Category: Around Marrakech

What a fabulous way to spend a few hours when in Marrakech! A walk Around Marrakech Ramparts is both easy to do (we did it carrying our 2 month old baby) and fascinating. There is history and there is culture. From the famous gates of Bab Doukalla and Bab Agnaou to the remote Bab Aghmatt and the little known Bab Lalla Aouda Essadia, the Ramparts of Marrakech impress by their grandeur and their gravitas.

We started and finished our tour walking clockwise from Bab Moussafa, by the taxi ranks. It took us about four hours to cover the 16km of the walls. We also stopped for lunch in the Kasbah, so made a full day of it.

The weather was perfect for a late November stroll – 28c and bright blue skies. We came across some serious work being done on new parkland along the ramparts. The City is developing the Around Marrakech Ramparts as an attraction, both for foreign visitors and the local population.

Near Bab Aghmatt in the south new parks and facilities have already been completed and the change is remarkable. Where once there was wasteland now there is green space.

There are some great photo ops along the way. One of my favourite areas is around the Mellah and Berrima. These areas are not yet well known to visitors.

There are some very elegant gates to admire, as well as the Ramparts themselves. The quaint and historical Bab Ksiba in the south of the Kasbah is a favourite.

Possibly the most spectacular portion of the ramparts stretches from Ibn Zohr hospital past the Mamounia and Royal Mansour Hotels and towards Gueliz. The walls are well maintained and glow in the sun.

All in all we had a superb walk. Some beautiful sights and some earthy realities too – the graffiti and the mess around some of the eastern and southern ramparts could be dealt with, for instance. Yet we weren’t bothered once on our tour and we were welcomed wherever we went.

So, I hope this article inspires one or two of you to undertake the walk. It’s a great introduction to the Medina as it really helps you to orientate yourself once inside the winding derbs of the old city. Thank you for reading!

It is the most important purchase of the year for most Marrakchi families. And one that many of them struggle to afford. Too many people take out a credit to pay for a sheep that they will kill on the day of Eid Al Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice. And the country markets are booming.

You can now buy your live sheep in the car park of the Marjane supermarket in Marrakech city centre, yet the real experience of preparing for Eid is still to be found in the sheep markets held in the countryside beyond. Today I visited the market on the Fes Road, some 5 miles from the city limit. A pall of dust hung in the air. Cars had overflowed the designated car park. Throngs of people on motorcycles and transporters filed and in out of the site. A token policeman stood picking his teeth where the main Fes to Marrakech road was brought to a standstill by a constant flux of sheep. Sheep in pick-ups. Sheep on motorbikes. Sheep on bicycles. And sheep on shoulders.

Farmers have come from as far as Beni Mellal, some 150km away, to sell their sheep to the City. There are lots of buyers. And the only currency is cash.

The Festival of Sacrifice refers to the holy story of Abraham, called upon by God to sacrifice his son. Reprieved at the last minute, he is able to substitute a sheep. Today, the sacrifice can be of a sheep, a goat or even a camel … depending on the circumstances of the family. In fact, there is no moral or religious obligation to sacrifice an animal. Yet there is fierce social pressure. In the days leading up to the festival there is just one question the neighbours ask – “Have you got your sheep?”

The market is dusty and dry. The few orange juice stalls are doing well. The grills near the car park are smokey with cooking lamb. And the constant flow of people and sheep makes sure the dust doesn’t settle. Prices of live sheep are slightly down from last year, I am told. You can get a decent Sardi sheep, good enough for a small family, for about 150 euros. Last year it was 200. That is the equivalent of a months wages for a labourer.

The atmosphere grows dizzy as the afternoon wears on under the bright sun. Many more families can now sleep easier – they have their sheep. The animals are being transported back to the winding alleyways of the Red City. They will be kept on the roof terrace. Or in the car park. Or even in the apartment. The important thing is that they will be sacrificed as a token of mans humility before God.

Drinking in Marrakech Medina is one of the great pleasures of visiting or living here. It runs contrary to accepted wisdom about life in a predominately Muslim society and surprises by the tolerance and openness shown by authorities and local inhabitants alike. In this blog I’ll look at the sale of alcohol in the supermarkets and specialist shops, as well as my favourite Medina hangouts. I’ll also take a brief glance at the local hooch – Mehia.

While there are no supermarkets selling alcohol within the Medina itself, there are a couple of strategically placed shops just outside the walls of the Old City. There are Carrefour and Champion supermarkets with an array of beers, wines and spirits within walking distance of Jemaa El Fna. Within a short taxi ride of the Medina you will find two big Carrefours with well stocked Caves – one in the new Menara Mall complex on Avenue Mohammed VI and the other at the Al Mazar Mall near the Agdal Gardens. The Atacadao Hypermarket on the Fez Road (previously known as Metro) is a great place to stock up as they do wholesale rates if you buy in quantity. In Gueliz there are a number of local shops where you can get your drinks – notably on the Avenue Mohammed V and in the Marche Central. During Ramadan, only a few outlets are open and only to non Muslims. You will need to take your passport along if you want to buy alcohol during the Holy month.

There are also specialist wine shops in the new city. Have a look at this little selection from a sister blog: https://www.madeinmarrakech.co.uk/wine-and-spirits.html

Within the Medina there are numerous cool places to go for a drink. My local is Cafe Arabe in Mouassine, right opposite the Secret Garden. https://www.cafearabe.com/en/ It’s got a great terrace, best experienced at sunset, and the food is OK too. Another great sunset terrace is at KosyBar on the Place des Ferblantiers. http://www.kosybar.com/index_en.htm – I’m not enamoured of the food yet to sip a cold drink as the sun goes down behind the Kotoubia is a real spectacle. Just 100 yards away is the Tanjia – it too has good views and the occasional belly dancer.

