in Africa, but it’s not the classic Africa most people associate with. The people speak Arabic, but it’s not the Middle East. French is even spoken here, adding to the intrigue of it all. It’s a place where the largest arid desert in the world starts, where picturesque snowy mountain peaks rival some of the world’s most scenic, and a place where tiles and mosaics of former palaces, kasbahs, and universities are awash with beautiful and intricate designs.
It’s Morocco, and it’s an entrancing maze of landscapes, architecture, tiles and mosaics.
Our tour of Morocco was 11 days and we started in the legendary port city of Casablanca. Still famous for the 1942 classic film by the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The city even features a restaurant/bar named “Rick’s Cafe” which is modeled after the “Rick’s American Cafe” in the movie, paying homage with posters and memorabilia, and they show the movie on a continuous loop during opening hours on their big screen TV.
But meanwhile, back in reality, Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city and one of the main sightseeing attractions there is Hassan II Mosque, the world’s third largest. It can accommodate 25,000 worshippers inside and 80,000 in its outdoor grand courtyard. Its minaret is the world’s tallest at 689 feet. The marvel mosque even has a state-of-the-art retractable roof. Sitting right on the Atlantic Ocean, it is delightful to stroll around on a visit.
After a couple of days in Casablanca, our tour group realized we were forming the beginnings of beautiful friendships as we took the road to Rabat, the modern-day capital of Morocco. Rabat is a very clean and well-manicured city with some 12th- and 13th-century sites to see as well as the King’s Palace, the primary and official residence of the current King of Morocco – Mohammed VI. Afterward, it was on to Meknes, a former imperial city that has an impressive huge gate with arches and mosaic tiling. We could really start to see that unique classic Moroccan style architecture here that would be so evident in most of the former imperial cities that we’d visit.
Did you know ancient Rome’s furthest western outpost is in modern-day Morocco? Yeah, well neither did we! Volubilis is an enticing open-air museum to visit, and it is the largest archeological site in Morocco. While we had a private Moroccan tour guide with us for our entire trip, Morocco has a policy where all the important and UNESCO World Heritage sites that tour groups stop at must be accompanied by a local licensed guide specific to that site that works in tandem with a tour group’s main guide. Our local guide in Volubilis really brought to life what daily living was like in this Roman city. One thing that stood out for me were the beautiful mosaic floors of some of the former houses (of the ancient elite) that were still intact. Some still had faint speckles of color left and they all had interesting stories and symbolism in their figures and icons.
Next up was an exciting day weaving our way through the maze-like medina (old town) in Fes (sometimes referred to as Fez), the oldest of Morocco’s four imperial cities (which are Fes, Rabat, Menkes, and Marrakech) with the oldest university in the world – Al Qarawiynn! The city’s marketplace dazzles with brass and leather goods, lush carpets, and hand-made slippers. Commerce hasn’t seemed to slow down at all here through the centuries.
One of the top-ten bucket list items for many world travelers is riding a camel in the Sahara Desert, so we made our way to Merzouga – the gateway to Erg Chebbi, a huge expanse of sand dunes on the edge of the starkly beautiful Sahara. From here we set out on a one-hour sunset Camel ride to our desert camp for our overnight stay, stopping along the way to do some sand-dune sled riding.
Riding camels in the Moroccan desert was indeed a truly amazing experience. It seemed very surreal. I felt almost ethereal, yet also as if I were also just a tiny grain of sand in time in this iconic desert expanse. The camel / desert camp crew were very fun and hospitable, and they danced and sang for us that evening under a million twinkling stars. I felt like some sort of character in an “Arabian Nights” tale. I asked Unstoppable Stacey, who was on the tour, to pinch me to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
The grand finale of our Morocco tour was the exciting, festive, colorful, and exotic city of Marrakech. It’s quintessential Morocco. In fact, many countries in Asia still call Morocco “Marrakech”. It’s a city with an intoxicating blend of snake charmers, fire eaters, kebab stalls, and merchants. Marrakech has a 24-7 funfair feel about it, and your senses will surely be activated here as you walk around and experience the vibe of this “Arab West” city.
All throughout our 11-Day Classic Morocco tour, we would stop along the way on our overland journey to do some wonderful nature walks and hikes. We did one in a very lush palm grove valley with scenic perched villages and one in a valley of roses that sits near the edge of the majestic high Atlas Mountains, with thousands of rose bushes that captivated with their beauty and fragrance. To me, this was the final justification to proclaim Morocco a visually stunning country. It’s not just all the Sahara Desert and a few exotic cities. And, it’s why countless Hollywood big-budget movies have been shot on location in Morocco since the beginning of the film industry, such as “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Man who Would be King,” “Gladiator” and many more. In particular, one of the stops on the tour was the Ksar of Aitbenhaddou, a historic earthen clay city built along the ancient caravan route, which has become a famous backdrop for many notable Hollywood productions. On the very day we were visiting there, the cast and crew of “Gladiator 2” were getting ready to film. Later that evening, we would be turned away from our booked accommodations in the area because the “Gladiator 2” cast and crew took our rooms. The stage was set and an epic battle was now imminent to get our rooms back, but they offered us free wine all night and another accommodation in town, so we exchanged our gladiuses for wine glasses. (They may have been tipped off about our preference by our tour guide who had by that point probably realized what lushes we were for our daily wine!)
After a visit to Morocco, you might feel like it was all a dream where time mysteriously slows down for you to experience everything that it throws your way. It’s an authentic destination that doesn’t try to pretend it’s something it’s not. Morocco’s exotic beauty is ubiquitous but reveals itself in an almost timed-released fashion as you tour around. And there still seem to be secrets to uncover there and roads to follow that will intrigue even the most discerning of travelers.
Cheers,
Jack Witt, MS, CPT
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