Morocco is as exotic as it sounds yet full of pleasant surprises. My husband and I had the pleasure of traveling there as part of a professional organization that hosts seminars in different parts of the world each year. I had never even considered going to Morocco. I could only picture extreme heat, deserts, scary foods and not feeling very welcomed. I was dead wrong in every way.
You can go to the desert, but it’s far to the south so we skipped that part. The rest of the country that we visited was lush and green with rolling hills against a backdrop of the Atlas Mountains and is absolutely beautiful. We visited towns on the ocean, too cool at this time of year (Feb/Mar) to take a dip, towns in the mountains and passed through towns which were landscaped so beautifully that took our breath away. We drove through the Argon tree fields, stopped to look at how all those argon products are made and, of course, we had to buy some of those awesome face/hair products as well as the oil you cook with.
Not a site you are likely to see very often – goats up in a tree! They like the bright olive-sized fruit from Argon trees, too.
The hotels we stayed in were lovely especially La Mamounia in Marrakech which was over-the-top fabulous. And the food – what can I say – wonderful. We have all been hearing about the Mediterranean diet full of fresh veggies, olive oil and olives, couscous, dates, etc. etc. Well, that’s what you get in Morocco along with tagines of veggies and meat (lamb, chicken), which is all deliciously prepared. I especially loved the mint tea, which was a sweet green tea with a mint flavor. And of course, the shopping in the souks was so much fun.
You can get lost for hours wandering around. The people we met everywhere were welcoming and the women wore a mix of traditional clothing more European attire. Morocco is really a mix of European and African influences due to it being so close to Spain and rather cut off from Africa by the Atlas Mountains.
I definitely give it high marks as an unusual, pleasant, fun and beautiful place to visit.
