It's 40 degrees and some change in Marrakech. I am trailing around the city's streets with my five-year-old daughter on a four-hour walking tour. The numbers are against us, writes DEIRDRE VELDON
TEN MINUTES in and it’s too late to go back as we’d lose our way. Mopeds zip past in the narrowest spaces. The child, growing increasingly puce, goes all Beckettian on me: “I can’t go on,” she wails. I spray her with water and offer the first of many confectionery entreaties. “I’ll go on,” she sighs.
We straggle along to the Koutoubia, Marrakech’s iconic mosque. Our guide is saying something informative in good English, but it washes over me as I fret and peptalk the child.
Things cool in the 19th century El Bahia Palace. The carvings and stucco panels on the walls and ceilings of its 160 rooms are impressive. Its history as a harem for the vizier, or viceroy, is even more so. An imponderably old man sits on one of the palace’s courtyard terraces. He asks for a light. Still a bit moithered, I give him coins. He gives me a hurt look.
We turn into the souk, past stall after stall of clammy distraction, spilling out at last onto Marrakech’s main square, Djemaa el Fna, which is pounding with noise and energy as the masses deal, eat, entertain and, like us, wander around with their mouths open.
This very square has recently hosted some big-name celluloid glamour, in Marrakech’s role as a double for Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City 2. We spend a moment wondering how our experience of the city will compare with that of the beautiful ladies from Noo Yoik.
Actually, we don’t. We focus instead on finding somewhere to sit and have a mint tea, Morocco’s ubiquitous cooling drink. We are above and beyond glamour as we perspire gently into our practical clothing.
Since we left Marrakech a week previously, at the start of our trip, glamour has not loomed large. Instead, we’ve been experiencing an “adventure” holiday with children, just to prove you can still have adventures – though not very dangerous ones – with your offspring.
The circuit has taken our pink bus through the high Atlas Mountains to the Berber town of Taroudant further south. Mind you, sashaying through the giddying bends up to the Tizi-n-Test Pass at 2,100m does seem quite risky. It’s chilling to see the upshot of a crash between a van and a Land Rover; vehicles upended in either ditch, contents and passengers scattered everywhere. We will draw a veil over the effect of the bends and slopes on the digestive system of a five year old.
Further along, the 12th century Tin Mal mosque hovers into view; a rose-coloured cutout on the side of the mountain and model for the Koutoubia. One of just two mosques in Morocco to welcome non-Muslims, Tin Mal is a last shred of the short-lived Almohad dynasty. Owls in the rafters mock us from their perches. The mosque’s enormous 800-year old, studded cedarwood doors were replaced in recent renovations and lie casually stacked against each other in a corner. The children climb on the doors and we leave.
Everywhere we stop, the children create some entertainment for themselves with the available props. Sometimes that means jumping into the swimming pool; at others it means playing hide and seek amid the curtains and furnishings.
Animals prove the best diversion. Tortoises are sought out in every hotel, named and worshipped. One poor specimen, with a broken shell and rubber track mark across it, has a house-cum-shrine built around him.
On the Souss plain, we watch crazy goats climb into spiky argan trees to eat the leaves and the olive-like fruit. It’s odd to see half a dozen goats atop each tree, four legs splayed to avoid the long spikes protruding from the knobbled branches.
We ride donkeys at the oasis at Ifergane and camels at the beach at Sidi Kaouki. My ambivalence about camels started to turn into an aversion after one woman and her daughter were abruptly tipped off their mount as a result of a series of miscommunications.
Watching the morning catch arrive in at the port in the pretty town of Essaouira is more of a thrill for the adults than the children. No-one likes the massive, cheeky seagulls dive-bombing the baskets of fish.
All told, we think, rather smugly, we have had a richer experience of this country than if we had chosen a traditional package. We are not cosseted and although we meet lots of Moroccans proffering goods and services, we never feel hassled.
Our constantly changing accommodation seems authentic. This is fantastic when we spend two glorious nights at a simple hotel with a delightful pool in an orange grove at Ifergane. It’s less fantastic in the hotel which, though charming and characteristic, suffers from a major whiff of rather unexotic drains, if the wind is blowing the wrong way.
In Aourir, we stay in the best hotel, but outside it looks like a fairly down-at-heel town. On a stroll I see one man make a pathetic grab at another man’s shopping bag, containing fruit and veg. Without a word, the shopper hugs his bag closer and walks on. Totally distracted by the sights, sounds and smells of their Moroccan adventure, the children are oblivious.
- Deirdre Veldon was a guest of The Adventure Company, adventurecompany.co.uk. The seven-night "Kids in the Kasbah" holiday starts at €503 each, including minibus and camel rides, seven B&B in hotel and guesthouses plus guide. Flights not included. Call The Adventure Company on 0044 845 609 0889 or visit adventurecompany.co.uk.
Where to stay, eat and go
Where to stay
Riad l'Arganier d'Or. Ifergane, Taroudant,00-212-2855-0211/18, larganierdor-hotel.com. The jewel in the crown of this remote hotel near Taroudant is the swimming pool, which looks like heaven after a long day on the road. On our visit, trees in the orange grove, in which the hotel stands, were laden with fruit. The 11 rooms are simple, but decidedly comfortable.
Hotel Riad Al Zahia.
4, Rue Med Diouri, Essaouira, 00-212-5244-73581, riadzahia.com. Located
bang in the old city of Essaouira, this is not the fanciest place in town, but it’s built around a nice courtyard that helps air circulate. Breakfast is served on a pretty rooftop terrace.
Where to eat
Café Arabe. 184 rue el Mouassine, Marrakech,
00-212-2442-9728, cafearabe.com. This Italian-Moroccan cafe and restaurant draws locals and tourists in their droves.
Restaurant Aït Bougumez. Rue Bani Marine, Imm. Zoubair No 1, Lalla Radia, Marrakech, 00-212-5244-44755. Enjoy typical Berber dishes and enjoy the views from this gracious rooftop restaurant.
Chez Sam. Porte de Peche, Essaouira, 00-212-4447-6513. Watch the boats go by with your dinner on board in this legendary, but pricey restaurant right on the port. No prizes for guessing what’s good here.
Where to go
Get lost in the souks of Marrakech. Use your best haggling skills to buy leather goods like the trademark babouches (slippers), carpets (if you can fit one in your luggage), spices and dried fruits.
Go camel trekking. Remember, if you’re high up enough on a camel to get really great views, it’s a long way down.
Feel the sea breeze at Essaouira. Famed as a hippy hangout in the 1960s, this pretty blue and white town’s a delight once you get past the luxurious ribbon of tourist hotels on the seafront.
