Excursion to the Sahara

I have been dreaming of riding camels in the desert for a while now. When I saw the opportunity to see more of Morocco while riding camels and camping in the desert, we took it. This is what came of it- a thrilling adventure!

We drove through such diverse terrain. We saw dozens of villages, mountains, valleys, oasis, and desert. The journey to Zagora is 5 1/2 hours without stopping. We stopped many times to do and see different things. 

A hillside village.

This plateau is "free land" so the Berber nomads set up camp here in the summer.

Upon looking at this view I was overcome with awe and reverence for the beauty God has created. This gave me chills.

We saw women coming down the mountain after collecting their wood for the day, yet a lot of the homes in this village had satellites on them. Pretty common. 

We saw how they make their precious Argan oil, which is something as commonly used as olive oil. It comes from an almond-like nut that is ground into a cream or oil. The production of Argan oil is reserved for women to give them something more to contribute in the work place. They went crazy for Colin. He gets us a lot of free stuff because he is so cute. 

Our guide, Idir, let Colin drive the car, which was probably a "life's complete" moment for this toddler.

This gorge was GORGEous!

We found a forest of prehistoric, fossilized tree trunks.

I wanted to get a photo of boys playing football but when I got closer, they saw the camera and stopped playing. They didn't want their picture taken so I played some ball with them.

We got to the camels right at dusk and I finally got some football pictures.

Riding them was really thrilling. It was a "Is this real life?" moment. It was an hour long bumpy ride that ended up giving us sores on our upper butts. The dromedaries (a kind of camel with a different amount of humps) make crazy noises, like something is boiling deep within them. Colin was nervous at first but I showed him the handles and told him to ride it like a motorcycle. He got really into it for about 20 minutes and then I held him or nursed him for the rest of the time. Yes, I somehow nursed a squirmy toddler while riding a bumpy camel. I guess I'll add that to my list of incredible mom feats.

That night we chatted with other campers and after dinner, the Berber men played us traditional music and did some dancing as well. Andrew got to bust out the guitar and play with them. I got to add some rhythm as well with some metal instrument that I forgot the name of. This was probably our favorite part of the camping.

We woke up at dawn, before Colin, so that we could explore and climb. This was part of the camp. It was "glamping" so they had toilets, showers, and private, spacious tents. There were tons of rugs everywhere so you didn't have to always walk on sand. It was really nice.

Hanging out with our buddies. The white camels were my favorite.

On a dune with the camp site in the background.

This was only the beginning of the Sahara so we didn't get far enough in to see the huge dunes and be in the middle of nowhere. With a baby, it would have been hard to drive much further. The last 2 hours of the whole trip were brutal for him so we are glad we chose the distance that we did.

A view of the dune from the mountain we climbed.

The sand was so cold and very fine. I spent a good while just touching it.

The Berbers wrapped the boys in turbans or a "shesh."

We mounted our dromedaries for a short ride back with our guide, Adi. 

We drove through a huge oasis.

Andrew got to climb a date palm and pick some fresh dates which are, by the way, absolutely delicious. Dates are a major export here in Morocco.

Children, like this boy, would stop us by our car and ask for candy or really just anything. They were dazzled by whatever things we could give them. We dug through our bags and ended up giving them a pen and a figurine. 

The walls of the oasis divide the property. The oasis produces lots of other fruits as well as dates.

Ouarzazate is home to some film studios. We got up close and saw this set of Jerusalem for the show "Kingdom of Heaven." We also saw some filming going on.

This sign shows Arabic at the top, French at the bottom, and the Berber language in the middle. I thought it was really cool and surprising how the letters resemble Greek. I'm thinking that maybe the nomadic Berber symbol should be our family symbol.

The old village of Ait Ben Haddou (at the right of this photo) houses some of the oldest "Kasbahs" in Morocco. Kasbahs are the oldest desert palaces that housed the governing rulers of the time. 

The Kasbah, still inhabited by some descendants, is in the foreground. The beautiful creek and new city lay in the background. Some of "Gladiator "was shot here.

