Visiting next week

Yeah!  Coming out to Marrakesh next week for a visit.  Very much looking forward to seeing how our villa is coming along.  My expectations are not so high.  I have always found it is better to underestimate and then be impressed rather than have high expectations and be disappointed.

We will be moving out permanently in March so this really is a final recce.   We need to see if all our furniture is going to fit in the various rooms.  Buy a car.  Check that all our documents are in order at the local consul and a million other things.  Lots to fit into 5 days, especially with a 5 year old and a baby in tow.  

The weather forecast is looking good.  Low 20's and sunny.  It is always bloody sunny in Marrakesh - what is wrong with it??  I really wish it would be cold and rainy sometimes....

Not much hope of taking many pictures this time as too much to do but not to worry, will have plenty of time soon.  

I have been doing so much research into Morocco the last few weeks.  Apologies for not posting too much.  Just have not had the time.  It is all book marked though and will get put on here in good time.

For the time being though, here are a couple more pics from my last visit.  

See you soon....inshallah!

old chap on the Jemma El Fna

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.

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.  

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.