morocco

Morocco

We have been talking about going to Morocco for awhile now.  It is warm, has lots of outdoor child appropriate activities and isn't far from where we live.  We just never made it there.  It ended up being the last and perfect addition to to our month long adventure.  Simon started looking into transportation and found out that many Europeans rent their own cars.  He was convinced this was the way to do the trip.  He then convinced me, but honestly I was still very nervous about a road trip through Morocco.  There was never a reason to worry.  This country is set up so well for visitors.  The only place that it got really exciting on the road was in the cities.  Let's just say people don't stay in their lanes or give any indication that they are going to be turning.  I am a terrible navigator (just ask Simon) and I successfully got us everywhere we needed to go, without a GPS system.  Anyway, we flew into Marrakech and spent a few days there before getting the car and moving on. 

Marrakech

We stayed in a couple of riads.  A riad is a traditional Moroccan house with an inside courtyard like the one below.  They are to help keep the houses cooler in the summer.  It was the only place that we stayed in riads and we thought it was a great experience. 

Ali Ben Youssef Medersa

This was an Islamic college and as some beautiful architecture. 

The kids in one of the dorms rooms across the courtyard from Simon.

The Moroccan markets are something special.  Most of what is sold are handmade goods.  We spent a fair amount of time wandering through them.  It is just too bad that I didn't have a good way to bring home more.

Koutoubia Mosque

Different nuts and dried fruits being sold at the Djemaa el Fna market.  We ate there every night.  The kids "new" foods for Morroco were couscous and tangines.  Luckily for us, they loved it!

After Marrakech, we headed over the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate.  The following day we spent looking at Kasbahs.  It is a type of old Islamic fortress or city.  

Ait Benhaddou

This place was seriously impressive.  We were able to wandering through it and kind of get a feeling of what it was like to live here.  This is also where many movies have been filmed.

Kasbah Amerdil

This was much smaller, but very impressive.  I love that my kids love each other.

I really liked the detail on this one.  We got to wander through and explain to the kids how people use to live here and what their life must of been like.

My handsome boys!

On the road again.  This is what a long stretch of our drive looked like.  Our kids were road warriors.  They did great with the long stretches.

After the day of kasbahs we spent the night at a charming little place in Dades Gorge.

Kasbah in Dades Gorge

rock formations in Dades Gorge

The next day we headed to the Sahara desert, but made a stop at Todra Gorge to break things up.  I love these palmeraies against the red rock.

Sweet little road tripper!