We drove through the High Atlas mountains which has the 2nd highest mountain pass in Africa, after Mt. Kilamanjaro.

Since we were so high and the air was cold, we stopped to take pictures of the clouds that we were driving through. It was incredible!

This was an unforgettable experience that opened our eyes to the diverse beauty that Morocco has to offer. We were so humbled by the way people lived. I just wanted to jump right in and join the villagers. I don't think you can venture through rural Africa and come out unchanged. I am so excited to have more experiences like this in the future. 

Welcome to Africa: Marrakech, Morocco

We spent our last Saturday in Amsterdam and said our good-byes as we tried to profit from the the beautiful canals, parks, and architecture before setting off on our adventure.

Our life fits into one big suitcase, a carry on, that white bag and 2 personal bags plus a guitar. Crazy! I still think it's too much.

We arrived in beautiful Marrakech to sunny weather and a world we had never yet encountered. We are in Africa and yes it is not first world, that's for sure. It's dirty, things are always broken, there are stray animals all around and things are done very simply and old fashioned, which I am totally down with. Coming from a highly taxed first-world country like Holland where they tax dog owners 70 euros a year so that the government can clean up after their pets, this place is a bit chaotic but so charming and authentic.

I think the simplicity and poverty hit me one day when I saw an old man trying to clean his incredibly rusty and dilapidated cart (carts are used to carry bags and make deliveries, etc). I'm sure that is the only cart he has and can afford. It is probably his source of livelihood and there is no reason to chuck it if it still works. Who cares what it looks like? I felt so fortunate in that moment. I feel so fortunate in a lot of moments around here.

The hucksters are constantly trying elaborate things to get you to follow them or come into their shop. People will lie and tell you that where you are going is closed so you can instead look at their shop. They follow you for a couple of minutes and tell you you are being rude if you don't want to just have a conversation (that is in preparation for selling you something). They will tell you this is a shortcut to a common tourist attraction and then it goes right through their shop. If you get lost in the labyrinth of the medina, someone will help you find the main road and then ask for money. You have to fight for everything here because prices aren't always fixed and you never know what people are going to expect money for. Unfortunately you start to tune everyone out and you can't even ask for directions because you don't know who to trust. If you engage people they will turn it against you and start selling you stuff. It is exhausting and annoying! It was worth it for a week but we had to move on. Not all cities are like Marrakech though.

When you walk through the maze of the old town (medina), your senses are accosted by everything on the packed, narrow streets with no sidewalks. The shop keepers are constantly trying to get your attention while you are trying to take in every vibrant color of the walls, doors, rugs, and bags. The mosque is saying the call to prayer over the loud speaker while you are trying not to step in donkey poop or dirty puddles. You battle the incoming traffic while a motorcycle nearly runs you over. You laugh at two men carrying a ladder right behind a huge cart of bags of flour being pulled by a donkey. From the shop on your left you hear a live chicken make its last PaSquak before the cleaver hits the table. The beggar on your right asks you for a dirham as a hunched over old lady babbles what you probably think is either nonsense or a curse right before she cackles like a witch. You look over at your travel companion and mouth "This is craziness!"

That all happens in less than 10 seconds. This is Marrakech. It is a very exciting and lively city. The hustle and bustle can be exhausting and this is why you need to escape to a peaceful and calm riad. Riads are old homes that are smaller hotels with an open courtyard and terrace (everything has a terrace here).

On the terrace

Playing some guitar 

In front of our room

Breakfast with the other residents. I made new French friends - they always wore black.

Andrew's work space for a lot of our stay.

There are tons of mosques here. This is the biggest one, Koutoubia Mosque. The call to prayer happens 5 times a day and can be heard over the loud speaker at sunrise, something you get used to waking up to. We thought it would be moving and beautifully melodic but instead it sounds like the sand people in Star Wars or sometimes like a nuclear evacuation drill. The time of the prayer occurs depending on your shadow in the sun. They are never based on the hour. Therefore, the worshipping of Allah can be heard like a wave throughout the world. Really cool! We found there to be some pretty cool similarities between Islam and Mormonism when talking to our tour guide. Unfortunately and understandably, the mosque is only reserved for Muslims so we couldn't go inside.

