africa

I always find it ironic to see two presumably straight men casually holding hands as they stroll down the street together in a country where being gay is illegal. Yet it’s just a part of the culture and a gesture of friendship in Ethiopia and many other countries.

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It’s not often that Auston and I will make excursions out of the main city when we’re traveling. This is usually due to time and financial constraints – plus we enjoy big cities! But this time we had had enough. We needed to get away and find some space outside of the crowds. We were particularly in a hiking mood.

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Our first sightseeing stop in Addis was the National Museum of Ethiopia. It wasn’t a spectacular museum, but it had a quaint charm to it. I was interested in seeing Lucy, a skeleton dated back 3.2 million years.

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Once we left Ghana, we were supposed to head straight to India with a quick stopover in Addis Ababa. Plans changed though once we couldn’t obtain a double entry visa for India.

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Being so close to Morocco while in Spain, we could not pass up the opportunity for a visit. We only had a couple days to spare as we had plans to go to Barcelona, still we thought it worth the time. Of course we not only had to stop by Morocco, but we also had to choose the city that was 11 hours from the port where we arrived. That’s what sleeper trains are for though! Like being magically transported in your sleep to a new city.

After a 5 hour train ride from Madrid to Algeciras (a port city in Spain) and an hour and a half ferry ride to Tangier in Morocco, we made it in time for our overnight train to Marrakech. I would say that this is a city you go to more for the culture experience than anything else. There are definitely some interesting sights to see and it has a unique history, but we were mostly taken with the day to day life.

Shopping in the souks (markets) of Marrakech is intense. We’re used to being hassled by locals to purchase ridiculous items or eat at their restaurants, but they acted as if aggressiveness was an appealing and natural way to lure in customers. Also, I’m pretty sure they know every spoken language in Europe (it really is impressive). So there’s no avoiding their tactics for anyone. A couple of days of this and we felt fulfilled with our time in Marrakech.

Still, with excellent kebabs and coffee (as well as orange juice), traditional snake charmers, and a plethora of markets to explore, it’s a city not to be missed. Even if left a short time after arriving.

(I went a little photo happy much to Auston’s dismay)