Postcard from Morocco
Why would you want to be anywhere else at this time of year?
The moment I arrived at Marrakech airport Morocco started to work its magic. It was 6.15pm and I expected it to be dark but it felt like a warm summer evening, the sun going down in a spectacular blaze of colour.
Why had I thought of going anywhere else in winter? Morocco has the sun, sure, but so much more. The food, the art, the colour, the culture, the sense of adventure - all at the end of a comparatively short, cheap flight.
I’d been invited by friends who’d suddenly upped sticks last year and moved to Marrakech, a breathtakingly bold move of which we were all admiring and not a little jealous.
They’d rented a house just outside the city surrounded by citrus trees (yes, the lemons were THAT huge) and an enviably large pool.
As I was just one of a stream of sun-starved visitors to descend on them this winter they didn’t take me on the standard tour of the city’s hotspots but a couple of places on the outskirts that you might want to take in if you’ve already seen the sights.
First, Cactus Thiemann which is apparently the biggest cactus plantation in Africa - and I’m not surprised. Who knew there were so many weirdly shaped cacti? You need to know your cacti if you’re planning a garden in what is essentially a desert.
Then Macaal https://macaal.org a stunning gallery of African art in an equally striking building. One of the things you’re constantly struck by here is the intensity of the light and the way it creates shapes and shadows.
We also visited a Berber market which was fascinating albeit pretty hard core. Tables of freshly killed poultry, set up over the unfortunate birds who were about to meet their fate. Flocks of sheep, ditto I imagine. Tents set up with barbers plying their trade, shaving customers out in the open air. Dentists too apparently - I was relieved to be spared the sight of one pulling teeth.
(A marked contrast from the somewhat genteel French market we’d visited the previous day with its snails and foiegras, cheese and charcuterie (the latter not to be found in the local shops, pork obviously not being on the menu in Morocco.)