Morocco Part 1

Thursday 6th March 2008: We were awoken at 6am this morning from our car park sleep with the prayer calling from the 20 or so mosques in the immediate vicinity. Now we know we are in Morocco.
The streets were busy yesterday evening, but this morning they are quite up until 10am. We indulged in some very strong, but good local coffee and some very sweet but tasty cakes waiting for the internet to open. My memory stick decided not to work so it was a challenge to find a new one. The locals are very friendly and are keen to help. And with that help we found upstairs room selling computer stuff and our 1GB stick for less than A$20, and of course, plus the 7 Dirhams (A$1.20) tip for the friendly help.
We left own around midday and followed a valley into the Riff Mountains and to the town of Chefchaouen. The town is wedged onto the side of the mountains, the small streets steep but the surrounding views picturesque. We parked the truck and walked up and down the busy streets which were cluttered with vendors selling the local produce: oranges, lots of good looking greens and vegies, eggs, live chickens, and fresh meat. Intermingled are myriads of second hand shoes and clothes, then the hardware requirements for local farmers.
Now on the other side of the Riff Mountains we are camped near the old Roman ruins of Volubilis. Having two hours as the sun set was a perfect time to explore. Typical Roman columns and paved streets, waterfalls, and fast courtyards, this must have been impressive in its time. Atop two of the largest columns were two stalk nests, the young chicks attended to by both parents.
We disobeyed our own rule in trying to find a camp site before sunset, and finished paying a local 15Dh (A$2 and a bit) to camp beside his ‘shop’ Well more a bench with some rock displayed that he is trying to sell. I guess we will have to look at this tomorrow morning before we are allowed to leave!
Camp No 8: Roman Ruins Camp. Distance Travelled: 269Kms Total: 3260Kms

Friday 7th March: As we arose at 7am this morning out new found friend was eagerly awaiting for us to alight from the vehicle. Well, he had to wait until we had had our first cup of coffee. Now that we were ready to move he ran over with a bag of rocks, hat turned out to be lumps of calcite, not very exciting, but he wanted to swap these for some clothes. Well at least that is what we concluded. As I tried to give the rocks back, he refused, only running away and returning with two crudely made clay cooking stands. I really did not have a shirt that I had to give away, so we settled on 4 biros, a smile, a firm hand shake, and for Lyn, a cuddle and a kiss!
As we drove, only 2 kilometres past where we turned around last night was a camping ground. But we do have a bag of useless rocks to remember the evening.
Arriving at Meknes, we parked the truck, and headed off into the medina. This is the old walled part of the city. Mud houses packed tightly together, streets or lanes so narrow some of them you can touch both sides with outstretched arms. They were like a maze. More than once we were lost, it was only the inbuilt GPS that saved us. Past shoe and clothing stalls, mattress stuffers, and bed makers, we found the fresh food markets, and from different stalls we purchased our supplies.
Heading deep into the east of Morocco we started to climb the Atlas Mountains. At 2,500metres we could see the spectacular snow capped High Atlas in the distance.
Descending back into the valley, we are camped at Timnay, with a group of French campervans, and with those snow capped mountains as a backdrop.
Camp No 9: French Tourist Camp. Distance Travelled: 263Kms. Total: 3460Kms

Saturday 8th March: Couple of small problems to start the day with, firstly he computer has started to again split its pages into 5 horizontal pages, making downloading of our photographs impossible, although I have a work around for ‘word’. Secondly we are constantly running out of small change. The ATM’s are plentiful, but we get 200Dh notes and they are too big for the vendors.
The area we are driving through is like the Grand Canyon. The Ziz River has cut a huge canyon through surrounding sedimentary layers, and we follow the river for 200Kms all the way into the Sahara Desert where it eventually disappears. The surrounding country is a palaeontologist’s paradise; beside the road are sellers of fossils. I check out a few, but am pleased we did not buy anything until we reached south of Erfoud. At the Museum of Fossils I acquired a very nice Trilobite and a 10cm Dinosaur tooth for 150Dh each (about A$20).
Beside the river are date palms and typical square mud brick houses. Along the road the locals use donkeys as the means of transport, both for themselves and their produce. The men are dressed in jellaba the traditional robes, and the women like wise attired. If it was not for the satellite dishes on the house rooves, the scene would be just out of a religious story
Eventually the mountains disappear, and the ground gives way to a flat gibber plain. In the distance appear the huge Sahara Sand Dunes of Erg Chebbi.
It is beside these dunes we are camped tonight, in a tourist camp. Dinner was a traditional Moroccan mince dish, with lots of fresh salad.
Camp No 10: Sahara Desert Camp. Distance Travelled: 313Kms Total: 3774Kms

Sunday 9th March: We started today with the obligatory sunrise camel trek up the dunes. It was still dark at 5.45am when we rose to a chilly morning. For about an hour we slowly climbed the big dunes. We both commented on the fact that we were pleased it was only for an hour and not an all day trip. The single humped camel is not at all comfortable on the pelvis. Sitting on the dues top we watched the sun rise over the Algerian mountains to a give a hazy mist over the valley, unfortunately it was not concussive to photography.
Our destination was the furtherest point that Morocco stretched into the Sahara and on the very edge of Algeria. Tarouz was the small village where the road ends, and has nothing to offer other than the locals indicating to turn around. I had other plans; the maps show a dotted line up the other side of the valley that would return us about 50Kms from whence we started. It was a rough sandy track, or piste in Moroccan. We think we are isolated but at three junctions where we are thinking which way to go, miraculously a local appears on a small motor bike happy to help with directions…for a few Dirhams of course.
The locals are very friendly, especially the young ones, always waving at the road side. But we are getting a bit annoyed at the constant haggling for money. If you stop on the side of the road to take a photograph someone is always running to you to offer tours, camel rides, camping, or just to charge you parking fees.
Finally we are moving in the correct GPS direction, unaided by willing helpers. Travelling over vast gibber plains and folded sedimentary ridges, we discover a valley where the rocks are rich with fossils. Ammonites, and other shell fish are in a continuous line of strata. Naturally this line has been dug over to supply all those tourist shops we see on the road side. It was however nice to add a couple of self found pieces to our collection of fossils.
Our plan was to free camp next to the big red Sahara dunes, but every place we thought was looking promising already had a series of mud houses or a tourist camp. It is hard to find a quiet spot even in the Sahara Desert. We forget that a country that has been inhabited for thousands of years has every good spot already spoken for. Finally after numerous attempts we settle for a small valley overlooking the dunes. We are about 12kms off the road, but even here vehicles drive by, and even the odd tourist train of camels out for a sunset ride appear over the rise. Finally after sunset, all is quiet.
Camp 11: Hard to find Isolation Camp.
Distance travelled: 191Kms. Total: 3965Kms.