Morocco
frankenstein
Registered Users Posts: 57 Big grins
For a long time now I've wanted to visit Morocco - it just sounded so exotic and mysterious, with visions of Casablanca and Marrakech, kasbahs and camels. So at the end of April I finally boarded a plane in Sydney with 22 hours in the air ahead of me.
I took over 2100 shots in the 2 weeks I was there - here are the highlights.
Our small group (2 other Aussies and 2 from New Zealand) set off from Casablanca, heading south along the Atlantic coast. First stop was the town of El Jadida...
This is the underground cistern built by the Portugese.
Travelling further south, we came to the lovely town of Essaouira. This was our first experience with the medinas (old town) found in the Moroccan towns - full of shops, crafts, and people going about their daily lives. Here are some images from the medinas across the country:
Marrakech is one of Morocco's four imperial cities, and to me had an elegant feel to it (mind you, it was still go-go-go and so vibrant).
This is the famous Djemma el Fna Square - it comes alive at evening with food sellers, snake charmers, story tellers, and every resident of the city!
The Palmerie is a massive corridor of palm trees that stretches for tens of kilometers out of the city.
Up and over the High Atlas Mountains heading east, we reach the westernmost fringe of the Sahara. Mounting our trusty steeds, err, camels, we headed into the dunes...
Do you know the feeling when you're somewhere, or seeing something, that you know is one of life's highlights? Well, this day was one of those for me. The desert is amazing, and gazing eastward, knowing that this sea of sand stretched across the entire continent to Egypt, was absolutely awe inspiring. As the sun was setting, the lengthening shadows across the dunes made gave the landscape a soft, dreamy feeling:
Moving northwards, we reached the city of Fes. It is described as one of the most complete medieval cities left in the world today, and up to 300,000 people live in its medinas:
Medina detail. Medieval maybe, but check out the number of satellite dishes!
The other incredible hightlight of the trip was visiting the tanneries in Fes:
This is a composite of about 6 separate images. A sight that hasn't changed in centuries - but oh dear, the smell!! Nothing like the tangy odour of animal flesh and hides in the morning!
My mum liked how he's removed his sandals before getting into the vat of dye!
Still heading northwards to the Mediterrean, we visited the ruins of the Roman town Volubilis, which marked the southern-most extent of the Roman Empire.
It was amazing to see the mosaics were still visible after all this time.
Next day we reached the town of Chefchaouen, remarkable for the blue painted walls of the medina...
In the capital city of Rabat I took this shot of a mounted guard ouside the Mohammed V Mausolem...
Inside the Mausoleum was stunning, as you'd expect. Mohammad V was the grandfather of the current King, and is the father of modern Morocco:
On a Saturday evening in Rabat, the setting sun gave the medina wall a lovely warm colour. There were just so many people around - shopping, chatting, playing...it was great just to sit and watch.
The trip ended in Casablanca, which (to me) didn't appear to have too much appeal...except for the magnificent Hassan II Mosque. This is the 3rd biggest mosque in the world and the only one in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter. Simply stunning inside and out:
The two weeks in Morocco were wonderful. The people were just so friendly, the cuture fascinating, scenery stunning, and the food endless!
Photographically it was a treat. I always tried to ask permission when taking shots of people, and most gave their permission. The only problem I encountered was that my 4 brand new 8GB CF cards all refused to fill to their supposed capacity, with my D300 giving a "corrupted card" error. luckily no images were lost, and I had a portable HD storage device that I was able to use for image storage.
These shots can only give a tiny taste of what I saw and experienced, but my memories will last forever. I can highly recommend a visit to this wonderful country.
(Morocco gallery: http://www.frankalvaro.net/gallery/8224421_urC93)
Frank
I took over 2100 shots in the 2 weeks I was there - here are the highlights.
Our small group (2 other Aussies and 2 from New Zealand) set off from Casablanca, heading south along the Atlantic coast. First stop was the town of El Jadida...
This is the underground cistern built by the Portugese.
Travelling further south, we came to the lovely town of Essaouira. This was our first experience with the medinas (old town) found in the Moroccan towns - full of shops, crafts, and people going about their daily lives. Here are some images from the medinas across the country:
Marrakech is one of Morocco's four imperial cities, and to me had an elegant feel to it (mind you, it was still go-go-go and so vibrant).
This is the famous Djemma el Fna Square - it comes alive at evening with food sellers, snake charmers, story tellers, and every resident of the city!
The Palmerie is a massive corridor of palm trees that stretches for tens of kilometers out of the city.
Up and over the High Atlas Mountains heading east, we reach the westernmost fringe of the Sahara. Mounting our trusty steeds, err, camels, we headed into the dunes...
