21st September 2023
It wasn’t planned to publish a blogpost about Morocco this soon. But then the earthquake happened on 9th September and my thoughts keep spiraling back to this multi-faceted country that left us surprised and humbled in many ways. To be honest, it almost seems cynical to write these lines from the comfort of our safe home, while the Moroccan people experience so much sadness and pain. Hopefully, words and pictures can transmit at least a glimpse of the kindness and sincere hospitality that we encountered from so many people we’ve met along the way.
Here are some of them:
- The owner of O Saveurs de la Medina in Salé/Rabat who made us try our first Moroccan couscous and got us excited about exploring the country away from the touristic paths.
- Achmed, our unexpected private tour guide, that made us discover the Medina of Salé through the eyes of a local in a way we would never have done without his guidance.
- The guy that invited us to eat dinner at his home while we took a break on a fuel station somewhere between Meknes and Merzouga.
- The carpet seller with his shop behind Kasbah Amridil that spent an afternoon showing us his goods and assured us that we would be friends even without buying anything.
- The owner of the restaurant La rose des sables in Ouarzazate who made us pay less for his pizza because we ordered it without cheese (!!! European restaurants, take note).
- Yousseef, who asked us to take his picture in Ouarzazate. It is one of my favorite portraits I have taken to this day.
- Mustafa, the owner of the hotel Jardin des délices that prepared us a delicious, 5-star-worthy vegan dinner and made us contemplate about leaving everything behind to start as interns in his kitchen.
- The owner of Dar Moughita in Marrakech who got up with us at 4am to accompany us to a taxi.
- Khalid from the street sandwich bar Chez Khalid in Marrakech who prepared one of the best vegan sandwiches we’ve ever tried with so much love for detail in every ingredient. The fresh sandwich cost less than 2 EUR and on top we got offered free tea.
