My first blog entry this past summer was about the Moroccan city of Chefchaouen.  This past weekend, our team explored this city and the nearby Rif mountains. Chefchaouen is a 4 and 1/2 hour drive from Rabat.  It is located in north west Morocco in the Rif Mountain range just inland from Tangier.  I remember when I posted my first blog, that I was really anticipating the chance to visit Chefchaouen.  This past weekend, we went there and it was an awesome experience.

Chefchaouen is called the blue city.  Below are pictures from the Spanish Mosque overlooking the city.  About 50% of the building are painted blue.  The blue buildings started to appear in the 1930’s and there a number of different local legends on why.  For those who visit the city now, the blue streets and buildings give the city a special feel.

 

Once inside the old section of the city, you are surrounded by narrow blue lined streets in every direction.  Another name for narrow streets in North Africa is  “medina”.  From wikipedia:  medina quarter (Arabic: المدينة القديمة‎‎ al-madīnah al-qadīmah “the old city”) is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, with many narrow and maze-like streets. Chefchaouen is about 650 years old and the streets are narrow and wind around in arbitrary directions. Below are some examples with a number of my IBM teammates from around the world.

 

Chefchaouen is also know for its shopping markets filled with local crafts.  I am a shopper and me and two of my other shopping coworkers, Jessica O’Gorman and Phillipa Hartley spent Saturday afternoon in the markets. A few examples of the shops are shown below. We purchased rugs, pants, granite figurines, handbags and paintings all for very reasonable prices.  When shopping in the markets of Morocco, it is important to remember that everything is negotiable.  A typical fair price is about 1/2 less than the starting price and much bargaining and walking away is required to get to this price.  It also is very helpful to have someone with you who speaks French or Arabic.  Very few merchants in Morocco speak English.

 

The hotel we stayed at Saturday night was as blue as the rest of the city and was awesome. The building was very old and decorated in a very cool traditional Moroccan style.  I loved every minute there and my only regret is that my family was not with me.  I will always remember the place.

 

On Sunday, we went hiking in the nearby Rif mountains to Cascades d’Akchour (waterfall).  It was about an 8 mile round trip hike from where the bus dropped us of (about 1 hr drive time from Chefchaouen).  On the way up the “trail” there were numerous tea cafes along the stream, a few donkeys carrying farming supplies and a very small  field with two local farmers harvesting corn.  Five of us did this hike and we were the first people up the canyon.  When we got to the actual waterfall, it was about 100 meters high with some very cool geological features (yes.. that is me behind the falls in the picture below!).  Of course, there was a cafe at the base of the falls and we enjoyed an espresso before heading back to the bus and then back to Rabat.