After slumming it on buses for the past week, we finally broke down and rented a car. We wanted to experience some of Morocco’s fantastic natural beauty, but traveling around here by public transport can be frustratingly difficult. Many of the smaller towns and remote areas are neither served by bus nor train… relying instead on ad-hoc networks of private cars called “Grand Taxis” (usually a full sized Mercedes-Benz from the late 70’s). You hail one of these things like a regular (petit) taxi, but instead of connecting locations within a city, they connect towns along specific routes (rather uncomfortably at 8 persons per car). Of course taxi is a 4-letter explicative in Ana and Rich’s vocabulary, so we were reluctant to engage in a 2-4 hour long scam/con/hustle by riding in one of these things. Besides, we haven’t felt the freedom of the open road since New Zealand and as Americans it was our moral imperative to drive inefficiently with only 2 people per car. Back seat? That’s for storing Pringles and cheezy-poofs. Road Trip!
The Desert: (Click Here for pictures!)
- It Pays to Shop Around: After showing up pretty late to Merzouga, we checked into the first hotel that we found. This place had all the amenities: pool, wi-fi, private bathrooms, a bar… but was way overpriced and had mediocre food at best (included in the price). Our first morning for breakfast was an eye opener, as the woman running the kitchen dropped a piece of pan bread on the (filthy) floor and proceed to put it right back on my plate… all right in front of me while my jaw hung slack in shock! Needless to say, we checked out immediately.
- 4x4 Desert Excursion: We signed up for one of these because we wanted to go on an overnight camel trek, but didn’t want to end up at a group camp with 50 other people. Riding around in a 4x4 was a perfect way to check out the overnight sights, and our driver Hassan was energetic and eager to take us wherever we wanted to go. We saw a desert lake, some flamingos, an oasis, some great vistas, and of coarse went tooling around off road into the dunes. We passed by the overnight encampment and were fairly unimpressed. The site was so close that I could have walked there myself, and there must have been 20 some odd tents in not-so-great condition. We decided to skip the whole camel trek itinerary and instead go with option B, which was to…
- Walk the Earth like Cane: Every now and then I have a moment that seems just about perfect… A point in time where I feel at one with the world and a peaceful breeze flows throughout my soul. Each sunset we wandered into the sand dunes: Just picking a direction and walking aimlessly. Imagine the wind, the sand, and the setting sun holding you captive in a collaborative dance. In the distance, a holy man recites a call to prayer which is both haunting and beautiful. It is strange and quiet and humbling at this time of day. All of time seems to compress to a single moment, bringing a clarity and focus that reminds you just how small you are in such a vast and barren place.
- Sand Storm: We actually had a second opportunity to go on a camel trek… this time through the hostel we were staying at (Le Petit Prince). This was a more boutique experience with a much smaller camp in a different location… and we hemmed and hawed over the option for day before deciding not to go. The reason? Sand storm! Yup, we sat through an honest to goodness sand storm our last day in the desert, which was actually a pretty cool experience. One moment we were looking across to the distant sand dunes, the next moment we could barely see across to the next building.
High Atlas Gorges: (Click Here for pictures!)
- Narrow Walkways: We visited two Gorges while out here and they were both of the small but very narrow variety. I particularly like these kind of canyons as they are easier to appreciate on foot. The second gorge (Dades Gorge) was more impressive in this regard, as there were points in the canyon that were barely wide enough for 2 cars and stream. Many of these narrow passageways are impassible in the winter and spring months, as the road and the river share the same real estate. A couple of 4x4s that we saw had to traverse the river to get to the next town!
- Abandoned Kasbahs: Back in the day, Berber warlords built magnificent and opulent palace fortresses to consolidate power and guard access through the gorges. Today these Kasbahs are abandoned… slowly crumbling and eroding away due to the dried adobe building materials used. These buildings are quite photogenic, and even a bit camouflaged as the bricks used are the same color as the surrounding cliffs. I’m not sure if there are any restoration plans for these buildings, but it would be a shame to just let them disintegrate away.
- Monkey Fingers: There’s a pretty cool rock formation in one of the parts of the Dades Gorge called “Monkey Fingers”, where the rocks and cliffs look like they are melting away in the sun. We took a little day hike to the formations, and it’s not surprising that the rocks look like they are melting: Most of this part of the canyon must have been underwater at some point: The cliffs were nothing more than compressed river rock and hardened clay (not sure what the geographical name for such a rock type is). I never did figure out why they called it Monkey Fingers…
- Italians: We met a couple of Italians while staying in Merzouga, and it turned out that they were headed in the same direction as we were. They didn’t have their own car, and had a pretty bad experience with a grand taxi on their way in, so we offered to give them a lift to their next destination. We ended up hanging out with these guys for a couple of days, and now that they’re gone, I kind of miss them. Roberta only spoke a little bit of English and Pietro only spoke Spanish and Italian… but we had a great time driving and hanging out together. Hopefully we can meet again some day at Pietro’s Italian restaurant in Barcelona.
Coastal Cities: (Click Here for pictures!)
Our plan here was to make it all the way down to Sidi Ifini to meet up with Pietro and Roberta… Instead we got lost/sidetracked on the wrong road somewhere in the Anti Atlas Mountains: a scenic drive that was unfortunately impassable in the winter months. After 2 hours of backtracking we were back on our way making it as far as Agadir before stopping for good. There’s nothing special about Agadir… it’s basically a package holiday destination for Europeans looking for some warmth in the cold winter months. We found it easy to stay and relax however, as the town just felt “normal” to us. No crazy medina to navigate… no touts to beat back… a reprieve from the daily food dose of tajine (tired of eating it)… and no cryptic scavenger hunts to go looking for beer/wine for the night. I even got a hair cut while I was here! Nice to not feel quite so foreign for a change.
From Agadir we headed further north to Essouira: another medina centered town that happens to be on the coast. We did our usual thing of walking around and getting lost in the narrow walkways… but the thing that I really liked was the nearby beach standing guard against the steady howling winds. This is kiteboarding country, and I spent hours just sitting on our balcony watching the kiteboarders play in the surf. As far as towns go, this one was pretty laid back, and was a good last stop before we bid Morocco a hearty farewell. Tomorrow we head back to Casablanca to catch a flight to Portugal… It’s hard to believe that our trip is starting to come to an end.
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