19 Asilah

The blue city was a nice stop, glad we came. Now we are headed to the coast. Morocco has absolutely beautiful beaches but I’m not sure the kids believe that. So far we’ve seen incredible desert and mountain landscapes, but no water. Asilah is on the Atlantic coast, less than an hour from Tangier, so it’s very popular with Moroccan families for a seaside escape.  The original plan was to spend 3-4 days on coast and do some kite surfing or actual surf school. Again, Annie in a boot doesn’t work so well with that plan.

Our lodging is a nice modern condo complex next to the water. Really nice place, but laid out by someone that was clueless. We are in apartment 50. So we foolishly went to the 5th floor. We found 51-57 but not 50? Tried the 6th floor. And the 4th. Had to go back and ask where it was; they said on the 4th floor of course! (With a tone as though WE are idiots.) Back to the 4th...lo and behold , there it is. But 50 is in the same spot as 57 one floor up! Huh?! Crazy. Also, the door to get in is crazy huge!

Had a very nice seafood dinner with WINE and BEER. Pretty excited seeing as this is mostly a dry country. The server had us look in the case to see the catch from today and pick out our dinner. It was excellent even though we think he was trying to swindle us. Tried to sell us some sea bass at 500 dirham per kilo and wanted us to get the 3 kilo fish...$150 piece of fish! We declined!

Chris tried out his French and Arabic skills and went to get breakfast for us. He returned with 6 eggs, 4 yogurts, milk for our coffee, oranges to squeeze for juice, bananas, apples, pears and strawberries for fruit salad. All for the princely sum of  $1.60...!

Asilah has a festival every spring where the town whitewashes a number of the walls in the old city. Then, selected artists come in and paint the walls as part of the festival. Those murals then stay up until the following year. We walked around and checked out some of the murals and marveled at the 800+ year old walls around the city. There are big city gates and ramparts out over the water, just a very cool place. Reminds us a lot of Greece.

We sat and had our 150th cup of coffee in a cute square and headed to Casablanca.

18 Merry Christmas...Why So BLUE?!

Christmas morning in Fez was wonderful, albeit strange. No stockings or tree and more notable, no extended family 😢 There was also a concern that Santa may not find us here in Africa! Chris made a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit, fresh bread and fresh squeezed juice and we displayed a picture of the Arnold’s Christmas tree on our phones and opened gifts..,almost like being at home! (Gifts were actually wrapped pieces of paper that had pictures of items waiting back home; much easier to pack!)

We spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find and then ascertain Mass time at the only Catholic Church in Fez. We missed the service and the kids were actually relieved. Although upset at missing Christmas Mass for the first time ever, they admitted to being worried about going to Mass in a Muslim country. “Mom, Christians are being persecuted all over the world!” Fortunately we will be in a 98% Catholic country soon and can go to daily Mass!

We headed out to Chefchaouen, the “Blue City” after breakfast. Our original plan was to hit the Akchour Waterfall and hike. Sadly even the short trek is over 2 hours and Annie’s boot is just not conducive to hiking. We then decided to stop at Volubilis and Meknès on our way north. We stopped in Meknès and had a great lunch before touring the old prison where they used to keep over 10,000 people imprisoned. Creepy but very cool. Annie has not been feeling great (she caught Chris’ cough and cold) so we skipped Volubilis. Those that know Annie well will be stunned by this! The kids could not believe we were passing up an opportunity to look at “important rocks!” (Volubilis is the most significant Roman ruins in Northern Africa!)

We got back on the road and a dozen police checkpoints later (seriously) we arrived in Chefchaouen. We have felt very safe throughout this trip. There is a very visible police presence everywhere. We have to believe it is preventative in nature. Pretty much everywhere we have gone there will be random police roadblocks every 20 miles or so. We have been waved through every time but once. They simply ask for ID, look at occupants and let you pass.

Chefchaouen is up north in the Rif Mountains. It is the primary growing region for cannabis. We had an educational discussion about the difference between marijuana and hashish; despite what we had read, we were offered hashhish only once!

