Marrakech - city of storks

Last summer I was on the phone with my friend who was pondering if she should just have a party for her 40th birthday this year or should she take a small trip. Her birthday is in December right before Christmas so it would have to be a short journey and only for a few days. A long weekend type of trip. Well - we ended up in Marrakesh, Morocco. Not a short trip at all considering we were flying from Finland… But Morocco it was for me, my friend and her sister.

My first tip, if you are looking into visiting this part of the African continent, is to start booking your flights early. Guaranteed you’ll save a lot of money. Not just a few euros but hundreds. We managed to find very affordable flights with Lufthansa. Only downside of the flights was the connecting flights in Frankfurt. Nothing against Frankfurt the city but the airport… It is the demon of all airports. A lot of my friends’ stories involving missing their connecting flights, having flights cancelled, running from one terminal to another only to find out the gate has been changed yet to another terminal seem to happen at Frankfurt airport. So if you’re from Frankfurt - please do not get offended - it’s just the airport that sucks or it is in fact some kind of porthole to a dimension of airport hell.

So on the 18th of December we took off from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with a good amount of excitement splashed with a hint of delirium since none of us had slept for more than a couple of hours. Didn’t take long for us to start a little snoring party in the plane. Sorry for that. The flight from Helsinki to Frankfurt is only a couple hours so it went by very quickly. We started to head for the terminal where our flight to Marrakech would take off which - of course - was far away. This was the first time when we started to wonder if we would miss our flight back. We knew we would only have an hour to transfer… But we decided not to stress over it since we were only at the beginning of our tiny travel. We checked our gate from the board and after a bit of walking found the right one. Guess what? Nobody was there. Swear to all gods we pushed ourselves through a mass of people only to find out our gate was a ghost town. Naturally the gate had changed. So we walked back, checked the board at least three times and walked some more towards the new assigned gate. Luckily this time the gate number stayed the same.

The flight from Frankfurt to Marrakech takes a little less than 4 hours. Lufthansa offers meals and drinks with their flights but as we reserved the flights we weren’t able to make a choice in our meals. My friend and I are both vegetarians and this time we got lucky! Vegetarian ravioli and for airplane food it was rather tasty.

 First view of Marrakech

When we landed at Marrakech we were greeted by lovely warmth which for a sun loving Finn was heavenly. Nope, I’m still not a fan of winter and the cold. I’m trying to learn to live with it but it is really damn hard when you hate feeling cold. So you get out of the plane and walk into the fairly small airport and this is actually my second tip - go to the bathroom. Even if you think you do not have to go - do it. Because unlike in Europe where you exit the plane and fairly easily walk over to get your luggage, in Marrakech you fill in an entry card (they give these to you to fill in the plane but if for some reason you don’t get one or lose it there are desks as soon as you enter the airport where you can find one) and then you stand in a long line for a long time. There are several booths for these officials to check your entry cards and give you a stamp but it’s like when you go to bank - 30 counters but only 3 people working. And the pace of these people in the booths? Slow. They take their time. Even if three or four planes just landed and there are hundreds of people waiting in line. They. Take. Their. Time. So go to the toilet. Trust me. You’ll thank me later.

After you’ve received the stamp of approval aka entry stamp you may have to stand in line a bit again. You have to show the stamp to the guard before he lets you into the other section of the airport to pick up your luggage. Which is kind of funny since the guy stands right behind the booths where they give you the stamp. Our bags were waiting in a pretty neat row next to the conveyor belt. So hopefully you have a bag that’s easy to recognize from the sea of black suitcases. Another tip - mark it somehow…

We had arranged transport from the airport with our accommodation and that actually turned out to be a smart move. No doubt you’ll find a cab easily stepping out from the airport but I for one am not that eager to start dealing about the price after a pretty long day of traveling. Besides it wasn’t that expensive to arrange the transport from the hotel. We were greeted by a very polite youngish man who escorted us to the car (hooray for air conditioning!!) The traffic in Marrakech is insane. I don’t know if there are any rules that they follow or if it’s just who ever is the fastest or the the bravest to go first goes first - and then you just hope for the best. Doesn’t even matter how wide or narrow the road is or if it’s even a road. They drive fast. Except for the donkeys. Yes, in the middle of the busiest road or traffic there can be a guy riding a donkey wagon. But it was nice to look at the scenery and get a feel of how Marrakech looks like. My first impressions of Marrakech was warm and very terra-cotta. A lot of sand and well - just very different from Finland.

