MARRAKECH AND THE SAHARA DESERT
The bigger the bias against a place, the more you’ll end up loving it once that place proves you wrong.
Before I get into the details of my trip I wanted to start the blog post by sharing the thoughts or concerns I had when I was planning my visit to Morocco. It was meant to be a solo trip until I realized inviting someone was practically the same cost since tours and hotel rooms are the same price for one or for two. That’s when I decided to invite my mom. Not a solo trip anymore but still an all female trip to a country that is known for giving women a lot of unwanted attention. To keep it short, all I’ll say is that Moroccan people, men and women, are one of the most welcoming and nice people I’ve met when traveling. Sure, men will give you compliments when you walk around the Medina. Yes, compliments. Notice I didn’t say catcalling, which in my opinion is way way way worse in Miami than in Morocco.
Let me get into the trip now.
I planned a 6 day visit to Morocco and to tell you the truth it should have been at least a 9 day visit since I missed a few places I really wanted to visit. My trip started in Marrakech where we stayed for 3 days. One of the highlights of my visit were the Riads. They are small boutique hotels which used to be private houses. They are located in the middle of the Medina which means you can’t get there by car. A taxi will take you to the entrance of the Medina and then someone from the hotel will pick you up and take you to the Riad through a street labyrinth. The riads book fast so you really need to plan in advance and reserve your room.
Our first riad was Riad Chorfa.
All the riads are beautifully designed. Every corner has an accent piece. Not to mention the tiles, pillows and rugs. They are super cozy and you get to really know all the staff since there aren’t many rooms or guests. Breakfasts are always simple but more than enough. They are served in their patios or terraces where they have these little corners like the one in this pic.
The riads are located inside the medina which adds to their charm. The big and fancy hotels are all outside and to tell you the truth I visited a couple and fancy and all, I wouldn’t change a riad for a 5 star hotel.
Like the other riads, Riad Chorfa had a beautiful pool and a cozy terrace with views to the city. The terraces are specially haunting when you can hear the call to prayer.
I really wanted to chill during this trip so I decided I wasn’t gonna record anything to make a video afterwards but I did record Instagram stories. Although the quality is not the best (in part because I went trough a weird “let me make my videos look vintage” phase) at least you can see how the riad looked like.
Riad Chorfa wasn’t expensive at all. Prices change depending on the season. I went in August and it was $60 a night. You can check their website and book a room here.
As I already mentioned, one of the best parts of the riads are their location. Since they are inside the medina you just need to walk 5 minutes and you’ll be in the souks where you’ll spend hours and hours shopping. They’ll give you a map at the hotel but don’t even bother, streets have no names and it’s like being inside a labyrinth. You will get lost for sure but people are very kind and they’ll help you get back to your riad.
My favorite souks were the ones specialized in dyed clothes and spices. I can’t really tell you how I ended there or how I found them because I don’t even know myself. Of course, you can always pay a guide who will take you through the souk but I always find it annoying since they won’t have the patience of waiting 1hour in the same store while you decide if you want a rug or not. And believe me, you are gonna wanna spend hours or even days wandering around the stores.
Silver and copper are also huge in Morocco. And if you are a rafia lover like me, make sure you bring an empty suitcase to fill it with bags, hats and other house decor items.
To take a break from all the shopping you can go visit the Palais de la Bahia. It’s also inside the Medina and the ticket to get in is around $15. It is considered one of the grand palaces of the Moroccan city of Marrakech. The palace houses many rooms with impressive ceilings, floors and beautiful outdoor areas. The palais was built for the personal use the Sultan’s vizier who named the Palace “Bahia” after one of his 4 wives. All of them lived at the Palace together with his other 24 concubines.
Try to go early in the morning since the place will be packed with tourists after 12pm.
Inside the Medina, you’ll also find the main square “Jemaa El Fna”. During the day is pretty quiet but it is the main attraction at night. Definitely try to have ‘escargots’ for diner if you go there. Here’s another Instagram highlight I recovered so that you can see the place poppin’.
For our second night we decided to try another riad, Riad BE. I hope I am able to communicate with words how amazing this guest house is. The design, the pool, the terrace, the staff… I strongly suggest you book your stay at this riad if you travel to Marrakech. They have two separate locations. The main riad has two pools and several rooms and when you get there this is how they will welcome you:
The common areas are so beautiful that you’ll be tempted to just stay in instead of visiting the city! They only have a few rooms so the place is never crowded. Plus, with two pools, there’s enough space to spread out and chill.
If the pools and chill areas weren’t enough, their terrace and all its corners will convince you to stay there. We had breakfast every morning in one of the terraces and it was the best way to start the day. But let me show you with pics.
We stayed in the main riad for 2 nights and then we moved to the private one, which is just 5 minutes away. Every morning a very nice woman would come to cook us breakfast. To me, the private riad was the best located since it was already in the middle of a souk.
Here’s a small Instagram highlight I had for the private riad.
