Our go-to spots in and around Marrakech!

Marrakech has been an incredible home base the past few weeks, stretching us in new ways and showing us a much more unique adventure than Ecuador ever could. We’ll surely be back to Morocco in the future! 

Our favorite things to do around Marrakech:

Cooking class

This was one of the most authentic activities we’ve done in Marrakech. We found a cooking class through Airbnb Experiences hosted by Najlae, a local woman who was about our age. She taught the class in her family’s home in a quiet neighborhood about 25 minutes from our Riad. We turned out to be her only students which gave us lots of time to talk. 

Hosting this class on Airbnb has given her the ability to start her own business and contribute to her family in a way that makes her really happy. She’s able to set her own schedule, share her home and culture with people from around the world, and has even taught herself English over the last 6 months of teaching daily cooking classes. 

We feasted on a chicken tajine with preserved lemon, mint tea, and a variety of Moroccan salads. One of the highlights of the class was taking a break just before the food was ready to walk to the local bakery.  Najlae told us that each neighborhood has an ancient oven which is used to produce fresh, traditional Moroccan bread all day long. The bakery is typically just around the corner from the local hammam because the heat from the oven creates the sauna as well.     

Yves Saint Laurent Museum (plus Jardin Majorelle)

A short walk outside the north end of the Medina, is the somewhat newly established museum honoring and showcasing the life’s work of the famed fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent. We enjoyed being able to see a chronological depiction of his evolution as a designer all under one roof. As a bonus, there’s an expansive botanical garden next door called Jardin Majorelle for which we also bought a ticket –super cool way to spend a morning, bouncing back and forth between these two hot spots. Hint: go early before it gets hot outside and beat the big crowds inside!

Moroccan hammam experience

Customary here in Morocco are the hammams (ancient baths). The hammams involve a massage with a sand-papery mitten meant to exfoliate the skin. Don’t worry, they gave us funny disposable underwear to put on beforehand and the whole experience was enjoyable despite the nudity and intense scrub.

Sorry, no photos! (haha)

Day trip to Ait Ben Haddou

Located roughly three hours from Marrakech, this iconic hillside town boasts famous scenes from Gladiator and Game of Thrones. Almost 4 hours each way from Marrakech, this was an aggressive day trip. The town was the perfect example of a tourist attraction where it’s nearly impossible to tell what’s real. 

For example, our guide in Ait Ben Haddou claimed to still live in the famous city, but when he showed us his home, he immediately led us to his dining room with tons of rugs sewn by his mother that were all shockingly for sale. Was it his dining room or a rug shop? Did his mom live there or across the river in the new city where it seemed everyone actually lived? 

In his defense, he played an Unsullied soldier in Game of Thrones, so we were fairly starstruck and happily went along with his story. While we’d love to know the truth about the guide’s life, we didn’t question him in the moment because that might’ve come off the wrong way.

Along the way, we stopped at some very scenic overlooks and the famous Kasbah Telouet. A kasbah is a wealthy, powerful person’s home, similar to a palace, but smaller. We are still fascinated by the story of Thami El Glaoui who ruled in this Kasbah. El Glaoui had hundreds of slaves, five wives, eighty-five concubines, and hosted parties for the likes of Winston Churchill up until his ousting and death 1953. Because El Glaoui opposed King Muhammad V of Morocco, his Kasbah has not been well preserved or protected by today’s monarchy.

Oasis Festival 2019

We bought tickets a few months ago when we realized this music festival would be happening during our time in Marrakech and Elizabeth’s birthday weekend! Located at a hotel resort 20 minutes outside Marrakech, the festival was decked in Instagrammable decor (as expected) with the centerpiece being a large pool accompanied by floaties galore. Moroccan rugs, lamps and fashion scattered everywhere!

The music component of Oasis included four stages and the genre was almost entirely electronic with DJ sets going as late as 5AM. We bounced before midnight the two nights we attended, and actually skipped night three altogether because we’d just had enough. Definitely wasn’t our preferred flavor of music, but we’re not upset we tried it either.

Unfortunately, we didn’t end up with many high-quality still photos. Check out @theoasisfest on Instagram to get a good glimpse of the vibe.

Bahia Palace

One of the royal family’s many palaces, the Palais Bahia sits on a massive plot of land surrounded by gardens. It’s adjacent to the Jewish Quarter of Marrakech in the southern portion of the old Medina. After a couple failed attempts due to closure, we (successfully) visited Bahia on a busy afternoon and opted for a self-guided tour. It took more than an hour to walk around the place, and you’d be hard-pressed to find something as picturesque. The original tile flooring and ornate woodwork was fun to take in. Here are some of our favorite shots of the palace:

Le Jardin Secret

This not-so-secret garden is tucked into the middle of the Medina. It seemed like there was a major renovation done sometime in the last few years, but we didn’t get too caught up in the details. The photos were what we were after!