Our hotel, or riad to be exact, was located in Medina. Our driver drove near Mellah (an area in the Medina) to the corner of Rue De Berrima and our host from the riad, Philippe, was already there waiting for us . He greeted us with a very warm welcome and straight away explained to us that we would have to walk for a bit. But before that he explained the rules of the derbs, little alley-like streets. We should keep to the right because the derbs are narrow and you can never know if a moped or a donkey will try to get past you. He warned us that the traffic can be a little scary to people who aren’t used to it. I was trying to pay attention with all the turns we took walking down the derbs, but completely lost count. But suddenly we stopped in front of this thick brown wooden door that said ”Dar Alif”. I don’t know what ”Dar Alif” means but it could’ve meant a piece of heaven because that was what we found behind the door. 

The door to our home away from home.

The only derb with bumps :)

Dar Alif is a riad (which means a large traditional house built around a central courtyard) held by Philippe and Isabelle, a charming couple who I will always remember extremely fondly. The second Isabelle opened the door we felt overwhelmed with welcome. We were offered moroccan mint tea and Philippe explained us how moroccans like everything sweat. We were also offered little pastries with the tea. The tea was absolutely divine. Even though it was sweet, it was also very refreshing. I usually prefer coffee but after this trip I’ve been drinking tea! And I haven’t even missed coffee. We were also offered hot towels and boy were they hot. Awkward moment for Finns who didn’t know what to do with the towels :D We spent a good moment chatting with our hosts who told us they had bought the riad about a year ago. Before this they had lived in Tanzania and worked at a safari. So travel business was very familiar to them but of course now different because it is their own business. In Tanzania the Safari is owned by someone else. It is very apparent they take pride in their work and it is very important to them that the guest feels at home. ”You are now home”, they told us. I have never experienced such hospitality and if I were to travel to Marrakech again, I would definitely book to stay here. Philippe and Isabelle helped us with everything. They sell really good maps for 4€ (not a lot if you ask me) and gave excellent recommendations for places to see and where to eat etc. ”Anything you need help with just ask”, they said all the time. We were also given good tips on how to bargain and what say a taxi fare somewhere should cost and how to politely refuse an aggressive salesman. Very useful tips. Also if you stay longer than we did, they can help you with trips to the mountains or the desert. Things I would really love to do one day. So maybe my path will cross again with Philippe and Isabelle. I certainly hope so. When you arrive to your accommodation you have to fill in another form and this is where the stamp they give you at the airport gets interesting. In it you will find a number, Philippe explained, and that number will always stay the same. Meaning you come to Marrakech again, the number they stamp on your passport is the exact same one. This is how they keep track of you in their systems I guess. Considering how many travelers we saw at the airport I found this intriguing.

   

We were escorted to our room and shown around the house. At the roof top you could find a terrace where we were told the breakfast would also be served in the mornings. December isn’t the warmest month in Marrakech and it does get chilly in the evenings and early mornings so do pack a bit of warm clothes with you. Otherwise when it comes to clothing there are no rules for Europeans as for dress codes but I think you ought to dress appropriately and take into consideration that very revealing attire might not be very respectful. T-shirts, shorts, skirts etc. are fine. But as I mentioned the nights can be very cold so you should have proper clothes to keep you warm. We had read that the riads can be cold but I think our room was very warm and comfy to sleep in. There where moments when the humidity felt really cold but we had such warm beds that it didn’t matter. It might not be the same for other riads. Not all have heating or during summer air conditioning. We sat up on the roof for a moment and heard the prayers coming from the mosques around the city. It was like a chant and I have no idea what the prayer says. I actually started to find it soothing somehow and I have to say that after a day I didn’t even notice it that much. Philippe came up to chat with us for awhile and we were also offered some more tea. He explained to us that the mountains we could see from the terrace were the Atlas mountains. I thought to myself that I really need to get into good shape because a trip to hike at the mountains sounds like an awesome adventure. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Mountains ) But looking at the view from the roof top I can’t say Marrakech is a beautiful city. There’s a lot of construction, it’s built very tightly so you can only see the roofs of other buildings and it’s very brown. But it is full of life and that is what makes it interesting. I asked Philippe about how people react to photography and well - you have to be mindful of what you take pictures of. Locals might not react nicely into being photographed so I pretty much stuck to landscapes and taking just photographing the places we visited. 

