Djemaa el-Fna is the central square of Marrakech's Medina - but the snake charmers mean there's a lot more to it than eating Moroccan tagines and admiring the architecture.
Marrakech’s glorious central square
All I wanted was a photo, but it’s rather hard to stroll through Marrakech’s glorious central square without being molested by snakes.
There are snake charmers everywhere in Djemaa el-Fna, all itching to grab as much tourist dollar as possible.
Step back from a Moroccan who’s waving a python at you with scarcely concealed menace, and you’re liable to bump into another wielding something more deadly.
Covered in snakes
Don’t make the mistake of giving in and nervously posing for the photo, though, as you’ll be absolutely covered in them.
One round the neck, one on the head, a few cobras round the feet that have just been woken up and antagonised with a tambourine... that sort of thing. And the cheeky buggers who’ve just commandeered your camera expect you to smile.
The problems, of course, start when the snakes are removed.
The charmers appear to believe that such a terrifying ordeal is worth hundreds of dirhams, and seem mighty put out when you just hand over a small note as ‘thanks’.
Getting to Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakech
Nearest International Airport: Marrakech Menara Airport is a short drive south-west of the city centre.
Using public transport: The main bus station is roughly a 20 minute walk north-east of Djemaa el-Fna. But that timing is rather dependent on not getting lost in the maze of souqs.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 August 2008
The Plymouth- Banjul Challenge – from England to the Gambia
Not got the money for the Paris to Dakar Rally? Well why not try the low budget alternative race between Plymouth in England and Banjul in the Gambia?
An alternative to the Paris to Dakar Rally
A novel take on the more established (and infinitely better-funded) Paris to Dakar Rally, the Plymouth - Banjul is about willpower overcoming rusty engineering. And the fact that it doesn’t even go to Dakar is irrelevant, despite also calling itself the Plymouth to Dakar rally in order to get attention.
Banger run through the Sahara Desert
The idea is that the route has to be covered, completely unsupported by back-up crews and the like, in a vehicle that costs under £100. Essentially is a great banger run over two continents, risking all manner of trauma in the harsh, isolated conditions of the Sahara Desert.
Just to make things a little more interesting, the organisers have no specialised arrangements with the governments of the countries that are raced through (unlike the Paris – Dakar).
Travelling as a tourist, not a sportsman
Everyone travels as a tourist, having to detail with little problems like Senegal not letting in cars older than five years old (unless customs officers escort them all the way to the Gambian border) and a Gambian ban on right-hand drive vehicles.
The challenge is almost as much about keeping sane with bribe-hungry officials as keeping sand out of the engine.
More details: Plymouth to Banjul Rally
An alternative to the Paris to Dakar Rally
A novel take on the more established (and infinitely better-funded) Paris to Dakar Rally, the Plymouth - Banjul is about willpower overcoming rusty engineering. And the fact that it doesn’t even go to Dakar is irrelevant, despite also calling itself the Plymouth to Dakar rally in order to get attention.
Banger run through the Sahara Desert
The idea is that the route has to be covered, completely unsupported by back-up crews and the like, in a vehicle that costs under £100. Essentially is a great banger run over two continents, risking all manner of trauma in the harsh, isolated conditions of the Sahara Desert.
Just to make things a little more interesting, the organisers have no specialised arrangements with the governments of the countries that are raced through (unlike the Paris – Dakar).
Travelling as a tourist, not a sportsman
Everyone travels as a tourist, having to detail with little problems like Senegal not letting in cars older than five years old (unless customs officers escort them all the way to the Gambian border) and a Gambian ban on right-hand drive vehicles.
The challenge is almost as much about keeping sane with bribe-hungry officials as keeping sand out of the engine.
More details: Plymouth to Banjul Rally
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
Félix Houphouët-Boigny is generally regarded as one of Africa’s more enlightened leaders, but he still found the time for a big splurge in his own honour.
The first president of the country formerly known as Ivory Coast, Houphouët-Boigny was born in Yamoussoukro, a tiny Côte d'Ivoire backwater of no significance whatsoever. Against all logic and reasoning, he decided to make it the country’s new capital city.
To make sure it was suitably regal, he started on a series of ambitious building projects, of which the Basilica was the most astonishing. Despite it not even being the city’s cathedral, it is recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest Christian place of worship on earth.
Bigger even than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Houphouët-Boigny’s pet project covers 30,000 square metres. Constructed almost entirely out of Italian marble and French stained glass, there is room for 18,000 worshippers in the nave.
A closer look inside this giant building will uncover a thirteenth apostle – the president, who died in 1993, commissioned a stained glass window depicting himself to go beside one of Jesus and his disciples.
The first president of the country formerly known as Ivory Coast, Houphouët-Boigny was born in Yamoussoukro, a tiny Côte d'Ivoire backwater of no significance whatsoever. Against all logic and reasoning, he decided to make it the country’s new capital city.
To make sure it was suitably regal, he started on a series of ambitious building projects, of which the Basilica was the most astonishing. Despite it not even being the city’s cathedral, it is recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest Christian place of worship on earth.
Bigger even than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Houphouët-Boigny’s pet project covers 30,000 square metres. Constructed almost entirely out of Italian marble and French stained glass, there is room for 18,000 worshippers in the nave.
A closer look inside this giant building will uncover a thirteenth apostle – the president, who died in 1993, commissioned a stained glass window depicting himself to go beside one of Jesus and his disciples.
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