Through Deserts and Mountains, the Long Way Back

At the highest point of the pass crossing the Atlas Mountains

The final three days in Morocco were mostly travel days, with short picture stops here and there. We awoke in our Luxury Desert camp in the Sahara and Brahim began the long drive back to Ouarzazate. He reminded us that we could stop to take pictures wherever we wanted, and we did oblige a few times. We were returned a different route to see more of the Moroccan countryside. It was scenic, but not nearly as dramatic as the Dades and Todra Gorges.

The decorative gateway to one of the towns we drove through on our way back from the Sahara

At a restroom and refreshment stop in the town of Alnif, I found a little store selling fossils. Silly me, I thought the notion of selling a historical artifact like that would be illegal. Apparently, they’re considered “just rocks,” so not so! The owner pointed out the various trilobites and other early fossilized life forms masquerading as rocks in his store. Apparently, a professor from the U.S. brings his students to this fossil-rich part of Morocco every year to dig. He picks up many of his fossils from the leftovers of their digs. I found a nice trilobite and purchased it for my friend Keith.

Trilobite fossils and a book detailing which variety they are at a small shop in Alnif

The sun was out and it was a pretty drive. Poor Brahim’s cough, which had been present all trip, was getting much worse. I was happy to hear that he had a few days off before his next tour. He had much better luck with police stops this time, too. On our day driving through the gorges, it seemed he was motioned over at police checkpoints every half hour. The checkpoints are VERY numerous in Morocco! Many have radar detectors set up to fine speeders. Others, are just a couple police officers waving cars over semi-randomly, it seemed. For visitors, I guess it is reassuring to see the police out in force maintaining order in the countryside. If I was renting a car, though, I would wonder how many of those checkpoints would be potential speed traps. Do not drive over the speed limit if you are renting a car in Morocco!

The beautiful, rugged scenery on our drive back to Ouarzazate

It was late afternoon when we pulled into Ouarzazate. Brahim dropped us off at our hotel, the Tin Joseph, with its wonderfully welcoming and accommodating owner. True to form, when we asked him for dinner recommendations — we told him we wanted a break from Moroccan cuisine — he gave us a couple choices and then drove us to the one we picked. If you ever stay in Ouarzazate, you can’t go wrong at the Tin Joseph (“tin” means “for” in Berber, and Joseph was his father’s name). It was definitely the nicest place we stayed at during our 10 days in Morocco.

The Taourirt Kasbah in Ouarzazate actually appeared in the Hollywood movie, Prince of Persia

The next day, we had a lazy morning until our transport picked us up to cross the Atlas Mountains and take us back to Marrakech. There was only one sight we really wanted to check out in town, the Taourirt Kasbah, which appeared in the Hollywood movie, Prince of Persia. It was expanded and grew to its present sprawling size in the 1800s, but fell on hard times in the 1950s. Since then, UNESCO and local organizations have cleaned it up, kicked out squatters who’d been living there, and even installed a local artist’s cooperative. We waved off the offers of guides, paid our admission, and began to wander. There were perhaps a dozen or more other travelers checking it out. Some had guides, others like us did not.

My favorite part of the Kasbah was up on the rooftop with the mud brick towers gleaming in the sun

The best parts of the kasbah were up on the roof. The morning sun was gleaming off of its red, mud-brick surface, making a lovely contrast with the blue sky. There were no signs, but it was fairly easy to guess which where guardrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and such. I am always a fan of climbing stairs or ladders to access the out of the way places in a historical sight, but there were a couple I chose not do at Taourirt. Some required you to bend over nearly double, and there was one ladder that would have required me to pull myself up the last four feet or so by holding onto the floor above. I chose to take a pass there! Does that mean I’m getting older? I am 61, and do wonder from time to time when I might notice myself “slowing down” or taking the easy way at sites. Was Morocco the first step in that direction, with my Luxury camp and not climbing onto the roof of a random guardhouse at Ouarzazate’s kasbah?

We had an enjoyable, scenic ride over the Atlas Mountains from Ouarzazate to Marrakech

It was getting towards checkout time at our hotel, so we took a cab back. We never paid more than $2 for a cab in Oaurzazate, though most had never heard of Tin Joseph. The owner had given us a card to hand to cab drivers with directions, and on a couple occasions, I showed them Apple Maps on my iPhone, detailing our route. We cleaned up a bit back at the hotel, finishing packing, and then sat out on the little patio out front until our transport showed up.