The final roundup of our favorite restaurants in Marrakech:

Nomad – modern Moroccan cuisine w/ a nice rooftop terrace

Reem Shawarma – extremely cheap and delicious shawarma food (went 3x!)

Cafe Des Epices – quick lunch spot; go for the kefta sandwich!

Katsura – both Japanese and Thai cuisine; we ordered red curry chicken + tom yum soup

Exotic Bali – only open weekends and via reservation, this is traditional Balinese food

Le Jardin – quaint “garden” vibe w/ especially tasty meat skewers

Comptoir Darna – only recommending for the belly dancing experience; it was expensive and the food was just ok

Cafe du Poste – famous French spot with oysters and other fancy dishes

Limoni – not the best Italian restaurant ever, but it did the trick when we were craving some pasta

Shtatto –  thanks to the fast wifi, this post was written on this cafe’s comfy terrace

That’s a wrap on our Marrakech adventure–onward to Spain tomorrow afternoon!

P.S. We sincerely appreciate you for reading and following along. You can comment on this post below or send us a personal note at hello@thedailywax.com.

If we only had a week in Ecuador...

We think we will return to the real world one day, at which point we probably won’t be able to spend a full month in Ecuador. For the sake of planning our return trip – and lending a hand to any of you who might want to go yourselves – we each broke down our favorites into two very different, but equally thrilling, 1-week vacations!

So, with no further ado…

Option #1:

Elizabeth’s “See-It-All-But-Remember-You’re-on-Vacation” Itinerary

Day 0, Friday

Depending on flights, this might require a half-day off work. From Atlanta, the flight is only about 5 hours and leaves at dinner time with arrival in Quito close to midnight. Heads up, this can be confusing with hotel bookings, since you will need a place to sleep the night of arrival (i.e. if your flight ends at 12:01 a.m. on the 28th, you need a room on the 27th)!

Day 1, Saturday

In the late morning, take a walking tour of Quito’s historic center and its 7 cathedrals, then have lunch nearby at Hasta La Vuelta, Senor. The restaurant is located on the 3rd floor of a building on the Plaza Grande. I loved the empanada de viento (massive cheese empanada) and shrimp ceviche. In the afternoon, take the Teleferico to the top for incredible views of the city and the surrounding volcanoes! If you are struggling with the high altitude (i.e. headache, lethargy), skip this, take a nap, avoid alcohol, and chug water! There is a lot to see in Quito, but it’s okay to rest on vacation! I would finish up the day with a local craft beer at Bandido Brewing, followed by dinner at Somos Restaurant. 

Day 2, Sunday

Hop on an early morning flight to the Galapagos. We documented how much there is to see in the rest of Ecuador, but I can’t imagine going back and not spending time exploring more of these pristine islands. I’d go straight to the port near the airport for a 4-day, 3-night cruise. 

Days 3 & 4, Monday & Tuesday 

Cruising

The cruise lengths can be deceiving, based on our experience. Sunday would be Day 1 and Day 4 would involve an early morning drop off at the airport on Wednesday, so the 4-day cruise is really only ~2.5 days of exploring. 

Day 5, Wednesday

Finish up the cruise early in the morning and spend a day and night in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island.  The day I shopped and wandered around this quaint-yet-bustling port town (while Mike was scuba diving) was one of my favorite days in Ecuador.

Days 6 & 7, Thursday & Friday

Thursday morning, head to the airport for a connecting flight to Cuenca. Take a few days to enjoy everything we described in our Cuenca post!  This would be the time for hiking in the nearby national park, reading by the river and napping.  

Day 8, Saturday 

Travel day! Flights back to the USA leave at night, so we had fun spending most of the last day in Cuenca.  With arrival very early on Sunday morning, the last day of vacation can be dedicated to resting at home and getting ready for whatever the real world involves on Monday morning.  

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Option #2:

Mike’s “Ultimate Week-Long Ecuadorian Adventure, Minus the Galápagos”

Disclaimer: While Elizabeth made sure to jam the Galápagos into her itinerary above, I’m of the opinion that is a completely separate trip. To do it right, I’d recommend budgeting a full week there alone, at least!

Day 0, Friday

Wake up and chug a bottle of water, first thing. Take a half day off work, and head to the airport. Chug more water. Arrive to your hotel or Airbnb in Quito by midnight, chug another glass of water, and get a good night’s sleep.

