MOROCCO

Djemaa El Fna, the heart of Marrakech

2013-08-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Djemaa El Fna is the biggest square in Marrakech and the heart of the city. This fantastic open air theatre is included in UNESCO's world heritage and has millions of tourists each year.

Music, drums, rhythms that can put you into trance, apes, snake charmers, water sellers in colorful costumes with traditional goat leather water-bags and brass cups give a magical touch to Djemaa El Fna.

Another point of interest in Djemaa El Fna is henna body painting. Under umbrellas, sitting on a small chair, Moroccan women make henna tattoos for tourists.

As an observation, in case you will want to have a henna tattoo, you should know first that natural henna has red color, not black. Black henna has chemicals and in some cases, it might burn or affect your skin very seriously.

In Marrakech you will find dozens of stalls with fresh oranges inviting you for a juice full of vitamins. Many street restaurants, lots of flavours from the spices used in traditional Moroccan food, smoke of the barbecues, sugarcane juice (very healthy - used especially for kidney stones - and delicious when is fresh and well done).

Horses and carriages are waiting in Djemaa El Fna for tourists to take a tour.

Bazaars with many traditional Moroccan clothes, jewelry, colorful scarves, decorative objects, beautiful Moroccan lamps, carpets from Atlas Mountains, spices, kaftans, djellabas, babouch - Morrocan traditional shoes, leather bags, and many more you will find in Djemaa El Fna.

Marrakech is a crowded city. Tourists from all over the world are here each year to visit it. But all these make Marrakech looks like a colorful and exotic painting drew from a fairy tale.

While you are in Djemaa El Fna don't forget to try different types of tajine, harira, kefta and brochettes, henna tattoo, orange and sugarcane juices and shopping in bazaars.

Djemaa El Fna is the young and restless heart of Marrakech. Always atractive and full of magic.

Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco - an example of elegance and strength

2012-07-10T00:04:00.002-07:00

Often named the “Beauty of Morocco”, Princess Lalla Salma is also an example of elegance and grace. Her beauty, class and taste in fashion have always impressed and captured the eyes of the world. You can not fail to notice her presence. Princess Lalla Salma, wearing traditional Moroccan kaftan attired with gold embellishments, was voted as the Most Elegant Guest Dresser at Prince William’s wedding.

Unlike her predecessors Princess Lalla Salma has taken an active role in public life, hosting a number of visiting dignitaries and royalty. These have included Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Sofia of Spain, Sheikha Mozah of Qatar, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, Princess Mathilde of Belgium or Princess Takamado of Japan. Lalla Salma also represents the King and Morocco in meetings and gatherings in other countries.

Maybe one of her major achievements till now is the foundation in 2005 of Cancer Prevention Association in Morocco - Lalla Salma Association to Fight Cancer, and has as main objective to raise public awareness on cancer. In this sense she launched an ambitious campaign, organized the first national cancer registry and linked arms with many international partners in the fight against cancer.

Princess Lalla Salma is also involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa and she received the Sharjah Voluntary Work Award, one of the most important awards in Arabic world. In December 2008,

Princess Lalla Salma was awarded the highest decoration in Senegal, the Grande Croix de l’Ordre national du mérité, because of her humanitarian work in Morocco and abroad.

Lalla Salma supports and encourages women's empowerment. Maybe the development of Morocco would be easier if women would involve more in society and would take as an example the education, dignity, prestige, style and elegance of Princess Lalla Salma.

“…there can be no political or institutional empowerment of women unless their economic, social and cultural rights are promoted, and unless women become part and parcel of the development process.” - Princess Lalla Salma

Article from www.princessioana.com

Visiting Casablanca - Hassan II Mosque

2012-04-10T00:55:00.014-07:00

Landing in Casablanca

My airplane landed on Mohamed V Airport on 27 July. Since I first stepped on Moroccan land I discovered the different world I was about to enter. A woman whom I met in airplane, married with a Moroccan was coming also to visit her husband's family in Casablanca. Before entering in check in she told me "don't smile and don't say anything to the personal that works in airport. If

you will smile they will think you have something to hide and they will unpack all your luggage to check". This was the first advice I have been told in Casablanca.

