on the road in Morocco

School was closed for a week to celebrate the feast (see blog "Eid El Adha"). After much deliberation we chose to explore Casa Blanca, Morocco.  The week was a balance of pampering ourselves at a 5 star hotel, roaming around Casa Blanca, and renting a car for daytrips to Marrakesh (inland), Rabat (north), and Azemmoor (south.) 

During the two feast days, everyone was home with their families and shops were closed, so going on car day trips was just the perfect combination - sight-seeing on our own schedule.This blog will focus on what we saw as we cruised around in our rental car.  

The 2.5 hour car trip to Marrakesh was a geological goldmine (pardon the pun), travelling inland to the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains.   

 

Outcrops of spiky rocks (megaliths) erupted whimsically from rolling hills. 

From the highway in these foothills, the vista was magnificent, especially in the glow of the setting sun as we returned from Marrakesh to Casa Blanca.

The first hour of this journey wove through farmland. The farms were more evocative of Canadian farms than the ones we have seen in Egypt; animals grazing on grassy land and loamy looking soil. The differences? Fences are fewer.You see shepherds watching their flocks (by ….). These shepherds were all ages - old (like this man perched on a wall), or kids under the age of 10. 

The homes of these farm workers are very rustic indeed.  These homes were often surrounded by a fence of a certain cactus plant that seemed to bear bright red fruit. Does anyone know what this might be? Anyway, clusters of these cacti seemed spectacularly sculptural. 

 

AZEMMOOR

The road ravelling south from Casa Blanca runs beside the Atlantic Ocean and is non-stop with farms, small communities and bustling activity; even on Friday, prayer morning. We wanted to travel to the city of El Jadda (check out the cool mileage marker!), but in the end only had time to get as far south as the smaller town of Azemmoor.

We saw many small farms along the Atlantic coast.

 

 

For obvious reasons, the coastal countryside is lusher than what we see in Egypt every day.

People dotted the roadside patiently waiting for microbuses to carry them to and fro. Carts delivered goods and people.

By the time we reached the city of Alzemoor and circled back, shops were beginning to open up and vendors were moving their goods onto the streets. 

We couldn’t resist taking a photo of this wonderful old Mercedes Benz being worked on by a group of men in a parking lot.

RABAT

We saw pottery for sale by the side of the road.

The road north to Rabat runs parallel to the Atlantic and the greens were a lovely sight for two Canadians who have been browning in the Egyptian sun for three months!

 

We stopped a few times to breath in the sea air and listen to the familiar sound of waves crashing on the beach.
 

Next blog we will take you inside these three cities: Casa Blanca, Marrakesh and Rabat.