1. Marrakech: Things just
happen in Marrakech. One instant you're sitting down to a camel burger,
the next you're chatting to a serpent charmer. The labyrinthine markets
are the flawless place to misplace yourself but find a Moroccan memento
or three.
2. Sahara: The endless dunes of the Sahara will call to
your inward explorer. leap on a camel and start riding out over the
sandy waves. At sunset the wasteland blazes rich and red and at night
the stars turn the atmosphere crystal.
3. Essaouira: The title
'Essaouira' means likeness, befitting since its charm is undeniable.
inside the stone ramparts you'll find art galleries, timber workshops
and whitewashed houses with brilliant azure shutters. Portuguese,
British and Jewish leverages all mingle in this artist's town.
4.
Fes: Fes is the heritage heart of Morocco and dwelling to some of its
most iconic views. seem every sense arrive living in the medina. Shops,
dyestuff pits and mosques all vie for space and you're as expected to
see a donkey as a vehicle.
5. High Atlas hills: The hills are best
discovered at the ground level by foot or two wheeler. journey through
Berber villages, up along crop terraces, down through lush valleys and
past orchards, goats and Moroccan country life. The seriously fit can
undertake Mount Toubkal for unbelievable outlooks.
6. Todra Gorge:
This is a rock climber's paradise, or the perfect place for beginners to
get a flavour. It's a tight compress in some locations but a sparkling
stream, the strange palmeraie, Berber villages and high cliff walls make
it worth respiring in for.
7. Moulay Idriss: The small Medina of
very old Moulay Idriss was one time forbidden to non-Muslims. Now it is a
delight to explore as the faithful gather to pay homage to the origin
dad of Islam in Morocco at the 8th-century mausoleum.
8. Ait
Benhaddou: flawlessly maintained, this is one of Morocco's most scenic
kasbahs. Centuries before it was a halt for caravans as they carried
salt across the Sahara. Today, it is inhabited only by a handful of
families and the odd movie crew.
9. Casablanca: The very name
conjures up images of war-time romance. But the genuine romance of
Casablanca must be its French leverages and the beautiful Hassan II
mosque, the biggest in Morocco.
10. Volubilis: Do some time journey
and visit the very old hilltop town of Volubilis, one of the Roman
Empire's most isolated bases. The wrecks here are beautifully preserved
and it's very simple to accept as true you've stepped into the 2nd or
3rd century.
M'hamid El Ghizlane Moroccan Oasis and tourists' paradise
15 years ago M'hamid El Ghizlane was- the last oasis in the far south east of Morocco pre-Sahara – depending mainly on agriculture, but drought forced its inhabitants to look for other means of livelihood.
Many of them sold their land. They buy what they needed to accommodate the tourists who move in-groups to this area in search of peace, serenity and tranquility away from the pressures of life in the big cities in the West.
Tourism currently represents about 80 percent of economic activity in M'hamid El Ghizlane that fills the spread on both sides of main street shops, selling the artifacts, as well as, local travel and tourism agencies, and shops offer all types of services such as car hire and tours in the desert for wealthy tourists, and others are suitable for tourists with limited budgets.
Tourist who arrives to this remote corner of Morocco takes the opportunity to indulge in the local way of life.
The value of time in M'hamid El Ghizlane is not as in the West. Pattern of life is slow, so those people do not know the rush at all. The money is not their main objective because they are satisfied with income from tourism. Trips Organizer to desert earns 25 thousand Moroccan dirhams on average during the tourism season, which lasts five months from December to April, while the tour guide reaches 300 dirhams per day.
An expert in the promotion of tourism, Abdul Khaliq bin says : "Tourism developed in M'hamid El Ghizlane thanks to the presence of many monuments and antique forts in the area of Oulad Kriz . Mahamid exhibits its unique beauty of the desert and its diverse activities, such as trips by camels, tents and desert tourism which is the important investment of this hot destination. M'hamid El Ghizlane becomes a popular destination in Morocco, because whoever comes to visit Morocco, and especially to the desert has to visit M'hamid El Ghizlane, Marrakech and Essaouira. "
Tourism in M'hamid El Ghizlane meets and fulfills everyone’s requirements. The rich live in luxury hotels and ride 4x4 cars and enjoy everything as VIP does. However, most tourists who visit the Oasis accept accommodation in a small, modest hotel or in tents amid the sand where they can watch in long-sightedness the vast desert during the day, and hold stars in their hands at night. They can also relax under the palm trees or out on trips on the backs of camels or into 4X4 cars or enjoy walking beside the old forts, more than these, they can bury their bodies in the sand, or enjoy a traditional massage.
