25.4.2009.
After we had all eaten dinner, everyone was really tired from getting up so early so we all passed out. The next morning we were up bright and early again though. Breakfast consisted of toast, some pastries, orange juice, etc. The dining room of the hotel was cool because it had huge open windows that gave a view of the city. However, we were going to the desert first before doing our tour of Fez. So, after eating, everyone packed up their stuff and jumped on the bus. Granted, today was a day of driving but it was still really cool.
Once leaving the city limits, I loved watching the transition of the scenery. First, we passed through more farmland before climbing up the Middle Atlas Mountains. The countryside there was so pretty, especially with the blooming spring flowers. There were fields of red poppies and other yellow flowers. You could see many shepherds tending to sheep and goats. The mountains were pretty tall and it took awhile for us to climb through them. We drove through one town called Ifrane which is called the Switzerland of Morocco. I think in the winter, it has skiing but all the buildings have the architecture you would expect to find in the Swiss Alps. It was so bizarre. One of our Moroccan guides, Amina, told us about the town. Also, she gave us a little summary about the people of Morocco. Morocco is 70% berber. The berbers are divided up in the three tribes whose names I can hardly pronounce much less type. They live in different regions and speak in their own dialect. In the berber town we visited in the desert, no one has electricity, running water, or any other commodities. They live off the land. Up in the mountains, we made a pit stop and it was freezing! When we were in Rabat the day before, it was very hot so we were all pretty surprised by how cold it was.
Then we drove down through another valley. The land started to get more rocky as we went. We drove up into the mountains again through some cedar forests and made a stop where there are barbary apes to feed. We saw some earlier at Gibraltar. These ones were just as cute. They had peanuts you could feed them and they would come right up and grab them out of your hand. It's so funny to see them crack open the peanuts because their mannerisms are so human! There was one mother who had a little bitty baby that clung to her while she jumped from tree to tree. Once we had fed them all, we jumped back in the bus and drove out of the Middle Atlas mountains to stop at a really cool hotel for lunch. Lunch, of course, was wonderful with a huge buffet of salads, couscous, chicken, veggies, and a dessert table with strawberry pie and oranges. Once everyone had their fill, we were back on the bus and driving through the High Atlas into the desert. Here the landscape became very strange. To me, it almost resembled Mars. Everything is rocky and red. There is a river bed that cuts a gorge through the mountains and is the only place where trees and bushes grow. Here and there are little small huts where the berbers live and they travel around on donkeys with their heads wrapped to keep the sand out of their eyes and ears. We drove for a REALLY long time and the landscape became more and more like a desert as we went. We stopped at one overlook along the way to see the gorge where the riverbed had run dry and was now overgrown with palm trees. From there, you could see so much! It was very windy too. You could literally feel it pushing you back.
From there, we drove to a hotel where we switched over into the 4x4s to drive out to the desert hotel. There were 6 of us to each car with one of the berber guys driving. First we were on a road and drove through a small town. Here it was nice and warm so we left the windows down. Dusk was approaching and after we forded a river, we were out on the last road in the flat desert. For the most part, our whole group had been following each other like a little caravan. However, as soon as the road ended, it was a free for all. we were in the back and so got to see everyone peeling off left and right into the hard pan. It was really cool. The sun was going down and since it had been windy, the sand had kicked up dust into the air making everything foggy. Soon we were alone and could only just make out the headlights of other cars cutting through the dust. Our driver figured out pretty quickly that we thought it was fun to take the bumps and so he hit every one he could find. I was sitting in the back with another girl and at one point, he hit a huge bump and we both hit our heads on the top of the car. It was really fun. We drove for a long time before we made it out to the desert hotel called Hotel Tombouctou. We couldn't tell that night because of the dust and how dark it was, but the dunes started literally 20 yards past the hotel.
The desert hotel was absolutely fantastic. I don't know how they get everything out there or how they have wireless there, but they do. We all got out of the 4x4s and drug our luggage to our rooms. Andrea, Angela and I had a triple. The room was so cool! We felt like we were in Aladdin. Dinner was immediately after we arrived so we hurried down to the dining hall. The food at Hotel Tombouctou was hands down the best I had on the trip. We ate so much! After dinner, everyone was feeling drozy but we sat out in the lounge as some of the berber guys working there began to play the drums. They were so good! It's funny because alcohol is illegal in Morocco but many of the places that see tourists (hotels and restaurants) still sell it. There was a little bar there so everyone got beers and settled onto the pillows and couches to listen to the guys play. They played for a long time and taught us some songs. Many of them spoke Spanish so it was easy to communicate with them once I got used to their strange accent. They got a couple of us up and dancing for awhile and then let whoever wanted to mess around with the drums. The drumming went on for a couple of hours. Towards the end of the night, they walked us out to the start of the dunes to look at the stars. It was cool then and still windy. we laid down only for a little bit to look up at the night sky because the sand was so bad. Besides, it had been a dusty day and so there was still a fog in the air. Not to worry though, I did get a good taste of the desert night sky out at the oasis. After, we all split our separate ways and collapsed into bed.
love you and miss you all
Elle
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