Making IT Count in Morocco

Hola! Hola, mis amigos! As you can see, I’m back and I sincerely apologize for such a delay in blog posting. BUT I’m here and “making it count.” 

What exciting news do I have for you today? Wellll … I can officially say I’ve added another continent to my experiences. That’s right! I’ve now touched 3 out of the 7 continents on this earth. I’m thrilled to share my visit to Marrakech, Morocco – AFRICA to be exact.   

I can honestly say that out of all the places I’ve travelled to while abroad, Marrakech has been my absolute favorite. Allow me to share with you exactly why I feel this way …

It is completely different from any other place I’ve visited. There are tons of things and places to explore. You have the desert, the New City, and the souks – just to name a few.

Who would a thought that the desert could be so fun? Being that I’m the “girliest” of the “girliest” – I most certainly didn’t think it would.

But I tell you what - I enjoyed every bit of quad biking. During my two and a half hour quad biking experience, I felt so free! {Giggles} I know that might sounds cheesy, but that’s really how I felt. I was blessed to feel free and throughout the entire experience I thanked God every chance I got.

The ladies and I had a wonderful time letting the wind hit our faces and putting speed to shame. I tried to do a couple tricks – {exaggeration kicks in} – standing up and all.

After quad biking, one of the gals and I weren’t quite ready to put an end to the adventure. So we decided to …

… We decided to ride a camel.

With the luck that I had, my camel “wasn’t having it!” He wouldn’t cooperate for the photo, he kept moaning and groaning, AND looking back at me with the side eye. LIIIKKKKEEE … hash tag – aint-nobody-got-time-for-that!

But, I made it through alive and I can proudly say, "I’ve ridden a camel."

There is not much diversity with the food in Marrakech BUT … it was flavorful indeed.

You have the traditional “tajine” dishes with couscous – and because I’m not a fan of couscous, I substituted with white rice. I enjoyed the lamb, chicken, steak, and sausage kebabs along with their bread. DIOS MIO! The bread {reminiscing} it was FABULOUS! Another dish that I had the pleasure of tasting is called “pastilla.” Pastilla is traditionally a Moroccan meat pie that is cooked with shredded chicken. The pie combines sweet and salty flavors and has a tasty crisp crust. A MUST TASTE, if you ask me!

After the adventure, the six ladies and I were ready for some much needed R&R. Our bodies were bruised and very tense from the quad and camel ride. So we took advantage of the great deal on a spa treatment. The wonderful Les Baines d’Azahara Hammam and Spa made us proud. 

The treatment consisted of a Hamman exfoliation with traditional black eucalyptus soap, a foot bath with rose petals accompanied with a short foot massage. And to top it off you got a one-hour massage, all for the price of 350 dirhams – which is equivalent to $43.75! That’s a two-hour treatment for such a great price. Who could or WOULD pass that up? I most certainly couldn’t!

 

It was such a great experience within itself. I loved every bit of it!

Last but definitely not least, are the souks.

I’ve never witnessed anything like it. They were AWSOME! The ability to “Bourbon Bargain” was even better.

 

 

 

I actually enjoyed bargaining with no shame. The shop owner would name one price – 400dh – and I would bargain him down to – 120dh – didn’t get much better that that. So for every 100 dirham it is $8.90 … I was … I am still amazed that I was able to purchase so much stuff for such little price, USD!

And the local people in Marrakech were so nice. Even made friends with some of the shop owners.

All in all - Marrakech, Morocco was my absolute favorite. I would go back ten more times if I could. But I will definitely make it a point to visit at least one more. If you want to see the full album of my Africa trip then visit my Facebook page Voyage avec Antoinette.

Thank you all for staying tuned. 

Do me a favor and keep dreaming, stay inspired, and be blessed.