Views and details from Dar Alif's roof top terrace.

Our first encounters with the storks.

Evening tea.

Because we had been traveling the whole day and we were all tired we decided we would have dinner at the hotel. I can highly recommend their food. In honesty the vegetarian tagine I had at the hotel was one of the best meals I had during the trip. All in all it was fairly easy to find vegetarian options in Morocco to enjoy. After the three course meal which cost around 20€ per person we were more than happy to sleep next to our full bellies. We slept like babies.

Next morning we woke up all refreshed and got ready for breakfast. One word to describe the breakfast: Yummm. Tea, fresh bread, home-made yoghurt, berries, honey, muffins, fresh orange juice, pancakes…. You could also get omelettes if you wanted. So honestly I can say you never left to spend your day hungry. Plus the staff at the hotel was absolutely charming. I regret I cannot remember her name but even though she spoke french and we really didn’t (well, one of us does a bit more than others but none of us are fluent speakers), we still managed to find an understanding. 

Because everything is so sweet you'll get uninvited friends at breakfast.

In the morning we got a better view of the storks.

On our arrival Philippe and Isabelle had given us tips on what to see and one place was called Jardin Majorelle. Isabelle came to see us off and showed us the way to get to place des Ferblantiers aka Bab Mellah. She also told us about Marrakech and why everything seems to be under construction and restored. The king, Mohammed VI, has decided he wants Marrakech to be the number one travel choice of Morocco for tourists in 2016 and so he’s started this grand plan of rebuilding. She took us to this cross section of streets and showed us where we could change currency if needed. There is a limited amount of currency you can bring in and take out of the country. We had been informed it was 1000MAD (= Moroccan dirham and this would be about 100€) but we did see a sign at the airport informing it’s actually 2000MAD so if traveling there, you might need to check this. So, from Bab Mellah we could get a taxi. We had been told it would not cost more than 50MAD and we should not pay more than that. So after a little discussion the driver finally gave up and that’s the exact amount we payed. The drive took about 10 minutes.

Jardin Majorelle is a garden founded by the a French orientalist painter, Jacques Majorelle. The garden is built around an artist’s studio that was built in 1931 in the Art Deco style. Majorelle commissioned the architect Paul Sinoir to design it and of course it is painted in ”Majorelle blue”. The plants in the garden are planted as a work of art. Some of the species are rare and they were collected during Majorelle’s world travels. Majorelle opened the garden to the public in 1947, but after his death in 1962, the place was abandoned. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought the Jardin Majorelle in 1980. Since then the garden was restored and also a museum dedicated to the Berber culture was opened in the painter’s studio. Nowadays you can find a bookstore and café and a small boutique there. After Yves Saint Laurent died in 2008, Pierre Bergé donated the Jardin Majorelle to a foundation. And at this time The Foundation Jardin Majorelle was established and a memorial was built for the French designer in the garden. There’s also a small gallery with Yves Saint Laurent’s work called The Love gallery. The garden might not look as beautiful and gorgeous during winter time but it is an interesting place to visit. The art deco style is very much visible and the museum for Berber culture was my favorite. Unfortunately photography inside the museum was not allowed. But the jewelry and clothing of the berbers were definitely worth seeing. The Berbers are the oldest people in North Africa and the museum holds a collection of over 600 objects. 

The memorial statue to Yves Saint Laurent. 

Art deco styled garden.

I tried to find out what kind of tree this is but couldn't find its name unfortunately. We saw it in many colors so if someone knows what it is, please send me a note :)

People had carved their names and messages on cactuses and bamboo in the garden.

Looks like a huge pineapple.

After visiting the garden we decided to walk back and my map reading skills got refreshed. I have a pretty good sense of direction and the map we bought from Dar Alif was gold. We stopped at a restaurant Philippe and Isabelle had recommended to us. The food was excellent. I had some vegetarian couscous and will have to try that dish at home. 

After a nice and fairly cheap lunch we walked to the market place Jemaa El Fna square and from there continued our way to a small palace called Bahia. It is also a place of gardens but also a good place to get to know some of Moroccan and Islamic architecture. It was built in the late 19th century and the name of place means ”brilliance” or ”the beautiful”. It was begun by the Grand Vizier Si Moussa and embellished by a slave turned vizier Abu ”Bou” Ahmed. He lived in the palace with his four wives and 24 concubines. The most spectacular room belonged to his favorite, Lalla Zineb. Though to me all the rooms looked pretty amazing so cannot tell which one was this particular room.

