This trip was as epic as I expected it to be. I did a lot of planning beforehand, with some awesome imput from the rest of the group. It was the most fun to travel with my siblings and Brandon's best man and wife. We all got along so well and had lots of laughs.
Here we are on the plane in Dubai. We had Kate stay for a week before we left. The Emirates plane was not quite as nice as others, but the direct flight was totally worth it. No more unplanned 14 hour delays in Doha for us!
When we arrived in Casablanca, Abdul picked us up from the airport. Then we met the guy below near the centre of town. Here he is working on his bartering skills which, up to this point in his trip, had not served him well. Before we arrived he had bought more than one carpet and a leather jacket while in Fez.
Here he successfully paid a great price for a nice pair of jeans. It was a little colder in Morocco than any of us expected.
We headed to the beach that evening for some reunion photos:
Here is AJ in a petit taxi on the way back from the mosque. One of these little cars ran over Brandon's big toe. He was pretty sure he had broken something. He didn't.
Above: Graeme's extremely scary idea.
Above: Trying to write Morocco. You can try and guess who made an 8 instead of an O (his name starts with a B)
The next day we (or rather Abdul) drove through the Atlas mountains.
Luckily we had AJ with us who felt it was important to have a steady supply of chocolate:
After the 10 hour drive, we said goodbye to our amazing driver Abdul (50% of our Moroccan drivers had this name) and headed into Marrakech.
Marrakech was the land of delicious breakfasts, crazy markets, tiny streets, green parks, and mosques. Here Graeme gained the reputation "hard Berber man". In other words, he was an amazing barterer. AJ also found some amazing fossils and rocks in the market. Direct quote "Oh man, these rocks are friggin' awesome." (while closing his eyes a la Napoleon Dynamite).
Above: Chelsea and Kate attempt to cross the street. They are unsuccessful until another large group of ladies comes to cross with them.
Our last stop: Chez Momo in a mountain town of Ouirgane. It was so picturesque and really cold! Some of our rooms had no hot showers which seemed to decrease the temperature more. I may have gotten really mad at them about the lack of hot water, when it turned out that all someone had to do was flip a switch to make it turn on. Brandon didn't understand my logic of yelling at the man who had fixed our problem. I blame the lack of logic on my lack of the ability to shower.
And here is AJ on our way back to Casablanca where we all flew out of. We ate at a famous restaurant called Rick's Grill which features decor from the movie Casablanca.
Truly an amazing trip with the best of company. Kate and AJ flew out separately before the rest of us. We were lucky enough to spend another week with the Emmerzaels here in Dubai. This meant that we got to continue playing our favourite card game "dirt lump" and hear Graeme complain about how much he missed AJ.
Here we are on the plane in Dubai. We had Kate stay for a week before we left. The Emirates plane was not quite as nice as others, but the direct flight was totally worth it. No more unplanned 14 hour delays in Doha for us!
When we arrived in Casablanca, Abdul picked us up from the airport. Then we met the guy below near the centre of town. Here he is working on his bartering skills which, up to this point in his trip, had not served him well. Before we arrived he had bought more than one carpet and a leather jacket while in Fez.
Here he successfully paid a great price for a nice pair of jeans. It was a little colder in Morocco than any of us expected.
We headed to the beach that evening for some reunion photos:
some gangster photos:
as well as some hover hand photos
(inspired by these http://twistedsifter.com/2010/12/25-funniest-hover-hand-pictures/):
We visited the mosque in Casablanca. It is extremely big. It is built on the water so the views are fabulous.
Here is AJ in a petit taxi on the way back from the mosque. One of these little cars ran over Brandon's big toe. He was pretty sure he had broken something. He didn't.
After Casablanca, we met up with the Emmerzaels at the airport. Yay reunion! The 6 of us flew to Ouarzazate to stay the night before our desert camel adventure. We stayed at Riad Rita. It was the best smelling place on the block, literally. We could smell it from the outside. Rita was an excellent host except when it came to showing Graeme the exact location of the toilet in his room.
Above: Here we are ready to rough it for two nights in the Sahara.
Below: Little did we know that we would basically be staying in huts with real beds and matresses.
Here is the first place we stopped for lunch. We ate Moroccan salad, a Moroccan omelette made in a tagine (also pronounced tangine by some travellers), couscous and chicken. There was also a yogurty dessert. Delish!
Here are our camel photos. It was really hard to pare them down.
Graeme and A.J. holding hands. Graeme was probably the person who missed AJ the most once we all parted ways. Hearing him say "I really wish AJ was still here." was not uncommon.
Quote from Brandon: "That's a really awesome picture of you." (While talking to Megan). This is a picture of Chelsea.
In the evening we played catchphrase and Chelsea's version of 20 questions which basically consists of asking very personal questions. Luckily she didn't make anyone cry.
The next day we did another dromedary (otherwise known as dromedons) ride. We felt so cool using them as real transportation. Our desination: a hotel with a pool and lunch. One of our guides informed Chelsea that he had dreamt of her the night before.
Above: Brandon riding side saddle. His Gma's comment: "Geez Brandon, how lay back is this?" I agree.
The lunch after the long ride. It included a very good bottle of wine and thankfully no tagine (We'd gotten a little sick of this dish even though it is delicious!)
We continued on the road to another desert camp. Here we climbed a huge dune and watched an amazing desert sunset. Before we departed on our climb, we made sure to look the part by all wearing some type of headscarf/gutra that did not make us look bald.
After the climb to the top of the dune we realized Chelsea may have overdone it. We were enjoying some tea around the table at the camp when she leaned forward into the table. When she didn't react even though we complained of liquid dripping on us, we realized she may have passed out. When Chelsea became aware of her surroundings, she asked why everything had fallen off the table. She has a problem.
That night AJ took some amazing photos with a really long shutter speed. I think he was also hoping to get some pictures of the trails of the stars, but the moon was too bright. Here are the pictures we took by the campfire:
Above: My idea of lightsabers (better executed by Brandon).
Luckily we had AJ with us who felt it was important to have a steady supply of chocolate:
After the 10 hour drive, we said goodbye to our amazing driver Abdul (50% of our Moroccan drivers had this name) and headed into Marrakech.
Above: Chelsea and Kate attempt to cross the street. They are unsuccessful until another large group of ladies comes to cross with them.
Our last stop: Chez Momo in a mountain town of Ouirgane. It was so picturesque and really cold! Some of our rooms had no hot showers which seemed to decrease the temperature more. I may have gotten really mad at them about the lack of hot water, when it turned out that all someone had to do was flip a switch to make it turn on. Brandon didn't understand my logic of yelling at the man who had fixed our problem. I blame the lack of logic on my lack of the ability to shower.
Here are the Halverson siblings on our hike with our lovely guide Mohammad. He had us over to his house where his wife cooked us the best Moroccan food ever. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that when we were not thrilled seeing yet another tagine coming through the door for our lunch. However, we were all pleasantly surprised by the home made version of the ubiquitous Moroccan dish.
And here is AJ on our way back to Casablanca where we all flew out of. We ate at a famous restaurant called Rick's Grill which features decor from the movie Casablanca.
Truly an amazing trip with the best of company. Kate and AJ flew out separately before the rest of us. We were lucky enough to spend another week with the Emmerzaels here in Dubai. This meant that we got to continue playing our favourite card game "dirt lump" and hear Graeme complain about how much he missed AJ.
