Archive for February, 2012

Marrakech Spa, Les Bains De Marrakech, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Saturday, February 11th, 2012

Marrakech Spa, Hammam, Le Bains De Marrakech

A leading Marrakech Spa, Les Bains De Marrakech offers Marrakech travelers the optimum wellness experience. For expats living in Marrakech, Morocco or those traveling to the Imperial City on a Marrakech holiday, Le Bains is the place to go. Les Bains de Marrakech is an elegant spa, occupying  half of an old Riad in the southern Kasbah quarter of the Marrakech Medina. Les Bains de Marrakech is located in the Kasbah district, just five minutes from the Koutoubia mosque and Jemaa el Fna. Les Bains De Marrakech offers a full range of treatments, from water draining massage to shiatsu, plus gommage (loofah scrub) and body exfoliating cleaning in a traditional hammam. Combining the most ancient beauty rituals with modern techniques.

Les Bains de Marrakech offers Spa goers the opportunity to discover a world of fitness and well-being provided by competent professionals. Formulas using Argan Oil, Rose water and other secret ingredients combine different treatment sessions and massages, exfoliation, steam or ritual oriental that recharge energy.  For a full treatment at Les Bains De Marrakech, plan on spending approximately $70 for a 45-minute gommage plus an hourlong massage. In the world of upscale Spas, Les Bains De Marrakech offers a great deal for the price.

Marrakech Spa, Le Bains De Marrakech Relaxation Room

Unlike some other local hammams in Marrakech, Les Bains de Marrakesh is very Westernized and the staff guides the uninitiated through the process (steam, cold-water rinse, perhaps more steam, another rinse before the gommage; then a massage; and lots of time to cool down with a glass of mint tea). Reservations at Les Bains De Marrakech are a must and should be made as far in advance as possible with this popular Spa retreat center.

For more information about Les Bains De Marrakech or a Marrakech Tour 

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration in the USA at 1 (800) 787-8806 or in Morocco 1 (212)618-88-26-81 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

 

Morocco Just For Women Tour, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Henna Hands - Just for Women

Imagine the opportunity to Roam Like Royalty Through Morocco’s Imperial Cities and Sacred Spaces with fellow women travelers. Touring Morocco with women who you could connect with and share lifetime memorable experiences with is a stand-out opportunity. If this sounds like something appealing as a Morocco single woman traveler then Travel Exploration’s Morocco Just For Women Tour is the perfect 2012 travel program.

 

Bellydancing, Marrakech

Morocco Just For Women – Roam Like Royalty Through Morocco’s Imperial Cities was created for women by women to experience the wonders that Morocco offers. The Morocco Just For Women Tour will visit breathtaking architectural sites in Marrakech and Fes, majestic palaces in Rabat, glorious houses of worship and opulent gardens. Attending the Morocco Just For Women Tour offers on site visits to see traditional Moroccan crafts being made by local artisans and shopping in the dazzling array of Morocco’s marketplaces. On the Morocco Just For Women Tour, all women travelers will enjoy exquisite cuisine and elegant accommodations throughout this magical voyage.

Included in the Morocco Just For Women itinerary is a henna party and a ceramics workshop in Fes, an exotic cooking workshop in two Imperial Cities and a Hot Air Balloon ride over Marrakech’s Atlas Mountains. To top the itinerary the Morocco Just For Women program also includes Camel Trekking in the Palmeraie of Marrakech, Spa time, visits at women’s cooperatives, a wine tasting in Essaouira and more. The Morocco Just For Women Tour Group will rise and overnight at charming Riads & boutique hotels as they intimately discover the best of Morocco.

Fes Medina, Embroidery

Morocco is one of the ancient intersections of civilization. Boldly situated on the far northwestern corner of Africa, its expansive shoreline stretches from the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean. The cultural diversity of contemporary Morocco reflects its historic vantage point as a gateway to Europe and the world.  Morocco’s heritage offers visitors an encounter with an exotic society and its customs, an incomparable cuisine,  and a shopper’s paradise of magnificent markets.

Cooking Workshop, Morocco Just For Women Tour

Morocco Just For Women Tour Highlights:

  • Embroidery Lessons in Fes
  • Traditional Cooking Workshops Of Local Cuisine in Fes & Marrakech
  • Henna Party & Gastronomic Dinner in Fes
  • Spa indulgence in Marrakech
  • Hot Air Balloon over the High Atlas
  • Yves St. Laurent’s Majorelle Garden in Marrakech
  • Shopping at charming Moroccan boutiques and cooperatives
  • Bellydancing Lessons in Marrakech
  • Wine & Cheese Tasting in Essaouira
  • Pastry & Argan Cooperative Visits

For more information about a Morocco Just For Women Tour & Morocco Tours

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration in the USA at 1 (800) 787-8806 or in Morocco 1 (212)618-88-26-81 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Moroccan Seffa Medfouna Recipe, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Moroccan Seffa Dish

Seffa Medfouna is a famous Moroccan dish. When traveling to Morocco for a Cooking Vacation or to take a Moroccan Cooking Workshop Seffa Medfouna is one of the options that Moroccan travelers can learn to make.

