9.06.23 Erfoud (Day 7)

You can only make a 10 hour road trip interesting if you are in Morocco. Every two hours there was a clear and dramatic change of landscape. Exiting Fez was a long process, there is a lot of city to pass through, navigating the traffic and ever-present round-about. Again we saw a lot of construction in the ever increasing city. Then I nodded off being tired because of disturbed sleep having been roused by the call two prayer at 0318. It sounded as though the loud speaker was in our courtyard. Loud and persistent for about a minute, then silence.

It is Berber territory south of Fes. Climbing in elevation we come to Ifrane or 'Little Switzerland' where there is snow in winter and ski resorts like alpine buildings. It is apparently very expensive real estate. No wonder, much cooler in summer as well than Fes and Meknes which are boiling in comparison. In winter the snow reaches 1 metre coverage. Jenny tells me the drive was very scenic. This is farmland and trees. By the time I woke we were in the mountains, over 2000m. Everything is lush and green. Grass is thick beneath the massive fur, pine and cedar trees. Despite our elevation the area is surrounded by high hills, and beyond mountains, we even spotted some snow. There is a palace for the king, he owns one in each major city (although spends most of his time in Rabat.)

There are military guards and today like prior days there was a huge police presence with radar for speeding. Our bus driver was detained at one such spot and fined D150 for being 1km over the limit. This makes it clear why drivers are so slow and conservative in their speed. On the road there were a lot of trucks, vans, small trucks (utes) and three wheel bikes that used the rear for storage and transport of product. With the heavy loads and slow speeds mandated the transit up hills was extremely slow and overtaking rarely an option. So travel remained a matter for patience.

Atop the mountain and in the green forests we stopped for a tribe of monkeys (Barbary macaque, otherwise called magots). They live in the wild and move around in their groups. They are mid size and friendly, although not too friendly. It certainly didn't faze them having us walking around in their amidst. There were baby monkeys hanging on to mum and dad around to protect both.

Travelling on, the trees were less frequent and it became a semi arid area with hills and animals grazing. Nomadic herders come here annually in summer to erect their homes and live there while moving their animals for the plentiful food source. There were perhaps one hundred settlements of nomads and tens of herds of goat and sheep, with horses and donkey plentiful as the working animals.

Further the landscape became far more arid with scattered grass and low scrub. At one point we saw a shepherd having his prayers in a field. There are nomads huts here still despite the less abundant feed. Some old stone mud brick houses are found in ruin, a failure from natural cause.

Beyond there is limited vegetation but dominating hills on each side with rugged appearance. We received an outstanding lesson in geology and history form Johannes who by coincidence has been in this very place 25 years ago when he did detailed surveying. He explained ancient seas of about 10 metres depth, upheaval of the stone floor to create the rugged ridges (past reefs) and apparent curved strata which actually is flat but eroded, giving the appearance of curvature.

Roadwork is going to make this a great highway, but for now it is dusty and pot holed, detour after detour. Eventually, after a couple of comfort breaks along the extra rough road we arrived at an oasis, that stretches across many kilometres and is possibly 1/2 km wide and full of date palms. I asked how this is an oasis as I have the Hollywood vision of a spring in a sand area surrounded by sand dunes and a few palm trees, not hectares of crop trees. The answer? This particular oasis is man made by damming the river which flows through, and using a system of aqueducts either side to direct the water back to the trees. But it is deemed an oasis, with many homes alongside it, and a number of villages as well, although located on higher ground.

The hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. A two storey construction with modern air-conditioned rooms all opening to a swimming pool (I counted 4 pools). There is a sauna and spa in the health and fitness area. A number of dining options are provided, mainly inside but a large number outside to enjoy the evening warmth.