Morocco
A little while after the most intense waves of the Covid-19 virus were receding, a couple of friends from my primary and secondary school were starting to plan a holiday.
Firstly we were thinking of going to Bali. However with the uncertainty of Covid restrictions we eventually decided to go to Morocco. While the same uncertainty would apply to Morocco, it felt less uncertain. Maybe because Morocco is closer to the Netherlands.
Everything went alright and we went to Maastricht Airport to travel to Casablanca, which would be our first destination. From Casablanca we travelled clockwise through Morocco, which meant we would travel to the “koningssteden.” We also travelled to Fez, Essaouira and to Aït ben-Haddou.
Some highlights for me were Rabat, which is a very clean city. I also remember the beach in Rabat which was also very nice. Rabat being the capital of Morocco there was so much to view and we just did not have the time to view all the highlights.
Another highlight for me was visiting the Sahara. We rode on camels and slept in a camp close to the desert. I noticed that the terrain gradually transformed to a desert. After the civilized world you first had to travel through a terrain of dunes (on buggies, since the terrain was uneven and not accessible by cars meant for asphalt) after which you entered a landscape filled with large heaps of sand.
The heaps were not as large as mountains that you encounter in ski resorts.
Another highlight was the Botanica Majorelle in Marrakech. Marrakech itself was already a pretty city, also cleaner than some other cities in Morocco. The Botanica Majorelle was a botanical garden in Marrakech and was created by french artist Jacque Majorelle.
In contemporary times the garden was run by Yves Saint Lauren, the tailor, who passed in 2008. (run from 1980-2008)
Culture
We could access most buildings through English. I do not remember us having spoken a lot of french. In the light of the history it is understandable that Moroccans do not particularly prefer speaking french if there are alternatives.
There is quite some interaction between the Netherlands and Morocco. As I understand it lots of dutch/Moroccan families have relative in one of the countries.
This closeness between the two countries was reflected in a Dutch restaurant which we visited at the start of our holidays.
All in all it was truly a special holiday.
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