Our Nomadic Experience
Living simply in order to travel the world full-time
Only forty-eight hours left in Morocco. We are finishing up our seventy-six day visit in this country in the seaside resort city of Agadir. It is the capital of Amazigh culture. Amazigh people prefer this title rather than “Berber”. About half of the people here speak Tamazight, the main Amazigh language.
We are splurging on a 1000 square foot apartment for our last few days in Morocco. It is still a relative bargain at less than $70 USD per night.
We are talking it pretty easy here and mostly just walking around and enjoying the nearby beach.
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I have enjoyed your posts. We plan to be in Agadir later this year but will be on the boat. Where are you headed next? We would love to see you if we find ourselves in the same area.
We are spending four nights in Essaouira, Morocco. This is a popular seaside destination. We spent the day walking around and exploring the area. It has a calm, peaceful vibe. ... See MoreSee Less
It is all so amazing! Great photos of course. Look what the Lord has done!
Love the door photos! 🙂
Last full day in Marrakech. We visited the Jardin Majorelle complex which includes the garden, Berber Arts Museum, and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. Loads of tourists!
We walked back to the hotel through the medina and Jemma el-Fna, the well known large square filled with snake charmers, musicians, and shops.
One advantage of having a friend who travels nomadically like us is that we can give each other tips about the places we visit. Beverly suggested a short cut back to the hotel through the mosque grounds and park.
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Beautiful photos!!! Except for the COBRA!! 😬
While in Morocco we have contemplated life in Casablanca at Rick’s Cafe “As Time Goes By”. We have “Rocked the Casbah” many times (the Sharif didn’t like it). And now we are riding on the “Marrakesh Express.”
We arrived in Marrakech a couple of days ago and have spent some time seeing a few sites, Medersa Ben Yousef - a 14th century religious school, and Bahai Palace - built in the late 19th century.
We are winding down our Moroccan adventures with about another ten days left here.
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V impressive buildings
There are two things that I wanted to share about Ouarzazate that we observed, but didn’t experience.
When we got off the plane, there were numerous buses parked outside and lots of people lined up with luggage. Most of them had a small backpack. I looked at the front of one of the buses and found out that it was the start of Marathon de Sables 2024. It is a 250km multi stage running race in the Sahara Desert from April 12 to 21st. The race website said that you had to be “food self sufficient” meaning that you had to provide and carry your own food.
The second thing that I noticed was what looked like a tall glowing rod off in the distance. I learned that what I was seeing was the world’s largest solar concentrator. The site generates electric power by focusing a half a million mirrors at a central rod filled with molten salt. The heated salt then flows to boilers that drive electric generators. The molten salt retains enough heat to keep generating electricity for three hours after the sun goes down.
Unfortunately, you can not visit the site. It was interesting learning about and being within 10km of it.
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Ouarzazate, Morocco is a major film making area. The first major film shot here was Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Since then, hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and countless minor films and tv shows have been shot in the sound stages and outdoor locations here. Some of the most well known are The Mummy, The Living Daylights (James Bond), Gladiator, Game of Thrones, and Black Hawk Down to name just a very few. IMDB lists 158 films shot in Ouarzazate and doesn’t include any of the Chinese, Arabic, and other films.
Filming just wrapped up on Gladiator II, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and the Netflix Moses series.
There is a small Cinema Museum in the city, but the big attraction is the Atlas Studios just outside of town. We visited both places. It was interesting to see the sets and learn a little bit about how movies are made.
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We spent two nights in Ouarzazate, Morocco. (Kinda pronounced like “War-zah-zat’ “) It was very nice, better than I expected.
It is known as the “Door of the Desert” since many overnight tours to the desert start here. I was a little uncertain how we would enjoy it since many of the reviews and videos we watched made it look like the area was pretty touristy.
I think part of the reason we really liked it was the wonderful homestay hosted by a French couple and their dog,Tsona.
Hundreds of well known films have been shot in Ouarzazate over the years. I will save the details for a later post.
The first day we walked around ourselves. The second day we hired a taxi for the day.
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Ohhhh I’ve been there! Amazing place
I love all of these pictures! Wow. And so different, whatever I mean by that… so glad to visit through your “eyes”.
We visited the Hassan II Mosque today. It is the second largest mosque in Africa, and depending on which list you reference, it is anywhere from the fourth to the fourteenth largest mosque in the world. It has a capacity of 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 outside. It the only mosque in Morocco that is open for non-Muslims to visit.
For lunch, of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world we had to pick Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca. With a nod to the 1942 movie Casablanca, Rick’s Cafe has been around for twenty years and is loosely patterned after the one in the movie. I was a little wary of going there since it sounded like an overpriced tourist trap. However, a friend of ours told us she had been and really enjoyed it. I am glad we went. The food was excellent and although the price was on the high range for a meal in Morocco, it was still 30-50% less than what we would have paid in North America for the same quality.
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The architecture is AMAZING! Thanks for sharing
Eid Mubarak! Today is Eid al Fitur. It is a Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking around.
Many of the parks were filled with families enjoying the day.
We saw a skatepark. They rented skateboards, scooters, and inline skates. I decided to give it a try - nothing crazy. It was fun.
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Today’s adventure was treating Susan’s throat infection. She started not feeling well a couple of days ago and things didn’t seem to be improving, so we inquired about a medical clinic. The hotel informed us that a doctor would come to our room.
The doctor came within an hour and diagnosed her. He even had some antibiotics with him. The rest of the medication we got at the pharmacy across the street.
I am always interested in health care around the world. We have a high deductible global insurance plan but have never made a claim in the eight plus years of traveling. We are pretty healthy and any doctor visits we have paid for out of pocket.
The doctor was very competent. Service was fast. Cost was reasonable.
Doctor’s fee 1500 MAD - $149.66 US (including antibiotics)
Pharmacy fee 169 MAD - $16.86 US
Casablanca, Morocco
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Praying for your fast recovery Sis. Susan!🧡🙏 Thank God for His keeping power to both of you in all your travels!💐
(Susan). Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Twenty four hours of antibiotics is starting to work wonders. I feel human again.
I am glad Susan is on the mend and hope she will be completely well soon. What medical insurance do you have?
Glad Susan got looked after. !!! Keep safe.
Praying you are well and be restored in health
Praying for you Susie 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️ get well soon
Glad you got looked after Susan. We pray every day for your health and safety. ❤️
Wow! Time to move abroad - medical here bankrupts people even WITH insurance! I had to cough up 5k out of pocket for shoulder surgery a few yrs back 😳. Get well soon Susan🙏🏻💖
Get well soon sis. Susan. Praying for quick recovery ❤️🙏
Praying for you Sis 🙏
Praying that you heal fully, Susan.
Praying she's better soon <3
I hope Susan is feeling better soon. Keep us posted. I hope she doesn’t get an upset stomach taking amoxicillin!