Morocco and Portugal 2023

February - April 2023

“ A 63-day adventure by Darren and Janet

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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 25, 2023 · ⛅ 19 °C Altitude: 11 m
  Portugal Lisbon District Santa Maria de Belém Pedrouços Jardim da Torre de Belém 38.692961, -9.2147438°41’35” N 9°12’53” W
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Day 33
It's all about the tarts
Yesterday in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Day 1 of our Portugal tour, and we met our driver/guide, Rui, for a 9am departure.

We started the day heading inland along the River Tagus to the site of the 1998 World Expo, next to the Vasco Da Gama Bridge - the second longest bridge in Europe at 12.3km (the longest is the Crimean Bridge in Ukraine).

Bek and Jake visited the Lisbon Aquarium, while Oliver and I went caching in the area.

We then drove back into the centre of town for a lookout view over Lisbon, toward Belem, our next destination.

The Belem District is dedicated to the Portuguese explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries, with the Monument of the Discoveries featuring statues of 33 of their sailors and explorers.

The Tower of Belem, built in 1514 and one of the few structures unaffected by the 1755 earthquake, is a defensive fortress and ceremonial gateway to the city.

Belem is also the home of the Portuguese custard tart (Pastel de Nata, originally known as Pastel de Belem). The original bakery has been baking them since 1837 and had quite a queue to purchase some. Fortunately Rui has a tour guide "skip the line pass" and walked straight into the shop to purchase ours 😁

Lunch was at a local restaurant - grilled octopus, and seafood skewers.

We then crossed the Tagus River on the 25 April Bridge - if you think it looks familiar, it is based in part on two San Francisco bridges. It's paint is the same colour as the Golden Gate Bridge (International Orange), and the design is similar to the Oakland Bay Bridge, built by the same company.

On the other side is the Christ the King Monument (completed 1959), inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro after the Cardinal of Lisbon visited that monument in 1934.Read more
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 24, 2023 · ☀️ 20 °C Altitude: 8 m
  Portugal Lisbon District Socorro Chiado Praça do Comércio 38.707556, -9.13696638°42’27” N 9°8’13” W
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Day 32
A night at the opera
March 24 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
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Today we walked the streets of Lisbon, finding some caches, climbing hills, and negotiating the slippery slopes of the funicular paths (it drizzled for a while this morning).

We had no particular plan, but did stop for morning tea tarts, lunch, afternoon tea donuts... then squeezed dinner in before a visit to the opera... and finished with late night coffee and cakes. Thankfully Lisbon has plenty of hills to walk off all the food!

The buskers in the street outside our hotel are still going strong at 11.30pm to lullaby us off to sleep...Read more
Traveler
did you enjoy the opera ?
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Darren and Janet
would you believe... no?! One of the soundest sleeps I've ever had in a theatre 😂
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Daniel Williams
Does the tram just go up and down that one hill? Or does it continue at different angles?
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John Kalaitzis
I'm thinking that unless that valance on the left is retractable it will scrape the deck on the level?
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Darren and Janet
just up and down one hill - there's 3 funiculars in the city, to save walking up and down some of the steepest hills. But they won't save you money, they're 3.80 euro per trip (about 2 minutes)
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 23, 2023, 10:18pm · ☁️ 15 °C Altitude: 43 m
  Portugal Lisbon District Socorro Chiado 38.710744, -9.14189538°42’39” N 9°8’31” W
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Day 31
North to Lisbon
March 23 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
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We caught a taxi to the airport this morning for our 1.5 hour flight to Lisbon.

We caught the underground from the airport to our hotel, changing lines mid journey... and a surprisingly good price for an airport train - $2.66 each.

Our hotel is in a mostly pedestrian area in the centre of town, with trams trundling along many streets and a buzzing outdoor dining and cafe scene.

We bought a local SIM card and had a walk around the local area, picking up a few caches on the way.

Bek and Jake arrived late afternoon and we found an outdoor dining area near one of the main squares for dinner.Read more
Traveler
My idea of heaven 😆
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Darren and Janet
😂
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John Kalaitzis
I'm glad you found that :)
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 22, 2023 · ☀️ 30 °C Altitude: 465 m
  Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Marrakech-Medina Marrakesh 31.6312, -8.00667231°37’52” N 8°0’24” W
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Day 30
Marrakech, Take 3...
March 22 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
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We had a mid-morning departure from Essaouira for our journey back to Marrakech, arriving at our hotel just after 1.30pm.