The weather outside was so so hot and the humidity more than 70%. I felt the air burning my skin. The months of July and August are very hot in Morocco so if you don't like this aspect you better reconsider when you choose the period of spending your vacation here.

As the taxi lead me to the place where I had to be hosted, I noticed the contrasts of Casablanca. Rich and poor, wealthy side and poor side, the modern city and Medina, all together side by side. Casablanca is a huge city where you can get lost very easily. Suddenly, the most impressive thing has just appeared in front of me: the Atlantic Ocean. So beautiful and vast. I will be back here in the next days.

First day - Visit of Hassan II Mosque

In the next day I was visiting the largest mosque in Morocco, the most impressive and exquisite, Hassan II Mosque. This is the 7th largest mosque in the world with a surface area of 9 hectares and the tallest minaret 210 m. It can gather 105.000 people for prayers, 25.000 inside the mosque and another 80.000 outside on the platform designed especially for worshipers.

This mosque was build from the order of Hassan II in the memory of his father King Mohamed V. Initially, the mosque was supposed to be constructed in Rabat, in order to always have his father's tomb close at hand and to allow heads of states to meditate and pray before the tomb of Mohamed V, when visiting the capital. But, reconsidering, Hassan II felt he was indebted to the inhabitants of Casablanca and pledged to redress this by building a great mosque there, close to the sea.

Its location on the Atlantic Coast makes this mosque even more fascinating. Majestic and inspiring, the mosque appears to rise out of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. From there you can contemplate the sky and the ocean in their union. Almost half of the surface of Hassan II mosque lies above the Atlantic waters, thing inspired by a verse of Quran - "the throne of God was built on water" and "from water have we created all life".

12.500 workers, of which 10.000 were craftsmen, worked day and night in shifts to build this beautiful mosque. Above all, it has been taken an extreme care over every detail of the interior. A spotlight shines in the direction of Mecca at night from the top of the minaret. The building also includes a number of modern touches: heated floors, electric doors, sliding roof.

Hassan II mosque remains the pearl of a religious and cultural complex which also includes a museum, a library, an Islamic University, rooms set aside for seminars and meetings, a subterranean four lane driveway and an underground car park with capacity for 1100 cars and 40 coaches.

Tips when visiting Hassan II Mosque:

1. Always dress properly

2. You might have some problems visiting it if you are alone or not in a group. In my case, they didn't let me enter saying that I am not a muslim, When I told the imam that I only want to visit and have a look, he replied sharply that mosque is for praying not for visiting.

3. Inform yourself about the visiting schedule. When they start praying, tourists are not allowed to enter, unless they are muslims.

4. Keep your calm and enjoy your vacation no matter of what it happens. Humans are prone to mistakes no matter of their religion.

10+1 reasons that make Ouarzazate a special place to visit

2012-04-07T01:51:00.016-07:00

1. Location and history

Ouarzazate is relatively new city - was founded in 1928 - and since then it is in a continuous process of development. During the French period it expanded much as a garrison town, administrative centre and customs post. The city is inhabited predominantly by Berberes (Tamazirt) who have constructed here many prominent kasbahs, some of them being now included in the UNESCO's heritage.

The surroundings make this city very special, Ouarzazate being located at an elevation of 1160 meters in the middle of a bare plateau south of the High Atlas Mountains and at the door of Sahara desert. Ouarzazate offers many beautiful landscapes and introduce you gently to Berbers' customs, the people who formed and settled Morocco.

2. Ouarzazate is the starting point of your adventure

Ouarzazate is the starting point of all the circuits and excursions in South of Morocco. Either you go to Dades Valley (the valley of roses) or to Draa Valley (the valley of 1000 kasbahs), all the routes will take you to the big desert of Africa.

