October 15 Itinerary: We travel back to Casablanca. The afternoon is free to explore until tonight’s Farewell Dinner.
Our accommodation: we’re back where we started, at the Kenzi Tower Hotel , one of my favourite stays of this trip.
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” is the last line of the film Casablanca. Rick and Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) walk across the tarmac of the aerodrome, away from the camera, and Bogart delivers the line to the unscrupulous Vichy Prefect of Police who “goes the way the wind blows”.
Has our visit to Morocco been the beginning of a beautiful friendship?
Well, of the 9 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country we visited 7: the Medina of Fez, the Medina of Marrakech, the Ksar/Kasbah of Ait-Ben-Haddou, the historic city of Meknes, the archeological site of Volubilis, the Medina of Essaouira, and the chared modern/historic heritag of Rabat.
We stood where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet.
We visited Berber rug weavers, silver jewellers, textile makers, a ceramic/pottery factory, a tannery, a fossil factory, a traditional pharmacy, and an argan cooperative, and learned about how the Moroccan King and government are supporting traditional handicrafts and rural tourism as one way of lifting poor, isolated, often rural families out of poverty.
We rode camels in the Sahara at sunrise!
We ate way too many tagines, olives, dates, and skewers of meat, and way too few pastillas and Berber breads.
We drank litres of hot mint tea (“Moroccan whiskey”)
We marvelled at intricately carved and inlaid cedar ceilings, complicated and colourful mosaic walls and floors, and gleaming tooled bronze doorways in royal palaces.
We heard the muezzin’s calls each day, and had the opportunity to see many beautiful spaces for prayer.
We learned about a very modern King who truly seems to have his nation and his people’s interests foremost in his mind. We witnessed firsthand a very welcoming and liberal society, that still seems to hold onto to best tenets of the Muslim faith.
We walked through a blue city.
We saw universities in big cities, and primary schools the mountains in tiny Berber villages, and learned about the ways in which education is being prioritized. We saw smiling children of both genders heading to and from school on foot and on bicycle.
We saw big cities and small villages, deserts and oases, dry river beds and water-carved gorges, oak and cedar forests, olive and date groves, banana plantations, and Moroccan clementine orchards.
We heard about women’s inclusion at all levels of government, including the very popular 3-term mayor of Marrakesh, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, a Moroccan lawyer and politician of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), who is currently also the Minister of National Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and Urban Policy.
We got an insight into the Moroccan film industry that was completely new to us.
We marvelled at the reality of a King who donated 100 million Euros of his personal wealth to earthquake relief, and had his government ministers each forfeit a month’s salary for the same. We were quite frankly awed at the pace of repairs going on. Although in the high mountains there are still families living in relief tents a month after the event, navigating the mountain roads gave us some insight into the challenges of effecting repairs quickly there.
We saw ultra modern buildings, in stark contrast to 11th century city walls.
We saw infrastrucure being built and improved, and forward-looking initiatives like huge solar power plants, innovative irrigation methods, and water desalination facilities being undertaken at a pace rarely seen in North America.
We saw tribal people still engaged in the same activities, and in much the same ways, as their ancestors a millennium ago, in some cases just dressed differently!
We communicated in French, English, sometimes Spanish, and occasionally hand signals, with friendly Moroccans everywhere we went.
Would we return? Probably not, given all the places in the world we haven’t seen yet, but there are certainly many locations in Morocco in which I wish we could have stayed longer than just a day.
Bottom line: it’s a country well worth visiting, but we’re ready to fly back to Canada tomorrow.
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
I’m late to this comment because I decided to “save” your Morocco trip to cheer me up on our return home from an incredible three weeks on Viking in the Mediterranean (Rome to Istanbul). Like many of your readers, I doubt I’ll ever get to Morocco, but feel much more informed about it after your coverage. I’m encouraged by the enlightened King’s projects and programs — even makes me question whether having a King might be a good idea for some countries. Trouble is, you can’t guarantee a good one –very clear after sailing through millenia of Greek, Roman and Ottoman history. It was also interesting to see the similarities and differences in the way Islamic structures are decorated across the entire span of Morocco to Istanbul. It was encouraging to see the freedom in head covering choices in both Istanbul and Marrakesh.
I also really appreciated your analysis and the peak into your finances for your recent and upcoming travels. The per day comparison is certainly the way to look at it. Getting home and facing the inevitable maintenance chores and small handyman projects (woman in this case) makes me question owning a home at this stage in our lives — but I doubt we’ll have the gumption to give it up. I’m glad it’s working well for you and your family. Looking forward to your Holland America trip to the Pacific.
Finally, thanks for the fashionable travel wear tips. I try too, but not as successfully! We did do this recent cruise in carryon, though and it works just fine on Viking Ocean.
Many, many thanks for your incredible coverage of the places you visit — Ted’s photos and your writing make it really feel as though we are along.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We love having you along! You’re certainly right about the concept of royalty/dictator – it only works if you have a good one. Same goes for us with democracy of course, but at least we can replace the bad ones every few years!
Glad you loved your cruise, and that it was not disrupted by the conflict/war.
We’re off to cruise the Rhine (carry-on of course for just 8 days) before we head to Hawaii with a full-sized suitcase. I’m appreciating even more Viking Ocean’s great laundry rooms when we look at laundry prices on other lines.
Enjoy the upcoming holiday season. We have much to be incredibly thankful for.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a memorable journey – magnificently documented!
This is a trip that I might actually be able to loose weight on!!
I’m in the process of figuring out how to document my upcoming 2024 Viking World Cruise out of LA. and I stumbled upon a Facebook feature called “REELS” that I found interesting. A one minute visual dynamic summary of the trip to show friends. Viking has them for many of their voyages. Here is the REEL for the 2024 Viking World Cruise out of LA (before all the already announced itinerary changes).
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1299579504010573
Keep up the good work of documenting your experiences…
Mel
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that!
LikeLike
Thank you again for doing such a wonderful job of showing and telling about your trip! You said in an earlier post that this would be your last Senior Discovery Tours trip. Do you still feel the same way?
LikeLike
Unfortunately, yes. We’ll likely do more group tours, but SD has lost our confidence and our business.
LikeLike
Wonderful! Have a safe trip home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome Home. I understand you e scheduled a round the world bus trip😂
ClayFollow and keep up with our retirement travel adventuresInstagram: @ClaynMikeTwitter: @RealClayClayton
<
div dir=”ltr”>
<
blockquote type=”cite”>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for taking me on your journey into a culture so vastly different from ours & yet similar in the way all humans need support from their community members & wide public education that will help lift the next generation out of poverty & also good, reliable health care . Experienced Morocco through your eyes, thank you……
LikeLike
Always glad to have you along!
LikeLike