So, we left the chaotic and colorful Fes and headed towards the place Azrou . First we drove almost alone on the highway and then continued on the regional road. Urban was sleeping, Klara needed some entertainment, but in between I still looked at the well-tended fields. They were picking onions. Soon we crossed the Middle Atlas and quickly arrived at our apartment. I had a washing machine and I immediately did one We arrived quite late, so we quickly went to the eerie forest of dead cedars. National Park Ifrane is full of mighty cedars, we went to Cedre Gouraud Forest -a. We were looking for an attraction for children of course- monkeys ! We were really late, it was also quite cold here, we found the monkeys right away. They lurk and wait where and when a tourist with a banana will appear. Klara screamed with excitement, Urban watched them with awe. In short: a cute attraction for children . The place was really creepy, like from a horror movie, it was already getting dark. Black ravens were flying everywhere and most of the cedars were dead. On the way to our apartment, the sky gave us a beautiful sunset.
Middle Atlas
Ifrane National Park
The next morning we started our epic journey to the Sahara. When we typed our destination into Google Maps (which doesn't work in Morocco by the way - we used the offline Here app to help us), the app showed us that there was a 390 kilometers and six hours drive . The roads are right. quite I wouldn't describe it, it was mainly long . We stopped six times . The children slept for approx. 2 hours. The roads in Morocco are in good condition, there is also a pothole every now and then. Fortunately, there is not much traffic outside the cities. The speed limit is 60 in settlements, 80 outside or unlimited when you are really in the middle of nowhere. There are many police officers with radars. There are also many police checkpoints so caution is in order. We made a longer stop for lunch in the town of Errachidia. The landscape was mostly uninhabited, empty, flat, hilly in places. We also drove through oases, along rivers (small and large). Shortly before the finish line, a tractor crashed into us. He wanted to turn left on a two-lane road (we were on the left) and made a dent in our panda with his tire. Of course, the driver spoke Arabic and French. We spoke English with some basic French. The word shelves they understood immediately. We demanded that they find someone who spoke English, otherwise we would call the police. Less than half a minute later, a man with excellent English was standing in front of us. The driver looked like he had no money, I doubt the tractor was even registered (it did have a license plate). We had full insurance so that in the end we decided not to call the police. Now when we get home we are all started with rentalcars.com, we get full refund, so full insurance - full refund. At the airport, when we returned the car, they were making out, flirting and calling someone but I doubt they'll ever fix that dent...
So, already quite tired from the drive and exhausted, at one point we saw the dunes quite close. Is this really it ? There was even blown sand on the asphalt road. Orange Sahara sand. A little further and we saw our destination - the town of Merzouga and the dunes in the background. Magnificent! In Merzouga, it's almost the end of the world, all you have to do is go into the desert. The road to our guesthouse was more suitable for jeeps , but we managed it. After a potholed macadam road and a whole day's drive, we packed our panda in the first place. Our guesthouse was right in front of the dunes. In the evening we went to visit the camels. Urban was overjoyed. Klara too, as soon as I put her down. Sand , sand everywhere. In a minute, sand was everywhere: in her diaper, in her hair, in her mouth. Fuck him , let them enjoy themselves. Sunset was approaching, we watched as quad bikes, motorbikes and jeeps raced across the dunes. We said good night to the camels, ate a hearty dinner and went to bed. The next day we took a walk . In the morning we jumped to the nearby salt lake with flamingos. Unfortunately, they were quite far away. Urban, with the help of the guide/seller, managed to hold a mini frog. Before our afternoon nap, we jumped into the pool. Just Vasja and I, the water was too cold.
At 4:30 p.m., finally, a camel ride into the desert. They both endured the 40 minutes on the camel perfectly. Klara didn't complain, Urban found it extremely interesting. to hold the balance of the camel . There were as many as 30 camels in our caravan. We then waited for the sunset on the dunes. Urban and Klara enjoyed themselves immensely, especially when they butts descending down the dune. The color of the desert became redder every minute closer to sunset. The heat subsided as soon as the sun went down. It was a pleasant temperature. We returned in the twilight, it got dark really quickly. The camel herder found his way back without any problems even in the almost complete darkness. The sky was clear and full of stars. The camels were retching and chewing along the way and emitting a characteristic stench. 40 minutes of riding was more than enough for our buttocks. We will treat ourselves to sleeping in the middle of the desert in one of the camps when the children are a little older. We were back in our guesthouse around 8 pm.
First stop was a shower and then sleep. An unforgettable experience was behind us. The highlight of our trip. The absolute highlight. Worth all the long hours in the car.
Merzouga, the village that was our base, is 50 kilometers from the Algerian border. It is the closest to the Erg Chebbi dunes (pre-Saharan dunes). The locals are a mix of Arabs and Berbers. The best time to visit the desert is in winter. It was dry, sunny and hot during the day at the end of October. Cold at night.
We wanted this experience and we got it. Everything ended well, I took absolutely too many photos, they will remain as a memory of one of our biggest adventures. From here we continued our journey to the Tinghir oasis.
