Thanks for the pics. Epic trip!

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More dunes with the Sony's dramatic setting.

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The nomads call this the poison plant/tree. It grows everywhere in the scrub. The juice of the fruit will blind you for 6 months if you get any in your eye. But they also use it to treat eczema. The wood stinks so they don't use it as firewood either.

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The area had a good rain last year & it was still lush with plants in spots. The nomads have turned their camels loose to feed. There were hundreds of them. The dust in the back is from some 4X4s. Said (our driver) pointed out some babies. We said "How cute" & he said "Tasty!" The small plant in front is edible if you boil it twice - the 2nd time with herbs. Our driver led two other guides to the camp - because they didn't know the way. :eek: No one had a GPS . . . You have to feel your way through the desert via the many tracks.

Ian

We arrived in Taroudant Thursday & yesterday was a lounge day after our hectic pace. Yesterday we stayed in our luxe riad 6km from the town. We chilled by the pool much of the day.

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The vague outline in the back is the High Atlas Mountains & we can see the Anti Atlas clearly to the south.

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The owner hired Berber artisans to handcraft all of the woodwork.

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Taroudant is an 11th century walled city. The walls were nice but the city is a lot worse than Marrakech - for shopping & cleanliness. We walked into one incense-filled metal goods shop in the Arab souk & I got high for 1/2 hour. I believe the owner was using the incense to mask other smokables that were still in the air. It was not a pleasant surprise.

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I certainly have never seen sheep & goats eating garbage in a town before.

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The obligatory meat in open window photo.

We are off to the seaside town of Essaouira tomorrow. Famous as a hippe hangout in the 60s/70s.

Ian

Missed one picture . . . Our private terrace . . .

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Ian

If you have a woman in your household, you may have heard of Argan oil. It is the latest craze in beauty care for hair & skin. It is made from the hard nuts of the Argan tree which grows wild in the mountains of middle Morocco. A pulp is removed to reveal the nut which is crushed & the oil is extracted. You can use it for cooking & a peanut butter tasting paste.

Well . . . The story goes that goats first ate it by climbing in the trees & eating the pulp & crapping out the nuts which people collected. Now it is made by co-ops everywhere in southern Morocco. After miles & miles of keeoing our eyes open while driving, we finally saw some 'Goats in Trees' beside the highway . . .

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Ian

In Essaouira, an old port city used by the Carthaginians, Romans et etc. Basically a smaller, tamer Marrakech.

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The city walls.

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Known for their blue boats.

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A wide windy beach makes it perfect for wind surfing etc.

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Spooky alleys in the medina.

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Obligatory cannon, fort, blue boat photo.

A little French goes a long way here . . .

Ian

Back home now. We finished our trip with 3 nights in Paris . . .

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Ian

WOW, Wish that I could go!

Ian Thanks for sharing your trip with us with good story telling and exellent pictures,
I really enjoyed following along.

Wondering about your thoughts looking back now that you are home. Are you glad that you chose to go and check out Morroco? was the trip out into the desert what you hoped it would be? General impressions?

Cheers Richard

Some very nice pics... sounds like a great vacation...

Not to Hijack... but I wonder why "blue" is the color of choice for the fishing fleet..

now my hijack

In my wifes hometown Hangu, Tianjin, China....

Blue boats..

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Oops point of my post.

Morocco and China are thousands of miles removed....... why are the boats the same color?

Ian, that was great! Thank you. :)

Yes, to all. It was a great destination. Easy to travel around with a lot of infrastructure to support tourists. We felt safe everywhere although some of the cities/towns might be dodgy at night if you wander into the wrong areas. Riads & meals can be done very economically as well. We traveled sort of mid-range. Our driver was $1200 for 5 days including the desert camp costs & one night in Zagora.

