We got the opportunity to drive through the High Atlas Mountain chain which spans across Tunisia, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria. This mountain range creates Morocco's drastic weather and climate changes by creating a divide between the humid Mediterranean coast and the extremely arid deserts near the Algerian boarder. Once you ascend to the tallest peak, over 14,000 ft above sea level, one can find temperatures drop to -50 degrees Celsius and snowcapped mountains for miles. Even in late October, when the rest of Morocco is in the mid 80s, we spotted dozens of snow capped mountains!
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If you are wondering, I did not choose to wear the turban...Our camel guide (once again now close friend rather than guide) Said made me dress up in his head turban and Moroccan dress and lead the camels along the sand dunes at sunrise. Another tourist group saw me and thought I was a berber nomad that was abnormally white and freakishly tall, but we reassured them that in fact I was not a camel herder.
Upon our 5 am wake-up call we were guided back out to the camels to make our way to watch the sunrise rise over the dunes. If you think you've seen a sunrise before, think again. The horizon was mountains and mountains of sand as far as the eye could see, the only other little black dots on the horizon were traveling nomad tribes and other small groups of desert camps. We sat on the tallest dune and watched the sun crawl up over the dunes, leaving a sea of pinks, oranges, and violets splattered along the skyline. Truly unbelievable. |
We started our tour with our lovely guide Mohamad (I now consider him more of a close friend rather than a guide). I cannot speak highly enough of Mohamad, he spoke fluent english (a rare occurrence) and he not only pointed out and explained every area of the country side and desert but told us his own personal story. He grew up as a nomad, living with his parents and 11 other siblings, constantly packing up their tents on their backs and rounding up the sheep to move to more grasslands. He never attended one day of school and spent most of his days in the fields walking with the sheep and his nights playing games with his siblings. His family would spread out their tent and let the sheep graze and then pack back up the tent when the sheep where finished. His parents were concerned that as the age of 20 Mohamad was still single and therefor tried to force an arranged marriage with his first cousin upon him, however he decided to follow a different path in life and move out of the country side into a more rural are. (more below)
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Mohamad, like I said never having an ounce of schooling, was conversationally fluent in six SIX languages, Arabic, Berber, English, Spanish, French, Japanese and is said he is working on his German. He learns the languages from the tourists he meets and talks with. He eventually learned how to read and write in Arabic, English, Spanish, and French as well. He knew every fact about every town, gorge, valley, desert, nomad tribe, heck even reststop that we stopped at. He knew about every star in the sky and which star pointed which way and which star to follow to Algeria or to Western Sahara. When we were all settled in at our camp he decided he wanted to sleep back in his car at the edge of the dunes and walked back 3 miles through the sand dunes in the pitch black with no map, just following the stars. Meeting Mohamad really knocked down everything I though I had known about our modern societal values, education system, and just way of life as a whole - he represents a whole other way of life, a mindblowingly different culture that the United States can not even come close to comprehending and probably never will.
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Fes, Morocco: if you every thought NYC streets were stressful, imagine that times 400 but then add in a couple hundred fast-paced trotting donkeys, thousands of Moroccan men yelling at you, beggars shouting at you from every corner, overflowing street vendors, never ending (literally) alleyways, and an overwhelming smell of Moroccan spices. Well there you go, must I explain any more? See if I were to leave you with just that explanation you would only be seeing half the puzzle. Fes, as crazy as it is, has a rhythm. A rhythm to the madness. There are 16 gates around the walls of the medina each called "Bab ___" so as long as you find signs pointing to your Bab then you are golden. The streets are windy and PACKED with people selling beautiful hand-painted tagines, one of a kind collector jewelry pieces, extravagant Moroccan rugs, gorgeous Moroccan dresses, and most importantly Moroccan nougate (oh how I miss that). To enjoy the great parts of Fes and not feel as if you are fighting for your life then I recommend hiring a tour guide at least for your first day.
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Tour guides can point out the best shopping and dinning areas. Fes is FULL (literally) of people trying to sell you things and unless you know where to go and how to bargain (one of my best skills at this point) then you will most likely get significantly ripped off and end up with a large fake Moroccan rug that heck, you were never going to use anyways. There are hardly any signs in the media and the best kept secrets may take you hours to find without direction so having someone show you around is definitely beneficial. However, if you are like my mother and I, you will just tough it out. We did Fes without a tour guide and with the exception of a couple close calls with pushy Moroccan men insisting they needed to sell us some large rug in a back alley way, we made it out alive! We got to know the main streets, the best shops, the most delicious best kept restaurants, and most importantly, the two places in the whole medina that serve wine. Since the medina is exclusively Muslim there is no alcohol (99% of the time) sold within it's walls.
