Welcome to the second edition of vicariously traveling through the internet (aka, my life). There’s a real struggle to avoiding going mainstream with my destination selections while still being able to find three interesting things to do that people take non-copyrighted pictures of! But I found success this week in Marrakech, Morocco.
Morocco is a small country on the northwest corner of Africa, and Marrakech is the fourth largest city in the country, so it’s not exactly London or Paris. But what Marrakech lacks in size, it more than makes up for in color and flair. With a real estate market on the rise (popular to French celebs, supposedly) and a dedication to their growing tourism industry, Marrakech just might be a diamond in the rough… rough midterms week, that is. Here are three things to do in Marrakech that may make you say, “Why doesn’t my school have more study abroad options!”
1. Jardin Majorelle
Morocco, like many African countries, was once French territory, which results in names like Jardin Majorelle (Majorelle Gardens in English). The Majorelle Gardens are the poster child of tourism in Marrakech, being a huge staple of the city. This extensive botanical layout of cacti, palm, and blossoms was designed in the 1920’s by a French expat, but have been open to the public only for about sixty years. The vibrant blue of the Berber museum in the middle of the foliage (pictured here) is actually named after the gardens, Majorelle blue. Though admission is about eleven bucks, it covers both the garden and the museum, which features jewelry, weapons, and clothing from the ancient Moroccan Berber culture. Fun fact: Yves Saint-Laurent owned the gardens from 1980 until his death in 2008. When he died, the fashion god had his ashes scattered in the garden. Mmmmm… dead old guy.
2. Tawada Trekking
Okay, so this isn’t so much one thing as it is like ALL THE THINGS. Tawada Trekking (tawadatrekking.com) is a tour guide company singlehandedly reigned by Hafida Hdoubane, the first ever Moroccan woman to be certified as a tour guide. She takes groups on excursions out of Marrakech to experience various facets of Morocco. Customers can choose either ‘trekking’ or ‘rafting’ adventures that can vary in time significantly. The whitewater rafting excursion of the Oued N’Fiss (High Atlas is given as the English but IDK if that’s actually a real thing) can be done in five hours, while the Moroccan Sahara hiking and camel excursion lasts eight whole days. Be prepared to get intimate with the wilderness and be truly exposed to the extremes of Morocco, as tours span deserts, rivers, mountains, and valleys. Be warned, the website is in French. But according to Trip Advisor, she speaks English fluently.
3. Marrakech Souk
A “souk” or “souq” is an open air marketplace, and the souk of Marrakech is reknown. As opposed to the souks in Tripoli, which specialize in brass and pewter, or Rabat, which features an abundance of herbs and basically nothing else, Marrakech’s souk is stocked head to toe with color. A quick google search will yield bright slippers and vibrant rugs and expensive dyes and lavish spices and perfumes and flowers and pots and chiles and purses and basically everything… as long as it has color. Haggling is the norm, so expect to get ripped off a bit if you look like a foreigner and don’t speak Moroccan Arabic or at least French, but even just window shopping is an experience in this place. There used to be sectional divides, so different areas housed different products, but now sections just spill over each other, so you can wander around and get lost. But, hey, a traditional Moroccan marketplace ain’t a bad place to be lost.
Marrakech, Morocco is probably somewhere you had never heard of until now. Not gonna lie, I hadn’t heard of it before I started doing research. But Morocco is actually the perfect blend of Mediterranean vibes, Arabic customs, and French-African history. Maybe, instead of putting Zimbabwe on your gap year schedule, you should add Marrakech. Okay, don’t actually replace Zimbabwe. Go there, too. But, you know… also go here. I’ll be back next week with another city! Thanks for reading!
Photo cred (thanks to all for not copyrighting your glorious work!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbdodane/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carloszgz/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/granding/
https://pixabay.com/en/marrakech-town-center-medina-142764/
http://www.tawadatrekking.com/trekking-maroc/trek-maroc/sarhro/
and a special thanks to my BFF tripadvisor.com (I am not sponsored by Trip Advisor. Although that would be dope.)