A Change of Scenery

A Change of Scenery

I can’t believe we are saying goodbye to Marrakech already. Have we had enough of that city? I’m not sure that answer is yes. But, here we are, climbing into a Toyota Pathfinder with Aziz to drive away. Whether we are done with Marrakech madness or not, we are on our way to discover even more of what Morocco has to offer.

We didn’t appreciate that Morocco has actual mountains – the Atlas Mountains, to be precise. Yeah, I know, call us ignorant, but we’re learning new things every day. The mountains here are amazing. The peaks are usually snow covered, which makes a unique scenic vision against the desert backdrop. The tallest mountain in Africa, next to Kilimanjaro, is Mount Toubkal at 4100 meters asl. The highest point a car can reach here is 2260 meters asl. We went there.

The Tichka pass is not for the faint of heart. I am so glad that I took some Gravol!

Hands up for those of you who have heard of the 4L Trophy? It is a charity race/competition starting in Biarritz, France ending in Marrakech, Morocco and each entrant must drive a Renault 4L vehicle. They are decorated, they are painted and they are so noticeable. We just happened to be here while it was happening. The goal of the race is to get to the final destination in the least amount of kilometers possible – not the fastest but the most efficient. Using GPS is NOT allowed. Along the way, the contestants drop off up to 50kg of school supplies to underprivileged villages. It was amazing to watch all the cars driving along the highway.

Another highlight of today was going to Morocco’s Hollywood: Ouarzazate where Atlas Studios is. There have been so many movies filmed here – Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Aladdin, Cleopatra, The Mummy, and TV shows – Game of Thrones, Prison Break, and a few Brazilian telenovelas. Unfortunately, nothing was being filmed while we were there, but it was neat to see. Our guide was one of the extras used to make up 200 Unsullied soldiers for the Game of Thrones. His claim to fame, and we were totally there for it!

Overall it was a big driving day for us – well, for our driver. I had a lot of naps. We did make a few stops along the way to see a historical kasbah, an Argan Oil factory and a few different viewpoints. Today we felt like tourists on a tour.

Life is good; our Riad is amazing, our supper was so tasty, our guide/driver is kind and friendly, we met some amazing young men on our tour and we are discovering yet another side of Morocco. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings…

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