Marrakesh – the Final Days

Back to Marrakesh for a couple of days to wind down and get some washing done before heading over to Spain.

Ann and I walked to the Le Jardin Secret (The Secret Garden). It was absolutely stinking hot day without much of a breeze. The walk was with it.

From the 16th Century the land on which theSecret Garden sits, was owned by numerous Sultans and dynasties before Moulay Mustapha, a great judge and friend of the king exhanged it with the manor of a Fez businessman, al-Hajj Muhammad Loukriss. He had been elected in 1908 as chamberlain of Sultan Moulay ‘Abd-al-Hafiz.

When, in 1912, the Sultan was exiled, al-Hajj Muhammad Loukrissi moved into this palace, where he lived until 1934, the year of his death. The property then ceased to be maintained properly, and soon fell into a state of disrepair. The idea of restoring the building complex and opening it to public took root in 2012, and Le Jardin Secret came into being eight years later.

There was a space that had an exhibition of quirky art.

The Cyber Parque Arsat Moulay Abdesalam, covers an area of ​​eight hectares. Its condition required major rehabilitation and renovation.The rehabilitation process took place in 2003 with the support of Maroc Telecom, and the arsa was transformed into an electronic garden, on the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa. The doors of the garden were reopened in 2005, and it has become a place for hiking and strolling, but also a space for activating and discovering modern information technologies. The garden has been equipped with multimedia stations and an exhibition hall for the Museum of Communications.

Ann and I were more interested in the shade provided to escape the heat for a while.

Then it was time for a relax before packing for an early start to the train station in the morning. I was heading to Tangiers via Casablanca to catch the ferry to Tarifa, Spain.

Actually it was pretty straight forward if you took your time. Find the right departure time, the the train number and the remaining number is the platform.

8:35, train service 608, platform1.

In Tangiers, I stayed in a basic little hotel only a 15 minute walk from the ferry terminal. Went for a wander down to the beach and found somewhere for dinner and breakfast the next morning.

Caught the midday ferry and arrived in Tarifa an hour later.

Spain, here I come….