3. Ouarzazate considered to be the Hollywood of Africa

Ouarzazate is the city of cinema. It hosts 2 major cinema studios in the world - Atlas Studio and Cla Studio - opened also for tourists, a cinema school and each year, directors and producers from United States, Italy, France, England and so on come to shoot here their movies. Some of these famous movies that were shot in Ouarzazate and its surroundings are Asterix and Obelix, Lawrence of Arabia, The man who would be king, Kingdom of Heaven, Mummy, Gladiator, Babel, Prince of Persia.

4. Ouarzazate is the place of the biggest solar project in the world

With a capacity of 500 MW and an estimated output of 1150 GWH/year (if thermo-solar technology is used), this project is the first of a series of 5 solar complexes that will have a combined capacity of 2,000 MW by 2020.

5. Five starts hotels emerged from 1001 nights

If you will ever come to visit Ouarzazate and you have enough money to spend, book a room in one of these beauties, that seemed emerged from Arabian nights. These are not just some simple hotels, but some sand palaces with all the luxury inside.

6. Taourirt Kasbah a great heritage for the world

Taourirt Kasbah is now included in UNESCO's world heritage due to its incommensurable value. What makes this kasbah so valuable? Its fascinated architecture and its glorious history. A former Glaoui palace, this fortress with 300 rooms marks the junction of 3 rivers - Dades, Draa and Ziz - and was an important point in numerous caravan routes.

Fascinated by its presence and the breathtaking landscapes that you can see from its towers, tourists and film-makers come in Ouarzazate to catch a glimpse of its beauty and its history.

Kasbah Taourirt was also the place where there were filmed some scenes from famous movies. One of this movie is Prince of Persia.

7. Rose products, Henna and Argan Oil

Ouarzazate is also famous for its rose products brought directly from the source, the city of roses, Kelaa Mgouna. Rose water, rose oils, rose soaps, rose body lotions and many more.

If you are with Berbers, then you should know that henna, roses and argan rule when it comes about beauty care. Face masks, body scrubbing, body lotions, hair masks, tattoos for special events, all this are huge topics to discuss. If you are there try them all.

8. Kohl for mysterious Arabic eyes

Maybe at least once in your life you asked yourself: How Arabian women make-up their eyes to look so good? The answer is kohl.

Kohl is an ancient eye cosmetic made by grinding galena (lead sulfide) plus other ingredients and it symbolizes many things.

In the beginning, kohl was used to protect eyes against ailments and people that live in desert use it much to protect their eyes from dust and burning sun. It is a belief that darkening around the eyes would protect one from the harsh rays of the sun. If you will go to desert you will see some men, women and children wearing kohl.

In some places, mothers apply kohl to their infants' eyes soon after birth to strengthen the child's eyes and to prevent him from being cursed by the evil eye.

When you buy kohl, be aware to have good quality and to be pure, otherwise you will ruin your eyes.

9. Great patisserie products

Morocco is know all over the world for its tasty, flavored and healthy cuisine. One of the greatest things that Morocco has is its patisserie. People from this country really love sugar and sweets. No tourist ever left Morocco without tasting some Moroccan cakes. Their wide variety of recipes makes difficult your choice when you enter in a Moroccan patisserie. Almonds, rose water, orange water, cinnamon, walnuts blend in amazing flavors.

10. If you go South you definitely have to try Olive oil and Olives

Olive oil made in South of Morocco has a very strong taste, it's very flavored and very healthy. Berbers eat olive oil and olives with homemade bread and mint tea for breakfast or for a snack, almost daily. Beside olive oil, Berbers have a wide range of olives, of high quality and natural.

11. Guesthouses for cultural exchange - Don't miss this!

Ouarzazate has many guesthouses that host tourists willing to discover authentic Berber traditions from Berbers themselves. If you choose to do this, I guarantee you will have the best vacation ever. From the homemade food that will never taste like the food they serve you in restaurants or hotels, to their beautiful ceremony of tea and the chance to try a henna tattoo right there in their house or the opportunity to see and to dress traditional Berber outfits, everything will give an incomparable taste to your vacation.

Just be opened and try to be a Berber during your staying in Ouarzazate.

