Esto es África!

Day 1: It’s Wednesday morning at 2:45 am and after what feels like just 10 minutes of sleep, our alarms have gone off and we are jumping out of bed doing our last minute preparations for the journey ahead. After going through a range of emotions about this trip: from excited to nervous about midterms the following week, to dreading the long hours in the bus ride and the potential of getting sick, I wasn’t sure how to feel...although at that point in the morning I was too tired to feel much of anything. We boarded the bus for a 3-hour ride to the ferry station where we waited impatiently for our ferry to take off. Here we met up with the other ISA programs that would be joining us for the remainder of the trip: students from Madrid, Santander, and Salamanca had started travelling the day before (so we were the lucky ones!) The ferry was pretty luxurious so we lounged in style as the most incredible rays of sun began to burst through the clouds…at that point I was just so in awe and excited for the trip to finally begin.

It was hard to believe that when had arrived we were actually setting foot in Africa, yet still in Spanish territory (Ceuta) at this point. Then we got back in the bus to the border, where we waited some more. Finally with passports stamped our large group was on their way to Fes!

When we arrived in Fes our normal hotel was full so we ended up staying at a 5* hotel (a 5* by Moroccan standards, but still pretty nice). We had a little time to settle in before dinner which was an incredible buffet of all sorts of Moroccan food, all of which looked colorful and appetizing in comparison to the rather repetitive Spanish diet of fried food and ham (I exaggerate somewhat…but sometimes it’s just nice for a change). The salads looked so amazing, but much to our dismay (due to contamination of the water) we had to use only bottled water and avoid fresh fruits or veggies.

Day 2: Despite extraordinary precautions I found myself sick the next day—luckily not enough to keep me out of commission for the busy and exciting day ahead! After breakfast we headed out on the bus to the Medina, a crazy labyrinth of a market in the older part of the city.  Luckily we had a local guide to show us around or we would’ve been sure to get lost! Before that, we hopped out for a photo op/explanation of the Royal Palace Gates and then we were ready to go.

I kid you not when I tell you this place is a labyrinth…streets winding every which way, incredibly narrow streets that we had to squeeze through and filled with tons of people, vibrant colors, and smells…both pleasant and not-so-pleasant.

Our day was filled with a tour of a variety of shops with different handmade goods…a blanket/scarf shop was our first stop. We saw how they made the crafts on the loom and then everyone was adorned with colorful turbans.

 

 

Next stop: a leather shop/tannery…it smelled so bad they gave us mint leaves to fend off the smell, but it was so cool to see how the leather was prepared and naturally dyed right outside.

Can't get enough mint!

Apparently Morocco is famous for their rugs because we stopped at a couple rug places throughout the trip…some rugs were incredible ornate and intricate…a little out of my price range (by a little, I mean a lot!) but still nice to look at! And usually they gave us mint tea, which was always delicious!

Rugs galore!

I love mint tea!

We were treated to a delicious Moroccan feast on a rooftop overlooking the city. Then a jewelry shop, a handmade plate/lamp/teapot place and a pharmacy. We were informed about various natural remedies, lotions, chapsticks, perfumes…everything you could imagine in powders, creams, and liquids of various colors.

So much food-and so colorful too!

 

With a clothing shop and another rug store, our last stop on the list was a handmade pottery/ceramics/mosaics place. My favorite part was watching the artisans laying out the mosaic designs piece by piece. 

"Spiderman!"

After a long day we were ready to rest before the espectáculo folklorico we were going to enjoy that evening. We were whisked away on the bus. We definitely had the party bus! Our driver played ‘Single Ladies’ and ‘Papa Americano’ and with that we were pumped up and ready to go. The show consisted of live music, belly dancing and a lot of participation from the students in our group. We had mint tea and just laughed and conversed, cheering on our peers as they were called up for various dances. In high spirits, we returned to the hotel on the bus, not thinking of the long bus ride that awaited us the next morning…

Annabelle and I enjoying the show!

