Forgotten by the Sate of Morocco

Since starting this blog I have spent a bit of time trying to work out the direction I would like to take it.  The honest answer is I don't really know.  It will be a little bit of everything.  I really need more than one blog but certainly don't have the time to do that.  My interests lie in everything Moroccon - food, culture, history, tradition, fashion, events, tourism you name it so this blog will cover it all.  It will be very photo based but this won't develop a great deal until I get there as my portfolio of pictures is currently quite small.

I have discovered the Moroccan Foundation which is a charitable organisation devoted to helping the underpriveledged.  One particular arm of it that I am interested in is for the small villages that are too far from anywhere to be able to register themselves as citizens. These are Moroccos forgotten people.  They have no hospital or local office - nothing.  Here is a link which gives a little more information:  forgotten by the Moroccan state

It quite surprised me to watch this video but it has also inspired me to try and help.  I have contacted the foundation and hope that they may be able to use me in some way to document these forgotten people photographically.  By photographing them in B & W and in an artistically interesting way it is possible that their plight may be taken to a wider audience.

More pictures of Marrakech

In this period of waiting to get to Marrakech I cannot help but keep going back to the pictures It took whilst there.  Funny how it is not home yet but I feel homesick looking at them!  

The picture above is the entrance to Ksar Char Bagh on the edge of the Palmerai.  It is a splendid piece of architecture and is very much based on Alhambra in Grenada, Spain.  We stayed for one night on one of our trips and were looked after amazingly.  We had one of the best meals we have had in Marrakech although it was very French and not at all a Marrakech experience. The pool here is very long and narrow and great for actually having a swim. The gardens are huge and they have a very cool hamman/spa.  The bedrooms are huge and most have large terraces. We thought the rooms were very cool but others have commented that they are quite sparce and lacking in cosy places to sit which I suppose is true.  We will definitely go back there again. 

The restaurant manager is worth a little mention as well as he was fantastic.  But not only that we had mutual friends.  Every year we go to a little village called Pegairolles in Languedoc, South of France.  A tiny little village that no-one has ever heard of let alone been there. On the edge of Pegairolles there is fabulous little restaurant called Le Temps de Vivre.  It was opened a couple of years ago by the ex head chef of Le Jardin des Sans in Montpellier France. Well, this chap from Ksar Char used to be the restaurant manager at Le Jardin in Montpellier and therefore is good friends with the family who now own Temps de Vivre. It was strange to turn up at Ksar Char and talk with mutual fondness about a small restaurant in the back of beyond. A small world.

Marrakech street scenes

As a keen photographer Morocco is like heaven for me.  I intend whilst living there to document the life of the desert Arabs and the Berbers.  

I have for now though been enjoying taking a mixture of pictures around Marrakech.

stray dog asleep in the grass

lady with child in the souk

old doors for sale 

Marrakech taxis

new road that will eventually be part of the main road from Marrakech to Casablanca

The process of buying a villa

Initially we were going to Marrakech to open and run our own hotel.  Having successfully done that in the UK we had great aspirations for doing something fantastical in Marrakech. However with the current credit crisis and the huge number of riads that have already opened in Marrakech over the last couple of years we have decided to just get out there and then decide what to do.  With the current climate there is absolutely no point in our rushing into anything. However we do need somewhere to live.  

We have looked at so much property.  Everything from riads in the Medina to derelict farmhouses in the foothills of the Atlas.

above pictures show a similar villa to one we have bought

The funny thing was that each property we visited we loved.  There is very little to dislike. Everything seems to ooze potential.  It was always things like access, distance to school, noise and so on that made places a no no.  In the end we opted for a new villa designed by architect Charles Boccara.  It is not like us at all to go for something new.  Normally we would much prefer to buy something a little run down and do it up.  With a new born baby though a new place is so much easier.  We have therefore bought a villa on Domaine de L'Akhdar on the Route de Ouarzazate which is very near the school that our daughter will go to.  

The decision to move to Marrakech!

Having fallen in love with Morocco we decided several more visits were necessary before making the decision to finally move.  

We had several trips back and forth between November 2007 and Feb 2008 looking at schools, hospitals, cost of living, supermarkets - all the things that make living somewhere feasible. Having ticked nearly all the boxes we then decided that a long stay was needed in order to really feel what it was like to live there.  Up until this point we had had the luxury of staying in nice hotels, eating in nice restaurants and being pampered somewhat.  We needed to know what it was like on a normal day to day basis.  So in Feb 08 we spent 6 weeks in rented accommodation doing just that.  We loved it even more.

Our daughter had a trial day at the school she is going to go to, she loved it and made lots of friends and a new best friend.  From that a friendship was born us and the parents of one of the children.  They own the beautiful Riad Zamzam

They have both been a huge amount of help to us introducing us to people and making us feel as if we already have a home in Marrakech.  

First Visit to Morocco

The Atlas in the distance from Marrakech

Jemma El Fna (the largest sq in Africa)

In the foothills of the Atlas

The entrance to Riad El Fenn

We first visited Marrakech in November 07.  By this time low cost airlines were already in full swing, the riad business was booming and we were really a little bit too late from the point of view of going and making a killing investment wise.  However we immediately fell in love with it.  

The humdrum of traffic and noise, pedestrians, dogs, scooters, police, vagabonds, taxis - it all made for such an amazing, buzzy atmosphere. It was intoxicating and we were drawn in.  We couldn't get enough of it.

We arrived at night on this first visit and were hit by warm air and a clear, starry night as we got off the plane.  It felt magical.  Customs is a bore and took for ever but it gave us time to soak it all up.  We were eager to get to our riad and get out exploring but there was no rushing them.  

We were staying at Riad El Fenn owned by Vanessa Branson.  As you can imagine like all celebrity run or endorsed hotels it was chic and cool.  Perfect location just inside Bab El Ksour (Bab means gate) one of the closest gates to the infamous Place Jemma El Fna.  It was perfect and started to ferment the notion of coming to live in Marrakech as more than just a notion.  

About us.

My wife and I started thinking about moving somewhere about a year ago. 

We ran our own hotel in the Cotswolds and were tired and looking for something new.  With a 5 year old daughter in tow now was the perfect time before education starts to get 'too' serious.  I don't know how we stumbled upon Morocco.  We thought of it and went for a holiday.  We loved it straight away.  We weren't so naive as to think that we could just move there on the back of a good holiday and all was going to be hokey pokey.  We took several trips, looked into the education and healthcare and to cut a long story short here we are embarking on a move.  We have delayed the move slightly due to our little boy Max being born, but intend on getting to Morocco by the middle of March.  

This blog will be about our trials and tribulations.  As I think of things I will refer back to them so will delve a little more into why we are moving, our first experience of Marrakech and so on.

Please feel free to email any questions you might have.  I would love to be able to turn this into a sort of forum on travel in Morocco.

Best wishes to all.

Adrian