Part II of our Moroccan Adventures: Atlas Mountains

For one full day of our stay in Marrakech, Colin and I took an excursion to the Atlas Mountains.  Again, this was a total highlight for us.  We shared a tour with another British couple (we love the Brits!) and had an awesome time with our tour guide, Phillippe. 

Off-roading through the Atlas Mountains

4 out of 5 of our group, with our guide on the left

Phillippe took us to tea in a Berber village, off-roading in the mountains, to a beautiful lake oasis and into the desert.  We had interesting encounters with the locals, including the cute little camel owner in the first pic above.  To my surprise/horror, as we were posing for this pic the camel owner placed his straw hat on my head!  Things in Morocco, and especially the Atlas Mountains, were not what we'd call "clean".  Of course, that was part of the glory of it all, but we did lose our appetite for the entire day when we we made a stop in a local village for lunch, and sat down next to an open air butcher with a raw stripped goat's head on the counter.   Flies did not appear to offend the locals at all.  The monkey on the roof of the butcher's shop only added to the craziness!

Our tour guide Phillippe really impressed us.  Because the Berber are Muslim and untrusting of the tourists, he has worked for the past 10 years to build relationships with the people so that tourists can get a better insight into their lives.  Though originally French, he has learned the Berber language and become a welcome face in many of the tiny towns.  We saw the success of his strategy when we entered the tiny hut of a Berber woman and her adorable daughter, and she served us delicious sage tea with freshly made bread. 

Camels on the way into the Atlas Mountains

Heading into the Ourika Valley

I loved these mountain goats.  A huge herd blocked the narrow road, so we got out and watched them play for a bit.

The Berber people are a North African tribe that live in these terraced, terracotta colored villages.  Although extremely rustic, we were suprised to see that some of them had satellite TV and electricity.

This is a view of the Berber village where we stopped for tea.

Colin and I enjoying our sage tea and fresh bread.  We were sitting on a sort of "deck" of the tiny two-room hut, under which was the family's farm - they were lucky enough to have one lamb and grew their herbs right next to this table.

This was the daughter of the woman who served us the tea.  She was adorable - when she saw our hand sanitizer she thought it was amazing and kept asking for more. 

These cute little guys ran up to our car as we drove up.  Apparently they are used to posing for pictures in exchange for candy.  You could see this from their teeth...

This is one of the schools for the Berber children.  They have a very hard time getting quality teachers to stay in the villages.  We were told that the kids are not exactly motivated to learn - they don't need to read or write to succeed in their villages, as farming and herding are their trades.  To prevent the kids from ditching school, the locals have cemented shards of glass to the top of the walls surrounding the school - a sort of barbed wire strategy.

Moroccans and Berber people use mules frequently for labor.  I thought this little guy was so cute grazing in the fields.



Enter the wildlife of the Atlas Mountains.  These lizards lay out in the sun on the rock walls made by the people.



This was HANDS DOWN the LARGEST beetle I have EVER seen.  It was almost the size of my palm.  I was sitting in the car when Phillippe brought this toward my open window. I don't know why, but I thought he was handing it to me, so I started screaming before I could contain myself. I must have shrieked louder than anyone he has ever heard - screaming "no no no!"  He later jokingly recommended that I should avoid the snakes in Jemaa el Fna if that was my reaction to the bugs!

The start of our camel adventure... Colin courageously took a ride on these big daddios.  They were not friendly.  When we approached, they tried to bite us.  We had agreed we probably wouldn't ride camels that day, so I had decided to wear a dress.  When we did end up having the opportunity to ride, I just couldn't imagine getting on the (dirty looking) saddles and blankets (especially in light of beetle incident above) in a dress, so I had to decline.  But I am so glad I didn't ride because watching Colin wobbling around on the camel's back was one of the funniest things EVER!  He was not what you'd call a "natural" at camel riding.

Looking confident at first

Off he goes, wobbling along into the desert!!

Toward the end of the ride, he looked a bit more comfortable... hamming it up as usual.

Note the we stand no where near his head.  Actually, I think the camel owner is holding its neck so it wouldn't turn and bite us.  They are such ornery animals - nothing like sweet Santos in Heinsberg.  :)

This gorgeous reservoir sits like an oasis at the edge of the mountains, and is only minutes from the vast desert in the last pic below.

We stopped here for some water and to enjoy the beautiful view.

We finished the tour in this desert area - sand and brown as far as the eye could see.  It was so cool to see the contrasts of the land in Morocco- from mountains to lake to desert.  Now we are determined to return to Africa again!