Around Jemaa El Fna square are a number of drinking spots. If you go the Marrakchi Restaurant, next to the Cafe de France – be sure to book a window table. There are fabulous views of the Kessabine end of the square. http://www.lemarrakchi.com/ – Just up the Rue des Banques from there is the newly refurbished Salama Restaurant. It’s got decent views and runs a happy hour. It’s run by the same people as the Tanjia. Possibly the oldest drinking spot in the Medina is the Tazi Hotel at the end of the Rue des Princes a couple of hundred yards from Jemaa El Fna. The atmosphere is one of decadent 1950’s Marrakech and the place has seen better days. It’s fun though.

I used to enjoy a drink in the Nomad Restaurant and Le Jardin Restaurant. They have recently had their alcohol licences revoked for an as yet undisclosed reason. Hopefully they’ll soon get them back. The Nomad on the Place des Epices has a particularly cool roof terrace and it would be great to be able to drop round for a drink again.

While all these, and other, restaurants sell good quality beers, wines and spirits (and the Moroccan wine and beer is surprisingly good), the local hooch known as Mehia (Mahia, Majia) can be a seriously dangerous road to travel. As it is technically illegal it’s production tends to escape normal quality controls. It is best avoided in anything but the smallest quantities. It is usually distilled from dates or figs, although other sugary fruit is sometimes employed. Personally I stay away from it.

In conclusion I would say that drinking alcohol in Marrakech Medina is generally a very pleasant experience. Whether it’s sat on the terrace of your Riad or in one of the numerous restaurants around the Old City, having a cool sundowner away from the hustle and bustle of the streets is a most relaxing pursuit. Try the Casablanca Beer. Have a sip of a great Moroccan red wine. Slurp on a cold Gin and Tonic or a minty Mojito. And enjoy everything that this marvellous city has to offer you.

Cheers!

People often ask me what is the biggest change I’ve noticed in Marrakech since I arrived some years ago. My answer sometimes surprises – English in Marrakech is now spoken everywhere. When I arrived this was patently not the case. In hotels as in the souks, the first words spoken to visitors were always in French. Now a visitor is greeted with “What are you looking for?” or “Take a look, please.” As Marrakech becomes progressively more open to international tourism, and less reliant on the French market, so the quick and clever businesspeople of this dynamic city have adapted their language in order to reach the widest possible audience.

And it is not just a greeting to lure you into a sense of homeliness. The sales people throughout the Medina and in the new town of Gueliz are remarkably proficient in their English conversation. Speaking English in Marrakech has never been easier. Menus and drink lists are printed in English. Websites and advertising focus more and more on the English speaking visitors.

In fact, English is progressing across the country and not just in Marrakech. The internationalisation of business and specifically through the internet have led to profound changes in Moroccan society’s approach to language. While Arabic and French remain the administrative languages of the country and are likely to do so for a long time to come, English is now the second language of choice for most Moroccans, as many recent surveys confirm – https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/03/153952/85-moroccans-want-english-first-foreign-language/

Within the city of Marrakech various expat groups are here to welcome the English speaking resident. The British Business Group – http://www.britishbusinessgroupmarrakech.com/about-us/ – provides support to the newly arrived and provides networking opportunities to those already well established here. The Internations organisation – originally a German concept – runs a relaxed and dynamic social hub where English is very much to the fore – https://www.internations.org/marrakech-expats

This development in the use of English offers plenty of potential to those who are not yet proficient in French or Arabic. The Hotel and Riad business is an obvious case in point. Yet outside the hospitality industry, many companies are looking to recruit native speakers too. And many private language schools offer work for teachers of English as a foreign language within the city of Marrakech. A quick google of “English Teaching Jobs in Marrakech” will prove my point.

So it would appear that speaking English in Marrakech has a bright and rosy future. Times were when not speaking French was a major handicap … and now people are scrambling to learn English. English speakers – the Kingdom of Morocco welcomes you!

Marrakech really is a tale of two cities. The impressive ramparts that encircle the old Medina serve as a defining arbiter of the city’s urban identity. Within the walls lies a sprawling medaieval town of sinuous alleyways, historic Mosques, grand old Riads and bustling market places. Outside is a modern, thriving city first developed under the French “protectorate” only a hundred years ago. The impression on the first-time visitor to Marrakech can be quite schizophrenic.

The traditional way of life in the Medina continues unfazed by the modernity of Gueliz. Time is of much less importance within the protective walls. Marrakech Medina is a truly remarkable urban environment, where you can step from the calm, air conditioned and wifi infused peace of a Riad guesthouse into a smokey, noisy street thronged with donkey carts and speeding mopeds in just seconds. Vegetable markets vie with local butchers and trinket sellers in a frantic whirr of vitality and energy.

Whilst in Gueliz, just a five minute walk from the Medina ramparts, you can sit in a quiet cafe just as you can in Paris or Milan. You can shop in Zara and Louis Vuitton. Get your imported groceries and wines in a modern supermarket. You can find McDonalds and Starbuck’s. There are French, Italian, Japanese and every other conceivable kind of restaurant. There are hundreds of bars and dozens of good nightclubs. Luxury apartments and villas are all around.

So it’s entirely possible to live in the Medina and benefit from all the conveniences a modern and thriving city can offer, whilst still enjoying the exotic and wonderful energy of the Old Town. As I navigate between the Medina and Gueliz I often thank my lucky stars that such a diverse and tolerant city exists here and now. It is a unique blend of the ancient and the modern. I love living here.

With the recent upgrade of the city centre airport, Marrakech has never been more accessible. It is time for you to experience the special atmosphere of this city with two hearts – one that beats a rhythm from time immemorial … and one that dances to a very modern tune.

Colin
Bosworth Property Marrakech.