Into the Mountains of Morocco

It seems like forever ago when we left our ocean view campground in Taghazout to make our way south, but it’s only been eight days. In that time, we have left the ocean and traveled inland, across the Anti-Atlas mountains and through countless Berber villages.

We left Taghazout and drove right to a campsite in Tiznit. Turns out it wasn’t even the one we had planned to go to, but it didn’t matter. I was sick, running a low-grade fever and suffering from a stomach virus. Steven wasn’t much better, so all we really wanted to do was park up, close the shades and wallow in our misery. With that as our criteria, our stay in Tiznit was a big success.

Our campsite in Tiznit looked pretty from our window but we were ready to move on after an overnighter.

The next morning, feeling somewhat better, we left and drove up into the mountains to Tafraout. Once we were at elevation, we left behind the polution of the cities as well as the salty mist of the ocean. In exchange, we got clear, sunny skies that allowed us to see for miles. It was a stunning drive.

Beautiful mountain views and shopping for veggies on the way to Tafraout

Tafraout is one of the few places that offers a wide-open desert area for boondocking. I guess it is Morocco’s answer to Quartzsite. For $1.50 per day, you can just drive out, find a spot and park. We stayed in a commercial campground our first night, but then moved right out and found a nice spot to stay for the next four days.

We filled up with water when we arrived in the town of Tafraout and then stayed at the Granite Rose campground for one night. Omar, the proprietor was straight out of Central Casting. He was quite the character!
We moved to the municipal camping the next day. Above is how we wished it looked, below is how it actually looked!
We put our flags out so people would not be fooled by our French license plate.

No sooner had we settled in than a lady came by with a stroller. She was taking orders for food delivery, tagines, couscous, pastille, whatever we wanted. She used the stroller to pick up her dishes from the previous day’s deliveries. We ordered a beef tagine and a chicken couscous for delivery the following evening. Then came the bread man. We got one loaf and ordered a second for the next day. Then the mechanic showed up, though thankfully we did not need his services.

Latifah took our order and delivered a delicious tagine and couscous the next day.

There was the water guy, the barber and the children dropping by to collect empty water bottles. The laundry lady came by and I was sorely tempted to turn over everything to her, but I just couldn’t get it together to communicate prices and services offered. Most Moroccans are multi-lingual and French is their second or third language. While many speak at least a few words of English, we are mostly left trying to communicate with our very awkward French.

The point is, no matter what we might need, someone could help us get it. The rug man never did put in an appearance, but we found him in town. I guess we are being picky, because we couldn’t find one to buy. They were all gigantic and we just want a fairly small-ish one that will not be ten feet longer than Bijou. Is that asking too much? I have a feeling we might make it out of Morocco without a recycled plastic outdoor rug. It won’t be for lack of trying.

Tafraout is a wonderful place for riding bikes and for only the second time in Morocco, we took ours off the rack. On our first couple of trips we just buzzed around town, seeing what there was to see. Then we planned a longer trip out to see the Painted Rocks. It was chilly when we left Bijou and started riding, and our E-bike batteries fell rapidly. But as soon as it warmed up they discharged at a more normal rate. Plus, we went the long way around to get to the rocks. Thanks, Google Maps.

In and around Tafraout.
Tafraout is THE place to buy babouche, the Moroccan sandals.
While in Tafraout, we met up with fellow motorhomers Karen and Myles.
β€œNapoleon’s Hat” on the way to the Painted Rocks.
The road to the Painted Rocks was a little longer than we thought. We were glad we were on bikes and didn’t decide to walk!

The Painted Rocks were originally an art installation conceived and executed in the 1980s by the Belgian/French artist Jean Verame. They are controversial, of course. Some people love them, others feel they ruin the landscape and are essentially vandalism. I am neutral. I love the Moroccan colors, unfortunately the rocks were recently repainted in primary colors, yellow, blue and red. I am not fond of those particular colors for this project. They used to be a lovely, fading turquoise. Now they are kind of jarring. Nonetheless, this installation brings tourists, which brings much needed money to the surrounding Berber villages, so I can’t fault that. We enjoyed our ride out to see them.

The colors of the Painted Rocks can change quite dramatically when they are repainted. We didn’t care for the primary colors so much.

Tafraout, if not number one, is certainly in the top three of my favorite places so far in Morocco. I could have stayed there for a couple of weeks, but we’ve got a long way to go and a lot more to see.

Reluctantly, we packed up and headed out for what would be our longest day of driving yet. And we didn’t go all that far! We drove just over 200 miles and it took us seven hours! The reason our trip was so slow is because we were traveling over passes and through valleys in the Anti-Atlas mountains. As we are just a couple of weeks away from the Almond Blossom Festival in Tafraout, the valleys were filled with almond trees showing off their pretty pink and white blossoms.

Beautiful almond blossoms along the way.

We were thrilled to come upon a dozen or so camels just grazing on the trees. At first I thought it was a giraffe, but then thought, there are no wild giraffes in Morocco! So the next thing I could come up with was that it was a camel. All of that thought process took about a nano-second, you know how that goes. But there they were, mostly mamas with their babies. And a white one, too, who had the sweetest face ever! I’ve tried to find information about while camels, they are either albinos or from a particular breed from India which is dying out. Not sure what was up with this little guy, maybe he will get a tan as he grows, who knows.

We saw a few signs warning us to watch out for camels, but hadn’t seen any until now. We were thrilled to see these guys!