It's the third time we've been to Marrakech this trip, so we knew exactly where to go... or so we thought! We headed by foot to the main square, Jamaa El Fna, which was quiet, before the night time traders set up. We attempted to find the same shop we purchased items from last week, but ended up walking the laneways in vain.

Fortunately there are dozens of shops selling similar items, so we just had to find what we were after, and do the haggling dance from scratch. As the shop was tiny, I sat outside while Oliver negotiated the price... and despite starting one hundred dirham apart, she got it for her requested price 😁

Another couple of hours by the pool, dinner at the hotel, and we're ready for a flight to Portugal tomorrow to meet up with Bek and Jake.Read more
Traveler
Almost has a prison vibe in the daylight ...
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John Kalaitzis
😂😂😂😂
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 21, 2023 · ☀️ 22 °C Altitude: 11 m
  Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Essaouira Jorf Barmil 31.514873, -9.76990131°30’54” N 9°46’12” W
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Day 29
Was Mogador, now Essaouira
March 21 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
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We began the day with a local guide and a walking tour of the medina. It has a totally different feel to the medinas in larger cities, far less hustle and bustle, a greater percentage of tourists, and a relaxed holiday vibe.

The Portuguese seized Essaouira (then known as Mogador) in 1510 and built a fortress. They only lasted 4 years before it was recaptured by the local resistance.

During the 16th century, powers including Spain, England, the Netherlands and France tried in vain to conquer the city, but it remained a haven for the export of sugar and molasses, and as an anchorage for pirates.

The present city of Essaouira was built during the mid-eighteenth century by the Moroccan King, in his attempt to open Morocco up to world trade.

We wandered the medina again in the afternoon, stopping for fresh fish lunch, and a haircut for me at the local barber.Read more
John Kalaitzis
No.2 all over?
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Darren and Janet
2 on the top, 1 on the beard 😁
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 20, 2023 · ☀️ 21 °C Altitude: 10 m
  Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Essaouira Squala du port d'Essaouira 31.509923, -9.77364231°30’36” N 9°46’25” W
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Day 28
Road to Essaouira
March 20 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
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We hit the road at 9am for our journey west to Essaouira, a port and resort city on the Atlantic coast. For many years the city was the main port of Morocco, due to it's straight line access to Marrakech.

On the way we passed the "famous" Moroccan tree climbing goats - they've becomes an Instagram favourite, but the major tour companies refuse to stop at them because of the cruelty issues (the goats don't climb the trees, but are placed up by farmers, balancing on small platforms with no access to water or shade)

We were dropped at the city gates of Essaouira to walk to our hotel, as there is no vehicle access inside the medina.

We went for an afternoon walk along the foreshore, from the bustling fishing port in the north, to the luxury resort style hotels as we headed south. The tourist trade now dominates the beach, with numerous offers for us to ride horses, camels or quad bikes on the beach.Read more
John Kalaitzis
Great photo!
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John Kalaitzis
Are they tethered? Otherwise why don't they jump down?
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Darren and Janet
not tethered, but either can't get down, or they are put back if they get down. Interesting article at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti…
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Daniel Williams
I like the seagull gargoyles
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 19, 2023 · ☀️ 23 °C Altitude: 452 m
  Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Marrakech-Medina Marrakesh Majorelle Garden 31.64222, -8.00294331°38’32” N 8°0’11” W
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Day 27
Time travelling around Marrakech
March 19 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
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We had some confusion with the time this morning - the data package on our phone ran out last night, so the time was different to the tablet and must have been wrong... so we thought!

Turns out Morocco is on permanent daylight savings time, except for Ramadan (which starts Thursday), so the clocks went back an hour this morning. Just that no-one told us... and the tablet was still set to a German time zone 🙄. So, at a cafe for morning tea we were trying to look at people's watches to see what time it really was 🤣. On the upside, we got an extra hour today, and I got to ask all day "old time or new time?"

We did plenty of walking today to clean up the caches north of the city (16,000 steps, 10.2 km according to the tracker).

