When we talked about adding Morocco to our list of trips on our travel plan, it was mostly because we needed to spend some time outside the Schengen zone in order to stay close to Europe.
Our first ride on camels/dromedaires
We can only spend 90 days in most parts of Europe without a visa. We have a cruise leaving on November 30th for Dubai out of Rome and didn’t want to venture too many miles away as the airfare can get ridiculous getting back!
The herd of Dromedaires. They are pack animals. Males are dominate
Some friends of ours have also been to Morocco so we felt safe in doing so until we arrived. I have always felt uneasy about the trip before we arrived and during our first 10 days, it took me some time to be comfortable. When I first booked the trip, we chose an apartment in Marrakech for 40 days.
View from my ride, Nelson Mandela
Since booking it (over a year ago), a few months into our planning we found that Essaouira was on the beach and was much more popular among expats. We decided to move the bulk of the trip to Essaouira. I am so glad we did. It has been so relaxing here, after our initial shock and finally understanding that the people here are so kind, we have truly enjoyed our stay.
Chuck on Jordan
I have a feeling the rest of our stay will be even more enjoyable. Sure we still have the 5 prayers over speaker to the city on a daily basis to listen to but now it’s just a part of the day.
The most fun so far was our camel rides. Or as we were corrected by Mustafa, our guide, they are Dromadaires. This is the Arabic spelling. Google converts it to English as Dromedary.
The desert’s majestic landscape when the wind is blowing.
Camels have two humps and most are from Egypt. These have one hump and are African. They live up to 25-30 years, are up to 6.6 feet tall and can weigh 850-1300 pounds. They don’t drink water in the winter months. They eat the type of leaves from trees like Eucalyptus that give them enough hydration that they don’t need water.
Our shadow!
They can also drink water from the ocean which really surprised me. Their kidneys are designed to filter the high salt content of the ocean water. Chuck was riding in front of me and his drank and pee’d a lot!
Their meat is eaten in these parts of the world. Mustafa said the hump is the most expensive because it is where the nutrients are stored. He said the meat is very low in cholesterol and good for people with heart conditions.
He wanted his nose scratched! 😀
The milk is used in primarily cheeses and drinking just like goats milk. In this country, he said if a human baby needs milk, they get the milk from a nursing camel because it has the same nutrients as the human mother. Another interesting tidbit is that their belief is the grass stored in their hump can be used to help cure some cancers.
Four of us on the ride. We are at some ruins. Jimi Hendrix once played here.
These are Mustafa’s babies, his pets, and you can tell he really cares for them. This is his livelihood. He went back to school to learn English so that he could get more business and his interpersonal skills are perfect for this. We learned he has a 3 month old daughter and his dream someday is to open a business for making and selling the cheeses.
Chuck and our guide Mustafa taking the lead.
He said it is very profitable here. After about an hour ride, we stopped for a traditional Moroccan snack. He put together several herbs, lemongrass and mint to make a sweet mint tea. He cooked the tea over an open wood fire. He added some Moroccan bread his mom and sister made, warmed over the fire. We dipped the warm bread in Argan oil, which is very popular here in Morocco. It is made from the Argan trees and is used for cooking, hand lotions and essential oils.
Jordan and Nelson Mandela
Commonly sold in the Medina. We also had some Moroccan cookies. They are dry and crumbly but one type had some dates in it that held the cookie together. That was the only one that was good to me. After our snack and getting to know the other couple from England, Jane and Andy, we get back on for the rest of our sunset ride.
Other tourists on a horseback ride. Looks like they brought along their puppy dog.
To mount the camels, they sit down on all four legs and you climb aboard. When Mustafa was ready, he would come around with a stick and gently tap their legs and they would raise the front two first and then the back two. It was very rough and as we were warned, you really had to hang on.
Chuck and the others standing around chatting. We are wearing a headscarf and a djellaba, a robe worn traditionally in Morocco by both men and women.
We walked in the desert and then to the beach and walked in the water while the sun was setting. It was a very memorable experience and we loved it. Mustafa was great because he not only loves the business but he loves his animals and cares for his clients.
A delicious sweet mint tea was prepared for us.
He told us one story that a horse kicked one of his dromedaires and broke its leg. He had to sell it for meat. It broke his heart. He showed us pictures of her. She was a beautiful animal with multi colors. He said he couldn’t work the rest of the day and had his assistant take over. The sad part is the owner of the horse not only didn’t offer any payment but didn’t even apologize for his horse kicking the dromedaire.
The tea and the bread were cooked over an open wood fire.
Mustafa snapped hundreds of pictures of all of us and knew exactly where, when and how to take them. He’s very good and so was the experience. Us and the other couple talked about a tip. We couldn’t decide what to give.
Mustafa, our guide and owner of the dromedaires, pours the mint tea to make a froth.
We decided on 100 dirham for each couple which is a lot of money for a tip in Morocco but it was only $11 USD. We were very pleased with the experience and he truly deserved even more. After we finished the ride, we decided to walk back to the hotel so we could stretch our legs after 2 plus hours of riding.
Chuck & I in the sunset silhouette.
Chucks hips and my back were killing us so the walk would do us some good. It was only about 1 1/2 – 2 miles and the night air felt good. We noticed as we were getting closer to the hotel that music was playing and lots of lights were flashing.
We also started passing police officers, one by one, just standing around. Now, we haven’t seen many since we have been here but we found them all on our way back to the hotel. There was an area roped off with a large party with a band and food being cooked on the grill and a lot of drinks being passed around.
A band playing next to our apartment. A festival is here and the President of Essaouira is here in the Medina. Lots of police presence.
The night lights up in blue. Very pretty along the street. There was also a wedding happening here.
The music was nice to listen to and we found out it was a reception for a wedding. The interesting part was the bride and groom had already left and the party was in full swing. The wedding party passed us in a few cars with the car decorated, lights flashing and horns honking on their way to another destination.
Another amazing experience! Chuck is on the lead camel, I’m behind him.
By the time we are cleaned up and ready for bed at midnight, the party was still going. I’m sure they all had a great time.
Next week we are planning a hammam bathing experience. Stay tuned and I’m sure it will be another interesting post! May God bless you always! Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 
What an awesome day you had!!
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What an awesome day you had!!
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