When I started cramming for my LSAT exams I put out a call for guest posts. One of the responses was from Mahir a Twitter follower. I love his story about visiting Morocco as a single dad of two kids. I admire his bravery in taking on this journey and thank him immensely for sharing this story.
 
What’s a single father with 2 children aged 10 & 11 holidaying in Morocco you may ask……It all started with a plan to take the kids to a dream holiday to Disney Land in Paris and help them forget the pains of a sad year and ended with a unforgettable trek thru the heart of Morocco.
 
We left our homes from around the other side of the world, Melbourne, Australia landed in Paris did our standard Disney Land tour and drove thru to Milan, Italy where we had our tourist Pizza then prepared for our out of ordinary destination, Marrakech. Through the last years I had heard so much about Morocco, I had been introduced to a Morrocan colleague at work and our Arabic heritage allowed us to share many things about our parents’ home countries, I became entertained with idea of travelling to Morocco and promised myself one day to go, but would the kids enjoy it? Well we were about to see. As we boarded our flight to Marrakech, there was a feeling of excitement and a little anxiety.
 
Off the plane, we grab our bags and walk to the customs and hand them our passports, Mr Alaoui calls out the customs officer, you are Moroccan? I say no with a smile, little to my knowledge my Arabic surname was a quite popular Moroccan family name, what you will do here, tourist I smile back, he stamps the passports and we are off. I hire a car which will help me get to the destinations I have planned to see, switch my GPS on and to my delight it works like a dream…no need to use any broken French to ask for directions.
 
I pre-booked an apartment in the heart of Marrakech at a very affordable rate compared to Europe with all amenities and wireless internet, a must for communicating back home to family. Day one we spent exploring the city, Jamea ifna was an amazing site which converts in the night into an amazing food dining experience, for the first time in my life I find myself standing behind the diners literally over their shoulders waiting for them to get up before me and the kids jump on their seats, wow the food taste so amazing, maybe it’s the atmosphere or hustle and bustle of the crowds, with music and lights all around, definitely a memorable experience with my 10 year old son mesmerised by the snake charmers roaming around, and my 11 year old daughter gets her henna tattoo by a very talented artist. The night and day markets of Jame Ifna drawed us back again again.
 
The next day we drove to Ozour where we jumped across the lake on rocks to a restaurant nested under the cool shade of a tree, where we enjoyed Moroccan tea followed by our main tajine meal, where ever we go in this country is attached to a beautiful meal. This small day trip was would be a teaser for our next trip to the cascades. The cascades are definitely worth the long drive from Marrakech, in the Atlas mountains the cascades awaited us, with beautifully lined paths we found our way to the bottom, catching glimpse of the waterfalls on the way down. This has to be one of the most amazing places in the world, it’s not just the enormous water falls, but it’s the whole environment, from the restaurants to local boys diving into the falls without fear.
 
Can’t wait for my return trip, this time we want to fly into the capital and travel the coast line, what is it about magical Morocco that draws people from around the world perhaps it’s the people, or is it the history, or the magnetic scenery, who knows, just go and enjoy.
 
Some pictures that Mahir shared;
 

 

 

 
You can follow Mahir on Twitter! Thank you for sharing!