Morocco Day 6: Long rides, beautiful scenery, and a night in the desert

Hello, there! It's been quite a while, but things have been a bit busy for me over here. After leaving Spain I visited Colombia for a couple of days, and stayed the weekend in New York before flying back home to the Philippines. Things have finally settled down, and I'm back with some desert photos in tow! We took a three day tour across the desert from Fes to Marrakech, so I'll be splitting up the posts per day as I've been doing. :)

After a full day in Fes the day before, we packed up our bags, got a good night's rest, and were up and ready by 7:30 the next morning. When planning for our trip weeks ago, we knew that we wanted to take a trip to the desert. We were originally thinking of taking a tour from Marrakech, but when researching online we found tours going from Fes to Marrakech, so we decided to do that instead. We ended up booking with Sahara Desert Crew, which I will write about later on.

Our driver Mohammad picked us up at the hostel, and we stopped to buy some water before heading to the car. By 8am we were settled in and ready to begin our adventure. We drove off towards our first stop, only stopping once to buy some breakfast and fruits for the car. At about 9:30, we reached our first destination: Ifrane, a mountain village which is known as the Switzerland of Morocco. When we arrived, it was easy to see why!

The town, located in the Middle Atlas Mountains, was supposedly built in the 1920s for the French expat community, and has chalets, villas, European style cafés, and spas. It resembles a scaled down version of a European ski resort town.

Our driver Mohammad didn't have the best English, but according to him it only snows twice: in March (when we were there) and in October. In fact, the snow had been so heavy that just a few days before we were there, some of the roads were closed due to the snow.

We walked around a bit snapping pictures and then it was back in the car for our next stop. At about 10:15 we reached Azrou, a Berber village in the middle of the largest cedar forest in Morocco. The highlight of the this stop was that we'd get to see Barbary macaques (monkeys).

Random story - when I was researching for desert tours, almost all of them highlighted that you'd be seeing monkeys on the tour. I found it quite amusing, but I guess it appeals to many Europeans as there are no wild monkeys in their continent.

The monkeys were quite amusing, but we weren't as enthralled as the other tourists seemed to be. They were quite playful and not aggressive at all; they would just sit on those stumps pictured above and wait for tourists to give them food.

Then it was back in the car for more long hours of driving. A word of caution: the desert tour is more of a scenic route through Morocco, and requires long hours in the car. While the scenery was gorgeous and we very much enjoyed, it's something that may not be for everyone. The car was very comfortable, equipped with air conditioning, but since we were there during cold months, it wasn't necessary for us. There were times when we would just roll down the window and enjoy the breeze. (Though in the hot summer months, the aircon would definitely be a huge help). We also enjoyed it a lot because it was just the three of us, so we had more than enough space in the car, and we could go at our own pace.

Leaving Ifrane

A short bathroom break at Hotel Taddart

We passed through Midelt, a town famous for its apples, and continued on enjoying the views of the hills and mountains of the Atlas. After a few hours of driving, we stopped for lunch at 1:30. Morocco, we learned, follows a late lunch schedule similar to that of Spain. The lunch at the restaurant was pricey (120dh for just one plate), but it was the only restaurant in sight, and the next town was almost an hour away, so we had no choice but to eat there. We all shared one plate (a tajine kefta), and just ate all of the bread to stuff ourselves. (Lunch and drinks were not included in the tour price, which we knew, but wished we had stopped in a less touristy restaurant).

We ate quickly and left at around 2pm, continuing our drive. We travelled through the Tizi Ntalghamt pass and the Ziz Gorge, and also made a quick stop at Errachidia to snap some pictures. It was interesting to see the change of scenery as we were driving: from Ifrane's snow, to greener landscapes which turned into light green grass, and then eventually a more barren landscape.

The city of Errachidia was one of the cities located along the Ziz River. We made another stop further down and saw a Berber village across the road.

There were not a lot of cars around and it was a peaceful drive. At one point we were stopped by the police for a random check. The tour companies are very legit, and their cars and companies are registered. The police checked our driver's papers, and they also checked that the car had the required first aid kit and fire extinguisher. I was also pleasantly surprised on the quality of the roads. Most of the roads we were on were paved, and contributed to a good trip.

We continued traveling along the Ziz River and the Ziz Valley, stopping every now and then for some panoramic views. We stopped in Erfoud...

...and in Rissani, which also happened to be the hometown of Mohammad. He gifted us with a box of dates, which were popular treats in his town. (We didn't try them though as we decided to keep the box sealed to gift our dad.)

By the gateway to Rissani

We finally arrived at Merzouga late in the afternoon at around 5pm and made our way to our hotel, Kasbah Mohayut. Merzouga is a now popular town because it serves as the jump-off point for trips to the Erg Chebbi dunes. The town is filled with hotels, resorts, cafés, and restaurants, and many travellers leave their things there before spending a night or two at the desert.

Signs for all the hotels at Merzouga

At our hotel, we were instructed to prepare a small backpack to bring with us, along with a water bottle, a scarf, and shoes. (We really didn't need much as we would just sleep in our clothes and shower the next day back at the hotel.) We were told to move quickly so that we could catch the sunset, so we hopped on our camels, and left at around 5:45.

Our camels waiting for us

Beginning the trek to the camp

The place we were in was called Erg Chebbi. It is one of Morocco's two Saharan (desert) ergs or sand dunes, and they were a sight to behold.

Basically, it was miles and miles of undisturbed sand, save for a few trails where the camels pass. The golden color was so beautiful, especially at that time of the day, close to sunset.

We weren't at the campsite yet but we stopped for a bit to take some pictures because the light was so gorgeous.

Then we hopped back on our camels, and arrived at the campsite... 5 minutes later. Haha. We settled down, and watched one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen.

We then spent the rest of the evening walking around, climbing the dunes, and just basking in the beauty of it all. We had some mint tea, and met with the rest of the travellers staying at our campsite. Dinner followed (lots of traditional Moroccan food), then we went back outside to walk under the clear night sky. We ended the night with some traditional Berber music by the bonfire.