I have always travelled and enjoyed the amazing cultures from around the World, in many ways that was my vision when starting MOOand BOOM, buying ethically sourced goods to then give back to the makers, either by funding or education. Showcasing the amazing artisans, we have globally and their fabulous skills, how they use the land, the resources at their finger tips to make amazing products.
A trip to Morocco was on our list and together with my Mum and brothers we ventured off for a pit stop tour over a weekend. The culture of Morocco is diverse with Arabic, Berber, and Jewish customs.
The Souks with the eclectic mix of colour and smells draws you in, the vibrancy of the natural dyes that they make their rugs with blew me away, the rugs are made in the Atlas Mountains by Berber women, the contact we made showed us the images of the women in their homes, the way they made the rugs, cleaned and aired the wool it was truly wonderful, luckily we bought a whole array of rugs that are handmade and 100% wool, ethically sourced and ready to furnish your homes back with us.
The ceramics are bright, the colours so vibrant they could sit together as a whole catalyst of beautifulness or solitary to showcase a simple piece for furniture, I love colour so mine are piled together so my eyes pop with excitement on deciding what to use first. The glassware is jewelled and so pretty, in Morocco they serve Moroccan Tea in glass (peppermint) but the glass is so versatile that tea lights can be placed in them and then a whole array of pretty coloured lighting can be seen.
What we loved about Morocco is the fact you can see the goods being made, not a factory full of undervalued employees but people so skilled and loving their creativity, the way they tanned the leather, the painting on the ceramics and the glass being blown, truly inspirational.
We did get a trek into the mountains to see the Monkey’s and a bumpy road trip to a wonderful natural waterfall, an oasis in the middle of such a dry country. It always amazes me how resilient cultures are to their situations and Morocco has without question shown that they can adapt and great the western world with their treasures so they can be enjoyed by all.
My top tips:
Have a guide to escort you around the Souks as you will see the behind scenes industrial artisans.
Haggle, however distressing this sounds it is their culture, so nobody has a fixed price, think what do I want to pay for that item and get them down by bartering – fun but exhausting by the end of the day!
Stay in a traditional Riad they have the most wonderful of behind the wall palaces and the culture is showcased beautifully.
If going on a trip make sure you research, timings, food etc
Never feed the monkeys or have your photograph taken by anyone on the main square.
Embrace it all.