Morocco

I always pack light and do carry on only but my flight from Greece to Casablanca they made me check my main bag. No big deal normally except I arrived in Morocco but my bag did not. Apparently they didn’t unload the flights luggage before us so when we got on the plane it was still full of the past flights stuff. So instead of fixing it… Air Maroc decided to double down and leave our luggage sitting on the runway. 

I arrived late around 11pm already in Casablanca …. Tired, still sick with a fever and chest cold, and now I have basically none of my belongings. I exchanged some dollars for dirhams  (closed market money you can only get once you arrive) and snagged a $31 taxi with a 45 min ride to my hotel by the ocean. The traffic was wild and it seemed like no one used the lanes, motorbikes everywhere, and a lot of traffic for 11pm. Morocco was off to a rough start.

Finally not traveling solo, I met up with Camille who is a history teacher in New York for our first adventures in Morocco. The Casablanca boardwalk along the ocean was refreshing to lay out in 75 degrees versus over 100 like Albania and Greece prior. We swung by the mall and got a few clothes items as after multiple phone calls I still had no answer on when my bag would arrive. We would meet our hired driver for the week, Mosaab, early in the morning so my only hope was to go to the airport then and hope to get it.

My AirTag showed it had arrived so I was hopeful and after 3 layers of security I was reunited with my clothes and favorite Cotopaxi 42L travel bag. Things were looking up and we took off in our Toyota Land Cruiser with our driver who spoke 4-5 languages including Berber as we were going into the Desert. 

Our first stop after 4 hours was Essaouira which was a city by the sea where we stayed in an adorable riad in the Medina. We met with Hassan who gave us the history and highlights on a guided walking tour which was incredible. The sea breeze was strong. The fishing boats lined the harbor and the people were very friendly. Game of Thrones and other movies had been filmed here. Our guide set up a reserved table for sunset overlooking the castle walls with great views, amazing seafood, and live local music. 

Every day was 4-6 hours in the car as we were trying to see a lot in a small period of time. I was still struggling really bad with a chest cold that only got worse over the past 2 weeks (I picked it up in Albania I think). Luckily we stopped by a pharmacy and Camille used empty of her French skills to get me antibiotics (yes over the counter – unlike US or Europe). For $20 I had Tylenol, cough syrup, throat spray and 3 days of antibiotics to mend me back. 

Agadir was a coastal city with a nice sea port to walk around for lunch and grab a coffee. Camille got a pair of “real” sunglasses made in Italy for $3 on the boardwalk. Then we went inland where things heated up. Literally. 

The Dades Gorges place was a cool area of rock formations like out west in Utah similar to Bryce Canyon. I stayed in a place that was a little oasis in the desert that was like a huge courtyard with a swimming pool and big garden almost like a jungle which was wild in the middle of the desert.

Since there was so many plants and things there was a ton of bugs. Had to kill a bunch of huge cockroaches and there was a bunch of geckos (which Camille hates) inside the room. I was still dying from my cold and couldn’t taste anything but was starting to feel a little better.

Sahara Desert was incredible. After a long drive we arrived to our hotel right at the edge of the Sahara Desert around 4pm and we were the only one around. We got in the pool and soon found out a storm was coming so we swam and watching a crazy wind storm with rain and thunder roll in. We were supposed to go on a camel ride at sunset but it was crazy wind so we thought we were going to our tent but the car stops and we get out and a man is waiting with 2 camels.

We held on as the camel bucks you forward and backward to get up and we kept going all alone riding across the desert for over an hour. It was near 115 degrees still and stopping to get a drink of our water the water was so hot it was literally like tea.

We arrived to a camp and we were literally the only ones there. We showered the dust and sand off us and went to dinner where it was still just us in a huge tent. The cooks then came out and started playing drums in local traditional music to us as a personal concert. Soon we were being taught to play the drums as well as dancing. He then broke out into a Shakira song. 

We realized why we were the only one in the tent as it was still over 100 degrees and it was so windy outside we couldn’t open up the tent for any air. So we opted to go back to the hotel with air conditioning so the driver took us in the dark in an SUV back across the Sahara desert in a wild ride over dunes which was really fun. The desert was incredible to see. I walked out for sunrise in the morning into the dunes and enjoyed some peace and solitude before we headed to the chaotic city of Marrakesh with its busy maze of markets.

Marrakesh was the last stop on our Moroccan adventure and it is a lively city with a huge market of anything and everything. We started it off with a full day guided walking tour with a guy named Nabil Etber who happens to work on some guiding for National Geographic so that was pretty cool. Without him, Marrakesh is an absolute maze of a place to get lost in and many tourists fall into the trap of locals telling them to “go this way” and they follow them then they demand money for helping them. The locals were great, the history interesting, and the weather of course still very hot.

I got my haircut and a straight razor shave from a really nice guy who had to hurry up and finish because he was about to miss the call to prayer but did a nice job.

The photography museum with some really talented photographers. We also went to the secret garden. The owner would bring people to this secret garden, drug them like mushrooms and convince them to support him in all different kinds of ways.

We also visited the Quran school. It was really beautiful and only the top few students get the rooms with the views you can see in the photo. The others get small rooms without a good view so it pays to be the top student after all! Above is the photo of my new haircut and close razor shave.

The desert was incredibly hot but amazing to see and walk around.