From the High Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean

When we booked the trip to see the highlights of Morocco, we did not account for its size and pace of travel.  Morocco is about 1.7 times larger than Colorado, and not all of the roads are made for swift travel in an 18 passenger Sprinter van.  If you are getting to get a glimpse of the highlights of the country, prepare for a good amount of travel time.  Our last few days have started with a breakfast at the hotel, followed by an hour or two of driving before stopping for a restroom break and coffee, followed by a few hours of driving before lunch at a roadside cafe, followed by a few hours of driving to our destination.  Once we arrive at a destination, we will get a brief orientation, followed by some sightseeing, and free time to explore and get lost.  

Imlil

So have the last couple of days gone.  We awoke yesterday and made our way to Imlil, a small Berber village in the High Atlas Mountains located within Toubkal National Park.  It serves as the base for hikers and climbers making their way to Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and the third highest peak on the continent.  From Imlil, we hiked up to Armed, an even smaller Berber village of about 200 families overlooking Imlil and overshadowed by the High Atlas Mountains surrounding the village.  We didn't see a lot of tourists, but we did see the locals getting on with daily life, to include cutting alfalfa at the bottom of the hill and bringing it to the top either by mule or on women's backs.  The alfalfa is dried and used to feed the cows and sheep living on the first floor of the homes.  We saw the local seamster (I had to look this up as I had to look this up as I've never needed the word for the male version of a seamstress before) working away on a sidewalk halfway up through the village.  He declined to be photographed, which made me think he was a little grumpy.  This was confirmed later when we walked back down to our gite, a traditional Berber mud-brick building in the mountains.  Two local girls walking with their mother made a game of waiting for the seamster, who had walked away from his sewing table, to look away, at which point one of the other would take turns running up to the table, touching it, and snickering with their mother when they were not caught.  My guess is that they had played this game many times.  Back at our gite, we ate a dinner of chicken couscous and, owing to the lack of internet or cell service, the kids taught other travelers in our party how to play Rook.

Looking across the valley to Armed

This morning, we hiked down from Armed to Imlil, hopped back into the van and made our way to the coast at Essaouira, a port and resort town on Morocco's Atlantic coast.  After our morning coffee stop, lunch stop, and stop at an Argan oil coop, we made it to Essaouira.  Departing our van, we hoofed it into the medina to find out hotel.  Once known as the Port of Timbuktu (due to the number of African goods that ended up here), the city has a rich history of trade and was included on the UNESCO World Heritage list as an example of an 18th-century fortified old town.  After getting a brief walk-around tour of the Medina, Jll, Dagny, Magnolia and I headed out to walk the beach, scoping out a place to rest tomorrow. 

We also had to find a bathing suit for Dagny, who left hers back at the hotel in Merzouga (now some 11 or 12 hours in the rearview mirror).  If you find yourself in need of a swimsuit in Essaouira, I highly recommend the Gypsy Surfer in the medina.  After the bathing suit excursion, we found a small Chinese food restaurant, dining on chicken fried rice, chicken fried noodles, and eggrolls.  It turns out that after almost two weeks in Morocco, you can reach your fill of tagine, couscous, and pastilla (a North African meat pie made with warga dough, which is similar to filo.  Winding our way back through the medina to our hotel, we found some ice cream and a private hammam to add to tomorrow's adventure.  

That's it for now.  Time to finish my cigar on the rooftop terrace overlooking the medina and listening to the call to prayer from the mosque next to the hotel.

- Dave