"Morocco" a Morocco Travel Page by SallyM

Our trip to Morrocco was based in Marrakesh.

The holiday had been booked in an attempt to escape from Christmas, had seemed to be succeeding, until one morning when I was enjoying a café au lait at one of the many cafes when I noticed some inflatable Santas being carried past.

We took a couple of trips out of Marrakesh during our stay. The first was to Essaouria, on the Atlantic coast. Our journey took us through different types of terrain, from the olive and orange groves on the outskirts of Marrakech, through an area of infertile, stony soil, to plantations of argan trees, a distant relative of the olive. This area is home to goats that climb trees (allegedly). A goat may well have climbed an argan tree in the past in order to escape from some perceived threat, but the tree-climbing goats are now so famous, they have no need to go to the effort of actually climbing. I am not sure who is the more exploited – the goats, who are unceremoniously thrust up into the trees by the goatherds, or the tourists, who present a captive market for the lucrative photo-opportunities as their tour buses halt by the roadside. I do not think that the goats suffer as a result of the practice. They just looked very bored. Argan trees eventually gave way to a ‘forest’ of Thuja trees, whose wood is used for carving by craftsmen in the town.

Our other trip was into the Atlas mountains, to the Ourika valley. We went on Christmas Eve, which was a Monday, the day of the weekly Berber souk. Approaching the souk, we first noticed the parking provision – a field for the donkeys. Parking for four-wheeled transport was in shorter supply, as there were a number of tourist minibuses and cars. On leaving, our driver had great difficulty in reversing among the vehicles, donkeys and sheep. As well as providing a weekly retail opportunity, the souk includes refreshment stalls, necessary because of the long journey to and from the villages in the mountains, and Berber barbers. From the goods on sale and the majority of those attending, it was an authentic Berber market, but it is also popular with tourists, and some of the stall holders were keen to be photographed in exchange for dirhams.