The general landscape of Morocco is diverse and breathtaking. At times we were on flat plains that seemed to go on forever covered with cactus, scrub brush, and sheep.
The High Atlas Mountains looming in the background.
While we were sweating like crazy from the heat, the mountains were snow capped. Every now and then a village dotted the landscape. Every town and village had an ancient look. They were all the color of the soil and made from the same.
There would be large palm trees in and surrounding the towns.
Most had shepherds watching sheep on the fringe of the town.
Once into the mountains the air cooled considerably. I would guess by at least 10-15 degrees Cecilius. The cherry trees were in blossom but at times they were surrounded by snow. What a beautiful contrast. The roads were steep and covered with switchbacks.
We stopped at a small outpost , high in the mountains, where they made argan oil. They collected the nuts, dried them, removed the flesh then roasted them before grounding them on an old fashioned grinding wheel to extract the oil. The oil from roasted nuts can be used for cooking. Oil from unroasted nuts is used for cosmetics – such as Moroccan oil for hair.
Other parts of the country were massive plains of crops and fruit trees and olive groves.
We drove through miles and miles of fields covered with bright red poppies.
In many flat areas huge boulders had been shoved off to the side to make allow for the road to be built. I have no idea how any life could possibly be sustained in these areas.
There were little huts all along the road, sometimes in some crazy remote area one is left to wonder where the person running the stand lives. They sell a lot of woven baskets, gourds, jewelry, and fruit. The fruit most sold was oranges, beans, and peas. We had never tasted such juicy sweet oranges in our lives! We ate them by the bagful.
Service stations were very interesting. One service station had a creepy playground behind it. You had to walk through it to get to the toilets. It had the feel of something from a Steven King movie.
Another service station had a prayer room slightly detached from the main building. While we went to the toilet our driver, Mohamed, went to the prayer room.
There was an abundance of men sitting on plastic chairs in front of a house or business. Never a woman. Donkeys were a common sight, either being ridden or pulling a cart. Traffic in urban areas were mayhem – cars, bicycles, people and the donkeys seemed to swarm the streets like bees. Even the crossing signs for school zones showed the children running. It wasn't as crazy as India, but definitely not something we would experience in North America.
We stopped at a service station to refuel our taxi and bellies. It was a very cold day. There was an old-fashioned heater in the middle of the restaurant. A dog was curled up beside the heater while we ate our lunch of fish and chips (NO tajine!) at the table closest to the heat, as well. The restaurant was a strange combination of relaxed enough that a dog can be sleeping next to the potbelly stove in the middle of the room to the nicest public bathrooms and fanciest tea glasses we had yet seen on our trip.
On our return trip from Fez to Marrakech, we drove through Ifrane, at an elevatin of 1665 meters, in the Middle Atlas Mountains. Ifrane means caves, in the local language. Even though we only drove through the town, it left an impact. The town was developed by the French, in the late 1920's, as a hill station (a cool place for colonial families to spend the hot summer months) and was planned according to the garden city model of urban design then in vogue. The plan called for chalet-type summer homes in the Alpine style, laid out among gardens and curving tree-lined streets, to remind their foreign inhabitants of their distant homelands. The day before we arrived it had experienced the worst snow storm in 60 years. There was at least two feet of freshly fallen snow. We felt like we had been dropped into an Swiss village! It was odd to see the Alpine houses and to be in snow when only a few days ago we were in the desert.
There is also a royal palace built for Sultan Muhammad b.Yûsuf. He was was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled by the French from 1953–55. In February 1956 he successfully negotiated with France for the independence of Morocco, and in 1957 took the title of King. He died in 1961. I believe this is the palace (but not 100% certain)
There were storks nesting everywhere! On rooftops, TV antennas, and communication towers. These nests are huge, making the communication towers to look like fuzzy – and possibly accounting for the poor WiFi we had everywhere. The also seemed to block off chimneys.
We drove through Azrou. This town is located at a strategic crossroads between the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas Mountains. One highway connects the north and south the other highway connects east and west. Because of this strategic location, it hosts a bustling weekly market.
As we approached Marrakech we noticed a haze hovering over the city. Mohammed tried to assure us it was not smog.