Kelaa M'gouna - The beautiful city of roses

2012-04-05T13:33:00.005-07:00

In the month of April all the city is covered with roses. At the entrance of Kelaa M'gouna people with roses necklaces are waiting for visitors. First when I saw this my mind flew to Hawaii.

Each year, in the first week of May there's the Festival of roses in Kelaa Mgouna. This cultural and touristic event known all over the world gathers together singers, dancers, local people and many tourists.

Kelaa Mgouna is famous around the world due to its fields of ROSES.

This city has two factories that produce rose water - used for beauty care and also in Moroccan kitchen for adding fragrance and taste in food - and rose essential oil which is the most valuable product

Tons of rose petals are distilled each year in order to produce rose water and rose essential oil. From Kelaa Mgouna these 2 products take the path to Casablanca's factories where they are transformed in soaps, shampoos, masks and many other cosmetic products, but also to outside Morocco in Europe and United States. This very expensive rose essential oil from Kelaa Mgouna is taken to France and sold to perfume and cosmetic houses at a very high price.

Be careful when you buy rose products, especially the ones made in Casablanca, because they contain many chemicals and also have always in mind that rose products are not pink. They are always without color, transparent.

In all Morocco you will find in shops rose products with labels saying they come from Kelaa Mgouna. It's not true all the time, because most of all these cosmetics are coming from Casablanca factories. If they really come from Kelaa Mgouna then it means they certainly have good quality and you can buy with no worries. Rose products are the most wanted in Morocco and the most required by tourists.

Beside roses Kelaa Mgouna has so many other things to offer. This city is full with green nature. Everywhere you go you see green forests, trees of figs and olives, people preparing natural food like in old times and this reminds you about your native connection with nature.

People from Kelaa Mgouna, the berbers, are friendly and very curious especially when it comes about foreigners. They like to communicate and to discover more about you, your country, family, culture and to observe and study your clothes, car, luggage.

Berbers (Tamazirt) live their life intensely with joy and happiness. They pass all the problems and the difficulties of life with an immensely faith in God. For Berbers each moment counts no matter if they are rich or poor and they don't worry about tomorrow, because for them the present is all that counts.

With this thought in mind, we walked through the fields of roses and we let the smell to fill our senses. Just us and nature. No more stress, no more fighting for money, no more bosses and managers, no more computers, no more social networks. The miracle of real life can not be replaced by anything in this world.

In the nature of Kelaa Mgouna I felt like I was escaping from a cage and I start to breath again the real fresh air. I missed this air for long time.

Up from some rocks we watch the beautiful surroundings, the Atlas mountains, the oasis, the fields of roses, the figs, the olives and all the greens from there. Wonderful. This place is just wonderful.

Cinema Atlas Studios - Ouarzazate

2010-04-25T02:51:00.001-07:00

In Ouarzazate there are 2 cinema studios: Atlas Studios and CLA, 2 cinema schools Kanzaman and OFPPT and many sets for movies. This city it is also called Moroccan Holywood and it really worths this name.

Many movies have been shot here: Kundun, Cleopatra, The Mummy, The mumy returns, Alexander, Gladiator, Babel, Kingdom of Heaven, Hidalgo, Prince of Persia are just few titles that come now in my mind.

Visiting Cinema Atlas Studios was interesting, pity the guide was bored and didn't have much appetite to explain more about this fascinating world of movies. Ouarzazate has many values, it just need people to show these values.

Many sets from movies there are exposed for visitors. The fact that I saw them so closed to me it made me understand more how much work it is behind a movie. In fact, my opinion is that the list of names from the crew displayed in the end of a movie should not start with actors but with the people that work in the backstage. These people are very important and without them there will not be any Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and so on.

So, if you will ever travel to Ouarzazate, don't forget to visit Cinema Studios. They will make you understand more about movies and the way there are made.

Quads adventure in Ouarzazate

2010-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

The first thing in the morning, our host, which is a very kindly and opened minded person, served us breakfast and gave us an idea of what it will come next.

