This is an entry for our Spring 2012 Why We Ride Blog Contest. Click here to read the original blog post on Jacquelyn’s blog “poster of a girl”, as well as her other adventures while studying abroad.
Marrakech, Morocco
So i should really be doing my report thats due tomorrow. but i don’t want to. so instead i will write about my trip to morocco since it was the most amazing adventure i’ve embarked.
once again, our flight left at 6:25 am which means we had to catch the 3:30 am shuttle. no bigs. we’re used to it by now. for once, everything went perfectly smooth at the airport. accept i beeped going through security which makes me think those things are bullshit because i was literally wearing leggings and my mickey shirt. no shoes. no jewelry. no nothin. so after being felt up by the lady inspector, we enjoyed a starbucks breakfast sammy and some coffee. we got plane snacks and boarded the hideously yellow ryan air plane. 3 and a half hours later and after the most amazing sun rise and instagrammed pictures out the plane window, we landed in Marrakech. beautiful, sunny, Marrakech.
Met up with our Bus2Alps leaders Jon and Andy. Coolest dudes ever. So glad we decided to go with them. We really wanted to go to Morocco but didn’t want to trek it by ourselves so the bus2alps trip was the perfect solution.
Anyway, we made it to our hostel around 11. Our amazing, hotel-like hostel. Enjoyed some delish hand squeezed orange juice and corn pancakes on the roof top and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. 28 girls and 4 guys later, we were off on our mini tour of the souks. Crazy place. It was like TJ only way cooler. I couldn’t count on 10 hands the catcalls we received. Things like: “oh hey spice girls!” “shakiraaaa!” “Hannah Montana!” “Ohh Giselle!” those were the only celebrities they know apparently. Then there was “Oh my god! Beautiful!” “fish and chips!” (don’t get that one…) “nice ass/nice tits” GROSS. It was funny at first. No harm no foul.
Later that night we had an amazing Moroccan feast at the hostel. Couscous and chicken and veggies. And eggplant. And rice. And wine. And bread. Yummmm. And we had our very own Moroccan band singing for us, so naturally we had a dance party. One guy didn’t have teeth. It was great. Super fun night just getting to know all the other kids studying all over the world.
On Friday Allison and I decided to partake in the canyoning trip. I couldn’t recommend this ENOUGH! I never knew how much I love outdoorsy adventures.
I think there were 16 of us that went out. We caravanned to a lounge/ restaurant in the mountains to gear up. Wetsuits, old wet shoes, and awesome helmets. We were good to go. Jon and Andy took us down through this creek climbing through rocks and rivers. Then we attached to a harness and propelled down two waterfalls and into the water below. It was seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. The water was freezing but the air was so warm. It was tons of fun. We went back to the restaurant, which had this huge wrap around Moroccan style purple velvet couch in an open-air porch with white curtains blowing in the wind. We enjoyed tea and jokes from the host as the sun set behind the mountains. Best day ever!
The next day we rode camels. As if the adventures could get any better… they did! We went to a traditional Berber (mountain) family home and enjoyed tea from the Woman of the household.Dodging crazy men selling ugly necklaces and little boys asking for kisses, we made it back to the van and headed further into the mountains. Couldn’t get enough of the camels. We named our favorite Wednesday, and her baby Sunday (sonny for short). We rode on Savanna. Apparently they had real names but ours are cooler. It was a quick ride. But it was cool. Favorite part of the day was our hike up to the waterfall. We drove even farther up into the mountains and stopped at this amazing village. It reminded me of the river in White Fang. But nobody had seen the movie so they had no idea what I was talking about. We hiked up through the village of restaurants and shops built into the mountain and came to the top with a huge waterfall. It was beautiful. Ending the day with a delicious dinner on a rooftop patio at one of the restaurants couldn’t have been more appropriate. It was our last night as a group so we got some drinks back at the hostel and hung out in the lounge. Good times with good friends.
Most people left early the next day, but Allison and I had the whole day so we shopped. Obvi. We were bargaining queens. We got two leather backpacks for $40 and a satchel and another backpack for $45. Amazing deals. Tons of jewelry. Too much sun and yum kebabs later, we were back at the hostel waiting for our shuttle. HUGE miscommunication the guy never showed up so the hostel called us someone to walk us to the car. But we didn’t know we had to pay him (because we didn’t know he was the wrong guy) so we were late finding out shuttle. Then there was tons of traffic. Then our shuttle driver hit a motorbike guy. We were tripppppin. But we made it in time. With time to get snacks. So all was good. And we returned from Africa, tanned, with new friends and new stories. And another adventure to write about in the journal. Couldn’t recommend a bus2alps trip enough. Can’t wait to spend spring break with them in Greece! YAHOOO