I will admit that the food got boring. Tagines (stews) & brouchettes (shish kebab) were the staples with fresh fruit & veggies making up 90% of the diet. Chicken, lamb, kefta (grd lamb or beef). We could have tried goat & camel but we didn't. A shepherd even offered me camel milk. No fish available except on the coast. Marrakech & Essaouira had a lot more variety. Liquor can also be a problem in some areas but most tourist areas have something. I bought 6 bottles of wine in Marrakech & it came in very handy. Our riad in Taroudant was dry.

You must be Muslim-tolerant. It was never an issue for us but it is ever-present. The Moroccans are also picture-shy so you have to be sly & fast with a small camera to get good people shots. Or ask & offer to pay a pittance.

English is a 3rd or 4th language at best. It is possible to do but my rudimentary knowledge of French made it far, far easier to communicate, negotiate, ask directions etc. Essaouira is a major French quickie holiday get-away.

The roads were good but engaging. They crap out to 1 1/2 lanes in the south. You share the road with cars, vans, camels, donkey carts, motor scooters, bicycles, schoolkids . . . etc. Even though I would/could have driven it, I was glad to be a passenger. We came upon one nasty 'fresh' accident in the Draa valley.

Marrakech: Narrow alleys filled with people, stores, aggressive vendors, speeding motor scooters, horse-carts . . . the main square Jemaa el Fna turns into a huge food stall at night. 2 - 3 days is enough & you will want to escape. If you love shopping & negotiating for everything, it is a must.

The High Atlas/Anti Atlas/Draa Valley: Stunning vistas that will keep your camera humming & your head turning. The High Atlas are green on the Marrakech side & brown high desert on the southern side. Gorges, folded mountains . . . incredible. The Draa Valley is rimmed with mountains with scrub desert as the date palm plantations follow the river. Mud brick villages with crumbling kasbahs everywhere.

The Chegaga desert was our highlight. The dunes, the rocky trails, the flat lake pans, the ever-present mountains, grazing camels, hidden nomads . . . impossible to describe. With a good driver to guide you it is spectacular. I can now tie a classic Bedouin turban.

Taroudant: This was a gritty little-touristed town. Our least favorite & we carefully avoided going in at night. It was worth a look but we were really glad we stayed in a deluxe riad south of the town. The Berber & Arab souks were for local shopping.

Essaouira: A very small contained medina made it easily approachable. Very safe although I was offered a nice chunk of black Moroccan hash in our 1st hour in town. We had great weather in the high 70s & no wind but this was a rarity. It is a sail board etc wind-sport mecca for many.

We have over 1000 pictures to cull through & I will post a link to my trip report once I write it.

Blue is a historical color used throughout Morocco. The Berbers traditionally wear blue turbans & blue robes (Bedouin wear black). Cobalt is mined in the country & that was the source of the dye. Essaouira was also one of the sources for Roman Imperial Purple dye from the murex sea snail.

In Essaouira many doors & shutters are also blue.

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Ian

too late now, but they have lens add-ons with a right-angled mirror in them - good for candids

thx for an interesting thread - and I hope you sold a bunch of high-end audio equipment to the beduins

No. The only Bedouin who I got to know was Said, our driver. A really nice man & very interesting. A past-customer in AZ is an author. She wants to ghost his life as a Bedouin. I would like to make him the same offer.

Here's a lucky unedited (only cropped & reduced) pic I took of him at sunset in the Chegaga camp.

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Ian

quasi-joke re Bedouins as they are nomadic (or were)

OTOH - in Mongolia the nomads pack PV panels and TVs with Sat. dishes with them - set them up in the yurt and cowabunga!

They still are . . .

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Although there are more Berbers than Bedouin. Shot at 60 mph out of the SUV side window west of Tazenakht in the Anti Atlas wastelands.

Ian

PS I got the joke. ;) I did run into some Brits that owned Cambridge. And a French-Canadian couple that knew of my boss & lived 5 miles from him . . . they were the other 2 couples in the desert camp. Only 6 people + staff & drivers. We got lucky.

Just to wrap up, if anybody wants to read my very lengthy trip report with pictures see: Morocco Trip Report

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Ian

Thanks.
What a great experience.