Image Earth Travel

Moroccan Glimpses

Alluring diversities, ancient cities, legendary mountains, and expansive deserts, Morocco conjures exotic images, but I’m only sharing several glimpses.

#Fes, #MoulayBousselham, #TheSahara, #Chefchaouen, #Moroccoa, #Africa

To share a few snippets of incredible countries, the Glimpses series started with Chile in South America. Then, I decided to continue with Burmese glimpses, Italian Glimpses, English Glimpses, Bolivian Glimpses, Calabrian Glimpses, Argentinian Glimpses, and Fijian Glimpses.

These short, sharp travel posts are designed to provide a morsel and just a small taste of a country or destination that you may not have visited. Have you been to any of the countries or destinations that I’ve shared so far? Let me know and share your comment below.

1. Chefchaouen

Also nicknamed The Blue Pearl, if you are wondering why Chefchaouen is the only city in Morocco painted blue, then there are several theories to contemplate. Some of these include that the blue deters mosquitoes. The colour is soothing. Blue reminds people of the water’s coolness, and Chefchaouen is painted vivid blue to attract tourists.

#Chefchaouen, #Morocco, #Africa
Serenity

A plethora of reasons, but one that may be correct has to do with history, so find out in this post about Chefchaouen – the blue city nestled in the stunning Rif Mountains.

2. The Sahara

Slender-legged camels trail slowly, with purpose, across desert-swept golden dunes, whilst moving deep into Morocco’s Sahara Desert.

Forget the madness of Marrakech, away from snake charmers and spice sellers. Instead, escape with me on a former caravan route across the stunning Atlas Mountains and into the desert.

Sahara, Erg Chebbi, Morocco, Africa
Bedouin guides

Dream-like romantic desert scenes from Lawrence of Arabia emerge. The purity of travelling in this expansive and desolate part of the globe, where the only insignificance is you, is mesmerising.

3. Fes

Immerse yourself in medieval history as you succumb your way into a Moroccan lifestyle.

Charming Fes does not disappoint. With its towering surrounding walls that extend for almost sixteen kilometres (ten miles).

Fes el Bali Medina, #Fes, #Morocco, #Africa
Fes el Bali Medina

This underrated city offers much history, incredible architecture, and amazing sightseeing, so a few days in Fesisn’t enough to explore everything possible – it’s such a short time.

4. Moulay Bousselham

After immersing yourself in the hustle and bustle of Morocco’s medina madness and snake-charmers, escape to the quieter and mellow small fishing village of Moulay Bousselham.

Sunset in Moulay Bousselham, Morocco, Africa
North Atlantic vista

Apart from a place to chill, rest, eat fish, sleep, and take long walks along the endless golden beach, there really isn’t much to do in this sleepy fishing village, so it’s great to just stop for a couple of days.

Where in Morocco?

map of #Fes, #MoulayBousselham, #TheSahara, #Chefchaouen, #Moroccoa, #Africa
Map: Google

Would you like to see more photos of Morocco and read more about the month of overland travelling in Morocco? Check out these posts on Morocco for free travel tips.

Have I included enough detail about each destination in this series? Enough photos? Enjoyed this post on Morocco?

What country or destination would you like to visit with me next? If I’ve been there, I’ll publish a post just for you, so leave me a comment.

Visit Nilla’s Photography for more global images. More posts at Image Earth Travel.

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Image Earth Travel

Global travel writer and photographer, capturing the globe with words and lens. Travelling by land, sea, and air to 60-plus countries across 6 continents, join me by reading about unique and independent travel adventures.

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35 responses to “Moroccan Glimpses”

  1. equinoxio21 Avatar
    equinoxio21

    I like your glimpses. Short with nice contrasts. The first pic in particular is great.
    Never in the Arab world, except briefly in Lebanon. I may have mentioned my grandfather retired in Casablanca. Died there during the war.

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Thank you – very kind.
      It’s such a beautiful blue city and everywhere you turn is another gorgeous photo.
      You did mention your grandfather but I’m also sure that I’ve read snippets about him in several of your posts. An interesting character with an interesting life.

      Reply
      1. equinoxio21 Avatar
        equinoxio21

        My cousins say he was a French spy…

      2. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        I think I remember you mentioning that before – how intriguing. Bet there are loads of stories kicking around.