Some of the great views on our drive through the Berber hill towns of the Atlas Mountains

On the way down, it had been rainy and we’d seen nothing of the supposedly dramatic views. This time, we lucked out, though, and had a gorgeous, sunny day. What’s more, instead of being crammed in the back of a 16-passenger van, we were up front with the driver. We had front row seats for an incredible, beautiful crossing of the High Atlas Mountains. The windows of the van were tinted a little, but that didn’t seem to affect my pictures. I must have snapped more than 50 on the way up and over the mountains.

Being from the flatlands of Ohio, seeing snow-capped mountains is always a thrill

The biggest thrill was seeing the snow-capped peaks of the highest mountain tops at the beginning of the drive. We watched the rugged, rocky terrain slip by, punctuated by the occasional small Berber hill town. The road was in excellent condition, though rockfalls in a couple places forced us to detour for a hundred yards or so on what was obviously the older, original road. I asked the driver how long ago the new road had been built. He said it was built less than 20 years ago to minimize the switchbacks. You could see when you approached a mountain spur where they’d dynamited their was through a portion of it, while the disused two-lane road took the long way and veered around it.

Each Berber hillside town had its own mosque and charms as we passed them by

We pulled over for lunch, and yes, it was another “menu of the day” with multiple courses. My willpower had been strong all trip and I had refused to touch the excellent looking tomato and cucumber salads (one of my favorites back home). I nibbled a bit at this one, though, and promptly paid for it three days later, I believe. The food was average, like most of the places that catered to tourists. If you do go to Morocco, do your best to strike out and eat at non-touristy places and where we found the food will likely be much better.

Our driver stopped at a scenic viewpoint at the highest point of the pass

The other stop was at a mountain pass — probably the highest point on our drive. The asphalt switchbacks were laid out before us in both directions, like black squiggly lines drawn on the terrain by a crazy god-child. The hills were like a rumpled brown blanket rolling away from us in all directions. The wind outside the van was roaring, but the sun was shining. Everyone eagerly hopped out and hurried to the viewing points. It was stunning. Far below, picked out by my telephoto lens, I saw several mountain villages nestled along a river valley. A thin group of olive-colored trees marked the river while rectangular mud brick or concrete buildings spread up the hillside. It was a stark landscape, and made me think that life would not be easy for the Berber villagers on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains.

Life must be difficult for the inhabitants of the hill towns and villages of the rugged Atlas Mountains

As we descended to the other side of the pass, heading towards the plains, the earth became less brown and more of the dusty red we had been seeing all throughout the trip. The villages became towns and had a higher proportion of more modern buildings. Occasional yellow and blue colors showed up on walls, but the reddish-brown color scheme still predominated. Just about every building, though, seemed to have a million dollar view out their windows. Life may be difficult here, but the natural beauty perhaps gave the inhabitants of the Atlas some salve to their hardship. More than once we passed groups of people standing along the roadside staring off at a distant panorama.

It was a special day of mountain panoramas for me, but the people of the mountains enjoyed it every day

As we arrived in the plains, the scenic views became less plentiful and the traffic began to increase. On the outskirts of Marrakech, we passed an accident scene. The driver of a motorbike was sitting in the middle of the road, his back propped up by a friend or passer by. Traffic was stopped all around him as everyone waited for the ambulance to arrive. Our driver shook his head and clucked, “So many accidents - so many crazy drivers!” We had seen motorbikes driving with abandon throughout the trip, but that was the first accident we had seen. The accident victim didn’t appear to be bleeding, but stared, dazed, at the ground in front of him.

The Mountain views like this one slowly faded away as we entered the plains and neared Marrakech

We arrived in Marrakech as the sun was setting, and used our phones to navigate to our new “Riad” — or small family hotel in the Medina. On the drive back, we’d decided to just take it easy tomorrow, on our final day in Morocco. We’d do some shopping for souvenirs and hopefully enjoy our last taste of warm weather. It was supposed to be in the 80s, while back home that morning snow was apparently on the ground. We could have taken another day trip somewhere, but nothing jumped out to us. We also wanted a short day since our flight left at 6am the following morning, which meant a 2am wakeup time to get through the chaotic Marrakech airport. Although it ended slow with mostly time in transit, Morocco had been a great trip. I’d seen beautiful scenery, thrilling historic sights, and enjoyed my time there. I was glad that I finally got a chance to visit. It was worth the 3-4 year wait after Covid had cancelled our first attempt to go here!

So many great sights and so many fascinating places in my 10 days in Morocco!