Stories about people being ripped off while shopping in the souks! It happens...
How come we let it happen to us?
In this article, I'll be looking into how preparing for a fun souk experience.
Before you come to Morocco, and once you're here. MAKE SURE IT FEELS LIKE FUN!
SHOPPING IN MARRAKECH - a perspective on time
SCORPIOS MYKONOS - Shop the style in Marrakech
MARRAKECH EN VOGUE - Shopping the nomad style
5 AMAZING FEEL GOOD HOLIDAYS in Essaouira!
THE GREEN WALK through Marrakech
YOGA & ESSAOUIRA - an undeniable match
ART WORKSHOPS ON HOLIDAY
Do the words 'collage' and 'handpainted paper' take you back to long gone days of creative expression at school when you were about 10?
Well...I must say, they did to me. Until I entered
in Essaouira.
I was still high on colour from my visit to
when I got infused with more playful vibrancy!
Sanne Busk is from Denmark, but fell in love with Morocco, where she is living now. Busk is a full
-
time artist working in collage with hand painted paper. The colours of Sanne’s art are mixed together in stunning, playful and sunny collages that unveil her passion for her work.
Taking home a souvenir like this is like taking home a little piece of Moroccan sunshine and appetite for life.
Besides being a gifted artist and designer, Sanne offers
.
From 1 hour up till 2 to 4 days, depending on what it is you want to achieve. She will focus on helping you to discover your own creativity.
In a workshop, you learn how to make collage art with hand painted paper.
Collage is one of the easiest ways to get started in mixed-media art and really everyone can try it and have fun. It's an easy, fast, and very satisfying mode of artistic expression. There are no rules to play by and you might end up taking your own ray of sunshine home!
I know for sure I'm going to try it out!
?
REMAINS FROM A PRE-INDUSTRIAL PAST - Essaouira
"The ruins of the sugar factory "Souira Qedima" near Ida O Gourd and its hydraulic network of 'aqueducts' still stand as a testimony to this forgotten history that lasted only half a century, but whose consequences are up until today still affecting the ecosystem.
Moroccan sugar is the perfect illustration of pre-industrial capitalism. The abuse, of tyrants thirsty for power and wealth, to take advantage of the resources of a country, then withdraw when their exploitation ceased to be profitable to reproduce the same pattern, under other skies...
This is what Fernand Braudel points out in his book on the birth of capitalism in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
"This newcomer, sugar cane, is devastating to the old equilibrium and is all the more dangerous because it is supported by a powerful capitalism, which came in the sixteenth century from all horizons, from Italy, from France, Antwerp. We can not resist it ... "
article by Marlène Pauly
more articles
by Marlène
English down
A walk through the beautiful countryside to what's left of the best remaining pre-industrial sugar factory globally, left me full of wonder, with a bitter-sweet taste when I read the story of our guide Gilles Texier.
I could start to overwhelm you with historical backgrounds, figures, and details.
I could explain why it reminded me so much of the El Baadi palace in Marrakech, but I would only be able to share a glimpse of what you look at when you are there.
One can not even imagine how fertile this area really was before the devastating introduction of the sugar cane...
Sugar had (and still is) always been a Moroccan temptation.
"Sugar follows the Qur'an," says the saying.
It is true that as early as the 9th century there is a trace of cane cultivation in the regions of Fez and Tangier. Until the 16'th century, we find traces almost all over Morocco and mainly in the Souss.
Throughout this long period, it is a low-intensity crop of a quantity and quality that is rather poor and an export oriented towards "Sudan" and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, the arrival of the Saadian sultans in power will drastically change this situation.
The Saadiens from a very early stage, understand the economic value of the white gold for a new continent that opened its doors to them, Europe.
And so factories were built at the speed of light, and one of them was:
The Souira Qedima Sugar Factory.
This sugar factory and its hydraulic network were built, in all likelihood, between 1575 - 1578.
