Strait of Gibraltar

We were treated to the most amazing sight on our flight home. This is the Strait of Gibraltar from 35000 feet, the gateway to the Mediterranean. You can see the tiny gap between Gibraltar (on the left) and the Northern-most tip of Morocco to the right. Ahead is the enclosed sea of the Mediterranean, communicating with the Atlantic only through the strait. It is also a place where 2 continents, Africa and Europe, come close enough almost to touch each other.



The Port of Gibraltar, the 'rock':



And here you can see the ferries leaving Gibraltar for the Moroccan port, Tangiers, just across the Strait:

Palaces and Ruins in Marrakech

Believe it or not, this beautiful courtyard house was our riad in Marrakech. A really superb example of Moroccan interior design.



The streets were another matter. Moroccan driving (and road crossing) was a tourist attraction itself, as long as you were experiencing it from the sidelines! Crossing the road really did leave you wondering if you would make it to the other side in one piece... No still picture can really grasp the balletic precision with which cars, motorbikes, cycles, horse-drawn carts and pedestrians all managed to just miss each other, sometimes with inches to spare.



The Koutoubia Mosque was a beautiful thing, just next to our riad. The tower is actually exactly the same as the one in Seville, giving an insight into the one-time size of the Moroccan empire.





We then visited the Museum of Marrakech:





And the Medersa Ben Youssef, one of the early arabic 'universities', claiming the honour of the oldest university in the world, predating Cambridge by at least a century.





The student rooms were kind of small, seeing as there were only 50 or so rooms, holding up to 800 students at a time!







The Saadian Tombs, resting place for the great sultans and princes (and occasional tortoise):



And the Palace El Badi, only a ruin now but one time one of the greatest palaces in the world:



Even the fountains and pools had incredibly complex plumbing systems, now laid open to the elements by the collapse of the floor above:

Marrakechi Wildlife

Alongside the ubiquitous felines, there were some other interesting animals making their home in Marrakech...



This little chap was pottering around in the Saadian Tombs amongst the ancient graves of sultans and princes, quite oblivious to the tourist hordes crammed into the tiny spot.



And ruling the rooftops were the majestic storks...



...building their nests in some quite incredible locations!





All the storks had chicks present in their giant nests, a fact a local drew to our attention by pointing up at them, 'Look - babies' he insisted. This certainly had us wondering for a moment if the famous legend was true after all!



Not all the birds were harmless-looking either,



And this cheeky chap couldn't resist taunting me endlessly by flying off just as I pressed the shutter button. Finally caught him, only just in time!

Djemaa El Fna

In the centre of Marrakech medina sits Djemaa El Fna. At first glance merely a large open square, it actually serves as a central focus for the local Moroccans and tourists alike and throngs with people, especially at night when the heat of the day has subsided. Not only a centre piece of the market, it was also a testiment to a remarkable inventiveness of Moroccans in encouraging tourists to part with their money as frequently as possible!

It certainly proved a fascinating place to observe Marrakechi life from...



One of the famous sights were the orange juice carts, beautifully laid out with freshly picked oranges all ready for squeezing. A glass of juice cost merely 25p... You just had to hope it had been washed first! And jostling the orange carts were carts selling dates, figs and a huge assortment of snack food, Morrocan style.





The square is also full of colourful characters, trying to hussle the tourists in every way they can think of. Sadly we don't have a photo of the Moroccan dentist, whose enourmous pile of teeth on his makeshift table testified to his teeth-pulling power. They seemed to make more money from posing with tourists though than from a diligent practice of dentistry...

The next group to catch our attention were the African buskers, who were particularly skilled in twirling the tassles of their hats around in time with their music. Each performance would last perhaps 3-5 seconds...



After which they would doggedly persue the hapless tourist right across the square with their hat held out!



The water-sellers did wear a very strange costume, kindly modelled front and back here.



Of course, they don't sell water any more, not when there are plenty of tourists to pick on.

I was particularly intrigued by the snake charmers, evenly spaced out across the square and heatedly competing with each other for tourists attention. You didn't seem to cut it as a proper attraction without at least 3 snakes on the go, and this guy had 5!



And looking at this picture below, you can see the python starting to make a break for freedom, which it tried from time to time!



Finally, the monkey guys. Quite unpleasant characters and very persistent. The monkeys weren't being kept in very pleasant conditions at all.





To our great amusement, one intrepid monkey broke free...



...and proceeded to run rings around the handlers for several minutes...





...but finally getting caught, despite our hopes for a successful getaway.



However not all the exhibits were for the tourists... We were quite baffled by this particular game:



And as the sun goes down the square fills up with locals, generally clustering in groups around the story-tellers...



Obviously we were completely excluded from these arabic-only all-male gatherings, and could only guess at the tales being told. Although one teller was brandishing a very Aladdin-esque lamp.



Many other strange characters also appeared to be nocturnal only, including a fortune teller with a very impressive falcon perched on his luggage chest, and suprisingly well clothed belly dancers, with only the eyes left uncovered!

The real night-time draw though, appeared to be the food stands. Arriving at dusk on an empty patch of the square...



...they soon started cooking up all manner of tempting meats and fish dishes. Along with rather less tempting snail-soup. Complete with escaping snails!



An unforgettable place.