Marrakesh

Day 1 [November 10]
  7:30 AM - Having rolled out of bed and showered, we checked the train station schedule for the first time. Next departing train to Marrakesh was 8:50AM. So we hurriedly packed our bags and sprinted down to the closest roundabout in order to catch a taxi. For one of the first times in over 3 months, we were not ripped off by the taxi drivers. In fact, we received unexpected change back!!

  8:45 AM - We arrived at the train station and sprinted to the boarding gate just in time. First class tickets [meaning guaranteed seats] were naturally sold out. Ultimately we were forced to sacrifice the luxury of being able to sit together in order to be able to sit in one of the last few seats available for the 4 hour train ride. In second class, more tickets are sold than there are seats...so we were lucky not to be standing.

  1:00 PM - Arrived in Marrakesh and enjoyed a well needed and belated lunch while waiting for friends to pick us up at the train station. We spent the rest of the evening [and part of the next day] touring the Medina in town with them, and yet we barely got through 1/4 of the souks. It would easily take 1 full week to tour the Medina in its entirety. The downside to Marrakesh shopping is that the locals are very good about ripping off tourists. Example: Nicole was searching for a unique glass necklace. She was told by one man that it would cost 400 dirrhams, but we were able to negotiate the price of that same necklace down to 40 dirrhams.
   You can find everything at the Medina: clothes, pottery, lamps, illegal animal skins, etc.

  7:00 PM - We were grateful that our trip overlapped with some friends who had a vehicle, because they were able to drive us to the middle of nowhere [farther than taxis are willing to drive] to our four-star golf and spa resort in order to check in. Lesson learned: star ratings are meaningless in Africa.

• The room: While we were upgraded to a luxury suite for free and the view from our private balcony was spectacular... there was no shower curtain and no water for almost half of our stay. Only in Africa will you take a shower under a trickle of cold water at a 4-star resort.
• The free shuttle to the Medina: Only available at specific times during the day [two round trip routes a day that will allow you to explore in town for just 2 hours]. Considering that taxi's are not an option for freely coming to and from the resort and that the Medina is so large and complex...the shuttle hours were not very ideal.
• The spa/heated pool: Only open from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM... "inshallah" [meaning...only if they actually feel like opening/closing at those times]
• The golf course: Dave and his friend arranged to borrow the hotel's one set of junky clubs [no rentals available]. The hotel attendant guided them to the flag of the 6th hole and told them to begin golfing. When asked if it would be better to start at the tee of the 1st hole, the attendant insisted that they were in the right place. Weirdly, they did find a tee stuck in the green. No balls were provided, so Dave and his friends spent one hour searching for balls with a pool cleaner. The course was made up of 6 holes.
• The spa: You're kidding right? Nicole wasn't going to risk wasting money only to be disappointed by that too.

Day 2 [November 11]
   The next time you're in Marrakesh, go here: Terres D'Amanar Estate
 

Because there were kids with us, we did not do the high air zip line course:

 [We're saving that for whoever visits us next]. 

   But we had just as much fun zip-lining at the Accro park:

It was...awesome.

Day 3 [November 12]
   After relaxing by the heated pool and showering in the sauna [since there was no water in our room], we arranged for the shuttle to take us to the train station to head home. We ran into a fellow colleague at the train station. Four hours on the train later, we arrived in Casa and attempted to catch a taxi home... only to find that all the nice taxi drivers we met at the beginning of our trip had been replaced with drivers who wanted 200 dirrhams for a 20 dirrham drive. Luckily, we had made friends with two Moroccan bachelors who had just spent their weekend picking up hot chicks in Marrakesh. We think they may have done a few sinful things... because in order to please Allah above [so they said], they called a friend to pick us all up and drove us home for free.

All in all... we had a very good adventure.

-David & Nicole