Travel Notes: Cultural encounters in Morocco

After driving a camel in Egypt three years in the past, I stated by no means once more. Then I discovered myself astride a camel throughout a latest journey to Morocco. To my shock, it proved a a lot better expertise.

The Morocco camels had been smaller and nicer (no less than they didn’t spit). I sat on an oval-doughnut, padded-top saddle over the camel’s one hump — a particular enchancment over Egypt’s camel saddles. And our group’s trip over the Sahara desert sand was a clean stroll in comparison with Egypt’s rocky-sandy terrain. So possibly I’ll trip a camel once more…

That camel trip was one cultural expertise of many on my Road Scholar tour of Morocco.  My small group of 28 additionally stayed in a Sahara camp one night time and explored the fascinating medinas of Fes, Marrakesh and Chefchaouen. We gained perception into Morocco’s Sunni Muslim tradition and visited the one mosque of roughly 45,000 mosques in Morocco that enables non-Muslims to enter.

We realized about conventional tangine cooking and watched Berber ladies make couscous. We had the chance to ask them questions on their lives — they usually requested us about ours in return — by way of our information/interpreter. We additionally had glorious audio system in the course of the tour who addressed Morocco’s Arab and Berber (Amazigh) heritage and the historical past behind the nation’s constitutional monarchy.

Morocco is an intriguing nation hugging North Africa’s western shoulder.  It appears to be like north to Spain and Portugal throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In the third-largest metropolis of Tangier, we gazed simply 9 miles throughout the Strait of Gibraltar to see Spain.

Morocco was a protectorate (colony) of France and Spain from 1912-1956, so it additionally displays European affect, particularly in at the moment’s capital of Rabat. Interesting historic notice: Morocco was the primary nation to acknowledge the fledgling United States in 1777 by opening its ports to American ships, prone to beat back European threats. A proper diplomatic Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed in 1786.

Morocco’s medinas provide the perfect glimpse into the nation’s historical traditions and present trades. A medina is a medieval walled city, at the moment surrounded by a contemporary metropolis. The medina accommodates mosques, faculties, houses and souks — lined and open-air marketplaces. Here we walked by way of a labyrinth of streets and alleys to see an incredible array of spices, dates, greens, bread, meats, fish, materials, crafts and family items.

The Medina of Fes is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, courting again to the ninth century. It is without doubt one of the most intensive and greatest conserved medinas on the planet, with about 9,600 streets and alleys – probably the most important car-free space on the planet. We walked by way of amazingly slender alleyways and emerged right into a kaleidoscope of colourful avenue markets. One distinctive Fes commerce is leather-based processing and dyeing. We bought a birds-eye view of the tanneries’ dyeing vats after which browsed for stunning leather-based attire.

Marrakesh’s medina can be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, centered across the large Jemaa el-Fna sq.. At one facet is the landmark minaret of the Twelfth-century Koutoubia Mosque. The sq. bustles with souks promoting conventional textiles, pottery, crafts and jewellery. Colorfully dressed garrabs (water males) promote cups of water from their goat-skin luggage. But the legendary snake charmers are the spotlight, performing with cobras and different snakes for a payment.

Both Marrakesh and Fes had been as soon as capitals of Moroccan dynasties and at the moment are main cities. Chefchaouen within the Rif Mountains is a small hillside city with a quieter medina ascending steep cobbled lanes. Known because the “Blue City” for its blue-washed buildings, Chefchaouen additionally presents good mountain climbing within the surrounding hills.

Beyond medinas, my tour visited historic websites such because the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V and adjoining Twelfth-century Hassan Tower, the image of Rabat. In Marrakesh we toured the Nineteenth-century Bahia Palace, embellished with gorgeous stucco carvings and mosaic tiles. It was constructed by sultan’s grand vizir for his 4 wives and 24 concubines.

Near Fes, we explored the ruins of Volubilis, as soon as a big Roman metropolis between 40 and 285 AD. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Volubilis has exceptionally well-preserved mosaic flooring in home foundations, plus a basilica, temple and triumphal arch.

A cultural spotlight was the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts contained in the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh. It showcases greater than 600 conventional Berber artifacts, textiles and jewellery collected by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent, who lived there. This complemented what we realized on the tour: that 27-35% of Morocco’s inhabitants is formally Berber, out of greater than 38 million individuals whole. However, they name themselves Amazigh relatively than the European time period, Berber. 

Amazingly, the Amazigh had no written language till one was created in 2004. In 2011 Amazigh turned an official language of Morocco, together with Arabic. There are three dialects of Amazigh and greater than 100 Amazigh tribes in Morocco.

Two different particular experiences on this tour included a guided stroll by way of the Hassi Labied Oasis and driving over the High Atlas Mountains. The summit at Col du Tichka is 7,415 toes, with sweeping views.

Concluding our tour in Casa Blanca, we visited the Hassan II Mosque – inbuilt 1993 particularly as a mosque that non-Muslims can enter to raised perceive Islamic worship. It is the second-largest mosque in Africa and 14th largest on the planet. Built on Casa Blanca’s seawall overlooking the ocean, the mosque can accommodate 25,000 worshipers inside and 80,000 outdoors on its large plaza throughout non secular holidays.

— By Julie Gangler

Julie Gangler visited Morocco on the Road Scholar tour, Morocco: Melting Pot of Cultures. She is a contract author who has labored as a media relations marketing consultant for the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. She started her profession as a workers author at Sunset Magazine and later was the Alaska/Northwest correspondent for Travel Agent Magazine.