Morocco: Desert Tour

Sarah in purple; Remi in black

This is our last post for Morocco.  Maybe in a while we'll add photos of stuff we've done since then.  The snow has been good in the mountains, so we've had some good snowshoe trips. 


I will start this blog by saying two things: (i) this is our last Morocco blog!; (ii) if you have the opportunity when traveling to hire a guide DO IT.  We have now hired 3 guides while traveling - two in Indonesia - and each time we have the opportunity to explore the country-side and the people in a way that wouldn't otherwise be possible unless you lived there, I suppose.

Anyway, meet our driver: Mohammed.

We were introduced in Marrakech through one of Olivier's associates, Alain.  He's done this driving tour many, many times and other, shorter tours as well for some pretty high profile folks!  As was true of most Moroccans, we instantly liked him.  Good thing too!  We'd spend the next five days driving across Morocco!



On our way, we stopped at an Argan Oil cooperative.  This oil is all the rage in cosmetics right now and is also touted as a "superfood" of sorts.  Check out Wikipedia if interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argan_oil.  Moroccans have really hit upon a great industry here.  Argan trees grow very well in the Moroccan climate, but not so well elsewhere.  Mohammed told us they tried to plant the trees elsewhere (perhaps somewhere in South America...  I can't remember) but they wouldn't grow.  Extracting the oil is very labour intensive and involves roasting, removing the "almond" and grinding by hand - the cooperatives are run by women.

This is a small village built into the side of the mountains. Our guide, Mohammed, tells us the homes are carved into the mountains.  The village only recently got electricity, until then the tv's were powered with car batteries and any other type of power they could get their hands on. 

This village was called Taddert.  Mohammed told us that most of the men leave little villages like this to go and work in the cities while the women stay home to look after the children.  Many of these women are also industrious!  The women of this village make carpets (kilims) we were told.  

This is the high pass over the mountains.  It was rainy, grey, and snowy on one side, and dry and desert-like on the other.

We certainly weren't dressed for snow and quickly hopped back into the car to descend into the valley.










This was on the way up to the pass.  There were tons of these shops along the roads.  My best guess is that each guide has a favourite guy, and dumps his bus-load there to keep them in business.  They mostly sold pottery and fossils (some real, some fake).  How does that shop not slide off the side of the mountain?!

Camel (dromedaries, actually) tours are popular anywhere it's sandy.











Most kasbahs that we passed along the side of the road (and believe me, there were LOTS!) were not this well-preserved.  Hollywood has intervened to keep this one up to snuff so that it can be used in films.  This site is close to Ouarzazate (also known as "Ouallywood"), a town that has been able to cater itself to Hollywood.  This is great for the town as it is pretty boring otherwise!  We didn't visit the film studios, but passed them on the road - Remi caught a glimpse of the model of the Colosseum used in Gladiator on the way by. 

I liked this sign.  It says "No swimming".  To be fair, there was a reservoir just outside of the frame. 

I think this is the reservoir in question.  The water is salty though, and it's brackish in the taps, too.  So much for pumping water.

We also visited a town outside of Ouarzazate called Fint.  It's not in the Lonely Planet (off the grid!!!).  There Mohammed has a friend who performed a traditional Berber tea ceremony for us.  You have to jam your teapot full of sugar, add some mint leaves and then pour from really high up to cause bubbling in the tea.  I fell in love with mint tea in Morocco.  It was served to us OFTEN.  Any time we entered a carpet shop actually.  Part of bargaining is having mint tea and discussing business in a civilized manner.  In Fint, it was just to watch the ceremony and try some local dates and peanuts! 
Nice place.  Nothing but the wind.  Don't be fooled by our photos, it was pretty cold here.
 

 This is totally out of order.  That's the High Atlas.  I would move this but Blogger sucks.  A lot.  DO YOU HEAR ME GOOGLE?!

Back to Fint...
Looking down towards the oasis.

We visited only one site in Ouarzazate. I believe this picture is from inside Taourirt Kasbah - also preserved by Hollywood for filming.  Some of the rooms inside did look familiar from parts of Gladiator. 
You can get lost in these things, but that's part of the fun. 


The hotel we stayed in the night before advertised hot water, and Sarah was adamant she was going to get it.  I asked the clerk, who assured me it would come... Inshallah (God willing).
Funny story though, hot water comes from a wood fire in a country with few forests.  Take that environment!

Always writing in the journal.

The kasbahs of Skoura.  Apparently, per the previous king of Morocco, these are the nicest in the country.  Mohammed dropped us off and let us walk about for a while.

    

The "monkey paws".  Weird formations that bear little resemblance to a monkey's actual paws, but that were neat to see.  We had a nice lunch nearby next to the river.

Mohammed must have taken this for us.

 It was pretty here.

