An Enthusiastic Traveller

As an adept of  'less is more' mindset I loved so much Sidi Kaouki. Long walks on the beach with the waves in the background. Thoughts are like waves. They come and go. I just have to observe them without judging them. I find so calming this exercise. Sometimes is not easy to do it. Sometimes I  also have storms in my mind like the storms at sea.  View from the cave where we had lunch The morning wasn't very encouraging. Cloudy with showers. Despite the outside conditions Hassan arranged for us one of the most beautiful experiences I had, lunch in a cave with ocean view. I couldn't believe it! I have never imagined anything like this! The purrfect place for meditation But that's not all. We had the beach only for us! We were the first ones to leave footprints in the wet sand. A seahorse discovered in the sand And we walked on the sand dunes! Sand dunes on the beach Our footprints in the sand dunes I liked to examine the sand dunes patte...

The next two nights we are staying in Sidi Kaouki, but on our way there we are stopping to visit also Essaouira, a city port on Morocco's Atlantic coast.  The characteristic blue fishing boats in the port Before Essaouira we stopped at an argan oil women's cooperative. This is the only part in Morocco and in the world where argan grows. Due to this fact the cosmetics containing argan are very expensive. There are goats eating the argan fruits from the trees. Yes! I saw a lot of goats in argan trees. The fruits are collected and transformed in oil for cosmetic or culinary use. It's so hard to leave outside the occidental misconceptions about African countries! I was so convinced that Morocco's roads must be terrible. Bigger it was my surprise to discover the opposite. Romania can't dream of roads like this. After these days I strongly believe that the only way I can truly enjoy a place, a different culture that the one I live in, is to keep my mind open. Th...

Hassan is the best guide I have ever met. He managed to offer us some authentic experiences which we wouldn't have had them otherwise. As he says thanks to the life's course we encountered each other. Thanks to him we had the chance to practice our Spanish. That was the common language we all understand and speak. He came to pick up us from the riad early in the morning. It was early enough to catch the sunrise We stopped first to admire the Grand Atlas from faraway.  The High Atlas in the background Then to see closely the dromedaries. He explained that the dromedaries were used by caravans trekking across the desert. Now they are used only for tourism. Dromedaries waiting tourists Drought land After that we went into a village where we could see the simple life of berbers. Berbers are the overwhelming majority of Moroccans and they represent the descendants of pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. Donkeys are extensively used as working animal  ...

For the upcoming 5 days, together with a group of three girl-friends, I am discovering a little bit of Moroccan culture. First impression after a 3h30' flight from Amsterdam to Marrakech: authorities well organised. We passed the passport control quickly (this morning it took me more time to go through it in Amsterdam). Next step was to exchange money. The local currency is Dirham (Dh) and it has a parity of 1 EUR to ~10Dh. Surprisingly, the exchange rate in the airport is better than the one from Revolut. At the exit of the airport, Hassan was waiting for us to take us to the riad where we are spending the next two nights. @Riad Challa A riad is a traditional Moroccan house with interior garden around a fountain. From outside it looks shady but once you step inside it feels like you are in a different world. Like the quote says: don't judge a book by its cover! It applies to people also. It's so easy to judge something or someone. I am struggling to fight against thi...