MOROCCO: GARDENS AND MORE Part I, Guest Post by Susan Kean

In the Medina of Chefchaouen, Morocco.

My friend Susan Kean recently returned from a trip to Morocco which focused on the variety of Moroccan gardens. I thank her for sharing her wonderful photos and descriptions. I have never been to Morocco, but I am fascinated by how each person experiences the country in their own way.

Inside Le Jardin Secret

Our trip to Morocco with the Mediterranean Garden Society started in Marrakech. Our accommodation was in the Medina (old Town) and there is no access by car or bus. Lots of walking!The tour started with a reception for the whole group of about 60 of us at Le Jardin Secret. Lots of French spoken here since the French were over Morocco from 1912 to 1956.

This garden was made of lots of formal rectangles of familiar plants such as Rosemary, box, roses. Lots of cactus too.

Next two days we visited a whole variety of Moroccan Gardens and the Water Museum. 

Mohammed V1 Museum of Water Civilization opened in 2017
Covers everything about water including describing court that decides how the precious water resources should be distributed.

Moroccans believe that water is a gift from God. Like us, they are challenged by drought, so everything is about access to water. Though water plays a big part in Marrakech, gardens there have their own wells. 

Our guide pointed out how the cacti are all pointing to the sun.

Looked almost artificial! The only cactus in flower in the whole garden.

Resident camel.

Next garden was called the Anima garden. After that was the Cactus farm. Even though cactus are not native to North Africa. They are everywhere.

This was the Berber museum within the YSL garden. Berbers were the original Moroccan people.

The third day we visited the beautiful Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Gardens

View of the old town ( Medina)of Fez.

The next stage of our Moroccan trip was heading North toward Tangier stopping for two nights in Fez and a trip to Chefchaouen.

Outside the Royal Palace.

Fez is very multicultural, combining Moorish, Jewish, Berber, and Arab cultures.

Our bedroom window in Fez.

We stayed in another hotel on the edge of the Medina so the buses could get quite close.

Tanning leather. I did buy a purse!

We had a tour visiting the outside of one of the Royal Palaces, a pottery making factory, a tannery, a former school and a public garden.

Chefchaouen. Everywhere is painted blue.

Chefchaouen was an a really pretty city in the mountains. Culture includes Berbers, Muslims, and Jews from Spain. A lot of Spanish influence in the architecture.

Part II, a visit to Tangier, will post next week.

Check out these other posts for more about Morocco at The Intrepid Tourist:

Marrakech, Fes and Rabat, By Kathryn Mohrmn  

16 Days in Morocco Part 1, By Tom and Susan Weisner  

16  Days in Morocco, Part 2, By Tom and Susan Weisner 

CLOSE-UP WITH DINOSAURS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, Los Angeles, CA

Triceratops skeleton. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

On a recent visit to the Dinosaur Hall at the NaturalHistory Museum of Los Angeles County, I became reacquainted with many of my favorite dinosaurs—T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops—and met many new ones, including California’s State dinosaur, Augustynolophus. This was my first time at the museum since the pandemic and my first visit to the recently expanded Dinosaur Hall--filled on a Saturday morning with many enthusiastic children and their families.

In September 2017, Augustynolophus morrisi (Auggie's scientific name), was declared the official state dinosaur of California, the only place its fossil bones have been found.Like all species of hadrosaur, Auggie was a plant eater. Hadrosaurs were one of the few known species of dinosaur that chewed their food.

Stegosaurus.The large plates along the spine of Stegosaurus were most likely used for display, but also may have helped the dinosaur control its body temperature.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. In their all-new, 14,000-square-foot Dinosaur Hall are displayed more than 300 fossils and twenty complete dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures.

T-Rex skull. The long sharp teeth are like giant steak knives, perfect for a meat-eater like T-Rex.

Here are just a few examples of the variety and breadth of the exhibits in the new Dinosaur Hall. 

The peg-like teeth in the skull of this plant-eating dinosaur could be used like rake to pull leaves off a branch.

Comparison of fossil bones from different age animals provide clues to the growth of the dinosaur.

A magnifying glass provides a close-up look at the impressions of scales in this fossil dinosaur skin. Many dinosaurs had scaly skin. The size and pattern of scales was different for each kind of dinosaur.

 

 

 

 

 

Museum visitors can feel the smooth surface of these fossilized dinosaur eggs.

Imprints of feathers can be seen at the end of this dinosaur's tail and arms. Feathers may have helped dinosaurs to keep warm, or to attract mates, or perhaps the feathers acted as camouflage to help the dinosaurs hide from danger.

Skeletons of modern day birds are a reminder that birds and dinosaurs share a common ancestor.

Follow the dinosaur footprints to discover more about dinosaurs. Did you know that dinosaurs walked on their toes, just as birds do today?