A Week in Marrakech- Part 2: Excursions and Activities

As much fun as it was exploring the Medina of Marrakech, haggling and shopping and sampling new Moroccan delicacies, we decided to plan a few excursions and activities that would help us experience all that Morocco has to offer.

ATV Excursion

We started with a 4-wheel ATV biking excursion through the palm groves in the desert.There was some interesting wildlife to see, such as goats, sheep and even a large cow, who was the boss of the road for a few minutes. Unfortunately it wouldn't have been safe for me to snap a photo while driving!
We took our first break on top of a hill with a fantastic view of the desert, the rolling hills and the Atlas Mountains.
Our next pit stop was at a home in a tiny Berber village. This house, made of mud, clay and grasses, is home to a lovely family who offered us spiced Moroccan tea and a local version of crepes, handmade in the outdoor stone oven depicted below.

Our bike guide serving hot, spiced tea.

Cooking Class at the Maison Arabe

The next day, we had arranged a cooking class at a gorgeous hotel in the center of town. We were part of a class of 9 students, and learned to make lamb tagine, Moroccan bread (which was delicious and tasted like a Thomas' English Muffin) and some vegetable side dishes.

Tagine cooking means letting meat cook slowly in a cone-shaped clay pot over the course of a few hours. While we let our lamb simmer, we took a walk to a local bakery. It was not your average bakery, however. This is the local oven. Women make their own bread dough at home, and bring it here to be baked. It saves families time and is convenient for those who do not have ovens in their own homes. The two men working at the bakery have to remember whose bread dough is whose, which must be a challenge!

Upon our return to the Maison Arabe, we had a chance to make our own bread. Instead of taking it to the local bakery, we cooked our dough in a cast-iron pan on the stove.


When our meal was finished, we were quite impressed with the flavor and texture of our food. Everything was delicious and we even received two clay tagines to bring home as gifts from our teacher!

Jardin Majorelle: Yves Saint Laurent's Vacation Home

Our next excursion was to the Jardin Majorelle, which was the private garden at the vacation home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berget. The gardens are beautiful, and stone walkways lead you through a maze of dozens of species of plants and cacti. It's a peaceful oasis and a relaxing place to spend the afternoon. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures inside the bright blue house, but a special exhibition was on, displaying some of Yves Saint Laurent's famous fashion designs which were inspired by his love for Morocco.

Palais Badii and Palais Bahia

Morocco has a few ancient palace's for visitors to explore. The first we visited was the Palais badii, which was literally next to our hotel. It's actually the ruins of the King of Morocco's Palace, constructed in 1598 and demolished in the 17th century.

These birds next all over the top of the palace.

Ancient steps, with the last few remaining beautiful tiles.

The view from the top: A Mosque, Moroccan homes, and satellite dishes.


Palais Bahia: A 19th century palace

The courtyard for the Kings' Concubines

A Week in Marrakech - Part 1

Koutoubia Mosque at sunset

Caroline and I just returned from Marrakech today and have decided that this trip requires epic amounts of blogging.  Not because it was the best trip we have been on, but because Marrakech was the destination least like any place we have even ever seen.  Today, I am going to write about the main highlights of Marrakech, while Caroline will put together another post shortly.  We will aim to put out a few more posts this week to cover all of the activities and so you can see all of the cool pictures we were able to take.

To start, we were a bit on edge before the trip even started because of all the civil unrest across North Africa and the Middle East.  I did a little research before we left (i.e. I Googled "Marrakech News") and found out that protests were planned for the day we were arriving.  A large youth movement was planning demonstrations in every major city to demand government reforms.  The protests were sanctioned by the government and only expected to last one day, but we were wary that they could escalate into a broader pro-democracy movement in Morocco.  The protesters were very clear however, that their aim was not to topple the monarchy, but only to seek policy reforms.

For those that do not know all the details (I didn't before this week), Morocco is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Mohammed VI.  While the legislative branch is democratically elected, the king has the power to dissolve the government at any time and has complete control over the military.  The monarchy is somewhat unique in that the King claims divine right as a direct descendent of the prophet Mohammed.  Despite this power, the country's political system has been relatively peaceful and the last time a King dissolved government was in 1965.

King Mohammed VI - Caroline Thinks he kind of looks like me, but I'll let you be the judge

So we arrived in Marrakech on Sunday, February 20, and as we rode in our taxi to the hotel, the city was eerily quiet.  There were many people in the streets but almost all the businesses were closed and buildings were shuttered.  Our driver, who also ran our hotel told us that the city was basically closed for the day due to the protests, but assured us that everything would be open again the next day.  Therefore, we spent the first evening at our hotel.  We ate dinner there and went to bed early.  A few of the other guests who had gone out during the day told us that the protests were very large and that there had been some violence and looting in town.  We went to bed hoping everything would be fine the next day.

The Hidden Beauty of Marrakech

Marrakech is a very old city, filled with tiny, winding streets. The old city, the Medina, is crowded with tourists and locals, children begging and street vendors. It can be an exhausting (and frankly, a pretty dirty) place to spend the day. Without stopping to take in the beauty hiding in every corner, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the apparent chaos and lack of cleanliness. We discovered, however, that beauty and inspiration were hiding behind every door....literally.

The Doors of Marrakech

Around every corner, we noticed that the doors in Marrakech are individually and ornately decorated, with no two doors ever looking alike. We found ourselves intrigued with these gorgeous gems all over the city.








Marrakech is also covered in fascinating ceramic tiles. Doors, walls, sidewalks and street signs, old palaces and new buildings display both simple and elaborate tile patterns adding extra charm to the city.

Tile Patterns in the Medina

Tiles in the King's Old Palace (Palais Bahia)

From the Palais El Badii (A destroyed palace next to our hotel)

Tile Patterns in our hotels