Day 3: As promised, the long bus ride to the desert was...long. I couldn’t wait to finally get there! We stopped for a few minutes at an oasis which was actually really incredible...so much concentrated greenery in a small area. Then lunch and a place to buy turbans along the way and we were back on the road. We finally got to the hotel where the buses were dropping us off and when we stepped off the bus we were greeted with a line of Berber men and their 4 x 4 jeeps just waiting for us to join them. Six of us hopped in one and we were off… forging our own path across the desert terrain. We bounced along in the back, laughing and enjoying the sunset…like a real life Indiana Jones ride! I was so giddy, just bouncing along with the wind blowing in my hair. As the sun dropped below the horizon the sky gave way to the most incredible starry night.

Becki and I at the Oasis 

All piled in to the 4x4!

We finally got to the camp and after preparing for the worst we were pleasantly surprised with how nice it was! One large U-shaped tent was set up with mattresses and blankets for each one of us. We were even more excited for the large tent set up for dinner and entertainment. A delicious spread of couscous, bread, veggies, and soup. After dinner the workers at the camp busted out their drums and put on an impromptu performance. With the drum beats still making their way through into the stillness of the night we snagged a carpet and were stargazing under the desert sky. The Milky Way was bright and Lindsay and I laughed as the occasional shooting star would strike across the sky and Becki and Kelsey always seemed to miss it somehow.

Me, Lindsay, and Kelsey at camp!

Don't mind me, just borrowing a blanket!

Day 4: We woke up at 5:30 AM and set out in the dark to watch the sunrise. It was cold, yet there was something so refreshing and peaceful about being up before the day had begun. After about half an hour of trekking through the sand dunes we came to our dune. There we sat, mostly in silence, just allowing the crisp morning air to wash over us as the sun began to peak over and finally appear in all it’s glory up over the dunes.

    

  

Reppin' UCLA in the desert!

This was an exciting start to our day, but the excitement didn’t end there: today was camel day! I ended up riding with a girl Brittany who I had only just met the day before but we became fast friends (it’s hard not to when you are bouncing along through the desert on a camel together). Camels are these incredibly interesting creatures…when they sit you can see that their legs have three parts (so they bend at the knee and again at the ankle), so after we mounted them they would groan, lurching forward and then back before coming to their standing position. This was the scariest part of the ride…after that it was fairly relaxed, as we meandered through the massive expanse of sand, headed towards the town of Merzouga.

On our camel, Azuqual

Brittany and I rockin' turbans!

Merzouga meant more rugs and more shopping and then we had to walk back to our camp (45 minutes in the hot desert sun…but it could’ve been worse). Then we had lunch and free time, which for me consisted of attempting to study, then getting a henna tattoo, watching the local boys play soccer, and then watching the sunset over the camp.

For dinner we were told to look forward to a surprise: we were eating appetizers and enjoying some live music when our program director grabbed Becki and I by the hand and pulled us onto the dance floor. This impromptu dance turned into a full-out dance party…everyone in the program as well as the locals were laughing, dancing, and just feeling the rhythm…all cultural and language barriers gone. This was one of my favorite experiences from the week. Then, like the previous night, we snagged a blanket and stargazed. I’m still in awe of how incredible the stars were and how still the night was just behind the sand dunes, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Day 5: All too soon it was time to leave the desert. The 4x4 jeeps weren’t quite as fun that early in the morning as they had been the first time, but still enjoyable and then we were back on the bus for the seemingly never-ending bus ride to Meknes. Halloween was pretty much a non-event and it rained for a good part of the day so we couldn’t even leave the bus for our picnic.

We arrived that evening in Meknes, happy to finally be able to stretch our legs, breathe in some fresh air, and shower! (Two days in the desert can do that to a person) Becki, Lindsay, Kelsey, Annabelle and I reconvened for a quick walk around the city, trying to find something to spend our remaining Dirham on and settled on some delicious pastries and fresh juice! Then we sat down for dinner and were excited to see hamburgers and French fries! along with some other more traditional Moroccan food. After a little studying (just a little though) we called it a night.

Day 6: Bus. All day. By this point we were ready to get home! Being stuck at the border was not ideal, nor was the fact that I ordered a sandwich and by the time they remembered my order they had run out of bread. But luckily we got home safe and sound and soon were off to sleep as visions of camels danced in our heads…

Through it all, I had such an amazing and truly unforgettable experience in Morocco that just ignited my passion for travelling and experiencing new cultures across the world.