      3. equinoxio21 Avatar
        equinoxio21

        More than half probably re-arranged…

  2. Monkey's Tale Avatar
    Monkey’s Tale

    Beautiful pictures. Makes me want to go to Morocco! Maggie

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Thank you, Maggie!
      Morocco is stunning but the badgering can become tiring, so a month was enough at the time. I would like to return as there’s still a lot to see. I believe you can stay up to 3 months without a visa – maybe your next trip? 😉

      Reply
      1. Monkey's Tale Avatar
        Monkey’s Tale

        Not this one but someday 😊

      2. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        You guys will get there I’m sure! 😉

  3. Toonsarah Avatar
    Toonsarah

    I always enjoy your glimpses 🙂 This one reminds me that I really must go back to Morocco one day, to see more than just Marrakesh and its surroundings. Fes and Chefchaouen are high on my wish-list! I love what you’ve done with that opening photo (the torn paper effect)

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Thank you, Sarah, for your kind words and feedback!
      Marrakesh is a must but there’s much more to Morocco. I see you visited in 2009 and 2016, were you there long? I only travelled there in 2011, which I forgot to mention in this post, but not sure whether the date matters.
      Are you on the road again this year?

      Reply
    2. Toonsarah Avatar
      Toonsarah

      We were there for a week the first time but I fell and broke a bone in my foot 24 hours into our stay, so we didn’t do as much as we’d hoped! We did manage a day trip to Essaouira with a car and driver but not a lot else. So our second trip was to cover all the city sights we’d had to miss previously, plus a day trip to the Atlas Mountains. We stayed 5 days that time I think. As to this year, already been to Colombia, and have quite a few others either booked or half-planned 😃

      Reply
      1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        What a blow, especially when travelling! Just read your saga with the broken foot – you did well to still explore Marrakesh.
        Ah, I remember you said you’ve been to Colombia and just read a couple of your wonderful posts.

  4. LuLu B - Calabrisella Mia Avatar
    LuLu B – Calabrisella Mia

    Absolutely beautiful! Morroco has always intrigued me. Maybe one day I’ll get to visit it.

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Hi Lulu
      You’d love Morocco but a month wasn’t enough to see everything.
      Weird, your comment went into my WP Trash folder – annoying.
      Hope all is well.
      Cheers
      Nilla

      Reply
  5. Yetismith Avatar
    Yetismith

    If I could choose to visit just one of these wonderful sites, I wouldn’t know what to pick. I have had a long fascination with North Africa. I can’t imagine it was our brief (not brief enough for my parents) stay in Aden when my dad made the mistake of disembarking from our ship there. His father had been there in WW1, I suppose he was curious, but not for long. It was dusty and boring and my parents did not know the art of establishing price first. It was amusing really in an awful sort of way. The other part of Dad’s plan was to fly from there to Khartoum to view the Blue and White Nile but it would take 2 weeks to get a visa. Dad never planned or booked ahead. It became a matter of where could we fly to asap? Turned out to be Cairo which I was very pleased about. Only thing was we ended up on an Aden Airways (much delayed) flight that was routing via Jeddah to offload Haj pilgrims which was everyone but 5 Brits and 2 Egyptians. It was my first encounter with oversales as once we were all on board we couldn’t all sit down. I remember watching through my window the people who got taken off. One was an older man who seemed to have less than nothing. Wrapped in what looked like an old sheet. His “passport” was a sheet of paper that he clutched. Clearly this pilgrimage was his life’s goal. I felt terrible for him and that he had been selected as the least likely to make a fuss. Maybe that’s where I got my empathy for the “little” people who travelled with BA. I could never collect excess charges or any of that stuff from them. They were the ones I wanted to help. Anyway…I was 10 but it made a big impression as did Egypt, of course. I once went to Rabat for a weekend with my friend Tim who also took me to Tunisia for a week. I didn’t spend all that much time in North Africa but maybe I know it well because Tim had travelled so much and had great pics. He loved to talk about it and I was delighted to listen. Sorry….I always have too much to say!

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      It sounds as though your dad used to disembark at the wrong place frequently or more often than not? 😉

      You really have some wonderful stories that you should document (if you haven’t already). Don’t worry, I don’t think you always have too much to say and love your stories.

      I visited Egypt for a month in 1985 during a solo-backpacking trip around the world for 12 months. I was glad to meet another fellow backpacker to travel with (not sure if I mentioned this before) as we still had problems with the men in Egypt. Two young foreign women travelling alone, but we wore long trousers and long-sleeved shirts all the time in 40C heat.

      It’s sad when less fortunate locals are bumped because of foreigners or wealthier clients, but it happens all the time. Wonder if the older chap got another flight soon after. Sounds as though you and Tim were travel partners in crime and have loads of fond memories!

