Morocco.... you have captured our hearts......

I can't believe I've never been to any country in Africa thus far. A number of opportunities had presented over the years but for one reason or another it just happened. The previous October half term I've been trying to use our limited time to find a cost-effective way to get to The Gambia but aside from a 24-hour trip with Royal Air Maroc each way with a stopover in multiple locations it just didn't seem viable in our seven day window. I'd also be concerned about the reputation of Royal Air Maroc, from the perspective of skytrax, the airline reviews system, at least. 

Now having visited Morocco and experienced the ultimate feeling of safety and security I would have no hesitation flying with them and will actively seek out to do so in the future. 

A year had passed and it was October half term again with potentially a week at our disposal, but several plans to home within that week made the window a little smaller. My natural inclination to head back to Ibiza with August having vowed to myself that this would be his second home as well, was tempered by the equal desire to expose him to the wonders of the rest of the world and myself also. 

So where would still have decent temperatures in this incredibly late in the year half term week that entered into the beginning of November. Malta? the Canaries? I was keen on Croatia as it's a place myself and August love and is really well set up for family holidays. But the prices were sky high. Malta was the closest contender but rightly or wrongly I've always had a perception, from my time working in travel retail of it being a bit of an old farts destination. I am certain that is not the case and we'll probably get an ass kicking from a number of the Malta affectionados on the basis of that statement but it was a factor of my decision making process. 

Low and behold flights with Ryanair out of Stansted into Marrakech were presenting at an approximate total of 60 pounds for the two of us, yes that's £60 the two flights of a three and a half hour duration during the half term holidays. Bargains absolutely can be had. I knew from previous searches that the cost of accommodation in Marrakech was similarly very reasonable.  But an anxious gnawing in the pit of my stomach being a place that I had not yet visited myself and was about to expose August to portion me against saying in the city centre, the Medina, and started my search in the outskirts of the city. 

Again booking.com was my first port of of call as it always is and I applied my normal filters of a minimum rating of eight out of 10, free Wi-Fi, family friendly, and, to cater for the needs of the young man, a swimming pool. I really needed to keep the costs down, and a number of hotels reasonably close to the city came up but even though they were not in any way shape or form expensive, they were more expensive than my psychological budget I had set myself. filtering the distance a little further away presentedLe Relais de Marrakech, which seems to be offering camping facilities and Bedouin tents as well as Kasbah rooms and the total cost of accommodation for the five days came to 90 pounds. 

Without hesitation I booked a bedouin tent that added a layer of quirkiness to the trip, something I've been particularly keen on this year to actively seek out unusual and quirky accommodation, often finding it a highly authentic and fulfilling experience. We booked short-term car parking at Stansted and for the first time in ages it didn't break the bank even though it was still the most expensive component of the trip, absolutely ridiculous . 

Flight was due to depart at 6 o'clock on the Sunday morning and i’d considered an overnight stay at Stansted but again that would hike the price further so up we were up at 1am even though that was the day the clocks have gone back and we could have spent an extra hour in bed, only discovering this part way down to Stansted, but hey ho we were there in plenty of time.

The flight was three hours and 30 minutes, a little bumpy the weather was pretty unsettled at that time but as always August was a delight to travel with, even more delightful based upon the fact that he's tablet that I've been able to afford with what I'd saved on the overnight hotel had lots of exciting games for him to play on during the flight. 

I don't normally get chatting to people on planes, as it generally annoys me, but there were loads of families on this flight and we were sat next to the most delightful lady with her little toddler Anaia who was great entertainment until she dropped off to sleep. Her husband's brother used to own the “world famous” Aspley fish bar [in Nottingham] just around the corner from my ex in laws house and where August’s Poppar lives now. we bumped into them later on in the trip of our visits to the Afagay desert and Bedouin camp. 

Being slightly uncertain about what Marrakech would be like and the potential for scams or rip-offs, I'd asked the accommodation if they could arrange a transfer for us and waiting in the serene and calm manner that we got to know him for, Muhammad was there to greet us. 

The hotel was actually 10 kilometres south of the city and the airport to the North and so the taxi ride was 20 euros. We probably spent the most on taxis to and from various places because without a car the hotel was fairly isolated. There was a local bus that could be taken but we never really truly had the need or inclination, but it was there. Additionally, even though driving through the city of Marrakesh seemed like an absolute nightmare that I would not want to engage in, car driving was very cheap and if I was planning to avoid the city altogether then that would have been a really good option in hindsight . 