Do you know the feeling when you're somewhere, or seeing something, that you know is one of life's highlights? Well, this day was one of those for me. The desert is amazing, and gazing eastward, knowing that this sea of sand stretched across the entire continent to Egypt, was absolutely awe inspiring. As the sun was setting, the lengthening shadows across the dunes made gave the landscape a soft, dreamy feeling:
Moving northwards, we reached the city of Fes. It is described as one of the most complete medieval cities left in the world today, and up to 300,000 people live in its medinas:
Medina detail. Medieval maybe, but check out the number of satellite dishes!
The other incredible hightlight of the trip was visiting the tanneries in Fes:
This is a composite of about 6 separate images. A sight that hasn't changed in centuries - but oh dear, the smell!! Nothing like the tangy odour of animal flesh and hides in the morning!
My mum liked how he's removed his sandals before getting into the vat of dye!
Still heading northwards to the Mediterrean, we visited the ruins of the Roman town Volubilis, which marked the southern-most extent of the Roman Empire.
It was amazing to see the mosaics were still visible after all this time.
Next day we reached the town of Chefchaouen, remarkable for the blue painted walls of the medina...
In the capital city of Rabat I took this shot of a mounted guard ouside the Mohammed V Mausolem...
Inside the Mausoleum was stunning, as you'd expect. Mohammad V was the grandfather of the current King, and is the father of modern Morocco:
On a Saturday evening in Rabat, the setting sun gave the medina wall a lovely warm colour. There were just so many people around - shopping, chatting, playing...it was great just to sit and watch.
The trip ended in Casablanca, which (to me) didn't appear to have too much appeal...except for the magnificent Hassan II Mosque. This is the 3rd biggest mosque in the world and the only one in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter. Simply stunning inside and out:
The two weeks in Morocco were wonderful. The people were just so friendly, the cuture fascinating, scenery stunning, and the food endless!
Photographically it was a treat. I always tried to ask permission when taking shots of people, and most gave their permission. The only problem I encountered was that my 4 brand new 8GB CF cards all refused to fill to their supposed capacity, with my D300 giving a "corrupted card" error. luckily no images were lost, and I had a portable HD storage device that I was able to use for image storage.
These shots can only give a tiny taste of what I saw and experienced, but my memories will last forever. I can highly recommend a visit to this wonderful country.
(Morocco gallery: http://www.frankalvaro.net/gallery/8224421_urC93)
Frank
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Your photos are wonderful! Thank you for sharing them.
Flash Frozen Photography, Inc.
http://flashfrozenphotography.com
Anyway, that's one of the adventures of travel photography, trying to figure out just *how* to get that shot! But I can understand how a bombing just might influence your attitude to a place!
Frank
Was this a small-group guided tour? If so, may I ask which company provided the package?
http://www.facebook.com/cdgImagery (concert photography)
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http://chrisdg.smugmug.com (everything else)
And the toilet tent about 100m away - FLUSHING TOILETS!!
Beautiful photos in your gallery.
Amazing journey thanks for sharing with us
My Gallery
Wonderful photos; thanks for sharing
I visitied marocco last winter but wished i could stay longer. Its only a 3 hour trip for me though so i;m sure to visit it (and the sahara!!) again some day.
thanks for taking me along!
I love those moments! Thanks for sharing these...incredible!
-Dan K
www.dank-photo.blogspot.com
I agree with Andy, your photos really take you there. Wonderful work.
www.adamstravelphotography.com
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My trip to Morocco was part of a tour in 1999 that also included Spain. I got into no mosques, there only being time for exterior photography of the Hassan II extravaganza. Casablanca's highlight for me was a hotel bar trying to replicate Rick's Place from the movie, complete with costumes. The resulting video scenes, with "As Time Goes By" for background music, at least captured the right mood.
Fez(Fes) and Marrakesh offer a great deal more than Casablanca. Every tourist must end up at the huge Fez tannery, which you captured as a composite still. Old Fez is a magnificent maze, impossible for cars, just like Venice. That leaves horses, donkeys and mules for transportation and commerce. I'm attaching a picture of how Coke adapts, still delivering its product the old fashioned way.
The famous circus square of Marrakesh, where you photographed the food vendors, is full of action and huge crowds of locals by dusk, which should have been perfect for video. But the sight of me with a camcorder often caused performers to immediately stop and demand that I give them money before the show continues. I placated the Berber acrobats, stars at this venue, and filmed their performance. It was much easier in the nearly empty square at earlier times of the day, when either nothing I did mattered, or a fee could be negotiated under less pressure. So I have snakes, tattoo artists, and a crazy dentist, all "off peak".
You may not have attended the Berber Extravaganza, a fantastic tourist show of music, dancing and horsemanship outside Marrakesh. The only problem there was my inability to both eat the feast and take pictures at the same time. Back in 1999, this was the entertainment highlight of my visit to Morocco.