Seffa Medfouna is made with crushed or fried almonds, cinnamon, raisins, fine vermicelli noodles and powdered sugar. Seffa Medfouna is typically served in Morocco before a meal. This light and tasty dish of Seffa Medfouna can also be made with beldi chicken, lamb or beef. When served with meat this traditional Moroccan dish can be used as a meal. Seffa Medfouna is made slightly different in each region of Morocco and its ingredients vary also by season.

Seffa Medfouna is a Moroccan favorite with some of the best found at Ines Guest House located in Tingerhir not far from the mouth of the Todra Gorge region of Southern Morocco.

Ingredients To Make Seffa Medfouna:
– 1 kg of fine vermicelli noodles
– 1/2 Moroccan cooking oil
– salt to taste
– water
– 150g of raisins
– 2 table spoons of butter
– 100g pouched, friend or crushed almonds
– powdered sugar
– cinnamon

How To Make Seffa Medfouna:

Step #1:  Boil 2 litres of water, with lemon juice, added into a large saucepan.

Step #2: Place fine vermicelli noodles into flat and large plate, with oil. Transfer them into a couscous steamer and cooking over moderate heat for approximately 20 minutes.

Step #3: Remove steamer and place the fine vermicelli noddles into a large place. Spray with 1 glass of salted water, mix well and run hands through to remove any knots that were created. For the second time, place the vermicelli noodles into a steamer. Repeat until the vermicelli noodles are completely cooked.

Step #4: Clean and rinse raisins. Add raisins to vermicelli prior to last steaming and cooking step.

Step #5: Place vermicelli into a flat large, round dish. Add two table spoons of butter, let it melt and mix.

Step 6: Scatter crushed or fried almonds, cinnamon and powered sugar on top of dish.

Moroccan Seffa Medfouna

Moroccan Seffa Medfouna is easy to make and can be learned at a cooking workshop on a  Moroccan Vacation or  at home on your own.

For more information about a Morocco Cooking Vacation or Making Seffa Medfouna

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration in the USA at 1 (800) 787-8806 or in Morocco 1 (212)618-88-26-81 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

 

Morocco Cooking Vacation, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

Cooking Workshop, La Maison Arabe Marrakech

When considering a Morocco Tour there are many options which will make for a unique travel experience. One way for Moroccan travelers to discover the real Morocco is through a Morocco Cooking Vacation. There are various types of Morocco Cooking vacations. Some are offered as culinary tours to Morocco with a focus on creating and making various traditional Moroccan recipes daily. A Taste of Morocco Tour offers the opportunity to discover Moroccan cuisine through cooking workshops in Marrakech, Fes and Essaouira. Morocco Just For Women on the other hand offers group lessons with other women who have come to Morocco specifically to explore the country’s culture through a womans’ eyes which includ cooking workshops.

Le Jardin Des La Medina, Cooking Workshop

When attending a Moroccan Cooking vacation the best place to start is to exploring the wide array of tour offerings and what they include. Some Morocco Cooking Vacations include more of a tasting opportunity for Moroccan cuisine. Other Morocco Cooking Vacations offer the opportunity to create a three-course meal along with recipe books.

Whether you want to come to Morocco on a Morocco Cooking Vacation or to explore Moroccan food you are guaranteed to discover the main cuisine traditions. Morocco’s main cuisine traditions are Moroccan Tajines, Moroccan Bastilla, Moroccan Couscous, Seffa Madfouna, Moroccan flat breads and Moroccan Salads.

Lahcen's Cooking Workshop, Fes

An example of a Moroccan cookery workshop that is experienced on a Morocco Cooking Vacation often includes a three-course meal.

Begin your day with a traditional Fasis cookery workshop learning the age old traditions of Fes. Fes is renowned for some of the best cuisine in Morocco and the world over. Chef Lahcen will pick you up at your Riad and take you through the souk’s spice market where you will buy fresh ingredients for your meal. In the beginning of the lesson, you will receive a booklet of 20 of the chef’s own Moroccan recipes that you will use during the lesson and then take home to try other dishes. Roll up your sleeves and put on your aprons for a few hours of hands-on cooking – Moroccan style! Feel free to take notes and pictures. Your lesson will be a three-course meal.

