We knew this would be a long day in the car but there was no obvious place to break the journey....Fez to Merzouga is about a 7 hour drive....and covers a lot of different terrains.
We set off fairly early and our first stop was in Ifrane... which is a little weird. Think French or Swiss Alps type structures.....all very sterile and clean.....very unlike Fez! A little eerie!
Apparently it is a ski resort (or maybe just a snow resort!) as we couldn't see any evidence of ski lifts and those words did not seem to be in our driver's vocabulary.... so we were left in the dark. Sometimes things were 'Lost in Translation'!! And trying to clarify meant we ended up with no-one having any idea as to what the subject was!
However we did see another of the King's Palaces built on top of a hill.... he seems to own a lot!
We visited the house of our driver's aunt, in what had been his grandparent's house, in Azrou......we think she knew about it in advance because of all the baked goods provided! We didn't know until almost there but had noticed our driver making a few phone calls! They were very charming and hospitable....... communication was mostly in French although their daughter and son spoke English quite well and wanted to practice it!
We saw the famed Barbary Apes, Macaques, in the Foret de Cedres just south of Azrou. Initially we were skeptical as we didn't want to go traipsing in the forest.....we needn't have worried....they have found that tourists ply them with food and so come towards areas of parked cars.
Bee hives! Mountain honey is a big business here!
We were very happy with our choice of the Riad Madu when we arrived in Merzouga. This sat on the edge of the Erg Chebbi Dunes, with a pool overlooking it. The rooms were great! We were looking for walls rather than the usual camel ride to a tent in the desert!
Arriving in time to see the sunset over the desert we drove into it a little way....definitely needed the 4x4!
We found that a commercial was being made with a rally car.....interesting to watch!
It was for Repsol, a Spanish oil company.
On returning to the hotel we found we were actually sharing with this group....
Dinner was served in the courtyard......not too much choice....tajine or tajine!
However it was actually OK! We were definitely expecting to have local food.... and it was included in the cost of our stay!
We had brought our own wine.....an email sent earlier asking if they served wine got a response which said basically "yes.....but we often run out so best to bring your own" !! The Repsol group had also brought lots of their own wine....but others looked enviously at us! Obviously they had run out!!
We set off fairly early and our first stop was in Ifrane... which is a little weird. Think French or Swiss Alps type structures.....all very sterile and clean.....very unlike Fez! A little eerie!
Apparently it is a ski resort (or maybe just a snow resort!) as we couldn't see any evidence of ski lifts and those words did not seem to be in our driver's vocabulary.... so we were left in the dark. Sometimes things were 'Lost in Translation'!! And trying to clarify meant we ended up with no-one having any idea as to what the subject was!
However we did see another of the King's Palaces built on top of a hill.... he seems to own a lot!
We visited the house of our driver's aunt, in what had been his grandparent's house, in Azrou......we think she knew about it in advance because of all the baked goods provided! We didn't know until almost there but had noticed our driver making a few phone calls! They were very charming and hospitable....... communication was mostly in French although their daughter and son spoke English quite well and wanted to practice it!
We saw the famed Barbary Apes, Macaques, in the Foret de Cedres just south of Azrou. Initially we were skeptical as we didn't want to go traipsing in the forest.....we needn't have worried....they have found that tourists ply them with food and so come towards areas of parked cars.
We could have taken a ride into the forest ........ but were not tempted!
The scenery en route through the Middle Atlas mountains was certainly spectacular......
We were very happy with our choice of the Riad Madu when we arrived in Merzouga. This sat on the edge of the Erg Chebbi Dunes, with a pool overlooking it. The rooms were great! We were looking for walls rather than the usual camel ride to a tent in the desert!
Arriving in time to see the sunset over the desert we drove into it a little way....definitely needed the 4x4!
We found that a commercial was being made with a rally car.....interesting to watch!
It was for Repsol, a Spanish oil company.
On returning to the hotel we found we were actually sharing with this group....
Dinner was served in the courtyard......not too much choice....tajine or tajine!
However it was actually OK! We were definitely expecting to have local food.... and it was included in the cost of our stay!
We had brought our own wine.....an email sent earlier asking if they served wine got a response which said basically "yes.....but we often run out so best to bring your own" !! The Repsol group had also brought lots of their own wine....but others looked enviously at us! Obviously they had run out!!
No comments:
Post a Comment