We've just left our first Marrakech accommodation, the Riad Marrakech Rouge located in the old medina amidst souks. It may be a bit difficult to find at first, but if you may ever visit Marrakech you need to jot down the name of this hostel, it is one of the best I've stayed in and a perfect place to live while in Marrakech. The host, Ali, is an amazing person whose only flaw is making you want to stay in the hostel at all times instead of exploring the city.  Our first couple days here are finished and we're waiting now for a bus which was supposed to depart around midday but all of the coaches were booked until 7pm. While I'd like to get to Essaoueira, our next stop and on the coast  with considerably less heat, it's not bad to have a little spare time to read, write, and look at photos in a shaded cafe.  
     What is my first impression of Marrakech? It's an old city with cobbled streets and high stone walls that wind through a seemingly endless number of shops geared towards selling their wares to the droves of mostly european tourists who visit here. There are some very nice, locally and handmade things to be found, and at good prices, so if you like to haggle and love chaos this is the place for you. Besides these merchants, the main square has even more vendors, monkeys, cobras, donkeys, horses, the most delicious orange and grapefruit juice, a city of food carts that's built and disassembled every night, stray cats, taxis, and an unmarked highway for numerous cars, trucks, motorbikes, and bicycles. 

We've arrived in Marrakech, checked into a hostel in the old medina, and have been exploring the souks and cafés. Here are a few images from today. Check Lauren's blog for some pictures of the hostel, it's pretty incredible. 

Lauren has done more blogging so far, while I've been playing with my new gopro. I put together the video above to document our journey so far, from Denver to our first African destination, Casablanca. Take a look for six days condensed to five minutes and see what we've been up to so far...