To establish such units, 4 conditions are necessary:
- wood in abundance
- water in abundance
- fertile lands easy to irrigate
and finally
- men, specialists, and workers
Mogador's sugar factory does not escape these requirements.
How this has changed the environment for ever and what an impact it had on human lives, I leave all this for you to discover when here. You can
if you want to make a tour with Gilles Texier, the man who traveled the world to do the research. Gilles also has been writing a study, together with André Bonnal and Edouard Pottier that gives one a good insight on the production of the sugar, the consequences and the disappearance only 50 years later...
Most parts of this text come from this essay.
BRUNCH BY THE POOL The Essaouira top 5
There are plenty of reasons to stay more than a day in Essaouira. There is much more to discover than the Medina, the harbour and the beach boulevard. Ask any one living here and they come up with a liiiist that could fill your month of holiday with ease.
But, how do we, the locals (or pretend to be locals) like to spend a day when we are off?
Walk: ARTISTIC SPOTS IN MOROCCO - Diabat
Vanaf de eerste
keer dat ik dit kleine artistieke heuvel dorpje zag van op afstand, fluisterde iets mijn naam. Diabat, tegen de flank met zicht op Essaouira.
Die aantrekking komt zeker niet van de plaatsen die verwijzen naar het bezoek, het verblijf of ... van rock ster Jimi Hendrix, maar als hij hier echt ooit gepasseerd is, verbleven heeft, of volgens de verhalen, inspiratie opdeed voor een song, dan werd hij wellicht verliefd op het dorp om dezelfde redenen als ik.
Bijna ongerepte architectuur. Prachtig vormenspel van de kleine kleurrijke huizen die aan elkaar vastklampen, aanleunen, allen met dak terrassen en uitzicht in alle richtingen. De straten die parallel lopen met de oceaan hebben allemaal een schitterend panorama over de baai van Essaouira. Tot op heden kan ik alleen maar raden hoe prachtig dit moet zijn bij valavond, wanneer de zon onder gaat en vervolgens de lichten in de medina en langs de boulevard een heerlijk schouwspel moeten geven vanop je dak. De achterkant van het dorp heeft een prachtig uitzicht over de rivier die je diep meeneemt in het Berberse landschap en verder tot in Hererta.
article by Marlène Pauly
more articles
by Marlène
English down
From the first time I saw it from a distance, something whispered my name in the little artistic village of Diabat. For sure it are NOT the places that refer to the visit , the stay or...of the all famous
. But if he truly did pass there then he must have loved it for exactly the same reasons as I do.
Almost unspoiled architecture. Beautiful silhouettes of small colourful houses that cling together, all with rooftop terraces and views in all directions. The streets that run parallel with the ocean all have stunning views on the bay of Essaouira. This far, I can only guess how stunning this must look in the evening with all the lights in the Medina and along the boulevard. The backside of the village has another stunning view over the river that takes you deep into the Berber countryside and all the way to Hererta.
And then, modernisation came.... Please, don't let this take over the heart and soul of this charming town...
Dogood: ADOPT A DONKEY - part 2
Net voordat we gisteren naar huis gingen na ons bezoek aan de Gco Refuge, stonden er twee ezeltjes die onlangs waren binnen gebracht. Ééntje met een zwaar vervormde hoef die zo scheef was gegroeid dat zijn poot de grond niet meer raakte.
Een ander zonder hoef, helemaal ingezwachteld en het bloed sijpelde erdoor...
De beide dieren stonden er rustig bij en lieten ons, een beetje argwanend, dichterbij komen.
Het leek alsof ze er steevast van overtuigd waren dat het allemaal een groter doel diende.
De spreuk van de nobele
kwam plots bij me naar boven.
' De wonde is de plaats waar het Licht in je binnendringt '
Als hier iemand het Licht binnenbrengt in deze prachtige schuilplaats voor gewonde en gehandicapte dieren dan zijn dit zonder enige twijfel Valérie en Gérard Adam. Beiden Belgen en al 10 jaar is de
hun passie en hun zorgenkindje.
