Ali Baba & His Madame Do Morocco

“Think of the world you carry within you” Rainer Maria Rilke

In India Mike was Maharaja, in Egypt & Jordan everyone thought he was a native and here in Morocco Mike is Ali Baba. How funny to be walking down the street and hear local after local call out “Ali Baba, come and visit my shop”, with a big smile and a thumbs up. Apparently Mike’s beard makes him look like Ali Baba, the Robin Hood of Morocco. What a great country to end our journey in. It’s a bit like India where you feel as though you’ve warped back in time. The spoken languages are Arabic and French and that’s pretty much it. Who would have thought that Morocco being so close to Spain would have such a big French influence?

Fes, not to be confused with Fez the Turkish hat, is what you imagine when you think of Morocco. A maze of narrow streets, we were told between nine and twelve thousand in the old city, key hole architecture, old Riads with beautiful courtyards, doors inside of doors, donkeys pulling carts, fresh meats including Camel hanging from hooks, chickens squawking, people praying and hand made goods being sold everywhere. Vegetarians beware; this is a meat eating country. Chicken or lamb Tajine, roasted chicken with frites, camel meat burgers, pigeon or fish Bastilla, and Moroccan tea so sweet it’s guaranteed to rot your teeth as you can’t help but notice from all the toothless smiles.

Marrakech is bigger and more modern. Each night Djemaa el-Fna , the big square in the Medina, becomes a fantastic fair with stalls serving traditional street food including Moroccan soup, lambs head, snails, all kinds of skewers and of course couscous. There are snake charmers with live Cobras, fortune tellers, healers and plenty of dancing & music. After a wide sampling we, of course, were interested in learning how to make all the delicious food we’d been eating so it was time for one more cooking class. First we did a trip to the market to choose the fruits, vegetables and chickens, still alive that is. There was no doubt they were free range and organic. Mike was fascinated by the whole “off with the head” thing while Carin diverted her eyes. Ten minutes later we had two freshly plucked, clean birds ready for the Tajine & Bastilla. It was back to the yellow and turquoise and courtyard in our own riad where we spent the next three hours slicing and dicing. Although the chef spoke very little English she managed to instruct us with ease. It was delicious!!!

No matter where we are the water and beach always call to us. The laid back and charming seaside port city of Essaouira was a beautiful end to this journey. The people of Morocco are incredibly warm and friendly and extremely proud of their country. This is displayed in their traditional crafts, including pottery, leather goods, carpets, wood carving and metal working passed on from father to son, generation to generation. They pride themselves on being tolerant and welcoming to all.

REFLECTIONS
It’s amazing how quickly ten months has passed since we hugged Hannah goodbye at DIA with a one way ticket to Bangkok and the rest yet to be determined. One thing we know for sure is how fragile life is and that there really is only today. Rachel’s love for travel and adventure was our inspiration and the ten months away was our time to heal. We know our lives will never go back to “normal”, but we are moving towards a new “normal” with peace, love, happiness and laughter. We felt Rachel’s presence everywhere, on the beaches in Bali, in the colors of India, with the animals of South Africa and mountains of Nepal. She painted the sky with the most beautiful sunrises & sunsets and was there by our side to guide us when we were lost. It will take time before we fully realize all that we have experienced but there are a few things we know to be true. Our world is amazing and there is beauty everywhere. It is in the mountains and at the beach. You can find loveliness in the sands of the desert, the clay of the outback and the scrub of the bush. Your eyes can see it in the rice terraces and rolling green hillsides. It doesn’t matter if it’s the colors of a giraffe, a flower in bloom or the night sky filled with stars. The mind quiets and the heart beats a little faster when you stand before the Taj Mahal, notice the faces carved into the temples of Angkor Wat, see the Buddhas glowing with sunlight at Borobudur and make the journey into the hidden valley of Petra. It is the people with their open hearts and big smiles that touched our souls, how they reached out to us, inviting us into their homes, offering a cup of tea or a place to spend the night. We feel blessed to have shared these experiences with some of our dear friends, An, Ed and Nicole, Sue, Dani and Kim, and with family, Lee, Marcia, Gerri and Mia. Our journey was made complete with Jess and Hannah’s presence. We hope that our stories and pictures elicited a smile, a laugh or even a tear. Thank you for taking the time to be part of our journey.

A final shoutout to our support team:
*Chuck and Chris for keeping the business in check and being so supportive
*The Teschners for taking excellent care of our cars and storing Hannah’s stuff
*Lee for all things technical including an I Pod, phone and portable speakers
* Marcia and Gerri for amazing travel expertise
* Sue for taking such good care of Hannah
*Hannah for getting yourself ready for semester abroad, no easy task, and taking such good care of us while we were with you in South Africa
And last, but certainly not least Jess for everything else and we mean everything, including Gus. You are amazing!

“If travel truly is in the journey and not the destination, if travel really is an attitude of awareness and openness to new things, then any moment can be considered travel” Rolf Potts

With love,
Small Travelers