You walked through a garden towards the palace.

At first it didn't look like much of a palace.

But little by little its secrets started to unfold.

Now it looked like a palace. A lot of detail and decoration. I thought it was beautiful.

After a wonderful day of exploring the sights and having a nice lunch, we headed back to Dar Alif. If there’s yet another tip i can give you it’s do not wander into the debrs even with the map. It’s very confusing. And one advice we had been given was ”do not take direction from young people because you will get hustled”. So after almost making this mistake we headed back to the main road and found our way back to more familiar area fairly easy. The other good tip we had been given was that the Dar Alif was situated along the only derb that had speed bumps so once we had found our way back to that little alley we knew we were at the right place. After we had rested for awhile we decided to take an evening walk back to Jemaa El Fna and have a coffee at one of the café’s we had been told was nice. We sat at the panorama terrace of Café de France and took some photos of the square with it’s busy night life. We were a little hungry so it was time to find a restaurant. As luck would have it my friend saw this really cosy looking restaurant located across the street from the café, Le Marrakchi. The food was yet again super good and tasty. But what made the experience different was the live music played by a local three man band right behind us. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. And the price wasn’t too bad either. 

Jemaa El Fna at night.

After a day of sights and getting to know a very different culture it was time to rest in the peaceful arms of Dar Alif. It had been an eventful Saturday.

Sunday morning was yet filled with delicious breakfast and cool air up at roof top terrace. The warm mint tea warmed us up and we were ready to plan our exploration for the day. We decided to visit the El Badi Palace located very near to Dar Alif. We also planned to walk through the souks and come to visit the Saadien tombs later. Later that evening we would be having dinner in one of the finer places in Marrakech - Le Comptoir Darna. 

As someone who enjoys photography the El Badi Palace was a nice surprise since they also had a little photography exhibition in the palace. The MMP (Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts) had a wonderful display of works by Daido Moriyama, a japanese photographer. The palace itself was interesting enough but the exhibition was that little extra for me. We had learned on our first night that Marrakech is the city of storks. Before they used to migrate but now they have made Marrakech their permanent home. And El Badi Palace is one of the places they built their nests in. Of course you can see these gorgeous birds pretty much all around the city - just look up. But this palace is home to very many. They’ve built their nests in rows all around the wall. Some of the nests are strikingly huge.

Another palace. What is left of it.

Spot the butterfly.

Community of storks.

Huge nest.

City view.

The history of the palace El Badi, which means The incomparable palace in Arabic, starts from the year 1578 when its construction started. The build took about 25 years and was commissioned by Arab Saadian Sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur. The construction was funded by a substantial ransom paid by the Portuguese after the the battle of the Three Kings. The palace is one of the popular tourist sites today and is considered as a good display of  the Saadian periods craftsmanship. The decline of the palace happened after the fall of the Saadians and rise of the Alaouite dynasty. The palace was ripped of everything, building materials and decorations and they were used to build another palace in a new capital called Meknes for Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif. Today for a number of year the palace has been the place for the Marrakech Folklore Festival. 

The exhibition.

Another nest. 

To give you some perspective on how big the nests could be. 

After the palace we strolled yet again through the souks and politely shook our heads to the aggressive attempts of selling us this and that. The salesmen can sometimes be a little exhausting because they are so eager to make a deal and of course tourists are their main income. I never felt uncomfortable or scared in Marrakech, just occasionally overwhelmed and exhausted. You do also hear flirtatious comments and I did get a lot of comments about my tattoos because I have many and it’s not something the local women do. Unless it’s henna tattooing. I have to say the most aggressive ones trying to make a sale are the henna tattooers. Literally had to rip my arm off the hands of one woman who was desperately trying to get to draw on my hands. Finally I just had to yank my hand away and firmly walk away. She did not look happy. But other than that I have to say that the service in restaurants was extremely nice and warm and we did manage to find a shop where we could stroll around in peace and that’s where we ended up buying things from. Morocco is the producer of Argan oil and that’s something I did buy a little bottle of. It’s really nice to use on your skin and moisturizes very well. If we had had the time we might have taken up on Philippe’s offer on arranging a meet with a man who sells spices. But maybe next time. 

