Before our trip to Morocco, I read about the possibility of seeing the snake charmers in Jemaa El Fna, Marrakech’s main square. I know that it’s really just for the tourists at this point, but I still wanted to see it, and was prepared to pay a small amount to take a picture, since this is typical.

We got to the square in the afternoon of our first day, and approached the snake charmers. I was expecting to take a picture of the snake myself, and was surprised when one of the men asked for my phone to take a picture for me. I gave it to him, and he handed me a small, non-cobra snake (side note: I was not worried about him running off with my phone, since I read that even tourist scammers don’t like to make a scene that reflects poorly on Moroccans. And besides, he’d be leaving me his snakes, which I assume don’t come cheap).

Once he had my phone, he set up the shot: got the cobra in place, instructed me to squat behind the snake (at a reasonable distance), and asked the others to join me (which they were all more than willing to do, being totally unafraid of snakes – right?), and snapped 8 different photos.

The result was this:

Definitely the best two dollars I’ve ever spent on a photograph.

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