Day 1, Saturday

Wake up early (~7am), chug more water, grab coffee, hop in a rental car, and drive 2 hours north to a town called Otovalo. Start at the weekly livestock market (only on Saturdays) just outside of town for a little shock factor and then head into the indigenous village to shop around the lively artisanal market. Here, you’ll be able to find all your souvenirs for the week at half the price (the Otovalo market is where most store owners in Ecuador come to get their goods!). Have a quick lunch in town and stop by the Cascada de Peguche (waterfall) on your way back to Quito. 

Rest for a bit, then finish the day with a night tour of the historic district (shoutout to Airbnb Experiences) and a late dinner at Somos Restaurant, our favorite high-end Ecuadorian/American fusion spot.

Day 2, Sunday

Sleep in. Now that you have your bearings a bit from the tour, spend the morning strolling around the empty streets of Quito while everyone is at Mass. Better yet, rent a bike and join the locals for Ciclopaseo, which runs from 8am-2pm in many parts of Quito. Refuel over lunch at Llama Love, a hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurant with delicious tacos.

In the afternoon, be sure to hop down to La Ronda, the historic pedestrian street flooded with authentic shops, cafes and restaurants. Trek over to Bandido Brewery, our favorite spot to grab cerveza on draft and order the nachos if you’re still hungry. As this will be your last evening in Quito, I’d recommend bouncing around the city as much as possible before grabbing an early sushi dinner at Shibumi (we went 2x and ordered the chef’s selection both times… unreal!).

Day 3, Monday

Wake up at the crack of dawn and visit El Teleferico, a big gondola that takes you high into the mountains above Quito. It opens at 8am, so try to arrive around then to maximize your day. At the top, you’ll have panoramic views of Quito and be able to see multiple volcanoes on the horizon (including Cotopaxi, which you’ll be visiting in a couple days!). Afterwards, head back to your place, load up your rental car (SUV!) and drive 3 hrs south to Quilotoa. 

There, you’ll be visiting the extremely photogenic crater lake (photos). When you get there, park in town, walk up a small hill to the crater rim, and prepare to have your breath taken away. 

Then, take your time walking all the way down to the crater lake, where you can rent canoes. Be sure to take a bunch of photos before the somewhat exhausting hike back up to the top of the crater rim! You can also pay to ride a tiny smelly donkey back to the top (but I wouldn’t…). Spend the night at the nearby Hacienda La Cienega, a 400+ year old estate that has been converted into a boutique hotel. Have some wine and eat at the hotel restaurant, then chug more water and hop in bed! 

Day 4, Tuesday

Again, wake up early and drive to the base of Cotopaxi for a bike tour. Meet your guides (we used the Biking Dutchman; they provided everything, including lunch), and they’ll take you up the mountain for a few-hour-long ride. 

Pro tip: bring a GoPro as you’ll get some cool timelapse footage of the ride. Once you finish up (~2pm), start your scenic drive about 3 hours farther south to Baños, which is known as the adventure capital of Ecuador. It’s a little pricey, but if you can swing it, stay a night at the Samari Spa Resort. Get a cheap massage in the spa, chill by the indoor pool and have dinner served on a hot volcanic rock. Sleep easy.

Day 5, Wednesday

Wake up early and start the guided adventure tour of your choice. Options include: canyoning, rafting, ATV riding, horseback riding, etc. Have lunch at Leoni Pizza in town (use the passion fruit hot sauce!), followed by some gourmet hot chocolate or a milkshake (my preference) at Aromi Cafe, the chocolatier across the street. 

On your way out of town, I’d pick one of the following to check out: either El Pailon del Diablo, one of the largest waterfalls in Ecuador, or, Casa del Arbol, a massive swing high above the mountains (do it for the ‘gram!). Hop back in your car and ride 2.5 hours to Tena, a town known as the gateway to the Amazon. Arrange for a canoe transfer to take you up river to the Itamandi Eco Lodge. Hopefully you’ll have arrived in time for dinner and the guided night walk full of wildlife.

Days 6 & 7, Thursday & Friday

Once you get to Itamandi, you’re kind of at the mercy of their schedule, which consists of daily guided tours around the jungle. For the next couple of days, immerse yourself in the local indigenous culture, take photos of exotic wildlife, and enjoy your time off the grid in the Amazon rainforest. For me, this visit to Itamandi was probably my favorite part of Ecuador as its awesomeness was much less expected than that of the Galápagos Islands. 

Day 8, Saturday

Now it’s time to head home. Leave Itamandi after breakfast, and drive the 3.5 hours back to the Quito airport (to be safe, budget 5 hours for the drive as the roads are dicey at best; see this post for all the details). Hop on the plane and get back Stateside early Sunday morning!