Week 3: Morocco In Pictures by Ahmed Salat

MOROCCO IN PICTURES

In my first post, I slightly talked about how beautiful and clean the streets of Fez, the city I’m currently living in, are. Well, I have since travelled to (or through) different cities in Morocco and couldn’t have enough of the beauty of this country. I observed that cities in Morocco have been properly planned, with each city having an old town, with ancient architecture, and a new part with  more recent architecture- mostly apartments. I can’t possibly explain, in detail, the beauty of each city in just one blogpost but will try give an overview of some of the cities I have visited so far and mention a few things that stood out to me.

 

*At the end of this blogpost, I have put links to my google photos with all the amazing pictures which I took during my visits, so enjoy at the end of your read!*

Chefchaouen -the Blue City

A picture in the blue city

Next to the Rif mountains of Northwest Morocco (about four hours’ drive from Fez), lies the blue city of Chaouen with its beautifully blue-washed buildings. This was one of the first places some of my friends recommended I visit when I told them that I’d be going to Morocco this summer and I surely wasn’t disappointed when I visited (though the food wasn’t the best I have had in Morocco.)

Meknes

Meknes is a two hour drive out of Fez and I found the two cities quite similar and I almost felt I was doing a second tour of Fez. I, however, on our way out of Meknes, enjoyed the tour of Volubilis, z partly excavated ruins of an ancient Roman city, destroyed by an earthquake in the 18^th Century.

Some of my classmates standing at the ruins of Volubilis

 

While I have had enough time to explore and enjoy the above cities, there are others that we passed by on our way to the Sahara desert and got me so interested that I asked my Moroccan friend  about them and had interesting facts about them.

 

Midelt: The Apple City

Midelt: The Apple City

 

Though we didn’t get a chance to stop and explore this city, I was captivated by its greenness and beauty and when I asked Meriam, my Moroccan friend, about it, she told me that this is one of the main agricultural lands and is well known for apple production. While still talking about Midelt, we passed by a beautiful  roundabout (picture above) that lives up to the name of the city!

 

Erfoud: Ammonites

This area is rich in limestone, dating back to over 300 million years ago, according to a guy who showed us around, and there are many fossils, mostly ammonites (an extinct group of marine animals), found in these region. The guy told us that there are several theories explaining the existence of  many ammonites in the area and the most profound one was that the area now covered by the Sahara desert was once a sea. The ammonites were over the time buried by sediments as the sea dried up, transforming the shells of the ammonites into stone through geological processes. The region now has many fossil deposits, mined and carved into different items by Moroccan craftsmen. Looking through the countless beautiful carvings was overwhelming and after minutes of conflicting thoughts on what to buy from the collection, I settled for the map of Africa shown above which is by far the prettiest Moroccan made item I have come across!

 

Merzuga: Trek through the Sahara

I enjoyed the three day desert trip to Merzuga. The view of the sand dunes and the sunset while on the camel was just breathtaking, to say the least. We spent the night in Berber tents, watched the stars and spent the night there.

 

Ifrane City: The Switzerland of Morocco

Contrasting pictures of Ifran taken by a Moroccan during the summer and winter

Finally, Ifrane. This is a special city. It is different from other Moroccan cities- greener and cooler throughout the year. They call it “the Switzerland of Morocco” With an alpine climate, this small city is where many wealthy Moroccans from nearby cities travel to during the winter to experience snow and enjoy many snow-events and also in the summer to escape the hot weather of most of these other cities.

 

 

Chaouen pictures: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPpz2ZzxOuvXJUmu8pLmUqSIOVxHyUT-k2NbJtT4OPpUE-w3G96guPQzBHCOQ4tug?key=Y2s2ME9BTDJhS0l1MzRkNEZxOFBkQVVIRjBGZkJn

Desert Trip-

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP2tt9q0OUloMGF3uRzTrTOt9BUJ3hl32RN-YVCwwV1SnHqJYTI91kzepVpRaJagg?key=WVBxM3ZVbzIwRWROWGNIX2lqYzlxZ25oMWhTZzFn

MEKNES AND VOLUBILIS

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO30OfFSyww4gEF3cFHf026F8WvBmhcUNxxgqKMrVnQBKFgZkUpEvFRjuYCFadUPw?key=ZDZOS1lsVHhibVJpaUZjQWdtMTdDWS1VeEFobG1R