Maroc - Serie Deux

Merzouga to Essaouira

Erg Chebbi sand dunes outside Merzouga

The reason for driving to Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara was to see the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Supposedly at their best at sunrise we arranged for a pre-dawn camel trip into the heart of the dunes (Aimes hadn't thought much of the option of spend the night in the dunes with temperatures hovering around zero...). Fortunately the clouds of the previous evening had departed and we were rewarded for our early start with a beautiful sunrise.

Aimes feeling the cold in the early morning
Follow the leader

Camel train

After warming up over breakfast we departed and commenced our trip up the Ziz Valley headed for Fes. We began climbing up the eastern side of the Atlas with the mid-afternoon sun lighting up the rugged cliffs of the valley, which when combined with the winding road made it one of the most enjoyable drives anywhere. We broke our journey in the small town of Midelt, which being relatively devoid of tourists made us appealling targets for the local carpet salesmen which we spent most of our time out of our room avoiding.

A quiet moment away from the touts
Leaving the dunes for the barren rocky plains

The road to Meknes (and Fes)

Aimes' overlooking the Ziz Valley

As it was only a couple of hours drive to Fes we decided to check out a bit of the countryside around Midelt, and in particular to see how the Punto went off road. In addition, as the local guardian (car minder) had kindly washed the car over night (it was looking pretty grim after the desert) it also gave us the opportunity to cover up a few of the scratches with a nice new dirt layer... Anyways, after driving down a dirt road heading out of town for about half an hour we decided that we probably weren't heading to Fes, and asking a couple of farmers that we passed resulted in head shaking and pointing back in the direction in which we had come. As such, we had to retrace our tracks, scraping the underside of the Punto a bit more, before getting back on the tarmac and continuing to Fes. On the way we passed trough the extremes of the Moroccan landscape as the rocky desert of the previous day was replaced by snow capped mountains and cedar forrests.

Apparently not the road to Fes...

Us
Snow on the Anti-Atlas
A stork nesting in the Roman ruins of Volubilis

Hobbes in tourist mode
Sunset over Fes from the Saadian Tombs
Fes' Medina

Fes made quite a change from the scenery we had been passing through for the previous days with a return to the hectic crowds and smells of a busy city. To ease ourselves into it we decided to stay in the Ville Nouvelle which was much more appealing and accessible than the Marrakech equivalent. It also allowed us to experience a different, more cosmopolitan side of the country. Although, this wasn't to say that we didn't still spend most of our time in the Medina, which made Marrakech's seem relaxed and easy to navigate in comparison.

'You wanna see the tanneries?' - a constant call from the numerous touts

Myriad of colours at the leather tanneries

In the maze of Fes's Medina
Leather drying in the sun

Pink leather

From Fes we took a day trip to the neighbouring town of Meknes and the nearby Roman ruins of Voloubilis. We were quite impressed with Voloubilis, as not expecting a great deal, we discovered a pretty extensive area of ruins, which apprently represent only a quarter of the actual extent of the town, particularly considering the distance from Rome.

Eating at the seafood grills everyday - we had finally arrived at the coast!
Essaouria's Medina walls

Fishing boats

Seagulls

Big wave watchers on Essaouira's ramparts

Our final stop was the coastal town of Essaouira, which unfortunately required a full days travelling from Fes, starting with an 8 our train ride to Marrakech followed by a few hours on a bus - why didn't we keep the car? As luck would have it the rain which we hadn't seen since our first day returned just as we were hoping to spend a few days on the beach, although this just meant we had more time to over indulge in seafood!

Essaouira was notable for it's population of seagulls, this is a relatively clear sky :)

The Essaouira Medina was a picture of calm when compared with Marrakech and Fes

Essaouira's fishing port by sunset