Fez To Fez

THE MARRAKESH EXPRESS

Okay, we drove, but that didn’t stop us from singing the song. It’s about a three hour drive from Essaouira to Marrakesh. The guidebook describes it as “a boring road” which was not our experience. In fact our drive was filled with serendipitous surprises. We stopped at a goat-filled argane tree. 

Goats in an Argane tree

Traditionally, goats climbed up the argane tree to eat the fruit and later “expelled” the nuts, which were then gathered for their seed content, which was in turn ground into argane oil. There are now several women’s cooperatives in the area East of Essa producing and selling this precious oil.

Further along the road I noticed crowds gathered in a fun fair-like atmosphere in a small town. As I looked more closely I saw several horsemen lined up for the Fantasia, a contest of desert riders who work as teams to coordinate a canter into a gallop aimed straight toward the crowd. At the height of the intensity of the run, the horsemen raise their rifles in unison and let off a loud musket fire into the air before grinding to a sudden halt rather than stampeding into the appreciative crowd of dignitaries. Opportunities to view the Fantasia in non-tourist settings are rare and we were very appreciative of the good fortune we experienced.

The Fantasia

Once again, finding our hotel, and even the designated parking area gave us more than we bargained for. Roads are not well sign posted, traffic patterns are random at best, and map directions make no sense. We arrived at our riad eventually and had dinner. Later Jonathan and I ventured out into the crazy, over-stimulating, brightly lit, colorful, character-filled streets and alleyways leading to the main square. The Jamaa El-Fna is a huge open space near the Koutoubia Mosque. The square is teeming with life at night. Open restaurants serve freshly cooked meats and vegetables to crowds of people. Orange juice stands abound. Nearby street musicians share space in the dark with calligraphers, magicians, snake charmers, monkey-handlers, vendors, beggars, tourists and locals. 

We wandered through some of the nearby souks in the medina amidst the bustle of people, bicycles, carts, motor scooters, donkeys, devotees headed to prayer, shoppers looking for late night bargains and even a man getting a midnight shave. I think the correct word is “overstimulating.”

Children playing at night in the Medina in Marrakech