In Morocco, visiting the Marrakesh souks with children is challenging. But if done right, it gives the kids an experience that sticks in the memory.
From Jemaa al-Fnaa to the souks
βAre you going to do haggling, Daddy?β
A visit to the souks of Marrakesh is stressful enough without this sort of pressure. Weβd already run the gauntlet of Jemaa el-Fnaa, the cityβs infamous main square. La shukrans were liberally dispensed to the would-be guides, men holding snakes and women threatening henna tattoos. Fresh fruit juices from the giant, colourful carts had been liberally guzzled. But now the girls wanted flamboyance, performance and theatre.
Quality control at the Marrakesh souks
In some respects, the souks of Marrakesh in Morocco are monstrously overrated. You very quickly realise that the same things reappear every few stalls. Those leather bags and beautifully-pattern ceramics are both far too cheap and far too ubiquitous to be genuinely hand-made and exclusive.
You may come out with some souvenirs that youβre happy with, but coming out with something of properly good quality? Well, thatβs highly questionable.
The crucial point, however, is that itβs not about what ends up in your bag at the end of the day. A visit to the Marrakesh souks is all about the blizzard of stimuli, getting merrily lost and immersing yourself in the game.
Haggling tactics in Marrakesh
Our mission was to get a couple of presents for Motherβs Day. I had briefed the girls on the basics beforehand in the hope theyβd play along. Never look too interested in a product. Prepare for everyone to sound insulted by the price proposed or offered. Walk away to coax out a lower offer. That sort of thing.
Weβd even set a code word for when they saw something they thought Mum really would want. We were prepared. But the Marrakesh souk experience with children was still utterly chaotic.
This is partly because the Marrakesh souks are chaotic, full stop. Motorbikes buzz through narrow lanes with scarcely a thought for anyone else using them. Stallholders fight for your attention and, sometimes, with each other. At one point a seven man brawl erupted next to us, and we never quite understood why.
Keeping children safe in the souks
At first, there was disappointment. The girls didnβt like walking away from purses and drinks coasters that, ultimately, werenβt quite right. They werenβt prepared for the haggling to result in no deal, even though I explained that learning the price one stallholder wonβt drop to is helpful for learning the real baseline price.
Then thereβs the herding. Keeping two kids who are ridiculously easily lured by shiny things together is a tricky task. The intensity of the souks is magnified considerably when you are trying to keep an eye on two mini shoppers sauntering off in different directions.
Playing along and perfume blocks
But after a while, we started to get in the swing of things. The girls realised that we donβt have to get everything from every stall, and they began to play along in the barter process. βLook at this little face,β I said at one point, accompanied by pitch perfect doe eyes. βAll she wants is a present for her mummy, surely you donβt want to disappoint her?β
It also became a learning experience. At one stall, the girls were entranced by all the spices. The stallholder invited us into the back to see more and smell them all individually. He also went through a series of perfumed blocks that can be rubbed on the skin or used as room fragrances. The wafts of jasmine, amber and musk were met with fierce debate over which is best.
I ended up overpaying for a couple of those perfume blocks, but I wasnβt really paying for the blocks. I was paying for the time and thought invested in guiding two girls through a magical world of smells.
Advice for visiting the Marrakesh souks with children
My top advice for anyone tackling the Marrakesh souks with children is to go for a short burst. Thereβs so much to take in that, if you push it for more than two hours, tired brains and tired legs are going to kick in. There comes a point where you accept whatever haul youβve accumulated, then try to find your way out of the maze. Then, itβs just a case of hoping the kids remember the perfume stalls and playing at haggling rather than the psychotic motorcyclists.