We drove through village after village, some buzzing with activity while others looked like Life After People. In some cases that’s about right, as the mud walls and houses were essentially melting back into the earth. We followed along a huge dry river bed, which we could tell fills with rushing water at some point, as roads are washed out nearly as soon as they are re-routed and built from the last floods. It is also amazing to see just how many oases there are, which you can tell because of the mass of palm trees growing along the water source.

One of a few roads we saw that were completely washed away.

After a long day’s drive we finally arrived at our campsite in Foum Zquid. It has to be the worst one we’ve stayed at, but we made it work and were out the next morning before 9:00 a.m. The main issue was that the promised electricity was not strong enough to run our fridge, so we had to use precious propane – again! Secondly, the showers were so disgusting, rather than clean them, the proprietor simply placed a wooden pallet on the nasty floor. Gross. Also, the water was lukewarm, but I kept my flip-flops on and was in and out in a flash. It felt good to be clean again after such a long day, and we were in a safe place, so we are grateful for that!

Our next stop was AΓ―t Ben Haddou. In the Berber language, it is ⴰ⡒⡜ ⴱⴻ⡏⡃ⴰⴷⴷ⡓. Seriously, is that the coolest looking language ever? It reminds me of a cross between Greek letters and Wingdings. I love it. In Arabic is ؒيΨͺ Ψ¨Ω† Ψ­Ψ―Ω‘Ωˆ

I used to be able to write the Arabic alphabet, but that was about a hundred years ago. I think the Arabic writing is beautiful, but the language can sound very harsh. Overhearing a convo between two men and you’re not sure if they are asking directions or one has been insulted.

As we drove through villages, children on their way to school would wave enthusiastically. The youngest of the girls blow kisses and they are quite adorable. Having read the children will beg for sweets, we brought some, but we have not given away a single piece of it. This is because the kids mostly just wave and if they do ask for something, it is usually pens and pencils (β€œAvez-vous un stylo, madame et monsieur?”). We are kicking ourselves for not bringing school supplies with us.

Overloaded trucks are a common sight on the roads of Morocco.

We arrived in AΓ―t Ben Haddou not sure what to expect and wow, were we ever surprised. The structure, called a ksar, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site made of earthen clay. Like many of the villages we saw on our way here, some of it is melting back into the ground. The site reminds me a little of Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. According to Wikipedia, there are four families still living in the fortification, but most have moved on to more modern dwellings. You can walk to the top but first you have to run the gauntlet of merchants, which line the paths both inside and outside.

Our amazing view in AΓ―t Ben Haddou next to our British buddies Karen and Myles.
Lunch on the terrace of the adjacent hotel. Look at that view.
Steven and Karen went to shoot the sunrise. What a beautiful morning for it!
Bijou all aglow in the morning sun.

What AΓ―t Ben Haddou is most famous for these days is its connection to Hollywood. Most recently, it was the location for the Yellow City of Yunkai, which was conquered by Daenerys Targarye in Game of Thrones, but it’s been featured in many movies over the years. Those all-important dollars no doubt help maintain this amazing place.

Where we are currently parked, just beyond the ksar, lie the snow-covered High Atlas mountains. In a few days we’ll be heading over them, but for now, we’ve got a few more stops to make and according to Steven, a camel to ride. We’ll see about that!

We watched a storm come in over the mountains and woke up to snow caps!

NEXT UP: Food, maybe??

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20 Comments

    1. 2chouters

      Thanks, Fred! I really hope we are conveying just how beautiful and special Morocco is. We are thrilled that we made the decision to come here and have these experiences. It’s just been wonderful!

  1. Just drivin’ through the desert and hanging out on the patio with friends – in Morocco!! That header pic is beautiful and does remind me of Taos (on steroids). Love the almond blossoms, they really stand out against that desert background! Glad your funkiness only lasted a day, you have too much to see and do to be down and out. The camels really make it “real” and I hope there is camel riding to come :-)))

    1. 2chouters

      We think of you guys so much on this journey. We are constantly reminded of the drive in south Arizona, desolate, yet beautiful. I see why you are drawn to the area. πŸ™‚

  2. Laurie

    Some of those photos could have come right from Yuma or the west side of Tucson. Much more exotic animals and characters, though! What fun to visit such a different world. I am so happy you blog about it all – fascinating. Wish I could send you a case of pencils for those little folk.

  3. Jeanne Sevaaetasi

    I’m so excited every time you pop up on my fb feed, I want to know what our new adventure was. This is going to be one hell of a book, Steve you are so amazing taking national geographic pictures.thank you again!

  4. Michelle

    Loved seeing your travels through Morocco! We visited last year and LOVED it! Such an amazing culture, and the people could not have been more friendly! A feast for the eyes everywhere we looked! Did get a little tired of tangines, tho!

    1. 2chouters

      Agree with everything you said, even the tagine bit. πŸ™‚ They can get a little repetitive, but still, so good! Thanks for commenting, glad to have you along!

  5. I just found your blog and I am enjoying it. My wife and I are Americans who also have a French registered Camper and have dealt with the confusion of not being or speaking French so we like your dash flags. Our spring trip is on hold for now but hopefully we will cross paths in the future. Safe travels.

    1. 2chouters

      Thanks, Ron, I’m glad you found us! We have connected with two other couples from the Phill and Hannah family of campers, and now you guys! We are on our way to Sens as we speak to collect some mail and try to re-jigger our 2020 plans. We’d love to meet up if you manage to return to Europe in the future! Stay in touch!

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