Morocco

I am not a spontaneous person. I think that I used to be, but life made it so that I ended up being more cautious than I ever thought to be. Yet, in a single moment of sparkling desire of adventure and unknown, I accepted without hesitation an invitation. An invitation to discover both stranger lands and new people and more than that, it was an invitation to travel.

So, starting from the beginning. One day I received a phone call from a friend asking me if I’d like to travel with her. I enthusiastically accepted before I realized what I was actually doing. Not that anything was weird about the destination, but I am not accustomed to rush into things without taking, at least, the first steps of precaution. And thus, I ended up with a week-long trip in Morocco that made me see the world around me more clearly. I know that all travel has, more or less, this effect on the people who are ready to receive the gift of openness and change, yet this journey made me more aware of it all.

We went there through an agency, with a group of people whom I’ve never met before. This could have turned up to me in so many ways that I don’t even have the time to describe it, but by the mercy of the universe we ended up with the nice ones. We’re all different in the end, and I choose to remain with only the good.

We stayed in Marrakesh which is such a busy city! From there, we traveled to Essaouira, then went to the Merzuga Desert, Sahara Ouzud and Ouarzazate, also being corrupted by the beauty of the Atlas Mountains through which we went in our way of discovery. Half of this trip has passed by until I realized that I was in Africa. For some reason, it was hard for me to comprehend that I am so far away from home. It felt oddly familiar, something that I’ve grown accustomed to by the passing years and yet, I’ve never been there before. Not even in my dreams. I had, and I guess, still do, a mixed sentiment about all of this journey. You may or may not be courious why, but I am still going to tell you.

The country, the views, the people... everything seems so beautiful, and it really is. The arrogance inside of me had me thinking if they could be happy. It seems, from my perspective anyway, that the majority were poor and worked very hard for the little that they do own. Yet, this made them stronger and their entrepreneurial skills are developed from a young age. And I admire that. I just desire that everybody will be alright. Wherever they are.

I only wish I had more time there, to see more cities, to meet more people to whom I could talk about their traditions, their culture, their language; all this took me by surprise, because I am not a people person, yet here I am, hungry for learning more and more about a nation I had little knowledge about before. And I am happy that this happened, because now I know about the Berbers (Amazighs). I am quite shy at first and this caused me to not discover as much as I could have, sadly. But, I know this - I liked them so very much. Their style of living is a tad similar with ours (countryside) and it made me nostalgic. They also seemed to be warm people and willing to talk with us, strangers to both ourselves and to them, starring to everything that crossed our paths.

I loved the Berber villages. One that has its name still within my memory’s grasp being Ait Benhaddou. I wish I could have visited other cities which were not tourist attractions, to be able to connect with people living there. Yet the city, in spite of it being ragefully full of people was immensely beautiful. I also absolutely loved the desert even though I couldn’t sleep that night due to the fact that I forgot to take my warm clothes and it was frozen cold. The softness of the sand, the touch of the sun, the quiet, the silence, it was all so refreshing. My heart broke for the poor little camels having to carry us, and other tourists, to and out of the desert, but they were all too nice. I was also thinking, all the way through the ride, about our Berber guide who had to walk all that distance.

And then, when everything seemed beautiful, and calm and happy, it finally happened. At the Ouzoud cascade I was assaulted. And if I have to be truthful, I enjoyed it. A lot. I was walking, minding my own business and then all of a sudden, I felt a tiny hand touching mine. When I tried to give a peace offering, not one, not two, not three, not even four, but five little monkeys came at me with their warm little heart, all fuzzy and all. If my group hadn’t already departed, I could have stayed there a while. I do usually make the mistake of getting accustomed to attention and love.

As final thoughts, I encourage you to visit this beautiful country without fright and take in all its amazing sights and people. Although, you have to be warned about their passion to negotiate about EVERYTHING. Until then, I am giving you a glimpse into the little that I have managed to capture with my phone.

Enjoy and happy travel!