Marrakesh

I woke up at 7 AM after a very comfortable but way too short night. I got ready, woke Bob up at 7:15 AM and we met everyone except Dave and Karen on the terrace for breakfast.

Karen texted us that we could have 2 rooms until 1:30 PM so after our motorcycle/sidecar ride, we can use those rooms to freshen up.

Karen told us that we all had to settle up our bills and the taxis should be ready soon.

We walked to the taxis area and were told there would be three people in each taxi. We were shown to the three closest taxis and we climbed in. There was some discussion amongst the taxi drivers. We ended up being told we had to move to a different taxi. We got in another taxi only to be told yet again that we had to move to a different vehicle. I guess that the taxi drivers just wanted to see 8 Americans perform several Chinese fire drills amongst the crazy, busy streets and sidewalks of Marrakesh. The taxi drivers must finally have gotten sick of watching us get into and out of taxis so we were finally able to began our drive to where we would meet our tour.

We made a quick 10 minute drive to the Taxi Cafe. This was a charming coffee shop that had an old taxi cab mounted out front.

We met our guide. He showed us a 1920 map of Marrakesh and explained our outing while we waited for the rest of the drivers to arrive. We are learning that "Marrakesh time" is a bit like "island time".

After getting in our motorcycles and having photos taken, we were off.

We drove through a middle class neighborhood which was really very lovely. The outskirts of Marrakesh remind me of parts of Palm Desert.

Next, we were shown the "Beverly Hills" of Marrakesh where the wealthy live.

We then had a bit of an off-road experience touring the Palm Tree oasis. This area has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were given information about the underground tunneling system which was the brainchild of the Sultan's wife when he decided to move the capital of Morocco to Marrakesh. This system brought water from the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh. Each family had to help in the construction or they would never be allowed to use the water nor be granted any land.

Our journey continued Into the old part of Medina where 'regular' people live. This area is a lot more sedate than the more touristy areas. We saw children playing, community bread ovens and deliveries being made to neighborhood markets.

We stopped for tea in a beautiful Riad and had life in a Riad with multigenerational family members explained to us.

Next we had a much more exciting ride back to Riad Dar Anika as it was through the busiest area of Marrakesh.

Upon arriving at Riad Dar Anika, we freshened up a bit before having more tea while waiting for our van which will transport us to Casa Blanca.

The driver was told to arrive at 1:15 PM in hopes that him running on "Moroccan Time" would put him arriving at 1:30 PM. Unfortunately, his definition of "Moroccan Time" is to arrive 30 minutes late.

We boarded the van and were off for the about 3 hour drive.

The trip to Casa Blanca found us driving through very different terrain than the drive from Agadir to Marrakesh. This area reminded us of eastern Washington. We even had some brief sprinkles of rain.

We thought that most of our excitement was over for this particular trip. We were sorely mistaken.

See Casablanca's footprint for the rest of the story.

Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them edited.Read more