Jan 3rd. With our new Moroccan friends Tate and I were able to see a part of Morocco that few travelers ever experience. We were able to glimpse Morocco as a local, getting a inside look, feel, and taste of Morocco. We rented motorbikes and visited the Atlas mountains which overlook all of Marrakesh and the surrounding villages. Driving motorbikes in morocco is a crazy experience that involves dodging oncoming cars, trucks, humans, and the occasional donkey carriage or stray camel. After about an hour of dodging and weaving we made it to the beginning of the mountains.
The lifestyles in the mountains were much different from the cities. Some of the people that live in these mountains are actually remnants of the indigenous Moroccan population known as Berbers. People up here make their living through various trades from creating pottery to small scale farming. We actually saw a lot of the goods that they sell in the larger towns and cities being made up in these hills. As the day came to the end we filled up on tangine (Moroccan dish) and we raced down the mountain to meet a 5:00 pm deadline on the return of our motorbikes. Tate rode on the back and snapped pictures as we sped down this old windy mountain road at 70 kmh Looking back it was not the smartest thing we have done, but probably one of the most fun!
Now we are in Essaouira which is a small town on the coast of Morocco. We took a 4 hour bus ride that was scheduled to leave Marrakesh at 10:30 but did not take off until about 11:45 but that is the way most of the public transportation around here works. Essaouira is a beautiful town probably my favorite place I have been to so far. The whole town is painted blue and white and since the Medina walls actually border the sea the whole town has that fresh salty feel about it. The people here are extremely friendly as well, not has pushy as the city folk of Marrakesh.
We move on to the Sahara desert from here and then down to Dakar, Senegal to pick up our car. I will be so relieved to finally get our car back, it was way back in October that we dropped off our car with the very incompetent shipping company Schumacher Cargo Logistics and now half way across the world we will finally have it back again!! Hopefully everything works and has not been stolen.... ha I am sure it will all be fine.
Hope everyone is doing well we are always thinking of you guys.
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great to hear that things are going well, besides for a few bumps. sounds like your guys' trip has been extraordinary and i'm envious of what you're experiencing. i can't wait to see some pictures. its a little late but i hope the holidays spent internationally went alright, sounds like they did, and happy new year. hope everything keeps running smoothly and i wish you three good luck(even though you are already the luckiest person i know keegan)
ReplyDeletep.s. you might want to double check your shoes and clothes in the mornings when you get the the sahara. i watched a show where this girl got stung by a deathstalker scorpion and it didn't look to pleasant.