      Reply
      1. Yetismith Avatar
        Yetismith

        Tim has travelled all his life. He’s not as energetic since he turned 80 thi9s year, but he almost always talks his way into an upgrade which is a big help! He is shameless! We were stuck in Bangkok once, all flights full but we managed to squeak on to an Air France flight. I was happy to sit anywhere but Tim started his upgrade routine even then. Didn’t work that time! He had so many funny stories and we had quite a few together. There was always something to be amazed at and always something to make us laugh even in dire situations. Khartoum domestic terminal comes to mind.,,,

      2. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Wow, hope I’m still travelling if I reach 80!
        You must tell me his upgrade secret as I’ve never managed to be upgraded and clearly still haven’t mastered this valuable skill. The next flight is from Tokyo to Stockholm on Thai Airways and it’s not a direct flight so 18 hours – would be great not to do this in cattle class. 😉
        You really should document your stories. Do you have a post on the Khartoum experience?

      3. Carolyn Avatar
        Carolyn

        The Sudan story was told in several episodes, beginning on 3rh Nov 2019 entitled Getting Underway. I think I have covered at least part of my travels at one time or another. My mother kept the letters I wrote which helped jog some memories, but I remember most. When Tim and I travelled we always had a good time so friends wanted to come along and because we always had drama we called ourselves Disaster Tours. Tim had hats made….we were the original red hats!!~

      4. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        I remember you mentioning snippets but not sure if I’ve read your post. Just scrolled through your site but couldn’t find 2019 as you publish so much! Please share a link here and I’ll gladly read the pots.
        Lucky you that your mother kept the letters to jog your memory. It’s tough recollecting the details and the reason I’ve always kept small travel journals. Also, because I don’t have a great memory for place names.
        Ha, ha, maybe you should have started a “Disaster Tours” company – sounds like you had a blast. You still haven’t said how Tim always gets upgraded… 😉

      5. Yetismith Avatar
        Yetismith

        wordpress.com/post/catsincambridge.net/3319 This is the beginning. Tim and his upgrades….well he has a lot of airline experience, on the ground and in the air and he can talk the hind leg off a donkey. It makes me cringe, to be honest, but he travels in style!

      6. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Thanks for the link but it doesn’t work. I’ve tried a CTRL+F on 3319 but that doesn’t work either and I can’t see a search icon on your site. Can you copy the whole URL and paste it here as a link, please. Sorry to be a pain but would love to read about your escapades.
        It sounds as though Tim has a special skill, which I don’t possess, sadly as I’ve always travelled in cattle class. I was hoping to glean some pointers.

      7. Carolyn Avatar
        Carolyn

        https://wordpress.com/post/catsincambridge.net/3319

        This is just the first part. I think there are maybe 5. If this doesn’t work I could probably email it to you or maybe I could re-post it. I’ve never done that but I daresay I could manage!

      8. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Hi, this is really weird as that link didn’t work for me as the link takes me to a page that wants me to start a new post. The easiest thing to do is to view the blog post in a new tab in your browser, and then copy it here (but you may have already done that). Or, you should be able to enable a Search icon for your WP site (think all themes allow this), and then I can search on either the number or a couple of words. It’s good to offer a search tab on your site so that your site is searchable – great for usability. 😉

      9. Carolyn Avatar
        Carolyn

        Getting underway
        This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is sudanpic.jpg

        There were sixteen of us, taking this trip to Sudan, led by a British couple. We were to fly south to Juba, but our flight was delayed and over the next three days, we became well acquainted with the exceedingly scruffy domestic terminal of Khartoum Airport. The only facility it had available was a very dubious restroom that I used rarely with great trepidation. There being no seats, we spent many long hours sitting on the floor, swatting flies and re-thinking our plans.

        Tourism, it turned out, was not being encouraged in southern Sudan, which was descending into civil war. The Government was doing its best to prevent visitors from flying to the south, even though we had been issued visas.

        A harried British Airways representative that we happened to bump into was incredulous when we told him of our destination, saying emphatically “if I was you, I wouldn’t go.”

        After hours of delay, our flight was “re-scheduled” for 4am. We checked back into the hotel for a few hours rest before our next ordeal at the airport.

        This happened three times. We got into the habit of rising in the middle of the night to take breakfast in the hotel dining room, which was awash with cats. Then we would traipse to the airport for the next delay announcement, after which we would go up to the roof and watch the spectacular desert sunrise, which at least never disappointed us.

        Suddenly, on Valentine’s Day, a crowd of people suddenly rose and formed a queue toward a waiting aircraft. For no particular reason that I can remember, we joined it and soon afterwards we found ourselves airborne and flying south over the Sudd, the world’s largest swamp. In the pre-monsoon season it seemed awfully dry.

        

        In a steaming hot afternoon, we landed at Juba. The tiny, stifling terminal building was crowded with very tall, very black-skinned men. Many bore horizontal tribal scars on their forehead. These were Nuer people.

        Other men, with “V” shaped scars were Dinka. They seemed to be co-existing, although this was certainly not always the case.