To add to the relaxation of chillin’ at the riad and shopping at the souks we decided to visit the spa at La Mamounia, one of the most expensive hotels in Africa. Although the hotel is impressive I can’t stress enough how much better the riads are, for a lot less money. The only reason we went to the hotel was to go to their spa to get a massage. And yes, the spa is worth it.
Another place worth visiting if you are into fashion and designers is the YSL museum. Not many people know that Yves Saint Laurent was born in Algeria. He used to travel a lot to Marrakech and he even got a house there. In his own words: “In Morocco, I realized that the range of colors I use was that of the zelliges, zouacs, djellabas and caftans. The boldness seen since then in my work, I owe to this country, to its forceful harmonies, to its audacious combinations, to the fervor of its creativity. This culture became mine, but I wasn’t satisfied with absorbing it; I took, transformed and adapted it,” . The museum has a stunning private collection of some of the designer’s dresses. Recording is not allowed inside so I can’t show you the collection but it was stunning. The architecture wasn’t bad either. I loved how they combined a contemporary design but without losing the moroccan flavour and colors.
The museum is very small so to make the visit worth it you should definitely combine it with the Jardins Majorelle which are just around the corner from the museum. In 1980, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, purchased the Jardin Majorelle to save it from destruction at the hands of hotel developers. If you love cacti, you’ll love the gardens.
During our stay we took a day to visit Casablanca. It’s a 3h drive so the visit will take you the entire day. Once in Casablanca we visited Rick’s Cafe of course but the main purpose of the trip was to visit the Hassan II Mosque which is the second largest mosque in Africa.
Like most of the places in Morocco, the mosque gets busy after 12pm to I’d suggest you visit it before that if, like me, you like to take pics with no people around.
After a few packed days in Marrakech we went on a 3 day road trip to the Sahara desert. It is a long trip but it is definitely worth it. Here’s my advice though. When you do your research to see which company are you gonna book the tour with you’ll see that prices are significantly different from one company to the other. Do book the luxury ones in this case because your experience will not be the same if you have to travel in a van with no AC for 6h a day with 20 people more. Or sleep in a small tent with no beds. Those companies will offer you a tour for $200 but it will be a nightmare. I decided to book one of the luxury tour companies, Desert Luxury Camp. We had a private driver and an SUV with AC just for ourselves. We spent one night at a beautiful hotel and another night at an amazing camp in the middle of the Sahara with big tents with two beds. It was around $800.
Our first quick stop of the trip was to see women making pure argan oil.
After a few hours driving through the Atlas mountains we stopped at Todra Gorge, a spectacular gash in the hills where many people camp.
From the gorge we walked around with our guide until we arrived to a berber’s family house. There they showed us how they make rugs and of course tried to sell us some. We also enjoyed their famous mint tee with them.
The next stop of the first day was AitBenHaddou where we walked around the Kasbah. Funny enough, the main job of most of the people around the town is working as extras for movies! Gladiator, Babel, The Mummy and Game of Thrones are just a few of the movies and shows that have been shot in the region of Ouarzazate.
Because our trip happened in August and it was extremely hot instead of spending two nights in the desert camp we stayed the first night at a hotel that you can see in the video at the end of the post. In the morning, we started our journey towards the Sahara desert encountering more and more camels along the way.
After a really fun and bumpy ride through the dunes we got to the camp where the berber manager was waiting for us to show us around. To my surprise the tents are named after zodiac signs and if you know me you know that won my heart immediately. In the last video you’ll be able to see the tents from the inside but let me show you first a couple of pics of the camp in general.
Right before the sunset we headed off into the dunes on top of a camel to see how the desert changes its colors as the sun sets. But first, of course, the pic with the hijab I was secretly waiting for since I booked the trip.
After riding the camel for about 30 minutes we decided to stop and sit on the dunes to enjoy the most amazing sunset I’ve ever seen. A spectacle.
After the sunset we went back to the camp where diner was waiting for us. It was by far the best meal I had during my stay in Morocco. Right after diner the staff at the camp gathered us together around a fire to dance and sing. But my favourite part was right when the party was over and my mom and I were about to go back to the tent. The manager asked the staff to turn off every single light in the camp and told my mom and I to follow him into the dunes. We totally freaked out of course because it was pitch black and my dad had traumatized us by telling us to watch out for scorpions and cobras. So that was all I could think. The manager told us not to worry and we went deeper and deeper into the dunes holding his hand because we couldn’t see anything at all. He asked us to lay down and to look at the sky and all of a sudden I forgot about the scorpions. I have never seen in my life a starry sky like that, not even in Finland where I actually saw the northern lights. I was speechless for like 5 minutes. We stayed there for 30 minutes and if it wasn’t because we had an amazing tent I think I would have slept in the dunes!
The next morning I decided to wake up early to catch the sunrise and say goodbye to an amazing place and experience.
Here’s some Instagram stories I had that show a bit of the 3 day trip to the desert plus a few final videos that show the “couple” of things I brought back home from the trip.