The tea was so good in the morning. Olive oil homemade (amazing taste, so strong, you will not believe it's the real taste of olive oil), olives, honey, milk, jam, bread, houbz houdra (bread filled with vegetables and spices), batbout (a kind of rounded bread that you use it to eat jam, honey, butter so on), everything natural and homemade. It was delicious.

So the plan for the first day it was like this... QUADS for everybody. Half day excursion.

At 11 o'clock we left to the agency to take our quads. Our destination it was Oasis of Fint. So speed it up.
On the way to Fint we crossed by Kasbah Tifoultout, Kasbah Cigone, where we stopped for 10 minutes to take a better look and meantime we were surrounded by the local children, curious to see who we are and if we have any gifts for them. In one minute candies and baloons were spreaded all over for the children. Happiness is in the air.

From Kasbah Cigone we turned and went to Fint. The landscape is amazing. Mountains, oasis, river, traditional houses, so relaxing. Our host that came with us as our guide, gave us plenty information about the places. One of them is that for the movie Prince of Persia they were shooting some scenes there.

From the Big Fint we crossed a river with quads and entered through oasis. So nice the place around. All is green and fresh. The guide from quads agency took us to an auberge located in Fint, Terase des delices. The view from there is very beautiful. Many tourists were inside resting before continuing their journey in Morocco.

We had lunch there (the food was so and so but the ambiance and the people that work there they know how to entertain tourists so you forget about the aspect of food). The tea they served us was really strong. After two cups I felt like I am drunk. It's not without reason that they call it "whiskey marocaine".

So after we danced and listened to darbouka music, we left back to Ouarzazate. The sun was getting hot so we had to speed it up.

Everyone should try quads in his life. The feeling is great.

Here it comes Ouarzazate !

2010-03-09T03:04:00.000-08:00

It tooks us 4 or 5 hours by taxi to reach Ouarzazate, departing from Marrakech. The road is long and winding with plenty of curves. My advice, don't eat much before you travel to Ouarzazate, cause your stomach will really feel sick.

The landscapes are various and captivating. You travel up and down, side by side with Atlas Mountains. The weather is sunny then is windy, it's hot then it's so cold. You can see crowdy places with shops, restaurants and "souks" and then very calm and peaceful places. Villages built in clay or stone, where only the light of sun is known. You can live plenty of sensations on your way to Ouarzazate.

For me travelling by taxi it was really fun, because of the number of persons that were accepted to travel. You can imagine an old Mercedes with 4 people in the back seat and 3 or 4 people in the front. This is an experience. My luck it was that I always travelled with slim people next to me, 'cause otherwise I don't know how it would be.

First night in Ouarzazate it was splendid. Fresh air of night and lot of sparkling stars on the sky. When you will get down from your car in Ouarzazate, just save a minute to enjoy this picture.

We were accommodating at Dar Tuzzalt guesthouse and all the services were very good. Spacious maroccan saloons, cozy rooms, friendly people and a relaxing garden in front. It was perfect and this was just the start of our great time in Ouarzazate.

Henna tattoo and khol

2010-02-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

Henna or Hina is a flowering plant, Lawsonia inermis, used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes. The name is also misused for other skin and hair dyes such as black henna or neutral henna which do not derive from the plant.

Khol has been worn traditionally as far back as the Bronze Age (3500 B.C. onward) by the Egyptian queens. It was originally used as protection against eye ailments. There was also a belief that darkening around the eyes would protect one from the harsh rays of the sun. India's oldest caste, the koli, used kohl as a cosmetic. In addition, mothers would apply khol to their infants' eyes soon after birth. Some did this to "strengthen the child's eyes", and others believed it could prevent the child from being cursed by the evil eye.

Nowadays the preparation of khol can be done in many ways. The danger is when in khol composition it is added lead or galena (PbS). A good and harmless khol is made from amorphous carbon. Plant oils and the soot from various nuts, seeds and gum resins are often added to the carbon powder.
Consumers should verify that any cosmetic product is lead free before usage.

