We kicked off the spring travels with a pretty solid trip - first Barcelona with the big group, followed by Morocco with our Africa buddies, Coy and Kacey. We spent 2 nights / 3 days in Barcelona eating delicious tapas and drinking sangria and squeezed in tours of some of the main attractions (Barcelona has some seriously beautiful architecture). We didn't see the beach as much as we would've liked - on the last day just before departing for the airport we finally set foot on some sand! After 3 relaxing days we left for crazy Marrakesh and arrived just in time to see the sun go down over Djemaa El Fna square - the biggest city square on the entire continent of Africa. It was a major sensory overload - busy and full of snake charmers (see photo of Andy above), fresh juice stands, monkeys on leashes, story tellers, food stalls, magicians and souks (markets full of leather goods, pottery, spices, carpets....you get the picture). After two nights in Marrakesh, we were picked up by our private driver, Hassan, and set off for the Erg Chebbi - otherwise known as the Sahara desert. It took two full days of driving to get there, but it was worth it. That's us in the photo below on our camels :)
We rode out from Merzouga through Erg Chebbi (the only Erg - or dunes - in Morocco) part of the Sahara desert which extends 3,500,000 square miles!! The camel riding was pretty uncomfortable, not really at all like riding a horse, but it made for some pretty cool photos. Our guide there (Josef) had been guiding tourists through the Erg for 8 years, and though he'd never been to school (as his family was a nomad family in the desert), he spoke 8 languages as a result of meeting tourists from all over the world. When we had troubles in English, he and Kacey (who is fluent in Spanish) would fill in the gaps in Espanol. He told us some great jokes during our night in the Berber tent as we were sharing dinner (Chicken tajine - kind of like a chicken stew). Joke 1: How do you put a camel in a refrigerator in three steps?
Answer: Step one, open the door. Step two, put the camel in. Step three, close the door.
Is anyone laughing yet? Ohhhh, it gets better. Now imagine this next part was told about 20 minutes later.
Joke 2: How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator in four steps?
Answer: Step one, open the door. Step two, take the camel out. Step three, put the elephant in. Step four, close the door.
Now imagine this NEXT part was told about an hour later after we'd all forgotten about the first two jokes.
Joke 3: The lion, king of the animals, is getting married. He invites all the animals to the wedding - but one doesn't show up. Who is it?
Answer: The elephant. He's in the fridge.
Obviously we loved it :)
Anyhow - after our night in the berber tent, we woke up for the sunrise and cameled out (is "cameled" a word?) back to Merzouga. We drove for two days back, stopping in many smaller towns along the way, and spent another night in Marrakesh before leaving for Essaouira on the coast...
After two nights and three days of strolling the little streets, shopping the souks and eating all the fresh grilled seafood we could muster, we headed back for one last crazy night in Marrakech and flew out the following morning. It was an amazing and relaxing trip and the country was just beautiful. As per usual, we'll be back some day :) Until then....our Greek isle sailing adventure is coming up in just 4 weeks!