Want meer bekendheid voor hun initiatief betekent niet meteen meer geld dat er binnenkomt, nee.. steeds vaker wordt er beroep op hen gedaan voor het herbergen van gewonde dieren, soms zelfs vanuit Casablanca.
Net als
in Marrakech zijn deze schuilplaatsen zeldzaam, en veel enthousiaste start-ups eindigen door gebrek aan doorzetting, financiële middelen of een combinatie van allerlei factoren.
Na 10 jaar is het voor refuge Gco echter tijd voor een jubileum! Ze zijn het waard en ook wij hopen hierin onze steun te mogen bijdragen.
- Het domein is ondertussen versterkt met lokale vrijwilligers.
- Er is een table d hôte concept voor kleine groepen, en...
- Helemaal te gek, zeker met kids, er zijn nu 2 prachtige gastenkamers beschikbaar om enkele dagen in de prachtige heuvels rond Essaouira te verblijven en met de dieren om te gaan.
Want behalve ezeltjes loopt er ook een grote groep katten en honden rond waarvan een groot aantal een poot mist, blind is of '
gewoon
' gedumpt.
We realiseren ons de problematiek van de situatie wat de ezeltjes betreft heel goed. Ezels zijn werkdieren, het is het dier waar het inkomen van het gezin vanaf hangt en dat inkomen is vaak gewoon niet genoeg om een veearts te raadplegen als er wat fout gaat.
Hoe kan jij helpen?
- Adopteer een dier - Betaal een maandelijks bedrag om mee de kosten van de voeding te dekken.
- Doneer - Een dierenartsen praktijk voor de wijde omgeving op poten zetten waar er gratis hulp kan geboden worden is de droom van Valérie en Gérard. Wat een geweldig begin van de volgende 10 jaar zou dit worden!
- Become a volunteer! The Refuge needs helping hands and is happy with people to help out on Saturdays. ( people from Essaouira and surroundings)
Just before returning home yesterday, after our visit to the Gco Refuge, we spotted two donkeys which were recently brought in.
One with a heavily distorted hoof that had grown so bad that his leg did not touch the ground anymore.
The other had no hoof left, with blood seeping through the bandage ...
The two animals stood quietly and while being a little suspicious in us coming closer,
it seemed like they were somehow convinced that it all served a greater purpose.
The quote of the noble
came suddenly to my mind.
"The wound is the place where the Light enters"
If anyone here brings in
the light in this wonderful shelter for injured and disabled animals then this clearly are Valérie and Gérard Adam.
Both Belgians and for 10 years the
is their passion and their subject of many concerns.
More awareness for their initiative does not necessarily mean more money coming in, no .. it's more a matter of increasingly being called upon to shelter injured animals, sometimes all the way from Casablanca.
Like
in Marrakech
, these
shelters are rare, and many enthusiastic startups end by
lack of
determination
, funds or a combination of factors.
After 10 years,
however, it is time
for an anniversary
for
refuge
Gco
!
They are worth
it and
we hope to be able to contribute
.
- The daily work at the domain is now supported bysome local volunteers.
- There is a 'Guest table'concept for small groups, and ...
- Totally cool, especially with kids, there are nowtwo beautiful guestrooms available giving you a chance to staya few daysin the beautifulhills around Essaouira enjoying the animals.
Besides donkeys there is also a large population of cats and dogs around of which a large number is missing a leg, is blind or 'just' dumped.
We do realize the problem of the situation regarding the donkeys very well. Donkeys are work animals. The income of the family depends upon them and that income is often simply not
sufficient
to consult a veterinarian if something goes wrong.
How can
you help?
- Adopt A Pet - Pay a monthly fee to support the cost of food.
- Donate - Build a New Veterinary Surgery that can offer free help is Valérie and Gérard's dream. WoW would this be a great start for the next 10 years!
- Become a volunteer! The Refuge needs helping hands and is happy with people to help out on Saturdays. (People from Essaouira and surroundings)