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What to buy when in Fes: everything. Well uless you are like my mother and brough over two empty duffles to shove the trinkets into, then you simply cannot buy everything Fes has to offer. Fes is the leather capital of the world and has some of the largest leather tannery factories in the world (go to them- it's worth it). They make everything ranging from handbags, duffles, luggage sets to one of a kind leather jackets, shoes, pants, rugs, hats to ever bean bag chairs (a Moroccan speciality, who knew). Morocco has a lot to offer aside from leather products, to give some examples I will rattle off some gifts I picked up along the way:
Moroccan oil, cooking tagines and plate sets, tea kettle/cup sets, handmade smaller doorstep rugs, one of a kind jewelry sets, strange pointed slippers, smoking pipes/bongs, Moroccan floor length dresses, rose/peppermint oil for the skin, knock off watches, bags, designer clothes, a variety of beautiful designed glass jewelry box containers, thousands of spices, magnificent light fixtures and small stools, honestly there is so much more that I just cannot think of right now, but the major take away: freshen up on your bargain skills. vendors will ask for 5 times the price and expect you to come back at them with a much smaller price and then eventually you will both meet in the middle. I have gotten good at the "are you crazy? Way too expensive" and walk away tactic, works like a charm for then they come running after you and boom you've got it for a fifth of the price. |
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Chefchaouen, situated in the northwest corner of the Rif Mountains of Morocco, is characterized by long winding alleyways covered in just about every shade of blue you can think of. Chaoeun is also known for being the hash capital of the world where one can find hash on every street corner or small medina shop (convenient ay?) This city is a great mountainside retreat far from the hustle and bustle of Rabat, Fes, and Marrakesh. The locals are extremely welcoming and will even invite you into their homes for tea, coffee, Moroccan pastries, and maybe even some more adventurous activities (if you get where I'm headed, *insert smoke emoji here*).
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We decided to take a hike up past the town waterfall onwards to the towering mosque at the top of a nearby hill. The view from this mountain (okay hill) top was truly stunning. Many tourists climb up to this mosque at sunrise (so obviously not us..too early) and not only see a picturesque pink and orange splattered sky, but additionally will hear one of the loudest call to prayer chants in all of Morocco. I can attest to this loudness for I woke up at 5:50 to the sound of a multitude of loud speakers blaring various arabic phrases all throughout the town.
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A typical Moroccan breakfast filled with hobs (Moroccan bread), butter pancakes, nutella-ish spread, tagines filled with cheese, butter, jelly, and eggs. Moroccan tea (amazing), coffee, and milk are also served however, water is hard to find here. Occasionally one (yep, just one!) cup of water will be placed on a table for 15 people, but that is a rare occurrence.
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A delicious eggplant spread and honey almond carrot salad. Eggplant and olives are extremely popular here and rightfully so, fresh zetunes (olives) mixed with eggplant, hot pepper, beats, carrots, and lentils ....mmmm! Every meal I have eaten thus far has been locally grown fresh farmers market food...really puts American McDonalds and Wendy's to shame!
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The Atlas Mountains sweep 2,500 km across Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria creating a foresting escape from the blistering heat of the desert. The mountains are home to thousands of species of north African wildlife as well as many small villages like the Bensmim village we visited.
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Within the coastal city of Rabat there is a large medina, or walled in city. The media is more or less a large maze...that is impossible to navigate (ex: I live 3 minutes from the classroom and have gotten severely lost everyday this past week). There are no street signs of cars, just windy alleys of colorful stone houses with magnificently engraved doors. Running through the center of the medina is the shopping street where one can find just about everything you've ever wanted. Antique jewelry boxes, tagines, exquisite dinner wear, hundreds of perfume fragrances and moroccan oils, handmade one of a kind rugs, vibrant tea sets, and of course, scarves. To put it in perspective I have bought 12 scarves..in the last..two days. Overall AMAZING shopping and with some bargaining (I am now a pro) you can get the prices down around 20 - 70 MRD or around 5 US dollars.
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The mindless wandering mindset that many entrenched shoppers fall into can actually turn out to be quit dangerous in Morocco. Pit pocketing is extremely common, so much so that our host family holds onto our arms and bags as we walk through the streets. Street harassment is also very common. In Morocco it is common for men to follow women and incessantly yell sexual remarks at them. In the United States these acts could be punishable with jail time, however in Morocco this is how many women find their husbands. This street following is what men do to find a date and most of the time mean no harm by the catcalling however, there are instances where men will yell "you bitch!" or start pinching your ass in which it is then necessary to yell "Hshouma!" which means shame on you. If one begins to yell "Hshouma" others will join in and cause the man to back off and leave the scene. Women should always cover their shoulders and wear long pants in the streets to avoid any potential unwated street remarks.
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Tagine! Kuli Kuli Kuli! Kuli means "you eat" and saif means "I am full". There is a constant kuli kuli kuli...safi safi safi dialogue going on at our table as our family shoves full loaves of bread in front of us. Tagines are the center of all Moroccan dishes (literally). A tagine is a large cone shaped pot that is normally filled with cusco, veggies, broth, chick and/or duck, and of course dozens of delicious spices. The tagine is a communal pot where each person uses their hands (right hand ONLY) to eat out of their section of the tagine. Your left hand is used to clean yourself after using the bathroom so if you ever reached into the tagine with your left hand you would probably have something thrown at you, maybe a rock who knows. In addition to the tagine there are smaller plates that line the outer rim consisting of different types of veggie and lentil mixes. Every Friday Moroccans prepare a large (4 hour long) couscous meal where all the family members break from work and enjoy this lovely weekend tradition, I know I sure did!
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Pre-dinner desert, could there be anything better? Moroccan tradition insists that around 6:30/7:00 PM all families have a large feast of deserts before the rest of their evening unfolds. Our family gets various types of cookies from the near by desert stand down the road as well as loads and loads of Moroccan mint tea. In addition our family makes Moroccan pancakes served with an unhealthy amount of sugary goo and nutella. After three hours of digestion we then have dinner at 10:30/11:00 PM (as if the deserts were not enough). If you were ever wondering how to contract diabetes, this would be it!
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Street Food! Unlike Vietnam, the street food in Morocco is normally safe to eat (watch out for the camel head though). There are hundreds of sweets vendors for the afternoon desert as well as spice, nut, camel meat, potato, and egg carts all along the medina streets. My all time favorite in the nougat carts with dozens of different nutty, caramel, toffy, even sour nougat flavors!
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