We both had an assault on our senses on the drive from the airport to the accommodation. It was so different, so unlike anything we had experienced before, so exciting, so amazing, s aromatic, so colourful. I knew immediately that I'd made the right decision. Even though we arrived late in the morning, I wanted to build in some chill time for us and even though I was itching to get exploring, I opted to stay around the hotel for the remainder of the day. 

Just to rectify the incorrect information that seems to be projected about Morocco on the web, to start it is not a closed currency. It previously was but no longer is and so it is possible to take money in. However please don't procure it from a Travelex branch at the airport because they will have your pants down. Arriving at Marrakech airport which is the most beautiful brand spanking new efficient building, you are not greeted by any ATMs, please note that there are a range of exchange Bureaus that give a very good reasonable rate and will change into small denominations convenient for taxi fares tipping etc. 

However there is a bit of a problem with card acceptance. Our hotel did not accept cards which made things slightly awkward because you have to make sure that you had a stock of cash, something I generally do not do nowadays and with there being no ATM close by, things have to be managed quite carefully. There are however plentiful ATMs on the outskirts and in the centre of Medina. 

Our host Celine kindly agreed to let us  move out of the tent that wasn't one positioned near the kids play area and the pool which would have been ideal into one of the Kasbah rooms because as with all of these trips when August goes to sleep I have to work and the Wi-Fi was pretty crummy in the tent that we were originally assigned. 

The swimming pool was glorious but breathtakingly cold and on an overcast day only had a handful of visitors sitting around it. Also the grounds were beautiful and had great amenities for children's entertainment. 

We had breakfast at the accommodation and the next morning, for one word. a word probably that characterises the trip. bread and carbs. I'm still decarbing. The breakfast Consisted of roti, cake, and bread. I felt like a bread roll by the time we returned home. 

That second day we headed into the city to explore and August's fondness for Mohammed the taxi driver started to develop. Any anxiety or concern associated with our personal safety had evaporated immediately upon meeting Mohammed. Our encounters with everyone we met in Morocco were the same. Kind, calm, respectful and humble people. And it's true that Moroccan people have a great affection for children. It couldn't have been a better family holiday choice to be honest and as I'm writing this a sense of warmth envelops me thinking about how comfortable and safe we felt. 

Much to my disappointment, I wasn't touched up in the Medina like others have reported. Arriving in the city centre and trying to make sense of our bearings was a challenge, especially being given incorrect information by the police who were supposed to be directing us to the Souks. But wow, is this a place to truly feel alive. The smells, the sights, the sounds, the abrasive music of the snake charmers, the call of “hello ma'am” from the ladies wanting to adorn your hands with decoration, the call of the fruit juice sellers. We only scratched the surface that day and I just know that you could lose yourself for days in the winding wiggling streets of the Medina. I'd love to do that but we were both getting tired and wanted to head back to the base.

 I really wanted to make the trip worthwhile thinking that we probably wouldn't be going back for a while and therefore needed to see as much as we could from the base of Marrakesh . I'd become familiar with the Get your Guide app which essentially connects you with all of the different tour providers in a city that are registered on the app, I'm pretty certain the political economy of the tourism industry means that many are excluded, but it is a convenient way to see what's on offer and evaluate the experience based on the ratings. 

A word on trips from Marrakech, there are lots of options and all incredibly reasonably priced. Some discussion with August determined that he was more of a mountain kind of guy than the desire to head to the coast at Essaouira which would have been a fairly long day in a minivan. So for the next day we opted to go to the water park Oasiria in the daytime and a trip into the Afagay dessert for camel riding and dinner with a “Bedouin” tribe, staged authenticity at its finest. This came to the princely sum of 15 pounds each including the dinner. The next day we booked to go to Ourika Valley and Atlas Mountains  coming in at just over 10 pounds per person. 

The second day when we got back to base after visiting the Medina, Celine organised for us to go on a camel ride, one of the goals that i’d had for the trip. Mohammad took us to the Palmerie which seems to be a leisure area outside of the city where you can engage in all of the characteristically “Moroccan activities” such as camel riding, hot air ballooning etc etc. We were made to don Bedouin costumes, much to August’s  distaste and to the extent that he declared if he was riding a camel again he categorically would not wear the outfit. But I kind of liked it and it helped get into the feel of the setting as the sun was just going down it was an amazing experience.  

