Salam!

Prior to the last few years, I had not heard much about Morocco to desire to visit, but once I saw a photo of Marrakech on social media with the vibrant colors in the city (known as the “Red City”) and the architecture, it was definitely a would-love-to-visit. I saw Tracee Ellis Ross’s travel show, and one of her destinations was Marrakech – I was sold! My best friend decided she would go for her 35th birthday celebration, and I knew it would be a time.

I flew into Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK), and because it was mid-November, it was nice weather: not too hot and not too cold. I had one faux-fur bomber jacket that worked for daytime and nighttime in the city and desert. We stayed at a gorgeous villa, Villa Sophia, just outside of Marrakech. We spent that first day soaking in the villa, lounging by the pool, and having our first tajine dish (of many). I love the Moroccan diet, and I just know they are among the healthiest people on the planet.

The next day, we went to Medina and souks to go shopping. The guide took us to KSOUR BIO, which is a shop where we were able to procure some cold-pressed Moroccan argan oil, safran, perfume oils, tea, and other things; KSER LE VIZIR, which is a shop with handmade rugs in a former riad; and a couple other shops. Unfortunately, we didn’t attend all that were planned, because we took too long in the first two (kind of their fault, kind of mine). This was an experience I compared to our shopping at Khan El Khalili market in Cairo, where the guide took us to different shops and explained our surroundings; however, there was something that happened in the Medina that I’d never experienced in all of the 44 previous countries I’d visited! Before we walked into the Medina, the guide mentioned something about taking photos and paying to do so. My brain translated that as “if you want to take a picture with the performers, you will have to pay.” Well, I didn’t want to take pictures with them, but I took one, singular photo in the general courtyard area, and I got chased down by a performer’s bodyguard who insisted that I pay for that photo. I was so confused, but I didn’t want any problems. We paid, and the camera was put away! Next, we went to the desert for camel rides and dunebuggies. I originally planned to ride the camel, but when I got there, I realized I was done riding animals, and I called shotgun on a dune buggy. I got sand in my hair and everywhere, but riding fast though a desert like some action movie hero never gets old. Somehow, we made it out to dinner at Buddha Bar later (not sure where all this energy came from).

The following day, we went to the YSL garden and museum; we had lunch (tajine) creekside in Ourika Valley and hiked to and up the mountain to go chasing waterfalls, which amounted to about 2 miles with 300 feet elevation; that same day, we went to Theatro Marrakech to party (maybe sleep a wink or two – sorry, did you see how much we did before this?). Our last day, we had a spa day at the villa where we got massages and hammam scrubs, and had dinner (tajine) in the desert at La Boheme.

This trip was so full, I can’t imagine what I would do differently when I return, but I do want to go back out with my family one day! I had to ditch them for this trip – traveling with an infant and toddler is not for the faint at heart, or the strong at heart. Pumping exclusively for days, sometimes in places without designated areas, and traveling with breastmilk also isn’t, but choices had to be made. On that note, make sure you know the airline’s rules for traveling with breastmilk, because they tried to tell me I couldn’t take all of that hard-earned, pumped-in-the-mountains-and-the-valleys breastmilk through security. But all my breastmilk, and the 205 Moroccan Dirham I forgot to spend or translate back to USD, made it back home.

All photos taken with Nikon D5600.