17 December - Ouarzazate

We have been so lucky to have such a great tour guide for our Moroccan adventure. This map shows the back roads we took to get to our destinations - but experiencing the beautiful countryside that is Morocco. Without Youssef we would have gone on the main roads and missed interacting with locals that live away from the main towns, and seeing places that are so different and dramatic from where we live.

Our accommodation at Ksar Tama Lodge, Ouarzazate is luxurious and so different to what we expected. Although they have a pool I doubt we will go for a swim as the temperatures are 8oC overnight and the water doesn’t warm up. The staff are wonderful with a great sense of humour and don’t mind sharing a beverage with us ( of course we know Muslim’s don’t drink alcohol and pray 5 times a day). 

From the roof top we get the best sunrise and sunset views. The sun does not rise until 8am but sets late at 7pm. So we get a long day to tour and see everything. We have been fortunate with having a local bedouin guide to be advised which places to visit and which ones to avoid.

Today we went for a lovely walk along to the Fint Oasis, which was refreshing after being in the car for a few days. We got to watch the local ladies washing their clothes in the flowing river water and laying them out to dry on the riverbed rocks. They even use their feet to mash the washing and get it clean - not agitation from a machine, just strong hands and feet to scrub the clothes clean.

After that we went to view the new solar system that Morocco has implemented and where the sun is reflected onto a 250 metre mirror to heat up liquid salt which they then use to date electricity. Peter know all about it and was amazed how it worked. For me it looked impressive shining against the hills. Imagine taking a selfie in that big mirror. 😜

For afternoon tea we went to visit Youssef sister Aeesha and her son. Although she dies nit speak English it was nice to have mint tea and nibbles in the home if a local Berber person. She was so warm and welcoming, like her little brother. 

Again tonight we ate out a a shush kebab restaurant which is delicious. For only $20 we could feed five people a meat dish each. Amazing value.

16 December - Tamsahelt to Ouarzazate

Lastnight we stayed at a Kasbah owned by our guides uncle in Tamsahelte ( Kasbah Hotel Riad du Sud) . It is made of mud and straw in the typical Bedouin style, with the ceilings made from palm leaves and palm trunks. Even the door is made from palm trunks. It is perched on a hill and gave lovely views of the surrounding agricultural scene and the small town. There are no shops, no Wifi, and just the noise from animals to keep us entertained. It gave us free time to play card games and enjoy our environment - an early night.

Today we have taken a off road trip through the Jbel Saghro which is a mountain range 

 South of the High Atlas Mountains and east of the Anti Atlas Mountains. It is the driest part of the mountain range and a local guide said it rains only about once a year. We have never seen so many rocks - everywhere! It has a landscape like you would expect to see on the moon or Mars - so dry and austere. You can see all the exposed rock faces and the erosion of the soil from the rains. Very dramatic.

 We stopped at an area where a guide showed us engraving made by prehistoric man - in 500BCE. That is 7000 years ago and they are still easy to see. They show animals that lived in the area when it was a savannah - antelope, bison, gazelle, giraffe, elephant and flamingo. It also shows the tools the people used - nets and slingshots. It was amazing to see.

The area looks very much like many of the photos you would see of Africa with the Cassia trees and animals and arid landscape. Except the animals you see are camel, donkey, sheep and goats - no giraffe nibbling at the branches.

We stopped at Zagora for a delicious tangine for lunch - always delicious food in Morocco. The local boys were hassling Youssef for money, and unlike other towns they did not letup. In the end he gave them some coins to send them away. The locals are very poor, and many children do not go to school if they live too far out of town. Especially if the are of a nomadic family and have no way to get to a town. Many only have a donkey, or walk. Everywhere we go we see so many people walking beside the road or out in the fields. We are yet to see a fat Moroccan. They also do not have any government assistance - if you don’t work you don’t get any money . So everyone works even if it a very simple task. There are many people who are tending their animals in the fields - there are no fences so they have to keep an eye on their animals. We have seen them just relaxing on the ground, sometimes with friends, passing the time as the animals feed. No internet. No cars. No music. No books (they can’t read). Just waiting for the animals. Very patient people.

15 December - Agoulzi to Tamsahelte

Today we head off an off-road adventure through the anti atlas mountain range to Tamsahelte. We are travelling along tiny roads that wind through the mountains. They are not paved and are just smoothed by trucks. There was very little room to pass other cars, and at times the drop off the edge was terrifyingly close to the car. The views were very dramatic.

We stopped  for a break at a small house at the top of a mountain and Addison was able to buy herself two nice rocks. Not fossils but she was still happy with them.

We were amazed again at the ingenuity of the local Berber people, who have to clear away so many stones before they can do anything. The houses are built if Rick, the fences are rock, even the soccer field is still covered in rock. It must’ve a task they have to do before every game - go pick up the rocks before they play.

We arrived later afternoon at our accommodation which was a simple Bedouin Kasbah made of mud and straw. After dropping off our stuff we went for a walk among the irrigated fields. It was nteresting to see how different things are when you don’t have machinery to do all the work. The people have to clear the rocks (or At least the big ones) , then they have to use tools to break up the soil and create paddocks. They have to use local products (manure) to improve the soil, and then they can create furrows where they will plant the produce. After that they have to hope the plants will grow - but they have small irrigation channels which provide water from the local river for their crops. There are no shops in this town, so they must survive on what they grow or can trade. We managed to get ourselves a little lost, but always within sight of our accommodation which is high on a hill. The local children thought we were hilarious and followed us around to see what we were doing - just trying to stretch our legs after a day in the car.