Day 81: Ourika Valley

Amazing amazing day of Moroccan nature and friendship! We took a local bus to the Ourika valley and by local bus we mean a small van where everyone would crowd in and hop out the back at stops. Everyone was super friendly in squeezing Kieran through to an isle seat since he is 6”2’.

We arrive at town and realize its hard to catch a bus or cheap taxi up to our hotel. We opted for hitch hiking and a kind man picks us up no charge! We still gave him the amount we would pay a taxi driver.

We selected the Le Jardin des Delices for our hotel because it was nestled in the valley, and it didn’t disappoint as a flush garden and terrace overlooked the river. We hiked an hour to a small town north and it was clear tourists were not a normal sight. We had farmers asking how we were and inviting us to dinner as well as little children running around yelling BONJOUR and giggling away. The landscape was colorful and desert like.

We return for dinner at the hotel and met the only other couple staying: a husband and wife of 35 years who were born in Brazil and now live in Portugal. The husband was a previous wrestling representative for Brazil in the Olympics and he was HUGE! We joined their table and they were so kind to share their wine and tequila. We sat on the terrace until 12am and agreed to share a taxi back to Marrakech. We look forward to visiting Macello and Alessandra in Portugal in June/July!Read more