My first henna experience was in Marrakech, in the famous square Djamaa El Fna. It costed me about 3 euro for a tattoo on my arm. Usually when you decide to make a tattoo they ask you the color you want. Me, I had to choose between black and red brown. So, I choosed black and it was a mistake to do this, because real henna has only red color. But this I was about to discover later on when my husband came home and saw my tattoo. So, be careful when you decide to have henna on your body, because chemicals added in some of henna products can harm your skin.
From my husband (who is Moroccan) I also found out that henna is a very good treatment for hair and women in Morocco use it a lot.

Khol is a make up product and it is very used in Morocco by women and men also. If it is natural khol recipe, it can help cleaning your eyes and protect them from sun. In desert, men use khol to protect their eyes from sand. So, khol can be very useful if it is prepared corectly.

The khol I bought from Morocco was a powder in a small glass bottle and next to it they gave me a small wood stick to use it as a tool to make up my eyes. The seller told me that I can buy dark black or lighter black khol. The lighter one, he said it is used only on Friday. Anyway, both colors look great for a make up. Even if it is a little bit difficult in the beginning to use that tool, if you practice few times it's easy.

When I first make up with khol, my eyes burnt a little and started to tear. This effect is normal considering the fact that this product is made to clean your eyes from dust. So no need to worry or to panic.

Khol can also be normal or picant. Picant khol has a stronger effect on your eyes. I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner.

Hmm....I think that's all about khol. If you know more, I invite you to post a comment and share your experience on this page.

http://www.zoufi.com

"Marrakech" feeling

2010-02-15T04:47:00.001-08:00

It seems for me that I have lived many interesting moments in this city while I was on vacation. Everytime when I want to post a new review, the first thing that comes in my mind is Marrakech. Maybe I like this city more because here I met for the first time the one that now is my husband.

In that time we rented an apartment for 2 weeks. I was on vacation and he was working for Prince of Persia the movie, so he used to go to work very early in the morning.
In the begining I was thinking it will be hard for me because I don't like to stay alone and I won't have the posibility to see many places by myself. But, it wasn't like that.

In the first morning at 4 o'clock maybe, after my husband left to work, I was staying in bed and watch the moon in a splendid sky. I couldn't fall asleep again and my mind started to fly.

Few minutes later, a strong and extremely confident voice was about to make me feel something incredible in my heart. The feeling that I am not alone. That voice was of the muezzin from a mosque next to our apartment.

"Allahu Akbar" - which means "God is the greatest" - were the words that inspired me protection, safety, confidence and love in this new world for me. We are never alone, someone is always with us no matter where we are. You can call Him Allah, God, Dumnezeu and many more other names, but He is just ONE for all of us and He is the ONE that will always be here for us. I am not a very religious person in my day life, but from that moment my way of thinking changed and every morning I was woking up waiting for "my new friend" the muezzin to start a new beautiful day.

Travelling by bus in Marrakech

2010-02-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

This is a true, funny and new experience

What every foreign driver should know when visiting Morocco!!!
The traffic in Morocco is always unpredictable. There's no rule in driving. All over Morocco, driving is a huge challenge.

Travelling by bus it can be a problem sometimes in many countries. They can be too crowded, or they don't arrive in time, they have technical problems during your trip and so on. But for Marrakech things are a little bit different.

Here you have to fight for a bus and you have to be really tough to be able to get in.
The buses in Marrakech travel in a strange manner. Most of them they forget to stop in the bus station.

And when they stop, this means that you are a little bit lucky guy. If you succeed to get in, then you are more than lucky, and if you can find a seat also, this means you are veryyyyyy lucky.

The first time when I got acquainted with buses in Marrakesh, I wanted to go back home from Djamaa El Fna. The station was full of people waiting. Finally, a bus arrived and everybody started to run and yell. I was wondering why and I was hoping that it's not my bus for home. But, bad luck for me. The next thing I have heard it was "Hurry up! This is our bus!"

So I said to myself that maybe all I have to do is to stay in line and wait to get in, but I was wrong again. There was no line...it was just a mass of people fighting for getting into this bus. Then I was thinking that In this case my elbows and my knees could help me a lot... and I was not wrong this time. It is obligatory to make your presence known. Only in this way you win a bus travel to your "home".