Babbo came to visit us for five days and we spent every minute of it exploring Morocco! In four days, we drove about 30 hours and saw a big section of Morocco, from Casablanca to the Middle Atlas Mountain range, to the Sahara Dessert, to the High Atlas Mountain range down to Marrakech and back to Casablanca, and everything in between. So much variety and amazing landscapes!
As we were driving from Ifrane to Azrou (over the Middle Atlas),we came across these monkeys
hanging out in the middle
of the road!
We stayed our first night in the high desert in Midelt, with lots of
mineral and fossil shops everywhere. The next morning we started our journey to the Sahara and drove through this amazing Date Palm Valley.
The window to the Sahara...
Riding camels on the dunes into the sunset was surreal. It rained a bit, we saw a lightning show, played in the sand.... AMAZING!
We arrived at dark in a wind/rain storm and were welcomed into these Berber tents and served hot mint tea, and a delicious chicken tajine. Then we enjoyed some classic Moroccan drumming for after dinner entertainment. Babbo and Hill even got to play a little with them:)
We were awakened just in time for this beautiful sunrise over Algeria (the border is 20 km away), which we got to enjoy after a long, sweaty hike to the top of the highest dune in sight!
After a nice shower, we started another long day of driving. We drove through a dramatic gorge and took a little break, then continued on through Ourazazate (where many movies have been filmed including, "Kingdom of Heaven," "Cleopatra," "Jesus of Nazareth," and many others) and then finally stayed in Ait Ben Haddou.
We stayed across the river from this 11th century Kasbah. It was amazing and all made of mud and grass. There are people who still live in it and it has also been used for several movies. In the picture below, we are standing next to where the colosseum for "Gladiator" was built.
Finally, our last day of driving included stunning scenery on the windy roads through the High Atlas Mountains, and then down the valley for a rainy 20 minutes in Marrakesh and finally all the way home to Casablanca.
...yet, another AMAZING adventure with Babbo!!!! We are so glad you could join us Dad!
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