Wowie! What a beautiful country, beautiful Morocco. Much like California in many ways… if you haven’t already sensed it, there’s a big trend with me trying to find places and beaches that remind me of my gorgeous home <3
After one perfect week of waves in Taghazout (blog post coming soon!), I decided to skip a flat spell in the Atlantic and make my way over to Morocco’s Sahara desert and stunning Atlas Mountains. I booked a tour through a mate in my hostel which made me feel more comfortable about the guide and experience as a whole since it was my first time solo traveling in the African continent!
To get to the tour, I had to first get to Marrakech, which is only three hours driving but becomes a little more intimidating when I don’t speak French or Arabic and am just a white girl on her own… after hopping on the local bus to the closest city of Agadir, getting a taxi, and booking a three hour ride to Marrakech, I just barely made it the ten minute walk without being too harassed and landed at Mosaic Hostel Marrakech. This was also a recommendation from a hostel mate— I would definitely recommend getting as many tips and suggestions as possible before coming to Marrakech because it is an *extremely* chaotic place. For example, the second I stepped out of my hostel just to make a hopeful 15 minute lap round the Medina (marketplace) before sundown, I was arm in arm with a “neighbor.” He then whisked me awa6 ten minutes through the Medina’s winding alleyways to a beautiful view of the mosque, but then expected me to buy an overpriced product on the way out… I took the unfortunate opportunity to buy a bottle of amlou which is a tastier Moroccan version of almond butter (often peanut butter). Before you say you’re smarter than this and won’t be fooled by the touristic traps of Marrakech, just know everyone has a story — better to live it and laugh about it and hopefully your experience will be harmless like mine.
It was nice to return to the hostel away from all the merchants shouting at me and even touching me to lure me into their store. It’s super unfortunate that it’s such a touchy area with a disregard for personal space because it overwhelmed me and shortened what could have been a really culturally compelling visit. Mosaic Hostel was awesome, though, with super fast wifi, fun travelers, and a guitar, a rare commodity for me these days…
The next morning I was on the road with two Chilean brothers and a guide native to Merzouga, the Berber desert in southeast Morocco. Even though he’s Moroccan, Lahcen speaks so many languages and is notably fluent in Spanish, so of all places I didn’t expect to have a fully guided Spanish tour in North Africa!
The first day was so exciting for me! Just exploring the Berber villages along the way was already so incredible…. Ait Ben Haddou was a highlight as its where a lot of Egyptian/ Middle Eastern type movies have been filmed. The houses are built with adobe and have withstood time. We had the most incredible drive through the Atlas Mountains and gorgeous weather once we hit the Sahara, then watched the sunset over a nearby oasis, a hidden gem near the city of Ouarzazate. After three months in hostel beds and shared dorm rooms, I had the great fortune to have a hotel room to myself for a couple of nights which kinda hits different just to have a base level of privacy after so long… Overall, my tour was 120 euros for 3 nights and 3 days with most meals included, some super fun excursions, and everything else that I cover in this post. It was definitely worth it and would probably cost around the same even if we had rented a car with some friends and done it all on their own, SO if you make it to Morocco I’ll gladly put you in touch with my guy Lahcen so that you know it will be a perfect time.
Now for the sad, cold part: the next day, as we approached the dunes, it was like actually freezing (almost) with about 24 hours of rain. I did NOT have enough layers, nor even socks, to survive this intense weather event for me. I was very cold and sad and close to crying…. But then I bought the sweetest Moroccan zip up which I had been searching for the perfect one. I decided to forgo the dress up in traditional Berber attire because I may be a tourist but I’m not THAT touristy, please… after so so much driving and warming up in the van, we arrived at Merzouga just in time to hit the dunes for “sunset,” aka, the day becoming night in a cloudy sky.
Got some henna that says Katia in Arabic!
I know that the experience isn’t complete without that majestic pink/purple sky for sunset or sunrise, but sadly this was apparently the first downpour in 5 years on this edge of the Sahara, so I’m certain next time I find some dunes in North Africa (probably sooner than later…) it will be a glorious sight. Regardless, I was TWEAKING when we approached the bright orange/red dunes, which I might add are literally the exact color of my overly tanned skin hahaha. We brought out a snowboard to do some sand boarding, hopped on the back of a quad for some dune riding, and whirled past lines of camels just vibing in the desert. While the original plan was to camp in a canvas tent for the evening as the nomads would do, we ended up just having a candlelit dinner in the tent and riding back to the nearby hotel because of the exceptionally uncharacteristic cold weather and rain. Just to clarify, I wanted to sleep in the canvas tent more than anything, but none of my group was down and me being alone in the desert would be too much paranoia to get a wink of sleep….
The next morning was our glorious camel ride for a nonexistent sunrise, but man what a time to be alive! Might I add, there are actually no real CAMELS in any of Africa, since camels have two humps but the animals in Africa are dromidaries with only one hump. I myself was pretty clumsy stepping around the dunes so I was very scared my clumsy camel might lose his footing in the wet sand but we made it in one piece with many fun selfies to share.
The rest of the tour goes with a lot, lot of driving and eating too much Moroccan bread and tajine, but also some awesome sights along the way (snow covered Atlas Mountains! Wintery Berber villages! And live traditional Berber music!) It wouldn’t be a trip in Africa without some road troubles, which for us was a rock that slammed into the back window and shattered the glass hahaha.
Moroccan spices! A desert oasis! A beautiful hotel :)
When we finally made it back to Marrakesh after probably 20 hours of driving on the whole journey, I was super nervous to be dropped off because the city was still so chaotic. I got to visit some central gardens with my new Morocco friends from the tour, but I was in disbelief when they got questioned by the police about why we were together… apparently, you can’t really befriend or spend time with a foreigner without a tour guide license. This made me super mad and I feel like it was so nosy of the police to ask about our relationship to each other, though I understand that there are cultural differences like this and this is why we travel <3 The last bit of the tour, our guide generously showed us around the center square and past the main, glorious mosque (you cannot enter any mosques in Morocco if you are not Muslim ! More you know!). It was much better to walk with someone by my side because I was less of a target than when I walk the alleyways alone. We even walked to a fancy hotel that’s a traditional riad (like a homestay) with the most stunning artwork and architecture.
That basically ended my stay in Marrakech and the desert, but I was very at peace to return to the beach after so many people and sounds and smells and chaotic energy. Everyone says you don’t have to go out of your way to see Marrakech, and I would agree— great for a stopover to observe the culture and energy there, but after a day you understand what it’s about and you can move forward to somewhere a little cheaper and calmer.
