Day 6 October 20, 2024 Fes to near the Sahara Desert 234 miles
We left the hotel at 8:00 am this morning and arrived at our hotel at about 5:15 pm. The skies are clear but the temperature is cool. A light jacket feels good. We will be crossing some mountains today. One of those is the second tallest in Africa at over 13,000 feet.
Our first rest stop was in the town of Ifrane which is a very new town built in 1928. It looks very German and is a ski resort town. All the tour buses stop here but they can accommodate them all. Someone really knew what they were doing. The temperature was very pleasant even in the sun. Lots of shade trees and flowers. The winding roads weren’t bad. The highway was in good condition but somewhat narrow.
After the mountains we drove through a large area inhabited by nomads. Most now live in houses built with a mixture of clay and rocks. The roof however is plastic. They all have herds of goats and sheep plus a donkey or two. The sheep have brown heads and necks but white bodies. The goats come in lots of colors. The shepherd is accompanied by at least one dog. They spend the entire day out with the sheep. We didn’t see much vegetation for them to eat and no water. Never found out where they get the water. Must be wells somewhere. Surprisingly there was a flock of turkeys. Don’t know if they belonged to the nomads or were wild. We have seen turkey on the menu in restaurants. Also some of the “ham” is made from turkey.
Lunch was at a gas station obviously geared to the tourist trade. They had a large dining area and menus in English. Connie had local trout and Rob had a turkey taco. The fish was delicious and the taco not so much. No salsa to put on. They did have a hot pepper sauce that was supposedly very hot. Some of our group had camel meat that they said was similar to beef. At least it didn’t taste like chicken.
We stopped briefly at a turnout for the road where a group of monkeys come to get peanuts. Locals are more than willing to sell you a handful of peanuts. The monkeys weren’t aggressive so they must not be too hungry. The locals were selling other items and offering horse rides for a price. The horses were attired in native dress.
Just past this stop is a forest of cedar trees. Some of those are very large. With the amount of cedar in use in Fes we were surprised there were any trees left.
We finally came to the Zez River. Not much water in it but based on the size of the riverbed they have had more water. In one section they are replacing culverts to carry the heavy rains. The last two months have had more rain for which they are thankful.
Then we came to a reservoir created by a dam on the river. It is currently 70% full after being down to 37%. No activity on the lake. The area as a whole is very dry looking. Very few trees in this area.
We took an afternoon break at another gas station. This time we treated ourselves to a Magnum ice cream bar. The cost was roughly $3.50. Better than the $5.00 we have paid in other countries.
We made one final stop before the hotel at a scenic overlook of the largest oasis in Morocco. Lots of palm and date trees. A small village sits on one end. This area is known for its dates. The best in the country according to some sources.
The hotel is quite large with lots of tour groups. Luckily we got a ground floor room. Rob went to the terrace to watch the sunset which was nothing to write home about. Then it was off to a huge buffet dinner. Had fun hearing some travel stories from others in our group after supper.
Spoffords Travel 