Morocco

Morocco is a country in North Africa distinguished by its Berber, Arabian, and European cultural influences. It has a coastline on both the Atlanic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. There are four main languages spoken in Morocco; Arabic, Tamazight (official), French and Spanish. Morocco has several cities that people flock to for vacation and each city has its own unique flavor, but I will focus on Marrakech.

Marrakech is a major economic center and you will see several mosques, palaces, and beautiful gardens. Whenever I read about things to do in Marrakech, everyone raves about the souks. Souks are marketplaces where you can get anything from spices to Arabian carpets. I would definitely have to shop for some beautiful and exotic spices while I am there. I once ran across a great Indian grocery store in Chicago and the spices were so much more potent than what you get in your average grocery stores so I know that spices directly from a souk would be amazing.

The top three things that I want to do in Morocco is go hot air ballooning from the Atlas mountain, have a traditional Berber breakfast, and go camping in the Sahara. While I have never been hot air ballooning there is just something about the colorful balloons that fascinate me. Another thing that I would do is have a traditional Berber breakfast. The components are just so different from any typical breakfast that I have had or heard of. A Berber breakfast consists of: a bowl of nuts and roasted chickpeas , amlou (it’s like almond butter with honey), olive oil, green olives, honey, savory crackers, black olives, homemade cheesy butter, homemade bread, and mint tea. And last but not least, I would want to go camping in the Sahara.

Have you ever been to Marrakech? What were your favorite things to do there?