We saw old theatres, new theatres, museums and gardens, including the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Majorelle Gardens, later owned and restored by Yves Saint Laurent and where his ashes are scattered.

We arrived back at our hotel around 2pm (new time 😁) for another sit by the pool, then wandered out to a local cafe where we had one of the traditional Moroccan soups for tea.Read more
Katie Williams
Mum loves the old time/new time game! Glad to hear you played it lots
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Darren and Janet
yes, she loved it!
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John Kalaitzis
Wonderful!
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 18, 2023 · ☁️ 21 °C Altitude: 478 m
  Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Medina El Badi Palace 31.618185, -7.98599531°37’5” N 7°59’10” W
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Day 26
Badia Palace and Medina walking tour
March 18 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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We met our city guide again this morning for a walking tour of the Medina, and a visit to Badia Palace.

We did the palace first to beat the crowds - a good move, as the queue to buy tickets when we came out was lengthy!

Completed in 1900, Bahia Palace isn't a royal palace, but was built by Ahmed bin Musa, the Grand Vizier of Morocco - effectively the head public servant, but with direct access and influence over the Sultan, so he was the defacto ruler of the kingdom. Upon the sultan's death Ahmed enthroned the Sultan's third son as the new Sultan, a boy of 14, effectively giving Ahmed complete rule of the country. He built the palace to house his four wives and numerous concubines, and named it after his favourite concubine!

We then did a walking tour of the Medina for 3 hours, exploring many, many streets we missed the first 3 days we were here, including the metal workers street, leather worker's street and spice market.

We had lunch at a cafe just off the main square, did a bit more shopping, and returned to our hotel for a few hours by the pool (bit too cold to swim though)Read more
Daniel Williams
That just looks like a gold plated office chair!
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John Kalaitzis
It certainly does!
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Darren and Janet
yep, there's only so much lipstick you can put on a pig and it still looks like a pig 🤣
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 17, 2023 · ☁️ 21 °C Altitude: 764 m
  Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Tilouguit Oued Tiysakht 32.014643, -6.71988732°0’53” N 6°43’12” W
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Day 25
Ouzoud Falls and Marrakech Foodie Tour
March 17 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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Late start today with an 11am departure from the hotel, so plenty of time for breakfast and a walk before we were picked up.

We stopped at Ouzoud Falls for a walk around the top and bottom of the falls. It's a popular day trip from Marrakech, so was busy with locals and tourists.

The drive to Marrakech was a couple of hours, so we arrived in time to settle into our hotel, then head straight into the city centre for a foodie tour.

We started in Jemaa el Fna Square with a local guide, sampling a vast array of street food and local specialties, including juices, snails, soups and sweets, and finishing with a tangia - an urn shaped cooking pot with slow cooked beef and preserved lemon. We got back to the hotel at 10pm, not sure if we'll ever need to eat again!Read more
Traveler
not sure about the snail's they are huge, were they tasty?
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Darren and Janet
the broth was tasty, the snails not so much... a bit like chewy mushrooms!
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Traveler
😳😳😳
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Darren and Janet Morocco and Portugal 2023
- Mar 16, 2023 · ☀️ 27 °C Altitude: 712 m
  Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Azilal Province Bine Al Widane Aqqa -n-Tilzat 32.105424, -6.47791332°6’20” N 6°28’40” W
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Day 24
How's the serenity...
March 16 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
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Longest drive of the trip today, 6.5 hours from Fes to Bin El Ouidane, in the Atlas Mountains.

Our first stop was Ifrane, the Switzerland of Morocco. The town is known for its alpine-style architecture and nearby ski slopes and forests. It's a popular holiday destination for Moroccans looking to escape the city heat. In the centre of town, a stone statue of a lion represents the last known Atlas Lion shot in the wild in this area in 1942.

Lunch was a traditional meal in a Berber family home, a meat and vegetable tagine... although I'm not sure the fries on top are traditional?? But it was all delicious.

We arrived at our accommodation near Bin El Ouidane at 5.30pm, a beautiful room overlooking the Ait Ouarda Dam, and a relaxing evening watching the sun set from our deck.Read more
Traveler
who knew you could ski in Morocco! great hotel view
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Traveler
looksimpressive
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sam and bruce
wow, thats a pretty special place to relax!
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