Africa

Chefchaouen: The Blue City of Morocco by Aanarav Sareen

One of our favorite things as a family is to try and explore some of the smaller tourist destinations in popular countries. We had our fair share of Marrakech, Casablanca and Fes in Morocco - the big 3 cities for tourists.

We really wanted to go off the beaten path and learned about Chefchaouen from a few people.

Located against a stunning and scenic mountainous backdropped and blue in every direction that you can see – it ended up being one of our favorite stops during our trip to Morocco.

Since we made our decision fairly last minute to visit the city, we weren’t left with too many hotel options and ended up staying in a fairly cramped local hotel room that barely fit in 2 beds and our suitcases.

We also had to lug our bags up through steep stairs – which was exhausting without having to push around a toddler in a stroller.

After our first mountainous climb, we settled in to our room and shortly after started venturing out for dinner. We were in awe of the city and the people. Over the next 2 days, we enjoyed every single bite of every single meal. Given the peak travel time in May, we also had to hop into a lot of different smaller cafés to cool down with a bottle of water or an ice cream.

While we did enjoy our brief 48 hour stint in Chefchaouen, we likely couldn’t have spent any more time in the city as we somehow managed to walk the city more than twice in the two days we were there. Some people even visit the city as a day trip and if you’re a rapid walker, that may be a better option for a lot of first-time travelers.

Morocco on Film: Leica Minilux by Aanarav Sareen

Earlier this summer, we went to Morocco for the first time. And as a photographer, I had a bag full of cameras and lenses to capture the vivid colors of Moroccan cities and communities.

Despite having only a handful of publishable photos from my traditional digital cameras, I was determined to capture the essence of Morocco on film. Every snapshot taken with Leica Minilux is preserved forever in grainy images and vivid colors. Unfortunately, my camera did not make it through the entire trip and fell apart on our final day - but the film remained intact. Some of my favorite analog memories frozen in time: