Not to be confused with the city of Agadir that was destroyed by an earthquake and later rebuilt into a tourist destination, but rather, the traditional buildings that gave the city its name. Throughout southern Morocco are the remnants of what was once a thriving Amazigh (Berber) culture that extended over most of North Africa. Before the arrival…
After three months in site, it was nice to head out for some away time. The three months of mandatory integration was fascinating and fulfilling. We met innumerable amazing people who brought us into their homes and offered us friendship. But, Morocco is a large and diverse country, so I’ve been chomping at the bit…
Just over the Portuguese border from Spain is a little village with a big castle called Castro Marim. Tourist season was over, so we missed the shows that they apparently put on, which include dramatizations of medieval life and fighting knights. Unlike other castles we have visited, this one does well to show what life might…
Most people, me included, don’t seem to understand the extent of Phoenician, Greek, and Roman influence along the North African coast, but especially Tunisia. A Euro-centric bias makes us forget that the Mediterranean basin, symbolically “center of the Earth”, has a southern area that was, and remains, nearly as important and advanced as its northern…
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There is something about less visited countries that draws me toward them. I want to see a jewel in the rough, to give attention to the underdog. I want to see something rare, something fewer people have seen, something worth talking about, something that challenges me in unexpected ways. Due to a very low population,…
Rabat, the capital of Morocco, is a beautiful, modern city on the coast. It has been a nice change from the more rural environment, but I am also eager to return to a smaller, less hectic pace, though the cats around Rabat seem pleasantly unaffected by the pace of life in the big city.
Reason 612 Why I Love (Rural) Morocco: To quote more than a few shop owners, who more often than not just hang a sheet or lean a broom across the front of their shop when they go home for lunch, “There are no thieves here.”
Within Rabat, the capital of Morocco, are the remains of an ancient city called Chellah. Originally Phoenician and Carthaginian, then Roman, then Muslim, the ruins are fairly well-preserved. Eventually, the site became a cemetery, or necropolis, as the Muslims favored nearby Salé. The site also contains a lovely botanical garden and has become a favored…
On the fringe of town, lies the twice-weekly open marketplace, called a souk. (Currently, also the location of the somewhat creepy carnival — photo on right). When it is not in operation, it is simply an open area which, at least in the south, is a vast expanse of sand and dust. The souk being…