The entire town is painted blue and there is debate as to why. The leading theory is that it was a brilliant marketing ploy thought up 40 years ago! Whatever the reason, the town is now a destination despite few culturally redeeming features. It is very pretty and has a cool vibe. Just a fun place to wander around.

17 Greatest Thing Ever....or Just Aweful!

 Annie went to a traditional Hammam today! Hammams have been around for hundreds of years and are the traditional bath houses. Even today, many of the homes in the medinas do not have running water, so the public bath house is a necessity. There is a whole process to it and Annie really wanted to try it. Not quite willing to go to the corner bath house, but definitely willing to try a more “upscale” version. Annie had 6:30 Hammam appointments. Annie was excited, Abby was nervous. Upon arrival they give you a robe and DISPOSABLE PAPER UNDERWEAR! Strike one as far as Annie was concerned. Did I mention they were paper THONGS?! Once in the paper undies and robes we entered the Hammam. First step is to remove your robe and get on a heated marble table. At that point some woman lathers you up with special black soap made from Argan oil. So yes, you are basically naked and as the kids say some rando” is soaping you up. Then they put on a glove that feels like steel wool and they SCRUB you...hard. Then they dump buckets of hot water over you, apply a clay face mask and wash your hair with Argan oil. At that point they leave you to let the oil and mask set in. So basically you are naked other than your paper thong, laying on a table for 15 minutes! When they come back to finish up they throw more buckets of water over you. You then progress to the massage room. Um...multiple people in same room.

When all is said and done you are super clean, with soft skin and relaxed after the massage. So, the greatest thing ever! Or, because it’s sooo awkward with the strangers, it’s just awful

Clearly no pictures allowed, but here’s a picture of the ceiling when you enter.

16 Fez and Things We Don't See at Home

Arrived in Fez after a long drive on Monday. The plan was to break up the 7 hour drive by stopping in several places. Unfortunately we didn’t head out from the desert until 11 and really didn’t want to drive in dark so we just drove straight through. The day was actually great. Scenery was varied and spectacular, kids were fun and we had great conversations. As we arrived in Fez we got caught up in some crazy traffic. The caretaker of our house waited for us and was there on arrival to escort us inside the Médina to our Riad.  We rented an entire Riad for our 2 nights in Fez. It was fantastic. The house is almost 800 years old and located in one of the oldest areas of the Médina. We had arranged in advance for the caretaker to provide dinner for us because we didn’t want to struggle to find something after dark. We thought he would just drop something off. Nope! He came and cooked for us, served us, cleaned up and then wished us “a great life!”

Tuesday morning we hired a guide for a half day tour of the Médina. He guided us through all the different souks and we learned a ton. We went to the tannery and it’s still as disgusting as it was 30 years ago! They are still offering you mint to stick up your nose so you don’t gag while you’re looking at it. This is the only place we have experienced the hard sell. After viewing the tannery you exit via a very nice, high end leather shop. Very Disney-esque! The kids were excited that they got the seller down from $350 a jacket to 2 for $400🙄 not happening...!

There are different souks (markets) for anything you can think of.  The butcher area was probably the most interesting and disturbing. We watched a little boy walk up to a stall, talk to the vendor, not in agreement, then hand over a chicken he was carrying. The vendor gave the kid some money and then proceeded to slice the chicken’s throat, bleed it out, then put it on the cutting board!😮 Definitely fresh chicken , but so different than our life. Helpful tip; if you are looking to buy camel meat, go to a  shop that has a CAMEL HEAD hanging outside.🤢

Back to the leather coats...after explaining to the kids that our tour guide gets a commission for steering us into certain shops, the kids decided to try shopping on their own. They found a leather market and the starting point was $200 per jacket. CJ was very pleased with himself for getting the price down to...2 for $120! Merry Christmas!

We really enjoyed Fez, There were so many crazy things we can’t even begin to describe them. Even the pics just can’t convey it.

The pics below are a random beautiful door, CJ and Chris in the “ritzy” leather shop, the butcher with the chicken he just killed, the tannery, door to a mosque, random street, olives in market, lamb heads, butcher with CAMEL HEAD on display, another beautiful door.

