Magical Marrakech

Although the mint tea was certainly refreshing, we were keen for a different kind of tee time at the resort's adjoining golf course, Golf Club Rotana Palmeraie designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in the early 1990s. This 27-hole layout is a good introduction to Moroccan golf and out on a spacious valley featuring generous fairways bordered by hundreds of palm trees and several lakes that come into play. Numerous sand hazards add the pearly whiteness of the Atlantic beaches to this lush scene, with the ochre walls and green tiles of the magnificent Moorish styled clubhouse forming a striking centerpiece to the whole design. Caddies are available for hire to add some local color and knowledge to your round.

In the late afternoon we visited the center of stunning and exotic Marrakech, founded more than 1,000 years ago with its distinctive ochre ramparts, Andalusia-inspired arches, souk marketplaces and distinctive skyline of mosques set against the majestic snow-capped High Atlas Mountains.

We got thoroughly lost in the souks of the medina, where labyrinthine passageways and lanes seethed with a human tide of endlessly streaming humanity. Covered bazaars were crammed with fruit and spice stalls and workshops of every kind, where artisans worked away fashioning slippers, weaving rugs, dyeing textiles and hammering metals.

In the heart of the city is the world famous Djemaa El-Fna, a town square named by UNESCO as part of Humanity’s Universal Heritage. This cultural and artistic crossroads is used not only as a meeting place for local people, but also for storytellers, acrobats, musicians, healers, fortune tellers, magic potion sellers and snake charmers. We grabbed a prime seat and a chilled drink at Le Grand Balcon overlooking the square and watched the drama unfold. It was frantic non-stop activity that overloaded our senses.

As the orange sun traveled across the sky and the minarets and palms gradually fell into silhouettes, chefs began to cart in the makings of hundreds of food stalls and before long the aroma of barbecued meats, kebabs, meatballs and harira (a thick soup of meats, garbanzos, tomatoes and lentils) filled the air. When the sun finally set, all the music in the medina ceased for one of the most evocative of travel sounds, the muezzin’s call to prayer. Soon, another muezzin in another mosque started up, then another and another until the entire city was filled with these evocative and fervent sounds.

In addition to street eats, Marrakech offers some wonderful fine-dining opportunities at palace restaurants most of which are converted riads (a traditional house or palace with an interior garden). Part of the charm of these places is that they are difficult to locate, and the Narwama restaurant is no exception hidden away down a narrow alleyway covered in Berber rugs, a short stroll from the medina. Situated in a glorious 19th century riad with 21st century Zen décor, the Narwama offers an award-winning combination of Moroccan and Thai cuisine and the best Moroccan mint mojito in town. After your meal relax in the rustic bar that has hookah pipes at each table.