Left the security of our campsite to drive further south to the picturesque town of Chefchaouen, famous for the many narrow streets and blue and white houses.
Today was the first time that we had driven on Moroccan A roads. Visualise a rutted minor road in the UK, with the odd stretch of newly laid tarmac and gravel hard shoulders. Add runaway cattle, slow moving lorries, steep gradients, people who leap out into the road as if to commit suicide, when all they want to do is wave, and you have our journey today.
For many a mile we passed shack after shack selling pottery and tagines. These are Moroccan cooking pots in which meat, veg and cuscus are slowly stewed. Once served to the customer, the pot is smashed and the clay is recycled. Don't know what Deliah would make of it!
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The Mid Atlas Mountains |
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Ladies off to work in the fields |
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A Kasbah |
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Giant grasses |
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Berber gentleman entering a fabric shop |
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Todays campsite, protected by high walls and gates to make us feel secure |
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Just spotted this giant owl in a pine tree behind our van. |
So here we are in the Mid - Atlas Mountains, parked almost at a summit, looking down on an amazing panorama of almond and olive trees, small cultivated plots of land, cedars and tethered cows and goats. We have seen donkeys with panniers filled with hay and fig trees dripping with fruit. There have been women in bright red skirts and incredible straw hats covered with multi - coloured pompoms and elderly gentlemen wearing Berber coats with pointed hoods. Can't wait to write more later.
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