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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 Aït Ben Haddou. In the Berber language, it is ⴰⵢⵜ ⴱⴻⵏⵃⴰⴷⴷⵓ. 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 آيت بن حدّو

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 (“Avez-vous un stylo, madame et monsieur?”). We are kicking ourselves for not bringing school supplies with us.

We arrived in Aït 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.

What Aït 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!

NEXT UP: Food, maybe??

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