Enchanting, endearing and inspiring
Morocco, our first visit to this beautiful country. Because of the ancient connection between Morocco and Spain our desire was to meet this country. In our own house there are numerous Moorish style elements. In Morocco we could see all their creative and skilled craftsmanship to make carpets, clothing, carpentry, ceramics, leather products and forging. We were overwhelmed by the impressions. When visiting the medina in cities such as Fez and Marrakech, we did not get lost in the numerous little streets of these walled cities, we always found our way back to little palaces where we had our rooms. In Fez we missed the sultan’s room which was as in the 1001 night tale, because our friendly neighbor had been some seconds quicker with booking it. So we had the servants’ room, which was not bad at all. Luckily we enjoyed with the lovely neighbor some nice dishes in her spacious and majestic room.
We started in Tanger and our first visit was Chefchouan, the blue city. We got lost there several times. Turn right at the blue door on your left and other advice did not work out well in this completely blue city, we got completely lost in the end. Because of this we ended at Casa Hassan, ate fabulous food and had a very nice conversation with the owner named … Hassan. For more than 40 years he has run his restaurant with ecological food. During our long road trip we found a lot of ecologically produced food. I think also because of this we felt totally at home during our visit to this magnificent country.
After Chefchouan on our way to Fez we visited the ecological farm of Saleheddine. He gave us a great tour around his finca, we even helped with the harvest of his olives. We had nice conversations about our goals, in terms of agro farming and agritourism. Because we were on a sort of time schedule, yes even then, we couldn’t stay for the meal which was unfortunate. We love the tajine dishes, the couscous and other delicious and nutritious meals. All with of lot of vegetables and of course sheep and goat meat.
Our way to the next stop Midelt and later on to Agoudal was for the most part through the ‘haute Atlas’ the ridge of mountains with beautiful sights. Only possible to do this with a 4×4 Jeep and good driving skills next to good preparation of the route and possible diversions. Nevertheless we got lost in a valley, a beautiful spot on mother Earth. Luckily for us there was, also like in other parts of our route, a family of nomads who helped us out and we could continue our traveling. During our whole trip in Morocco we only have seen 10 other foreign cars. Foreigners are rare, especially in the small remote villages. So people were waving all the time as we passed and we always waved back, our hearts got filled with joy and tenderness for these lovely people.
Before we went to Morocco we had been told that Moroccan people can be very hospitable. Indeed, we experienced a land full of hospitable people, now and then I squeezed my arm to determine if I was awake or not. They invited us to their homes and the whole family gathered to take part in the conversations. They offered us the famous Moroccan Whiskey, which is of course their mint tea:). Drinking mint tea with a lot of sugar is a kind of tradition for the people. They were very interested, good listeners, and were so happy that we were visitors in their homes. Next time we certainly don’t need to book our stays, they all want us to come back and stay in their homes. So, as a result, because of exchanging our numbers, we are still in contact and I am pretty sure once some of them will visit us at our finca.
During our trip we were welcomed everywhere. The man working on the street, the children and mothers on the land, the truck driver, the man with the mule, name it. Nearly everybody. And when we needed help, for example when we had problems finding our palace to stay in Marrakech, my husband entered a barber shop, the guy jumped on his scooter and guided us. Next day we visited him to have a haircut, my hair appeared to be Moroccan hair and my hubbies’ typical Dutch hair. The barber’s impression, we can live with that.
So, this was our first visit to Morocco, but definitely not our last visit. We simply love the people, the land and the atmosphere. Because of us speaking fluent French we learned a lot and could really have nice conversations with the people, a lot of them speak French. I am even thinking of learning Arabic, no matter how long it will take me. Speaking the language of the people opens the doors to the hearts.
Living there would not be possible for us, because there is less freedom. For us freedom is very important, that is why we named our finca Finca Libertad. And the differences between men and woman are not insurmountable for me, I like to dress the way I prefer. And our craftsmanship of making artisanal products like our natural wine, we couldn’t opt out of it. I could not imagine never enjoying wine, limoncello, whiskey or other nice drinks. We think that is why they use a lot of sugar in their tea and in their food as well.
Sukran Morocco, we love the influence you had in Spain, one of the reasons we visited you.
Hataa almarat alqadima, See you next time. Hmm, sounds pretty complicated 🤔
Enjoy meals, good drinks and most important, good people.
A warm hug, a abrazo fuerte,
Mónica