British Nancy Patterson - who was engaged in selling works of art before she open an hotel in M'hamid El Ghizlane- seek visitors to accept to be treated as friends but not as customers who pay for accommodation. Nancy encourages her visitors to enjoy interesting conversations in the middle of magic nature in the picturesque region.
Nancy Patterson Says: "I want tourists to come here and bring something of their personality and explore this part of Morocco, especially music and art ... which is live here, and here is a lot..."
A visitor named Tawfiq Yousefi lived several years in Canada and Belgium, he found inner peace in M'hamid El Ghizlane. Like many visitors to the Oasis Yousefi devotes in long hours in meditation and the search for self.
Tawfiq Yousefi said "It's a very traditional area. When we talk about tradition, we mean values. And if we found values, we found the love of humanity. It is one of popular areas in Morocco, where the principles of humanity still exist...warmth and kind hospitality."
Visitors come to M'hamid El Ghizlane from far countries, as Alaska and South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and others from Europe, Canada and the United States. But, tourists from the Arab world, they are not visiting this Oasis perhaps because of deserts in most Arab countries. For this reason, Nur al-Din Bocrap the nomads’ Festival Director in M'hamid El Ghizlane called Arab tourists to come to the oasis.
He said, "Our main ambition is to open up to the Arab world in particular and to the nomadic culture for sharing the differences, also for celebrating our sameness."
The M'hamid El Ghizlane was the station where caravans stop in their way from Timbuktu in Mali and to. Now it is still a meeting place for visitors from different cultures and religions.
Essaouira The sun-beaten town on the Atlantic coast
Where Marrakech is a uniform pink, this sun-beaten town on the Atlantic coast is blue and white. The prosperity of the place peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was the most important port on the North African coast and a conduit between Europe and the African hinterland. It faded from consciousness in the 20th century, but drew plenty of travelling hippies in the 1960s and early 1970s. Its agreeably languid air stirs only by late afternoon when the fishing fleet returns to disgorge the day’s catch.
1. Ramparts
Essaouira‘s current layout can be traced back to 1765. That year, the town’s local ruler captured a French ship and hired one of its passengers, an architect, to rebuild his port. He had the city surrounded with a heavy defensive wall, much of which still stands. The most impressive stretch is the Skala de la Ville, where you can walk along the top of the ramparts and examine several ancient cannons.
2. Place Moulay Hassan
Place Moulay Hassan is the focal point of Essaouira. A square in two parts, narrow and elongated to the north and opening out at the southern end, it lies between the medina proper and the port, and everybody passes through it at some point. It’s lined by small cafés, where half the town seems to pass half of its time.
3. The port
4. The medina
As in Marrakech, Essaouira’s medina is a labyrinth of narrow streets. It is, however, not as hard to navigate, bisected as it is by one long, straight street. This street begins at the port and runs all the way up to the north gate, the Bab Doukkala, undergoing two name changes along the way.
5. The mellah
During the 18th and 19th centuries, a Jewish community gained prominence in Essaouira, becoming the most important economic group. They have all long since left and the town’s Jewish quarter is in a dilapidated state. You can reach the mellah by following the alleys just inside the ramparts beyond Skala de la Ville. You can still identify the former Jewish residences, fronted as they are by balconies. In some cases, the Hebrew inscriptions on their lintels are also visible.
6. The souks
At the heart of the medina is a lively market, the Souk Jdid, divided into four quarters by the intersection of two main thoroughfares.
There is a daily souk for fish, spice and grains and a cloistered square, known as the Joutia, where secondhand items are auctioned.
7. Place Orson Welles
Between the medina walls and the beach, a small park-like square goes by the name of Place Orson Welles, in honour of the great filmmaker who came to Essaouira in 1949 to shoot his version of Othello. Since then, Essaouira and the surrounding area have been used as movie locations in many international film projects, the most recent ones being Oliver Stone’s epic Alexander the Great and Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven.
Essaouira’s beach, to the south of the medina, is one of the finest in Morocco. However, the strong winds that batter this part of the Atlantic coast frequently make it a little too cold for comfort – not that this bothers the boys who gather here year round to use the compact sand of the beach as a football pitch.
9. Galerie Damgaard
For about a quarter of a century, a generation of painters and sculptors have made Essaouira an important centre of artistic activity. Many of these artists have been brought to public attention by the Dane Frederic Damgaard who, since 1988, has run this influential gallery in the medina.
10. Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires
This small and recently refurbished ethnographic museum occupies a 19th-century house that was formerly the town hall. It contains displays of ancient crafts, weapons and jewellery. Also displayed here are instruments and accessories that were used by religious brotherhoods. You can also view some stunning examples of Berber and Jewish costumes.
The Todra Gorge
Most tourist itineraries include a stop at the Todra Gorge, and with good reason. At its deepest and narrowest point, only 15km from Tinerhir, this trench through the High Atlas presents an arresting spectacle, its gigantic rock walls changing colour to magical effect as the day unfolds. In high season, the combination of its easy accessibility (a surfaced road now runs all the way through it), and the confined space makes it a prime hunting ground for southern Morocco’s most persistent faux guides and touts, so choose wisely when hiring; recent positive feedback in guestbooks is in most cases the only available form of proof of a good-intentioned guide. The area has been increasingly recognized as a rock-climbing hot spot and now attracts a new clientele of independent climbers. Taxis up to the Todra Gorge are cheap and drop passengers off at a grouping of budget hotels just before the narrowing of the gorge. Flash flooding has damaged what was a newly surfaced road up the Todra to the village of Tamtatouche, 32km from Tinerhir (or 17km from the main part of the gorge). The road is still easily passable by car (though hotel owners in the gorge may tell you otherwise in order to extend your stay) and there is pressure on the government to repair the damage as soon as possible. A further 15km from Tamtatouche the village of Aït Hani is accessible by paved road. Minibuses run regularly throughout the day to these villages from the eastern end of the municipal gardens in Tinerhir, although arranging a ride in one of them just as far as the gorge (10dh) can be difficult. Returning to Tinerhir, you stand a better chance of a taxi if you walk back to the Zaouia Sidi Abdelâli, 3km south of the gorge, or hitch a lift with day visitors or other tourists.Beyond Aït Hani, pistes continue over the Atlas via the village of Imilchil (famed for its annual wedding market), while another loops over to the Dadès Valley. You can arrange transport along the Imilchil route, either by chartering it at Tinerhir, or by paying for a place on a series of Berber lorries, which shuttle across for village souks. If you plan to drive the route, you will need a suitable (preferably 4x4) vehicle.
Climbing and walking
Having only recently been recognized for its climbing potential, the Hotels and excursion agencies of the Todra Gorge have yet to cash in on equipment rental and professional climbing excursions, which makes the area ideal for the experienced independent climber and underequipped for the novice. There are now
more than 150 bolted routes, French Grade 5+ to 8, of between 25m and 300m, with new ones being added each year. The Hôtel el Mansour keeps an excellent French topo-guide for reference. Also worth consulting are hotel log books, which will alert you to any problems on the rock: over the past few years, kids have tampered with several access bolts, and even fixtures for top ropes. Whichever routes you follow, be warned that you’ll need all your own gear as rental opportunities are extremely limited and unreliable.Hassan Mouhajir
(t010 13 42 94), who is best contacted through any of the budget hotels at the mouth of the gorge, has been working on the most comprehensive topo guide to the bolted routes in the area and can be hired as a climbing guide for 500dh (per person per day).
Most of the guides hanging around the gorge try to lead visitors on walks, but for the following route, which takes around one and a half to two hours to complete, you won’t need help to find the way. It starts just beyond the narrowest section of the gorge. Once through the cliffs, look for a side valley leading quite steeply left (south) from the roadside to a pronounced saddle between two peaks – you’ll be able to make out the path climbing on the left flank of the hillside. An easy ascent takes you to the pass in 45 minutes to one hour. From there you could potter up peaks for some great views over the gorge, or follow the path dropping downhill to your left, keeping to a line of silvery-grey rocks that fringe a dry riverbed. After around thirty minutes, the path then climbs briefly to a second saddle, from which it then descends to the edge of the Todra palmery, near the Camping l’Auberge Atlas.
The climbing video by PeakPerformance about climbing in Morocco featuring Moroccan,
Petzl sponsored climber 'Said Belhaj'.
Climbing and walking
Having only recently been recognized for its climbing potential, the Hotels and excursion agencies of the Todra Gorge have yet to cash in on equipment rental and professional climbing excursions, which makes the area ideal for the experienced independent climber and underequipped for the novice. There are now
more than 150 bolted routes, French Grade 5+ to 8, of between 25m and 300m, with new ones being added each year. The Hôtel el Mansour keeps an excellent French topo-guide for reference. Also worth consulting are hotel log books, which will alert you to any problems on the rock: over the past few years, kids have tampered with several access bolts, and even fixtures for top ropes. Whichever routes you follow, be warned that you’ll need all your own gear as rental opportunities are extremely limited and unreliable.Hassan Mouhajir
(t010 13 42 94), who is best contacted through any of the budget hotels at the mouth of the gorge, has been working on the most comprehensive topo guide to the bolted routes in the area and can be hired as a climbing guide for 500dh (per person per day).