Our second night was in the Gorge du Dadès.  For some reason there are no picture of our view here, which is too bad.  Sarah's fondest memory of that night is the absolute lack of hot water, Inshallah or not.  Minor price to pay, if you want my opinion. This coming from the guy who described the water as "pre-chilled"...  As in they cooled it down before it reached our room.  Needless to say, I skipped showering.

Getting closer to the desert.  Mohammed insisted we stop to get a camel sign photo.  Obviously we should get this photo!!!

There is a system of wells and an underground aqueduct to move water around the desert.  This is one of the well heads.  There were bones strewn about!

Something you might not know about the desert: It's big and scary.  Seriously, I still don't understand how people live there.  I got used to it after a while, though I can't imagine how people live there.  And they do, too.  We saw lots of people walking along the road seemingly miles from anything, and definitely miles from any drinkable water.  I can't explain Remi's desert fear!  He spent days on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight!!  To me, that's way scarier.

We stopped in Erfoud for a late lunch of Pizza Berbère... Can't remember the term in Berber.  Mostly I included this photo because it shows Tim's knife.  He lost it a few years ago on a trip with us.  I found it last summer wedged between the seats of my car.  It's mine now.
P.S. The "pizza" was filled with meats and potatoes and the local spice mixture.  Moroccan food wasn't typically very hot, but they do make use of a zillion or so spices.  We ate in the palmeraie with Mohammed.  We also went to a spice shop in Erfoud, Mohammed wanted some herbal remedy for his wife ("Elle n'est pas belle... c'est une négresse", he tells me). The shop was neat, they let you smell the spices (read: they blast you in the face with everything they have, and convince you to snort some of it), then you get the privilege of bringing some home to Canada.  We got a couple of traditional mixes, plus some coffee spices, plus some of that stuff you snort when you have a cold.

The dunes at Erfoud.  Most of the desert did not look like this, but still, the dunes at Erfoud are something to behold.  It's all very fine sand as far as the eye can see, with few, if any plants.  These tables are at the hotel on the edge of the desert.  If you're so inclined you can enjoy champagne here and watch the dunes.  This hotel had a pool, which is an obscene waste of good water around here.

After some jokes with Mohammed ("Le coffre, je ne te dis pas où c'est, mais alors pour ouvrir il faut lever la queue") we rode out in the late afternoon and caught the sunset from the dunes, out of sight of civilization.

This is Sarah's camel, Grouchy.  He was burping at her here.

 A camel at camp.

A tent not far from the camp where we spent the night.  The camp is set up like tent condos.  Everyone has a private tent in the traditional-ish Berber style of rugs and heavy fabrics.

 The sunset.

Your fearless narrator, who was woefully unable to get a good photo of the dunes.  Most of these are Sarah's.

 Arriving at camp after dark.

Up for sunrise the next morning.  Then back to Erfoud.

Sarah coos whenever she sees some goats (the first time she saw a goat in France she said "gross", and was afraid of their cheese), so Mohammed stopped to let us take a closer look and talk to the nomads.  This young lady ran off and caught one for Sarah.

First of all, that France thing is not true.  But Remi reminds me of it every 5 minutes.  I love goat cheese.  Anyway...  GOATS ARE AWESOME.  I was just going to get a picture next to this girl and her little baby adorable goat of awesome, but Mohammed insisted that I hold the goat.  Who was I to refuse??  Actually...  must talk Remi into getting a goat...

The highlight of the trip, for Sarah.  I'd get one but I think it would eat our veggies, and everything else in the garden. (dang, he's on to me...)

This was a highlight though.  Riding camels is so passé...

After a drive along the edge of the desert to Zagora, we were back on camels (and sore thighs) for a second evening.  This desert was not as striking, but still impressive, once we left the confines of town.  The guides here were more "hands-on", and spent time entertaining us over tea, telling us stories of their families and other tourists. It was a nice advantage speaking French, and the minor efforts we had made at speaking Arabic paid off somewhat.  This desert was no where near as cool.  If you go to Morocco and can only see one, go to Erfoud (Merzouga).  You can ride camels from here and into big dunes, you're just looking at 5 days of travel, at least.  Bring the talcum powder!!

Mohammed raved about the tagines they serve at this roadside restaurant in the high Atlas.  Sadly, Sarah and I had eaten tagines twice a day for the previous four days and couldn't face another.  I tried to offer him one for lunch, but he settled on sharing kabobs with us.  The tagines were cooked on gas stove tops for 2-4 hours.  This one is served on a bed of onions. 

This is Tizi n Tinififft south of Ouarzazate.  Neat spot.

And I believe that's that.  If you want more stories you'll have to come visit us.  After this we had a few more days in Marrakesh, spent lots of time in the souks, then had to come back here.  Incidentally, I figure we went about a week before we saw the sun once we were home, and about a month before we had a full, proper, cloudless day.

It was a great trip.  I wish I was there now!  But I'll settle for the two or three seconds of sun glimpsed in this beautiful British Columbian winter...  Home sweet home!

Rémi & Sarah