The next morning we headed to the water park Oasiria, and I'd like to brand it as a water park for people who don't like water parks. it was the most beautiful Oasis essentially you could imagine all start those corn plasters on the floor scratchy slides that cut your legs, long queues and overpriced s***** food. Get that out of your head. This is Morocco, everything is a little bit more glamorous there it seems. We had the place pretty much to ourselves. I've been hesitant to take August to a water park following on from The Grand Canaria experience which wasn't pleasant for anybody. Ultimately I think he's going to be a slow starter when it comes to anything theme park-related bless him. But this just seemed to work for August lots of little slides, beautiful tropical wave pool, the laziest lazy river you will ever see and a beautiful Italian restaurant in a tropical garden setting.

We had been told to be ready for pick up from our hotel to go to the Afagay mountains at four o'clock and so we rushed back to base, the visit uncomfortably curtailed not to be picked up until nearing six o'clock which was a little frustrating. The transfer took approximately 90 minutes, grappling with rush hour traffic through Marrakech and I never seen August so interested in journeys and the scenery of what's around him as I did this trip he was constantly looking out the window all of the new and exciting things that were around us.

As the sun was starting to set we left the main route which was a rather potholed road in of itself.  We headed on a dirt track into the desert. We were not alone by any stretch of the imagination. “Bedouin camps” were dotted all over the mountains side and indicated with snazzy neon lights, highly bedouin I imagine. Clearly the many other tour agents offering the same trip were all coming which culminates at the same time. 

Our destination was a little deeper into the desert but also clearly the largest outfit and most popular. A carousel of camel trains with leading hoardes of tourists on a small circular route whereby you could admire the most stunning sunset over the desert and get your souvenir blurry photograph. Some jostling with our guide and the camel owners meant that the sun had gone down by the time we mounted our camels but nonetheless the lighting was spectacular we then ushered to the camp also had a very lovely infinity Swimming Pool, no one seemed to be keen to enter it though because it was getting a little chilly at that time. 

Despite the crowds, despite the staging which as a tourism academic I object to, the evening was amazing and the food yummy and the entertainment was entertaining. 

Despite the crowds, sitting on the camel with August in the Afagay desert watching the sun go down was one of those moments. It was Halloween and that inescapable parental guilt of all of his friends are out trick or treating should we be at home doing the same thing going through my head. But in that moment I knew that wasn't right for us and shed few tears at how beautiful the moment was and how fortunate we are. We also made some friends who were our companions on the minibus and bumped into Anaia and her family again remembering us with the same funny face that she was pulling at Augs on the plane. We all nodded and snored on the journey home. 

A highly fulfilling day again the next day. We were up early as we needed to get into Marrakech for our nine am pickup. The mini bus was slightly fuller this time and we used the company Easy transfers. The drive to the Ourika Valley again was fascinating and August’s face was pressed to the glass for the entire time. An obligatory stop at an argan oil production place and Berber house that allegedly the guide’s sister still lived in on route. We then arrived at the start of our track. It was a fairly steep and challenging hike up the mountains to see the waterfalls but again everything was just so different, so intriguing, so new. Even though lunch wasn't included in the price there was clearly a connection with one of the many restaurants that adorned the river running through the valley. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of them. I think we sort of got the short straw and the platter of questionable meat left us a slightly dikky tummy. After all of that climbing again we dozed most of the way home. As we were getting picked up from the city centre we used this opportunity instead of going back in on the final day to have another look around the Medina but then again it was great to get back to our relaxing Oasis . 

The final day was spent at Le Relais, the sun was shining and we wanted to make the most of it. In true August style I'd been trying my hardest to encourage him to form friendships with some of the many other children that were staying there, mostly French, and aside from a couple of occasions he had stood back, shy. but low and behold in true form, on the afternoon of the final day he made some firm friends, the language barrier disappearing and I even had time to open my book albeit just for a few pages. 

I reflected on the visit and felt a sense of sadness that August confirmed he also shared about going home, even though of course he was keen to see his Daddy he wouldn't be doing so immediately anyway and I've never really seen him so settled on a trip. What are the things that stand out for me? On one side there is bad dentistry , toothless smiles, oh my cats everywhere, bread in abundance  and multiple road traffic accidents.  I say this tongue in cheek, but it's all true.  But what really sticks with me? a vibrant, exciting, evocative,unique place with kind, gentle and humble people where we both felt safe and very much alive.

I can't wait to explore more of this amazing continent  as well as get back to Morocco. in fact, with a flight to Marrakech being cheaper than one to Ibiza, there's some serious competition going on here right now in my head.