18.o4.2o18 • Marrakech

getting to know a totally new culture is so exciting especially when it’s your first time in an Arabian country. after a typical Moroccan breakfast in our Riad near the center of the Medina we started exploring this amazing city: first we walked through one of the huge, colorful & busy spice markets where we got invited to an every day mint tea .. a typical Moroccan habit of saying welcome to foreign guests. then we visited a beautiful old palace surrounded by an exotic garden – le ‚Palais Bahia‘ (so glad to have the chance to speak french again :)). after a really good lunch in a small alley inside of the Souk – the Moroccan market where you can find everything – and a Mojito (sadly a Virgin one .. you don’t get alcohol that easy here because of their religion) we made our way to the Secret Garden which is actually pretty hidden. palm trees & cacti beside olive groves & lavender adorned by little waterspout fountains & cowzy shadow places invited us to stay there for an afternoon .. and that’s what we did !! in the evening we visited the main square of the Medina called ‚Djemaa al Fna‘ – a huge food market which turns into a highlife cooking show by night. everyone is sitting outside there tasting different specialities of Morocco, talking to each other & enjoying the warm evening. so of course we also had to try some Moroccan food like .. snails .. yes you heard right .. cooked snails !! OmG it was so so hard .. trust me .. the first one was like urgh but then it got better & in the end it wasn’t disgusting anymore .. i would not do it again but it was definitely an experience !!

2o.o4.2o18 • Marrakech

third day in Marrakech & already seen that much !! yesterday we spend another day discovering some of the beautiful places Marrakech can offer. after visiting another great palace – le ‚Palais el Badii‘ in the central Medina – we started our walk up to the north of the city. with a cool Avokado shake & good Travel vibes we could make our way through sun, dust & sand !! and in the end we got rewarded by an amazing & shade spending garden area – le ‚Jardin Majorelle‘. a must go for everyone who is going to visit Marrakech !! in the afternoon we ambled through the Souks again & just enjoyed the special atmosphere filled with sunrays & spicy smells. and when the sun went down we set down at a rooftop restaurant & enjoyed a typical Moroccan dinner with Tajine, Couscous & fresh fruits .. so good !! after this great evening we had to stand up early this morning to get ready for our desert quad tour !! it is so much fun cruising around, watching camels & driving through sand & palms !! anyway when coming back after having a short break to drink some mint tea together i’ve been really exhausted .. it is more demanding than you might think. so now it’s time for a chilly afternoon in our great Riad & some mint tea on top of the modern & really trendy ‚terrasse des épices‘ which also offers super good food & sweet dishes .. absolutely worth going there !!

23.o4.2o18 • Marrakech

we spend the last two days in the desert !! it was amazing .. but first let me tell you all about it: we got picked up by a small van in the morning & started our trip together with four other Germans & two girls from Scotland. after leaving Marrakech we drove through a beautiful highland scenery full of deep green hills, little berbère villages & a lot of sheep. after about 2 hours of driving we stopped at a high view point in the middle of the imposing Atlas mountains for a short break. the view was absolutely amazing !! our next stop was the world cultural heritage city ‚Ait ben Haddu‘ .. a town in the middle of the desert, nothing but palm trees around there, just wind & silence. we drove further & finally reached the film studio museum where even parts of ‚Game of Thrones‘ were filmed !! after having lunch we had to drive further for some hours to get to the Sahara desert where our camels were already waiting for us. so when the sun went down we went another hour by camels .. riding to our tents in the middle of the dunes .. it was such an unreal atmosphere & a crazy exciting experience !! after having some tea & a typical berbère dinner together with some others we lay down on huge carpets broad on the sand watching the clear night sky with all its stars. a small campfire burning next to us & some nomads playing music while the wind swept all over the dunes .. just a perfect moment !! after a cold night with actually not too much sleep we woke up at about 6 am to have breakfast & to watch the sunrise. then our reliable camels brought us back to from where we started & we continued our ride by car. after this fascinating we trip we finally came back to rainy Marrakech at about 5 pm .. just in time to catch the next bus to ‚Agadir‘ – another big city at the coast of Morocco – where we are going to do some fancy stuff during the next week .. i keep you in touch !!

25.o4.2o18 • Taghazout

today we started our surf lesson in Taghazout !! we are going to spend five days here at the coast surfing everyday with some guys from the Berbere Surf Camp. so this day has already been pretty amazing !! first we had a delicious breakfast on the seaside terrace talking to the surf teachers & getting prepared for a day at the beach. then we had to choose surfboards & wetsuits & then we took off !! after choosing a good surfing spot for today we stopped at a coastline & got ready for surfing. as we are more or less beginners in surfing (we’ve just been surfing for one day in Peru last year) we first got some technical instructions .. how to stand right, how to paddle fast etc. afterwards we trained a bit on the surfboards & warmed up at the beach. so as soon as our teacher had the impression that we got it more or less we were ready to go & make the ocean ours. we tried hard to catch wave after wave & most of the times we even got them but our teacher still had to help us .. anyways it was a lot of fun !! after about three hours of non-stop surfing on this quite windy day (what didn’t make it easier for us) we felt really exhausted and out of power. luckily our lunch was already prepared & so we ate all together at the sunny beach .. yummy !! tired but happy we returned to our surcamp in the afternoon & were in a desperate need of chilling out the rest of the day .. you might not think how hard surfing can be. but it is. however it is absolutely worth it just because it’s all about practising .. and that’s what we are going to do in the next couple of days !!