Morocco is the last country we visited before getting on the ship one final time. This is the last installment of my Morocco posts, isn’t that sad?
I’ve been home for two months, but I can still hardly grasp that this is all finished, that I’m not getting back on the ship, and that it was indeed, all real.
Before all the truly hard posts come (ie. what it was like to get off the ship), I have this one, which honestly is so freaking awesome.
I’ve said a few times, I was the most excited about Morocco and for good reason. I had some of my favorite food here, met some of my favorite people, took some of my favorite pictures, and did some of my favorite things. So without further ado, here it is, the last Morocco post.
p.s. Remember how I went out of order of order? It is because I saved the best for last.
Day 4 & 5: Marrakech
We had quite the day planned in Marrakech and first things first we were picked up bright and early from our hotel (we were still at the Lé Meridian).
Eventually, we made it to the desert to ride camels… to tell you the truth I have no idea what desert it was, but I know it wasn’t the Sahara. The Sahara desert was about an 8-hour bus ride (one way) to ride camels and the group I was with decided to do more than just the camels so we settled with not the Sahara.
I’m so so so glad we decided to do this! I LOVED every part of Morocco and have no doubt that I’ll ride camels in the Sahara at some point.
Anyway…when we got there, they either gave us scarves or they wrapped our scarves for us so that we weren’t attacked by the sand. I loved it, it worked so dang well!!
They got us assigned to our camels, mine being “Ho Ho” and let us get acquainted.
He even threw in a smile for me
Once we were all settled, they helped us get up on those suckers… they physically lifted me up there, who knows how. And then we were off! We were on those babies for about an hour and trust me, an hour on a camel is plenty.
The people who organize all of this, clearly know what pictures people want because they took our phones and just started snapping away.
After our mini little camel trek, which trust me satisfied the desire to go on a camel, we took a break before the next activity.
It wouldn’t be proper Moroccan post without some tribute to the Moroccan mint tea. This stuff was EVERYWHERE and was offered wherever we went. It was so stinking good and half of the experience was how they poured it.
Post-tea, we took a little drive to the place we went 4-wheeling. Remember those scarves they tied on our heads, yeah they worked even better for this than the camels… you’ll see why in a bit.
The whole time, it felt like we were in a Mario Kart race. It was SO fun, I only got in trouble a few times for doing donuts and going too fast.
Remember how I said it was important we covered up from sand? Yeah this is why.
HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS HAPPEN?
I showed these pictures of Caroline, to my roommate Josey and her reaction is the perfect representation of everyone else’s reaction…
We were ripping it around out there for a while before we headed back to our hotel for a much-needed break… remember the pool I showed you in my last post? That’s where we had lunch and recuperated before heading out to explore Marrakech more.
Eventually, we made it to the YSL (Yves Saint Laurent) house. The story behind it is that Yves didn’t see color until he moved to Morocco and his home/garden in Marrakech was the inspiration for much of his prints and designs.
I’m going to take you back to Day 2 to close out this blog post… just an FYI
Day 2: Tangier
When we got to Tangier, we were absolutely famished. Good things Morocco has a nightlife, because it was late and we needed food. Eventually, we found the restaurant, Anne e Paulo. AND BOYS LET ME TELL YOU.
Well let me tell you this first, we were at an Italian restaurant in Morocco, owned by an Austrian couple, the menu was in French, and we ordered in Spanish. Our waitress, Nadia was our age and ended up sitting with us for a bit.
Somehow, a group of 11 of us walked in at 11pm and got a table in a full restaurant right away, it was meant to be.
But this food, O.M.G., this was my favorite meal of the trip. We got Margherita pizzas as a table appetizer and a few bottles of wine. I ended up ordering chicken pesto ravioli and it was UNBELIEVABLE. All of the food was.
We stayed for 3 hours eating and just hanging out… we didn’t realize what time it was until it was much too late. But it was one of my favorite things we did surprisingly, so I’m glad we lost track of time.
The next morning, we boarded our very last plane trip until we got on a plane to go home.
And just like that, we got on the ship for the very last time. And saw this sign, for the very last time.
I’d be lying if I said there were no tears shed in the midst of this process. It genuinely was one of the most bittersweet processes I’ve ever been on. It was our last bag check, last time scanning into the ship, and last time waving a country goodbye.
Morocco, you were too good to me.
And just like that, it was my last SAS country post.
But don’t you worry, theres still more to say.
Til next time,
Katelyn
Hey Katelyn I am about to be on the sas sp2020 voyage and was wondering if it was hard finding out where to ride atv’s/ camels. I feel that these “excursions” would be pretty common in that country however you never know. Also, did you book these in advance or right before you got to Morocco? Thanks!
Hi Gabrielle,
First, have an incredible trip, I’m jealous! We didn’t have any trouble finding a place that would do atv/camel rides given that its such a common activity! I think we booked them about 2 weeks before, so about 2 countries before. If you go to THIS post, I linked the company we used and how we booked everything!