• Africa,  Morocco

    Once upon a time, a Sultan…

    Once upon a time, a Moroccan Sultan was murdered as he was planning an alliance against the Ottomans (the Turkish Empire). His son, Abdallah al-Ghalib, took over and was planning to eliminate his own brothers too, so they had to run away under protection of the Ottoman Empire, their names were Al-Malik and Al-Mansur. After 17 years al Ghalib died and his son Abdallah Mohammed took over the power. His sultanate only lasted for 2 years as his uncle al-Malik returned with the help of Ottoman forces and conquered the Moroccan throne. Mohammed was feeling lost but he wasn’t going to give up on the throne so easily! So he went…

  • Africa,  Morocco

    Marrakech – Jemaa El Fna

    What a vibrant square, Jemaa El Fna! At day light there are a considerable amount of orange stalls to choose from, acrobatics, fortune tellers, henna painters, little monkeys, snake charmers, people walking trying to sell you glasses, mobile phones, paints, …; people who just wonder and people who just stare and if you are lucky you will also find a man who uses a scale to make his business (bless him!). One of the best ways to observe the square is to find a seat in one of the many panoramic restaurants around the square… and well, we are hungry! We entered a busy one, called Snack N’Zaha and climbed to…

  • Africa,  Morocco

    Souks, the Art of Bargaining

    Michael grabs my arm to push me to the side. I turn around and the motorbike speeds so close to us, I could actually smell the sweat of the driver. The streets in the Souks couldn’t be any smaller and despite some signs forbidding the traffic of motorbikes and cyclists, the rule doesn’t seem to apply to Moroccans. I think if cars could fit, they would drive short cuts through the souks too. You even find donkeys walking these alleyways, with or without carriages, stocked up as high as it is possible to balance. Lorena, our host in the first Riad, said she has been  knocked down a few times on these streets. Gotta…

  • Africa,  Morocco

    Riad: heaven in a chaotic city!

    Hmmm… my taste buds are happy with the warmth of this fresh home-made moroccan bread. All the hassle from last night is forgotten and we are looking forward to exploring the streets, but first we walk around the Riad… Why should you stay in a Riad whilst visiting Marrakech? What’s so magic about it?! … Our first Riad is called Dar Eliane, right in the middle of the souks and near the fruit market. 10 minutes walking distance from the main square Jemaa El-Fna. Despite being difficult to find at first, it has a very central location in the Medina. Our host was lovely Lorena, she is spanish and also speaks…

  • Africa,  Morocco

    Marrakech – we arrived! HELP!

    – Follow me!!! – But the taxi driver said to turn right… – No no, your hotel is this way! We look at each other, the taxi driver didn’t quite know where was the Riad but refused to let us go when we said we would find another driver and acted like he knew. Then dropped us here and told us to turn right at the end of this street. Now this tall man, dressed with a long dirty vest, came out of nowhere, literally grabbed the paper with the address of the Riad from our hands and started showing us the way to the left… It’s night time, the…