Japanese garden
Stepping stones, moss and bonsai.
Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anass Sedrati — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anass Sedrati — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Exotic Gardens of Bouknadel are a botanical garden of about 4.5 hectares on the Salé-Kenitra road, near the Atlantic coast. Ponds, huts and suspended footbridges dot landscapes inspired by five continents; by the gardens' own count they hold over 600 plant and some 80 animal species. The French horticultural engineer Marcel François bought the bare plot in 1951, first growing aquatic plants for export, and after about ten years of work opened the gardens to the public in 1961. They later passed to the Moroccan state and were neglected for some two decades. The Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Princess Lalla Hasnaa, began restoring them in 2002; the Ministry of Culture listed them as natural heritage in 2003, and they reopened in September 2005. The Nature gardens evoke Congo, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, the Antilles, Polynesia, South Asia and the shrub savanna, with a green ravine and a maze of walls and thorny-shrub arches. The Culture gardens recreate Andalusian, Chinese and Japanese gardens; in the Japanese one, stepping stones cross clear water between mossy rocks and bonsai cypresses. There is also an aviary, a vivarium of snakes, lizards and tarantulas, and a museum in the founder's house. The gardens stand at kilometre 13 of national road 1, about 12 km by road from Rabat per their official site; come by car or taxi. The longest signposted circuit takes about an hour and a half. The Marinid Madrasa of Salé lies about 8 km south-west as the crow flies, and Rabat's Kasbah of the Udayas about 9.5 km.
Stepping stones, moss and bonsai.
Walls, thorny-shrub arches, one way out.
Photos of the gardens' creation.
Km 13, national road 1 (Salé-Kenitra road), Sidi Bouknadel
From 1 October to the end of March, 09:30 to 18:00 (ticket office until 17:30); from April to September, 09:00 to 19:00 (until 18:30). On Mondays they open at 10:00, and they close on Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, per the official site.
Yes: young visitors enjoy the labyrinth, the vivarium and the educational trail, opened in 2011 with panels in Arabic and French. Per the official site, children under 10 pay 12 MAD, under-5s enter free and a family ticket for two parents and two children costs 60 MAD.