Morocco Cooking Workshop Menu -Learn One From Each Category: 

Entree

Briouates with Cheese, crispy triangles filled with fresh goat’s cheese
Harira, tomato-based Moroccan soup with chick peas and meat
Zaalouk, cooked eggplant and tomato salad, Carrots with Cumin Seeds, Cheese, and Coriander

Main Dishes

Couscous with seven vegetables, a semolina-based dish with meat or chicken and vegetables
Tagine with Prunes and Dates or with Apricots and almonds, made with chicken or meat
Djaj Mqalli, chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives
Pastilla (Bisteeya), a pastry-style dish with pigeon stuffing

Desserts

Served with spiced coffee or Moroccan Mint tea
Cream Pastilla, a light and crispy dessert with a cream filling
Kateef, a Moroccan pancake stuffed with cheese and almonds, topped with honey
Date Rolls, small cookies with a date paste filling

For more information about a Morocco Cooking Vacation – A Taste of Morocco

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration in the USA at 1 (800) 787-8806 or in Morocco 1 (212)618-88-26-81 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Exploring Morocco’s Sahara Desert, Your Morocco Travel Guide

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Merzouga Sahara Desert, Erg Chebbi Dunes

The Sahara Desert is a region worth exploring in Morocco. Morocco’s Sahara Desert is vast and  extensive comprising of four peak desert dunes referred to as Merzouga, Zagora, M’hamid and Erg Chegaga.  Each part of Morocco’s Sahara Desert offers travelers a unique experience. Merzouga is known for it’s vast and golden Erg Chebbi Dunes that are hundreds of meters high. The regions of Zagora and M’hamid are known for longer, rolling more rustic and earthy colored dunes. Their sister Sahara Desert, Erg Chegaga has a legend of being primarily for the die-hard Morocco adventure traveler who wants to say they made it to one of the last regions. Regardless of which dunes are visited on a Morocco Sahara Desert trip any traveler is guaranteed to be enchanted with the region they choose to visit.

With a limited amount of time available for a Morocco holiday, the best way to explore Morocco’s Sahara Desert region is to begin by starting in Ouarzazate. Ouarzazate is one of the leading provinces in Southern Morocco and a former French protectorate administrative center. Ouarzazate is also considered the door to the Sahara Desert and used as a starting point for all Sahara Desert trips and excursions.

To maximize a Sahara Desert regional experience a six day Morocco adventure is most advisable. Travelers can start their desert trip in Ouarzazate with a visit it’s famous Kasbahs. Ouarzazate is known for it’s UNESCO World Heritage site Ait Benhaddou Kasbah along with the Glaoui Kasbahs  called Kasbah Taourirt and Kasbah Tamadaght. Kasbah Tifoultilte is another Kasbah that is worth visiting for tea and a sneak inside at it’s magical interior.

Not to be missed when exploring Morocco’s Sahara Desert region of Ouarzazate is the Atlas Film Studios. The Atlas Film Studios is where David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia in the early 1960’s. Since then many famous directors have followed in his footsteps to exploit the magnificent scenery. International blockbusters shot here in recent years include: the French version of Cleopatra, Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, Scorsese’s Kundun, Gillies MacKannon’s Hideous Kinky, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Black Hawke Down, Oliver Stone’s Alexander The Great, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, and Penelope Cruz’s Sahara.

Camel Trek Sahara Desert

The finale of any Sahara Desert trip is a camel trek on the back of a dromedary into the either the Merzouga Erg Chebbi dunes or those located in Zagora, M’hamid or Erg Chegaga. Each region has several excellent bivouac camps both luxury and budget for an overnight stay. All those who visit the Sahara Desert are guaranteed a Tuareg guide or a Berber guide who will assist a Sahara journey across the silent, mystical dunes.

If time allows then a few other places not to be missed on a Sahara Desert exploration are the Rissani, Erfoud and the Berber Village of Ait Ouzzine. The Souk, the Madid Ksar and fresh bread called  Madfouna are three things not to miss doing in Rissani. For Erfoud, a pitstop to this capital of fossils is a must. For those who truly want to see the “real Morocco” then considering a bread baking lesson, henna time and lunch in the Berber  village of Ait Ouzzine with a Moroccan family is a must.

For more information about Morocco’s Sahara Desert region

Discover The Best of Morocco - Travel Exploration

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration in the USA at 1 (800) 787-8806 or in Morocco 1 (212)618-88-26-81 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.