15 Desert Dice and Camel #2!

We are back from our desert trek and it was spectacular! We arrived in Merzouga just before 4:00 and quickly packed a single day pack with everything we would need for the next 2 days.  We met Omar the Camel Trekker (that is really the name he goes by!) and were introduced to our guide, Mohammed. Not to be confused with Mohammed our waiter in Marrakech, or Mohammed our driver from earlier, or Mohammed the hotel proprietor, or....you get it!  This Mohammed is a 22 year old that makes his living as a guide on camel treks. Really nice, friendly, and speaks a smattering of 5 languages. We got by mostly with Spanish, English and a little French. Mohammed introduces us to our camels. When asked their names we were told “this is Camel #1, this is #2, etc..!” I promptly named my camel “Camilla Cabello Camel” Abby got “Carmelly” (only afternoon CJ explained who Carmelo Anthony was, Carmelo was her first choice!) CJ was with “Lucia” and Chris...”Camel #2!”

We proceeded to trek through really cool dunes for a little over an hour until we arrived at a huge dune and the kids tried their hand at sandboarding. Very cool! We then lounged with our camels and watched the sunset. Really beautiful. We then trekked further until we arrived at camp. Camp is a bit of a misnomer. It was straight out of Arabian Nights! Carpets on the sand, candlelit lanterns, 4 beds with good mattresses, a regular toilet and hot and cold running water with a shower...all in our tent!  We settled in and couldn’t believe there was WiFi! Sadly we did not bring chargers and phones were fading fast! We had dinner in the “Dining Tent” with our fellow trekkers, Sarju and Kristin. (Married couple from London. He’s Indian, she’s Australian, they got married 6 days after meeting at some Harry Krishna type thing!) Dinner was NOT camp food. We had 4 or 5 veggies, rice, grilled turkey, roasted chicken, fries, bread, and fresh fruit for dessert. After dinner there was traditional music and dancing around a fire. Loved watching the kids join in!

Next morning brought an early wake up to see the sunrise over the dunes. Absolutely beautiful. A great breakfast and back to the camels. We rode across the desert for a couple of hours until we arrived at an Oasis. Totally weird. Nothing but sand and then out of nowhere a copse of trees! We had lunch (prepared by Mohammed) at the Oasis and Chris and the kids tackled sandboarding on a frighteningly high dune. We eventually got back on our trusty steeds and trekked to a Berber village. By village I mean makeshift huts, homes made of mud, nothing like the previous night. A lovely Berber woman made us a welcome tea and snack and then later made us dinner. This was a completely different experience. We slept in a house? Hut? Room? Made mostly of mud with blankets and pillows on the floor. No bathrooms. “Where is the WC?” “Everywhere.” Um...ok. Abby was not thrilled with that answer! It was a great experience for all of us and really reinforces how blessed we all are.

The night sky in the desert is incredible. Just can’t describe it and the pictures can’t capture it. We sat around stargazing before bed and then got up again around midnight to see if we could see the meteor shower. We saw 2 shooting stars and were psyched!

Up and out on our camels before daybreak. It’s almost surreal to be trekking through the desert in the dark. As we made our way back the sun slowly made its appearance. A great experience all around!

Totally unrelated to anything, but an example of how educational this trip has been...when a camel poops in the desert and it rolls down a dune, those are called “desert dice!”

Onward to Fez...

14 Desert Pics. Stories to follow.

13 That’s not a Geode!

Had a great stay in the Todra Gorge. Hotel was spectacular. Not only were the accommodations great, but the physical location deep in the gorge was awesome. We ate dinner at the hotel and it was one of the best meals yet. They made a “Mousakka Tajine” very similar to Greek mousakka but in a taking and layered with eggplant and cheese. Delicious!

The original plan was to do the 4 hour loop hiking the gorge. Unfortunately being in a boot has hampered my hiking abilities. (Letting the kids sleep until 9:30 also didn’t help!) So we opted for a shorter stroll through the gorge along the dry riverbed. On our way here we stopped and bought a couple of geodes from some Berbers along the road. We now really want to find some on our own. We hunted along the rock walls and river bed for awhile. No one in the family appreciated my word of warning “the really dark round rocks are actually goat poop, not geodes!”

Next up, camel trek in the Sahara!