Jamaa el Fna..Jemaa el Fna

Jamaa el Fna is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter. The origin of its name is unclear: Jemaa means "congregational mosque" in Arabic, probably referring to a destroyed Almoravid mosque
The famous town square of Marrakech, Jemaa l-Fna, owes little of its fame to its own beauty, but to the continuous day and night life. During most of the days, perfomers of every kind put up their shows, continuing until the food stalls start to move in.

From the Jemaa there are several entries to the fantastic suuqs, and for anyone who needs to relax for a while, there are plenty of cafés around the Jemaa, where the main attraction is looking at the ongoing activities.

Jemaa el-Fna owes most of its fame to the large number of spectacles going on all around all the time. Snake charmers, singers, story tellers, healers and fakirs attract a dominantly Moroccan audience.
The food stalls take over the
Jemaa as soon as the orange juice sellers have  packed up and gone home. The food is prepares from fresh on the spot, and you can choose between fish, meat or vegetable dishes. The concept is easy, you point at everything you desire, indicate the quantity and within few minutes it is there in front of you
The food is exquisite, tasteful and much appreciated by Moroccans and brave tourists. Never forget the good rule of eating in Morocco: eat where the Moroccans
I had read so much, heard so much, anticipated so much about this "magical" place. I dragged my poor mother to the famous square to be delighted, stimulated, and have a memorable experience. No acrobats, no snake charmers, no trained monkeys. OK, not that those would've necessarily left an impression alone but they would certainly added a little to the obnoxiously aggressive "restaurant" guys grabbing my arm, waving menus right in front of my face, yelling "Japan!" purely out of ignorance, or the pitiful older men swinging their pom poms around on their heads clanging finger symbols together hoping for a dirham, the endless wreckless motorcycles adding to the chaos, groups of "musicians" all playing seemingly similar music.....there was no magic. Maybe we were there on an off night. We did try 3 stalls for food: soup, tag ones, and orange juice. Juice won, soup second. It was stimulating, I'll give it that, but for all the wrong reasons. I'll stick to Fez or Merzouga. Thanks.

lioness binta of morocco

On February 24, 2011, lioness Binta (3) gave birth to two baby lions. "We are more than happy. The young mother is behaving perfectly", said zoo director Klaus-Michael Machens. In order not to disturb the inexperienced mother, the birthplace was only monitored by video camera. It quickly became clear that Binta was perfectly taking care of her two babies. She is feeding, licking and cleaning the little ones several times a day.
 
Yesterday, the now one week old lion babies - sister and brother - opened their eyes for the first time and made their first cautious attempts to crawl. Zoo guests, though, will have to wait another six to eight weeks before they can watch the babies in the Lion Canyon. Only when the little ones can walk safely and keep up with Binta, she will be leaving her secure birthplace behind the scenes and reunite with father Chalid (6) and the other lioness Naima (3).