The Moroccan city of Essaouira has been gaining in popularity as a tourist destination in recent years. Despite the crowds, the seaside town is well worth a visit.
Essaouira’s Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its,18th century fortified walls and beautiful fishing harbour make it a great place for exploring and eating well.
For sports enthusiasts, Essaouira is a great place for windsurfing, as the waves are small and the wind is consistently strong.
Riad de l’Orangeraie in Marrakech is located in the Medina just steps away from the Djemaa el Fna square and the souk markets. Riad de l’Orangeraie has five guest rooms and two suites, all named after amazing spices. There are two patios and a plunge pool at the riad, and the decor and neutral colors make it a peaceful haven away from the clamor outside.
Room rates at the Riad de l’Orangeraie in Marrakech range from 130-160EUR/night, depending on the season.
With an abundance of low-cost airlines flying to Morocco, cheap flights to Morocco are now easy to find and book. Popular airlines for cheap flights to Morocco include the following:
easyJet – Cheap flights to Morocco on easyJet are easy to find from the UK and other destinations in Europe.
Atlas-blue – Cheap flights to Morocco on Atlas-Blue are easy to find from the UK, Madrid, Barcelona, and other destinations in Europe.
GB Airways – Cheap flights to Morocco on GB Airways are easy to find from the UK and other destinations in Europe.
Ryanair – Cheap flights to Morocco on Ryanair are easy to find from the UK and other destinations in Europe.
The following airlines have flights to Fes Saiss Airport (airport code FES):
Jet4You has flights to Marrakech from Paris (Orly)
Royal Air Maroc has flights to Marrakech from Casablanca, and Paris
Atlas Blue has flights to Marrakech from London (Gatwick and Marseille
Ryanair has flights to Marrakech from Brussels, Hahn, Girona, Marseille, and Milan
Transavia.com has flights to Marrakech from Paris (Orly)
A recently discovered complete 3 million year old skeleton of a young female of the “Australopithecus afarensis” named species (better known as ‘Lucy’ species) in Ethiopia has given scientist an incredible glimpse into early human ancestors….or has it?
Mummy….?
The problem I have is with the following statements taken from the complete report: “The shoulder blades resemble those of a gorilla rather than a modern human.” “The neck seems short and thick like a great ape’s, rather than the more slender version humans have to keep the head stable while running.” “The organ of balance in the inner ear is more ape-like than human.” “The fingers are very curved, which could indicate climbing ability…Curved fingers have been noted for afarensis before, but their significance is in dispute.” “A big question is what the foot bones will show when their sandstone casing is removed… Will there be a grasping big toe like the opposable thumb of a human hand? Such a chimp-like feature would argue for climbing ability…”
“The fossil revealed just the second hyoid bone to be recovered from any human ancestor. This tiny bone, which attaches to the tongue muscles, is very chimp-like in the new specimen…”
“While that doesn’t directly reveal anything about language, it does suggest that whatever sounds the creature made would appeal more to a chimpanzee mother than a human mother…” You can read the complete report here. So, this raises some questions. If it looks like an ape, smells like an ape, moves like an ape, sounds like an ape…wouldn’t that make it some sort of an ape…? Yet our greatest scientific minds say:
“”The remarkably complete… skeleton is a veritable mine of information about a crucial stage in human evolutionary history,” exulted Bernard Wood, an anthropologist at George Washington University in the US capital said in a review. The structure and placing of the bones confirms that A. afarensis probably only walked on two feet “rarely, if at all,” said Wood.”
Forgive my reason/logic for getting in the way here, but I still am confused about what links this creature to human ancestry…Am I missing something?
I further my argument with this. According to the Smithsonian Institute, the A. Afarensis species, such as this new find is being classified as, is:
“…a species that exhibits many cranial features which are reminiscent of our ape ancestry, such as a forward protruding (prognathic) face, a “U-shaped” palate (with the cheek teeth parallel in rows to each other similar to an ape) and not the parabolic shape of a modern human, and a small neurocranium (brain case) that averages only 430cc in size (not significantly larger than a modern chimpanzee).”
Again, forgive my ignorant logic and reason (distinctly human traits that evolved from…? ) from kicking in, but what type of proof is there that this was indeed our ancestor…?
Just curious…
Oh, and by the way, there is now some talk of the ancient ancestor as being “…considered to be a failed branch of the human tree, for many experts suspect the hominid was anatomically far closer to apes than humans.”
Hmm. How convenient, eh?
The actual footprint of an ape-man, showing the evolutionary process in action! Really. I swear it is….!
What is even more disturbing is they way our objective and truth seeking media report on such things, even claiming that “…arthritic backs and knees…” that us modern day humans experience points to an evolutionary process….ouch. Now that is good, logical, objective reporting at its finest.
I may be a man of little faith, which is probably why I lean towards Intelligent Design…it really does take LESS faith to believe ID than it does this evo stuff… Thanks National Geographic. Some well spent millions.