We had a little lunch at one of the café’s next to Jemaa El Fna and then continued via the shopping street Rue de Bab Agnaou towards the Saadien tombs. The tombs were located behind the El Mansour mosque. In Morocco you cannot enter the mosque unless you are a muslim. This is different from say Istanbul where you can visit the famous Blue Mosque. I should mention that even though Morocco is a muslim country, in Marrakech you can see muslims, jews and christians living in harmony. I thought there was something valuable there to learn from considering what is happening in the world. 

The Saadien Tombs also date back from the time of Sultan Ahmad Al-Mansur (1578-1603). The mausoleum holds the the graves of the sultan and his family. The most famous of the three rooms the mausoleum is composed of is the one with twelve colums. It is a work of architectural art and the stele is finely carved cedar wood and the columns are made of Italian marble. Outside in the garden you can see the graves of soldiers and servants. At the tombs we saw yet again a lot kittens. It occurred to me that we had seen a lot of stray cats but no dogs. In fact we had only seen a few dogs owned by people. Later Isabelle explained to us that in the Quran dogs are considered the same as the pig, somehow dirty, so that’s why there are almost no dogs in Marrakech. This also gave me, the owner of two dogs, an explanation of why back home sometimes Somalian women are terrified of my dogs. Which of course seems fairly silly to me, but I can understand if it derives from religion. I’ve found that most of the time not a lot of any religion make much sense to me but I can still have respect for someone’s beliefs. Cats on the other hand there are a lot of but alas no rats. Isabelle told us that every night people bring out the trash in front of their doors and during the night the trash is collected. If there were no cats thee most certainly would be a rat problem. After the trash is collected another man comes and sweeps the derbs. 

The main tomb.

Roses from the garden.

The graves of servants and soldiers.

Jemaa el Fna during the day.

Since it was my friends 40th birthday celebration trip, she had made reservations at a restaurant called Le Comptoir Darna. So we dollied ourselves up and put on some fancy clothes and got ready for some fine dining. We were given the key to our home away from home because we would be back later than usual. We walked to Bab Mellah and took a cab to the restaurant. The cab driver asked us if needed a ride back as well and gave us his telephone number so that the restaurant could call him to come and pick us up. That was very nice of him. The happenings in the world have had an affect on Marrakech as well. Our bags were checked and we were scanned with a metal detector before entering. Later we spoke with Isabelle and Philippe and they explained that the security in Marrakech is tight but the best police and watch in the city are the people. If they see something suspicious they report it immediately. In that sense you can feel secure in Marrakech.

It was very dark and the only camera I had with me to the dinner was my phone so I guess this is the only decent pic to publish but I hope you can imagine the ambience of this place. :)

The Comptoir Darna was a gorgeous restaurant. The ambience was very cozy and oriental. There was live music and belly dancers for entertainment and later if you wanted you could also go to the night club side. That part we skipped since we had to travel all the way back to Finland the next day. But the food…. oh my god the food. We started with a selection of Moroccan salads and bread (Morocco has amazing breads which I haven’t yet mentioned). I had pasta for my main course (I know, not Moroccan) flavored with truffles and asparagus. I had only coffee for dessert because I was so full. My friends sister ordered dessert and it looked absolutely beautiful. Tasted amazing too, so I was told. The entertainment was very nice and after our bellies were filled with wonderful food it was time to call our cab driver to pick us up. As we waited for our driver we were escorted upstairs to enjoy a band for a moment. The band was very lively and the singer kept swirling his hat to make the tassel on top swirl too. He also played what looked like a form of castanets. It looked quite funny. But when he drew people from the tables to join him and give it a go, it turned out that funny maybe, easy - not so much. After enjoying this last biota entertainment we decided to go see if I our driver had arrived. It took a few minutes but in no time we were back in Bab Mellah and heading towards now more familiar derbs. It’s funny how quickly you can learn your way in an unfamiliar city. And how at first you think you’ll be lost all the time and then after a day you stroll around with ease. It was a fun and enjoyable evening and a great end to our journey.

Monday morning was the last time we would enjoy our breakfast and it was the official birthday of my friend. The staff had made pastries with candles on them and it was such a lovely gesture. And the breakfast was yet again very delicious. After breakfast we started to pack our bags and I started to feel a little melancholic about leaving. Maybe Marrakech is not the most beautiful city in the world, or the cleanest or filled with the most beautiful sites - but it has interesting history to offer if you take the time to get to know it, it has wonderful roads with the most gracious hosts, it has friendliness, great food and a lot of things and customs you do not see anywhere else. It also gave me some perspective on this world. Some more understanding on how differently we humans live around the world. And there are still adventures Marrakech has to offer I didn’t get to experience this time. Philippe and Isabelle spent some time with us before we checked out and we talked about the state of the world. It is unfortunate that the terrible attacks on Paris have affected tourism. Our hosts told us that they had gotten a lot of cancellations and they were very worried. Not just for their own business but for everything. You see, tourism means everything to a city like Marrakech. The bakeries, grocery sales, arts and handicrafts, museums - everything is dependent on tourism. Isabelle explained how they go and buy their groceries from the same man and he had asked why they are buying less food. Well, not enough tourists. And because terrible things happened in Tunisia, people are afraid to travel to Morocco as well. Even though they aren’t that close to each other. The way I see it is this: I will not stop traveling because of terrorism. I will not. That is not a victory I am willing to give to people who only want to plant fear. Besides it’s more likely for to have an accident at home. And you can’t know when, where or how it’s your time to go, so I’ll rather enjoy this life now than waste time on being afraid. It was time to go and we said our farewells. The same driver who picked us up from the airport took us back and this is where it got a little interesting.

My tip for surviving Marrakech airport would be: be on time (preferably early), do not trust what the staff the tells you and keep your eyes open. 

We checked from the boards to find our flight and to our horror we couldn’t find it. The curse of Frankfurt airport had extended its long arms to Marrakech. So we walked to the info desk to find out what is going on and the man behind the desk tells us the flight has been cancelled. Our hearts jumped into our throats. How can that be and there had been no messages from Lufthansa. He directed us to another desk. Here a woman tells us that the flight had not been cancelled and that there is an issue with the computers. The flight is not on the board but they will start checking in people shortly - like in twenty minutes or so. She pointed us towards the desks and told us to wait. After about 30 minutes and no check in, Finns who are used to being on time, were a little anxious. We checked with the lady again and she again says it should start in just a few minutes. At this point we weren’t the only nervous people trying to get on that flight waiting. Finally we se the orange Lufthansa banner appearing and we were successfully checked in. Yet again you need to fill in a form to get the stamp to be allowed out of the country. If you haven’t done your shopping and thought to buy your souvenirs from the airport, you’ll be unfortunately disappointed. Yes, there are shops of all kinds at the airport but the prices are really high. Very expensive. So do your shopping in town. 

We found our gate with ease and sat there until we saw that they were starting to board and as we stood in line suddenly the flight information changed. Our flight just vanished. The staff tells us there has been a gate change and not to worry, the plane hasn’t even arrived and there will be more information shortly. Right. So we stand there for a second and realize the plane is on the field. We can see it with our own eyes. And there’s a bunch of confused people walking around and then rushing to the next gate. And go figure the boarding was nearly completed when we arrived to that gate. So yes, keep your eyes open and do not straight away believe what you’ve been told. The staff might not have a clue of what they are talking about.

Well, we got on the plane and the staff of that flight was super friendly. The meal this time was not a vegetarian one but the flight attendant offered us fruit instead. After a minute she comes back and tells us that in fact the meals for the crew are vegetarian and they would be more than happy to swap two meals. Excellent service! The flight, to our luck, landed early. We managed to get a bit more time to get ourselves to the right gate. The bus that drove us from the plane to the airport drove straight to the right terminal and that again saved us some time. Of course I get stuck at the security check and the man doing his job was not that nice but after swiping my bag not finding any traces of drugs and finding out the ”suspicious object” was actually my home keys, his attitude changed into better. He even checked for me that we would make it into our connecting flight and gave us an estimate on how long it would take us to get to the right gate. As we stepped into our flight to Finland I think we all breathed a little easier. Except for me. Since I was starting to come down with the worst cold ever. I pretty much slept through the flight and once we got our feet on Finnish soil it was a nice surprise to see that even our bags made it!

So to sum up this short yet eventful trip I would say that Marrakech was not entirely what I expected but it was also a lot more than I expected. Would I recommend it? I would say yes, since I’m adding the desert and mountain trips on my list of travel dreams to fulfill. And honestly, if you do travel to Marrakech, book with Dar Alif. You will not be disappointed. 

As always jump and touch the sky,

Johanna K