We visited the Majorelle Gardens where there are exquisitely beautiful, exotic plants and gorgeous, bright blue painted everythings. It was the land and studio of a painter that was then taken over by Yves Saint Laurent after the painter, Majorelle's, death.

Some of YSL's collaged Christmas cards, made by him.

We visited a gorgeous palace called Bahia Palace. It is completely empty and therefore you have the opportunity to admire the beautiful hand-painted and hand-carved wood as well as other majestic craftsmanship.

I like eating. They make delicious lentil soup and they cook meat and vegetables in a tagine. Quite yummy stuff. 

The view of the street from a restaurant terrace.

After doing 2 days of restaurants, we decided that take away is simpler and cheaper with a toddler.

I kept on hearing about Argan oil so I bought some to moisturize and keep my skin healthy. The sick looking black stuff is an olive-based exfoliant cream. The moroccans look young and swear by this stuff. I thought I would support their organic cosmetics since I have been neglecting my skin lately. We saw how women make Argan oil in the next post.

One of our favorite quotes from this kid came when a taxi driver asked us if we wanted a taxi. Before he could even finish the word "taxi," Colin turned around and yelled "NO!" Even the taxi driver laughed at that one.

One of our favorite experiences happened on the first day. Children automatically are drawn to playing with each other. Some children were playing in the rubble of ruins next to a mosque and shared their tambourine with Colin. We made music and laughed. At the end, they gave Colin tons of kisses. He kissed them too. We were a bit surprised the first time a random woman went up to him and kissed his cheeks. It kept happening and then were realized it was a thing. Now Colin is used to people stopping him and kissing him every day. He gives other kids kisses too. I think it is a really sweet thing they do here. Most people think he is a girl so that probably plays into it.

This is the part where the random pictures go. Enjoy!

 I thought there were a ton of vespas and motorcycles in Holland and then I came here. The amount of motorcycles that Colin sits on in a day is at least 10. On a good day, they turn it on for him.

Andrew wanted a picture with the monkey in the huge square that is trained to hug you. There were also snake charmers and the music sounded a bit goose-like.

Why?!

Stork nest on a chimney in a square.

Some of the shops have so much random stuff in it. There is strangely so much beauty amongst the chaos.

Every alley and every road pretty much looks like these. I seriously wish I could take a picture of everything.

Random tidbits of info.

They put broken glass on top of walls so you don't climb over them. 

                                

Andrew pointed out that when they write a logo in Arabic, they try to make the curvature and lettering look similar to the English logo like this pepsi example.

Every day Colin breaks down barriers and opens up conversations with people. I love it! The moroccans love children and even though the sales people try to target him, I love how they treat him here. They snap at him as a cute attention getter. They notice him and entertain him. They are also okay with him touching and getting into things. They seem to understand that children are a joy and do silly things.

I liked meeting people every day. One day Abdullah (a common name people use that probably isn't their real name but more like a title) and Hadijah invited me into their home for Colin to play with his motorcycle and their child's bike. I got to ask him question about their courtyard, community home and different cultural things.

 I talked many times with a young shop keeper named Nabil. He had an infectious smile and was so sweet and humble. He told me about not getting citizenship because his parents never filled out the papers and therefore not going to school. He told me he used to sell drugs and do other bad things but that he didn't like that life. I got to talk to him about living righteously and the blessings you get from God by doing and being good. I was told that Moroccans are too poor to travel outside of Morocco and that Moroccan women are not like me in parenting. He said they aren't patient and soft but rather hit and yell at their children. I have definitely seen some of that.

I love getting into conversations with people because I get to dive into the culture and ask about all of my weird curiosities. French is really essential for me and helps so much. I hope I can communicate with some people in every country but  don't know how lucky I will get. I have picked up on some common phrases they use in Arabic.

Well, that sums up Marrakech. It was a great first impression of Morocco. We are loving this country.