Most of the guides hanging around the gorge try to lead visitors on walks, but for the following route, which takes around one and a half to two hours to complete, you won’t need help to find the way. It starts just beyond the narrowest section of the gorge. Once through the cliffs, look for a side valley leading quite steeply left (south) from the roadside to a pronounced saddle between two peaks – you’ll be able to make out the path climbing on the left flank of the hillside. An easy ascent takes you to the pass in 45 minutes to one hour. From there you could potter up peaks for some great views over the gorge, or follow the path dropping downhill to your left, keeping to a line of silvery-grey rocks that fringe a dry riverbed. After around thirty minutes, the path then climbs briefly to a second saddle, from which it then descends to the edge of the Todra palmery, near the Camping l’Auberge Atlas.
View Larger Map
Majorelle Garden The jewel glow of Marrakech
Montreal 13/12/10- A Canadian journalist seems fail to resist the charm of the imperial city Marrakesh and the "wonderful garden Majorelle" she describes it as "a mystical place with plants from all five continents " "And as to stay in Marrakesh, we'll have a look at the wonderful Majorelle garden, luxurious jewel of the city, with its almost mystical place plants from five continents, including 400 varieties of palm trees and 1800 varieties of cacti, eleven pools, chiseled kiosks Moorish, etc.,
"Odile Tremblay wrote in an article entitled" Caftans, Cinema and Garden, "published by the newspaper" Le Devoir "in its weekend edition. "We entered Majorelle by the street newly renamed Yves Saint Laurent. cinders of giant's fashion lie between banana and bamboo, in a memorial monument, topped by a Roman column, '"says the author who made the trip to the Red City to attend the tenth edition Festival International du Film de Marrakech (Marrakech International Film Festival). "The garden opens onto a small museum with the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent and Morocco. We see dresses inspired from the outfits of the country, some already Admired in 2008 at the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent Museum of Fine Arts Montreal, "says Canadian journalist.
"Caftans, djellabas, buntings are reinvested by the couturier, with wonderful colors of Morocco: saffron, ocher, plum, ruby, turquoise, etc..,transfigured on fabrics by a touch of genius, "she added,stating that "the most touching part of this exhibition consists of manuscripts of an album of Peter Berger's that he and Saint Laurent had with Marrakech and the country. " "Written words are mixed with photos, drawings of the designer, while snakes and arabesques (...)", continues the author.
Returning to the Festival of Marrakech, the author believes that "the press is in Marrakech for film stars, who march every night on the red carpet " referring to "the international competition of feature films, good degree, composed of many earlier films."
"Funniest then that festival of Marrakech, which celebrates this year its ten years. Stars on the fly: Scorsese, Coppola, John Malkovich, Harvey Keitel, Charlotte Rampling, Catherine Deneuve, Keenu Reeves the Dardenne brothers and all the elite of cinema, "writes the journalist.
Morocco's Climbing Goats
Goats on trees are found mostly only in Morocco. The goats climb them because they like to eat the fruit of the argan tree, which is similar to an olive. Farmers actually follow the herds of goats as they move from tree to tree. Not because it is so strange to see goats in trees and the farmers like to point and stare, but because the fruit of the tree has a nut inside, which the goats can't digest, so they spit it up or excrete it which the farmers collect. The nut contains 1-3 kernels, which can be ground to make argan oil used in cooking and cosmetics. This oil has been collected by the people of the region for hundreds of years, but like many wild and useful things these days, the argan tree is slowly disappearing due to over-harvesting for the tree's wood and overgrazing by goats.
As a result a group of people and organizations have banded together to try to save the tree. To do so one of the primary locations where the trees grow has been declared a biosphere preserve. It was also decided that by making the world aware of the oil, it's great taste and supposed anti-aging properties, would create a demand for it. However, the people who planned to market the oil could not envision people wanting to put an oil on their food or their face that was collected from goat excrement. As a result, a campaign is being led to ban grazing on the trees by goats during certain parts of the year to allow the fruit to ripen and fall off on its own. The fruit is then collected and turned into oil by oil cooperatives. So far, this arrangement seems to be working.
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