My first trip to the caribbean

Talking about the caribbeans most people think about Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica so basically the Greater Antilles. But there are lots of other nice islands were the sun is shining too and even the weather is better. (From end of august until mid october there is the hurricane season in the caribbean islands. Well the sun is still shining but there is a change of having one of these huge hurricanes). The Netherlands Antilles are hardly ever affected by these hurricanes. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are protected by the trade winds which means that the wind is always blowing but it is also blowing away the bad weather.
As I was looking for a place to go for holidays I decided to go to Curaçao which is about 70 km north of Venezuela. It was a Dutch colony so Dutch is still spoken on the island.
Other languages are english and papiamento. A lot of people speak spanish as well.

You can reach this island very easy by plane from europe with KLM or Airberlin to name a few. Although the airport is tiny it has got good connections to Venezuela, the USA and other Caribbean Islands. Flights from europe are quite reasonable exept in october because there are holidays in the Netherlands. So KLM charges a lot more. KLM serves also Aruba and Sint Marten.

This time I decided to go for relaxing beach holidays so I did not see a lot of Curaçao. But what I saw was very nice. You never know but I think I will go back also to see Aruba and maybe Bonaire which are very close by. Nevertheless I would like to share my experiences with you.

the Atlas

col du Tichka

Dra gorge

architechtural elements

the surfside of Morocco

the harbour tower

After all these lively cities, the desert and the mountains I needed some relaxation on the beach. We decided to leave the countryside for the ocean. There are some popular beach destinations in Morocco. The most popular one is Agadir because it is reachable by plane non-stop from Europe. Essaouira is the other well known city on the beach.

There are good conections from Marakech to Essaouira. By bus it takes about 4 hours depending on the traffic. This nice former fishermans town grew a lot in the last years. There is a historical town center with a different architecture than other cities in this country. The Romans, the portuguese and Jimi Hendrix conquered this port and left behind their culture. (Jimi spent a couple of days there and he was followed by lots of hippie tourists.) Everything is about fishes and boats in Essaouira. So life is in the harbour and the restaurants downtown. Cheap fish and shellfish is served all over the city.

It has a beautiful endless sandy beach  in the south of the city.  The people of Essouira know the tourists, They charge for everything a high price. So you have to be a good in making deals. You can also find some cheap places and nice people. During summer and automn this town is crowded by surfers. We went their in November were there are less tourists and less noise. It is a good place to relax.

island of Mogador - nature reserve

kings and vagabounds

Fès, Meknès, Rabat, Marrakech are called the imperial cities of Morocco. They all were capital cities during a certain period. The current capital city is Rabat.

Bab Bou Jeloud, "The Blue Gate" - Fes

leather tanning in Fes

All these cities are quite old and very beautiful. There are lots of similarities such as the medina and the architecture. You definitfely have to visit at least one of them. In the medina you can get anything you need for a good price.

Fès is very well known for his leather tanning and the Blue Gate. The medina is built on a hill so you have to climb a lot of stairs to see the craftsmen at work. You would never guess what nice piece of work they do. We stayed in Riad l'Artiste just a five minutes walk from the Bab Rcif on of the big gates. The riad is runned by a morrocan who lives in France since years.

Bab Mansour Meknes

Meknès has its name from a Berber tribe which was originally from Tunisia. It is the city of hundres minarets. They built a huge prison for christian sailors underneath the fortress. I recomend to visit this city because the gate and a I think the old part of the city are on the list of UN World Heritages. We stayed in a lovely Riad called Riad La Maison d'à côté bookable on booking.com The riad is very hard to find. I suggest you to call the owner and he will pick you up on the big square infront of the Medina. As in most of the medinas taxis are not allowed to enter. And in Meknès it would not even be possible due to the narrow paths.

Stars and camels

An absolut must during your Moroco journey is a trip to the desert. There are many different ways to go for it. You should not go on your own as it is very dangerous. You can get lost very easy.
You can book tours with a camel ride or with a 4x4 and so on...
As I have been twice to the desert I tried both ways. For sure the 4x4 trip is lot more confortable and faster. I did enjoy the camel ride for 5 minutes. After that my back, ass ... startet to hurt. Unfortunately the ride just startet and it was planned to take another 45 minutes at least.



The camps are not very different. There are tents equiped with beds, or mattresses and with bed covers. The luxus-camps also have toilets. Normally the sleeping tents are built in a circle around the camp fire and there is always a meeting tent. The guides are making a fire and prepare the dinner while your are enjoying the desert. Please take a tour to the next dune during the night. It is unbelievable to see all this stars in the sky. Normally you get up very early in the morning to take a ride into the sunrise. But that is not a big problem because you might not sleep very well since it is very cold.
Beeing in the desert does not only mean to be surrounded by sand and camels. It is about the sunrise and sunset, to see the milkyway and to feel the peace. I can not describe that - you have to learn that on your own body!

The Berber people are the ethnicity indigenous to North Africa west of the Nile valley. They have a long history and are very well adapted for the life in the desert. These people know the way through the desert since they were living there since tousands of years. In past the transportet the spices throught the desert. Today just a few Berber people are still living in the desert. Most of them are now working with tourists doing this journeys to the camps or doing some arts and crafts. But most of the Berber families are now linving in little villages near or in the Atlas.

To get to the desert you have to cross the Atlas. This are the mountains between the ocean and the desert. It ist very high and you might see some snow. In winter you can go skiing very close to Marrakech. 

Marrakech - get your deal!

The food court of the Souk

First I gonna tell you something about Marakech. First of all, no it's not the capital, that is Rabat. Marakech is about 2-3h from the Essaouira were the atlantic ocean is. It's very lively and busy this city. They have one of the biggest market of Morocco. They call the markets souk. Often it's very crowded and in narrow paths they are selling their products. You will find everthng. Sheeps, spicies, turtles, fruits, arts and crafts.... Do you ne

the old part of the souk

ed anything? Just go to the souk. The souk of Marrakech is huge and you can get lost easily. But no worries. You always gonna find a way out just take time. The have this sings that should help you to find the places of interest.
The souk is open every day. Please remember that the arabs have their sunday on saturday. That means on saturdays the shops will open later or sometimes they are closed. The Moroccans are very good salesman. Imagine you want to buy this wonderful leather bag he will tell you the price. But never ever buy it for that price. That's way too high. You have to call your price. As far as I know you shouldn't pay more then a third of his first price. If the seller is a Berber it's very hard to decrease the price. But just try it. The seller are always happy if you are a good trader. Ther busines works like that. If you don't try to decrease the price the seller won't be happy.
Since I'm talking about money I gonna tell you were to get money. I always to cash from an atm. Sometimes it doesn't work but I'm sure you will find another one. The currency is Morocan Dirham. I never payed with dollars or Euros, but I think in big places and luxury hotels they will accept it.