Marrakech, Morocco.

Our first stop after leaving Tenerife, was Morocco. The cruise port is in Casablanca which is the commercial sector so to get to know the culture, we had to take a three hour drive to Marrakech.

Ready for nighttime activities.

Posing with Canadians, Silvie and Martin and our wonderful driver Kalil.

The landscape on the trip wasn't all that great as the country had just recovered from an eight year drought. Luckily they have desalinization for human consumption so it's really the farm lands that suffered.

However we saw lots of shepherds protecting their sheep as they tried to find something to eat in the dry areas.

The desert-like appearance in certain areas , many movies requiring that type of background have used that section of the world.

In the better irrigated sections we saw huge expanses of mint farms, citrus orchards etc.

We also got to see the Atlas mountains from various angles.

Last year they had a devastating earthquake in that section of Morocco which killed some five thousand people.

Marrakech, once known as the red city because of the soul and the buildings that took on the color of the environment was founded around 1070 by Berbers from the adjoining Saraha Desert. 

Most of the population is Sunni Muslim but today every religion exist there in peace. (We were told that our lovable Morgan Freeman has become a Muslim and lives there now.)

As a result of its long existence. You find the oldest Sunni mosque and even one of the oldest boarding schools in the world.

At the school students from as young as fourteen came to study the sciences.

This school/mosque is Medersa Ben Yousef.

The old grand bazaar area and food offerings are traditional Moroccan, whereas you see lots of modern food chains in Casablanca.

The traditional meals are only super delicious.

On our way

With our guide

The offerings in the bazaar are colorful 

Inside sections of Medersa Ben Yousef 

The roof of Medersa Ben Yousef, built 1665, of was made from cedar.
That's still going strong.

Inside the mosque.

The wash basin in background is for ablution before prayers.

The original marble and wood walls

A lady makes argan products from the nut

 The present King, Mohammed V1 is of the Alawi dynasty.

If you get tired of walking through the huge bazaar you can always hire a carriage.

These men sell water they keep in the container made from goat's skin. They ring a bell so you can locate them.

The oldest mosque in old Maracech was built in the 11th century.

Color coding is big in Morocco. Cabs in Marakech are yellow. In Casablanca they are red.

Orange orchard springs up after the eight year drought.

Food stalls are so well laid out

Date palms

Our driver got a speeding ticket.
Poor fellow. It was Ramadan and he couldn't eat anything until sundown. As he saw the sun going down., he took out his sandwich and broke his fast.

That pyramid tabari keeps the meat warm

This very prickly Ceiba plant is common to S. America.

Inside the Secret garden.

Scooters ride in and out between pedestrians in the bazaar.

Snake charmer with Cobra

We went to hear an Italian tenor on our return to the ship. He was quite good.
 

And then we went to party.

Posing with the water sellers.

Making argan oils from the nut

Didn't really expect to see a Mexican Cantina in Morocco!🤔

On the whole we had an interesting day in Morocco. 

Tomorrow we hit Valencia, Spain.

Some pics supplied by Kadi, Sonja, Michelle and Camille.