Yearly Archives: 2020

Africa has always been a desired travel destination for so many global trotters around the world. And when your finger falls on Morocco while you are tracing the globe, we would like to invite you to Ourika valley. It is definitely one of the best places to take in the scenic beauty the country has to offer. After your delicious well renown Moroccan breakfast at your accommodations (hopefully one of the authentic Riads), we begin the pleasant ride to the Ourika valley. The picturesque view, lush greenery, the cool breeze, hardly make the one hour ride seem that long. Our first stop would be the infamous village of Setti Fatma. Though a tourist hub, the energy and the hustle only adds to its charm. (Yet, just FYI, it never gets crowded.) The village is beautiful and welcomes you with so much warmth, it seems impossible to not fall in love with it. This is the ideal place to “shop till you drop” as you find the best of artifacts here that serve as perfect souvenirs. The place houses restaurants that serve scrumptious food. After making most of our time there, we headed towards the most exciting part of the journey-The Seven Falls!

We are excited to introduce our Guest writer Sarah Birmanns. Sarah has traveled to Morocco and wrote an absolutely fantastic 3 part article about her experiences in the country. We will be featuring her article posts one at a time, as they are so engaging and full of information. You will definitely need some time to process it all! Let us introduce Sarah. She is a teacher, artist and writer and has loved travel ever since she studied abroad while in college and accidentally met the pope. She has been to over 40 countries and writes about her adventures in Greece, the UK, France, Jordan and Morocco with her husband Peter. Part 1. "I read and quoted Edith Wharton’s 1920 travelogue of her time in Morocco often while we were there - we spent a full month in the country and it was such a surprising place, shocking, generous, patient and disturbing, all at once. When one thinks of Morocco, one tends to imagine it through a particular lens - Islamic, African, Berber or French. But in fact, it is all four and much more...

All of us have been deeply affected by the Covid-19 in the short period of the last couple of months. The world seems to have slowed down these past few months. Almost as if we are travelling back in time. With work places shut, overcrowded hospitals, schools-universities, everything on hold, needless to say we are dealing with a tricky situation. Regardless, let’s not stop believing in the ray of light that is soon to follow. We assure you, the good old days will be back soon. We’re dealing with a global pandemic. In Morocco, with a population of about 37 million, there are about 1700 positive cases reported at present. This says a lot about the effective measures being undertaken by the Government. Face masks have been made mandatory in public places. Vigilant monitoring and contact searching is being practiced. As per the IMF Press Release(no 20/138) Morocco has drawn funds (worth US$ 3 billion) available under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) arrangement to address these issues mainly focussing on the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and to maintain strong external buffers in case of emergencies. The IMF remains closely engaged with the authorities to help them mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Morocco’s economy. As per WHO, Morocco has the technical competence to detect and prevent the spread of Virus.

As interesting as the facts sound, they come nowhere close to the beauty the place actually holds. We urge you to take a trip to the Atlas Mountains to experience the explosion of culture, beauty and warmth. Atlas Mountains are known to be a world famous tourist destination. The snow topped peaks kissing the skies, lush greenery and the amalgamation of culture and rural life peacefully co-existing with nature is something you don’t get to see often! Ah, I feel the adrenaline rush just by talking about it! Apart from this, people from all over come here to learn about its infamous geological formation. When in Marrakech, it’s about a 90 minute drive with a pleasant view through the rocky terrain. There’s plenty to do while in the Atlas Mountains. First and foremost, without a doubt, has to be the hike to Mt Toubkal. At 4,167 metres (13,671 ft), it happens to be North Africa’s highest peak. Remember to carry a backpack with all essentials. If travelling by a vehicle, the famous “Snake road”, can be seen from the road. Trucks loaded with hay going up and down the mountains is a common observation. Women with their donkeys loaded with sacks of produce, shepherds with their sheep everywhere in the green farms are other common sights.