        

        In an arid, harsh environment such as this, survival of the fittest takes on real meaning. It is little wonder that there has so often been conflict for this reason alone. As everywhere, politics and ethnicity were a very complicated business.

        For the time being, there was peace, and we were allowed to join the Bedford truck that had been driven up from Kenya by our trusty driver Taff.

        Our seats for the next fortnight, were two opposing, barely padded benches, along each side of the vehicle.

        Bouncing around in the back of our grand transport, on the way to our first campsite, we got a view of Juba. I suspect I was not alone in asking myself why we had expended so much energy in getting there.

        Southern Sudan is mostly pancake flat, although there are mountains on the southern border. It is blistering hot. The land is dotted with small villages of mud huts and wooden shacks, and not much else. In February it is also bone dry and extremely dusty.

        My first night under canvas was in a wasteland adjacent to the local prison. A few village kids came to stare at us, but apparently we were not very interesting.

        Bright and early next day we were packed up in the truck and on our way. There was a dirt road for Taff to follow, initially, but I wondered repeatedly how he knew where to drive. Often he just steered the truck at a crawl across miles of deep ruts, which would turn to mud when the monsoons arrived.

        The back of a Bedford truck is not the recommended form of transport in these conditions. Especially when it is your turn to sit right at the back. (I don’t think it is recommended, period).

        We were to travel in this manner all the way back to Khartoum, for however long it took.

        Our flight home would leave in two weeks and we were three days behind schedule.

      10. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Thank you, Carolyn!
        A great read and your descriptions are very vivid. Travelling was more complicated back then, but I wonder if it’s more accessible these days.
        I’d love to comment on your site and read the rest of the trip. There must be a way to search for these on your site. Can you enable a search icon on your site?
        The story reminds me of my first trip to Laos in 1985. Once out of Vientiane, hitching on the back of a truck or in broken army jeeps was the only method of transport – not many cars and only 30 kilometres of bitumen road back then.

  6. Agata 40thousandkm Avatar
    Agata 40thousandkm

    Beautiful glimpes of a beautiful country! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Thank you, Agata! Morocco is gorgeous and a month there wasn’t enough.

      Reply
  7. Chronosfer2.wordpress.com Avatar
    Chronosfer2.wordpress.com

    your posts are wonderful, they create the desire to know or come back. I have been to Chile, several times, and Italy, to name two. thank you so much.

    Reply
    1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
      Image Earth Travel

      Hi Fernando
      Thank you for your kind words and appreciate you dropping by and leaving me a comment. How did you come across my blog site?
      I have around 14 posts on Chile after spending a couple of months there and over 80 posts on Italy after living there for 4 years.
      Have a great Sunday!
      Nilla

      Reply
      1. Chronosfer2.wordpress.com Avatar
        Chronosfer2.wordpress.com

        Hi Nilla! what a doubly sunny Sunday: the day and reading you here.
        I don’t know exactly when this happened (I arrived at your blog), maybe from the many readings that I do the blog came up as a suggestion and I visited it and I really liked it.
        it’s a lot of life lived in so many trips, a true memoir. I’m going to read them all, tasting them with great joy and having The Blue Hour with me, one more reason to think about this beautiful story you’re building.
        I am very happy to meet you through your experiences in the most diverse cultures, peoples, places…
        I know very few so with you my paths grow in knowledge.
        thank you so much. my hug from Porto Alegre, Brazil.
        Fernando

      2. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Hi Fernando
        The Blue Hour is great for photographers!
        Thank you for letting me know how you found my site and glad to hear that you enjoy reading my posts on the varied countries that I’ve travelled to over the years.
        I only have 3 guest posts on my site so far and for the rest of the 422 posts, I’ve written these myself. I try to write honestly, whilst hopefully providing some helpful insights for travellers. If I’ve had a good experience, then I write about this, but I’ll also write about a not-so-great experience. Unless I’ve credited someone on a photo, all other photos are ones that I’ve taken.
        Thanks again for stopping by my site. I’m not sure why WP dropped your comment into my Spam folder – maybe because it was duplicated.
        Best regards
        Nilla

      3. Chronosfer2.wordpress.com Avatar
        Chronosfer2.wordpress.com

        hi Nilla…very happy to meet you. I sent message to instagram. I have some pictures there.
        I looked at your post about Delft. passionate and I advance: I am in love with the city.
        the next post will put pictures of this beautiful city. the post will be for you.
        a big hug and following your trip. always be happy.

      4. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        Hi Fernando
        I don’t access Insta too often but I’ll try and get to this in the next day or two as I’m travelling right now.
        Thank you and happy you enjoyed my Delft post – it’s a lovely city.
        Great and let me know when you post.
        I’m always happy 🙂
        Cheers
        Nilla

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