Cairo to Casablanca to Marrakech to Madness

As it turns out, the African continent is much wider than one might easily believe. Weaving through the sky, one moment above the Mediterranean, the next over the dunes and barren rock outcroppings of the Sahara, the flight from Cairo to Casablanca takes every bit of six hours. Looking down from 32,000 feet on Libya and Algeria (my mind drifting to thoughts of closed borders and the “Even More Distant Adventure” of the future), I was overcome with thoughts of the value added to the journey by Egypt. Egypt is so much more than pyramids. Sure, the famous icons must be taken in (they are the last standing memory of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), but they are not the reason to travel to this fascinating place. Egypt is the birthplace of one of the world’s earliest civilizations, but it is the Egypt of today that makes for the most enriching exploration. It is the winding alley between Africa and the Middle East, it is desert and sea, it is a faded memory of lavish times, it is poor and crumbled and corrupt, it is smiles and heartache, it is sobering and intoxicating—it is a must hit for anyone with a sense of adventure, or even just a burgeoning desire to witness the unexpected.

We arrived in Morocco, the smell of sweat and butchered animals from Khalili market still clinging to our luggage, to a sparkling airport, French language directories, porters shining marble floors, and hallways of boutiques and patisseries—all antithetical to the developing world. We looked at each other with smiles that reflected disbelief, and hidden relief in the calm and order of the place. The air-conditioned, European-made train that transported us to Marrakech was clean and comfortable. We detrained to welcoming and honest faces, were given a fare price for the cab ride to our hotel, and were escorted down wide, open boulevards of swaying poplar trees and elegant fountains spurting in grand roundabouts. Our three-star booking for the night was brand new, boasting the cookie-cutter-meets-chic feel of somewhere like suburban Orange County. It was all too much to take. Our first impressions of Morocco were analogous to the feelings we had upon arrival in Kathmandu, but from the opposite end of the expectation spectrum. It wasn’t until the next day, when we ventured into the labyrinthine souqs (covered market streets) of the old medina, that we discovered the true face of Morocco—a face that would slowly reveal itself to us, one mysterious feature at a time.