7 September 2014
After returning by camel
from my night spent in a desert camp, it was off to shower and
change. What would have been bliss at that point would have been time
to simply gaze at the dunes, contemplating the magic of my overnight
adventure. Alas! Not to be. We were off again, in this land of
contrasts.
 |
| No time to lie down and contemplate the desert outside the door |
Retracing our route through
Merzouga and Rissani, first stop was on the outskirts of Erfoud. In
“age of the earth” terms, we were not so far from the sea so it
shouldn’t have been surprising to learn we were in an area that
abounds in sea creature fossils. Our stop was to visit a factory that
processed these fossils – individual ones and great slabs of them.
Anything from small plates
to large table tops, large and small containers, you name it – you
could get it in fossilized stone. Two of the kasbahs I stayed in had
fossil hand basins, one the size of the one in the photo here, the
other twice the size. I wouldn’t have minded buying a small
souvenir but everything I liked failed the “How heavy is it? Will
it break?” test. I still had some baggage restrictions to worry
about!
Back on the road again, we
were tracking the path of Ziz River. We stopped for lunch at a rather
grand establishment overlooking the Ziz Gorge at Taddamoute. You
don’t see any water of course. All you see is the date palm groves.
Yet more stunning views of
Morocco, from the terrace at lunchtime.
 |
| Ziz River Valley |
Following lunch, it was time
for serious driving, climbing the High Atlas into the Middle Atlas
Mountains, through to Ifrane, a city that seemed plain wrong, such
was the contrast with what we had just left behind!
More rain, but ever so brief
in spite of the threatening clouds.
 |
| Thankfully not much rain from these clouds |
We started to encounter traffic
again. The major roads are really good to drive on. There’s been a
massive road-building / sealing scheme here. Reminders of a home: a
town name that could have been Aboriginal, graffiti on the road
sign, roadside fruit stalls.
 |
| Traffic, Moroccan style |
 |
| Road tunnel |
 |
| Boulajoul |
 |
| Fruit stall - almost like home |
Vegetation began to appear,
slowly at first, but the countryside got greener and greener. We left
the hot desert and only a few hours later we were in a ski resort,
granted in summer season, minus the snow. In ski season, apparently
the place is booming with tourists from Europe.
We swapped sand for fruit
trees for forests, mud brick kasbahs for European style hotels, with
several nomad camps in between.
I stayed at Hotel Perce
Neige – Snowdrop Hotel … a bit different to Golden Dunes!!! Did I
say this is a land of contrasts!
 |
| Getting greener |
 |
| Fruit trees |
 |
| Nomad camp |
We passed a large and
growing military establishment, a dry river and a sadly depleted lake
(which presumably fills with melted snow in spring, the river also),
and some funny looking fence things – barriers to help keep snow
from drifting onto the road. At one point there were relatively newly
planted palms. I was intrigued by their bamboo ‘collars’, used to
force the trunks to grow taller – it reminded me of those African and
Burmese women with all their neck rings.
 |
| Military base on the road to Ifrane |
 |
| Military base extension |
 |
| Depleted lake |
 |
| Dry river bed |
 |
| Roadside snow barrier |
 |
| "Collared" baby palm trees |
Late in the afternoon we
arrived on the outskirts of Ifrane – heralded by new buildings and
housing developments! The forests also became more dense. Indigenous
Barbary macaques (a type of monkey – the ones that were introduced
to Gibraltar) roam the forests and I was lucky enough to spot one.
Not quick enough with my camera though 😦
 |
| Forests becoming quite dense |
 |
| New-ish mosque |
 |
| New housing development |
 |
| So suburban |
Once settled in my hotel,
quite close to the city centre, I went off to explore this very
European city with its gardens, cafes (I went “French” for
dinner) and steeply pitched roofs complete with storks!
 |
| Fountains |
 |
| Europe in North Africa |
It was a balmy evening so
lots of people, many family groups, were out enjoying themselves. I
sat in the city ‘square’ for a little while for the pleasure of
people watching. A local came up to chat for a few minutes – a
lovely surprise.
 |
| Post Office, Ifrane |
 |
| Balloon Boy |
 |
| City 'square' |
When darkness fell I was
very glad I’d put some effort into memorising the twists and turns
back to the hotel!
 |
| Fountain by night |
 |
| Show me the way to go home |
In the morning – Fes!
 |
| Let’s go to Fes! |
