One of my most memorable and enjoyable experiences during a recent trip to Morocco was a visit to ANIMA Garden, just outside of Marrakech. I was hopeful that my visit would be pleasant, and ANIMA did not disappoint.
There are a variety of gardens one can visit when in Marrakech, but ANIMA often is not even part of the recommended list as it lies outside of the core of the city, requiring some travel to get to. ANIMA is a pleasing combination of an imaginative garden and art gallery. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it before.
(Entry path into ANIMA garden)
ANIMA is the product of artist André Heller’s imagination. Mr. Heller is a multi-media artist who was born in Austria and splits his time between Vienna and Marrakech. He designed and I believe still owns the garden, set on a 3-hectare plot of land. The garden has been open to visitors since 2016.
(You pass through this Moorish doorway into the Garden)
ANIMA features a pleasing mixture of interesting plants, sculptures and other art installations. While the place is not huge, the winding paths will take a few hours to explore (if you stop, study and photograph, as I did) — its much quicker to just march through but what’s the point of that? The place is quiet, except for bird song, shaded from the hot sun in many places, and has lots of benches on which to sit and reflect on this pleasing blend of art and nature.
After you’ve completed your walk through the garden, stop at the Café Paul Bowles to rest your feet and enjoy a snack or meal. There’s seating on the roof, allowing nice views of the Atlas Mountains, or you can sit on the ground level and enjoy the shade as I did.
A photo from ANIMA (below) was used as last weekend’s One Clue Mystery. It was recognized by the incomparable George G — congratulations as always, George!
(One Clue Mystery photo, above, with a different perspective provided below)
If you visit:
ANIMA offers free round trip shuttle service from the core of Marrakech to its location, about a 27 km distance. For more information about the shuttle service, click on this link. Or you can self-drive or take a taxi.
The garden is open all year 9 am – 6 pm
Current Admission prices:
Adults: MAD 140
Children 12–16 years of age: MAD 60
Children 0–11 years of age: free
Local guests and residents: MAD 60,
This is a destination I highly recommend. I hope you enjoy the remainder of the photos of my visit (more or less posted in the order I saw things as I walked through the garden).
One of the botanical highlights of ANIMA is a lovely cactus garden…
Buddhist prayer flags on bamboo….
There is a nice cafe providing an overview of a portion of the garden, as well as a gift shop….
It wouldn’t be Morocco if there wasn’t at least one cat lazing around…
As you walk to the exit, you pass this huge sculpture, which I believe is a Berber symbol….
…and there are several interesting rock arrangements you pass as well.
