Dar El Fen Ouarzazate

... thought that a 4 x 4 would suit are needs, as we were off to the High Atlas Mountains and the Sahara! However on closer examination at the rental car office a wreck of a Clio type car would be just what we wanted, they told us not to go off road or in the desert. We hoped not to return the car on the back of a truck, Chrisy said that it would be better if we didn't tell them about the Fiji hire car story ...

Just quick entry to set the map pin. Suffice I lucked out and nabbed a guide in Merzouga who just happened to be headed to Marrakech to pick up 3 Spanish clients to guide them on a 10 day tour of Morocco.<br><br> Thus, instead of struggling w/ mind-boggling taxi negotiations to navigate to Quarzazate (about 8 hrs. from Merzouga), I ...

... contests - goat herding involves lots of stone throwing.<br>Some firewood gathering is involved &amp; the Berbers are into bread making each evening. There are other nomads on the move (some with tourists) and we get the invite to tea at a random cave complete with smoky fire; pretty soon if it's not dusty it smells of smoke.<br>Quite a lot of the trek is on dry river beds &amp; that is not the easiest - it's much more interesting on the ...

Ait Ben Haddou is one of the oldest Kasbahs in Morocco. Onthe way to the hotel we saw goats on the side of a maountain. And from the roof of the hotel I took pictures of the kasbah and the neighbors garden. We met 2 German girls the next morning and gave them a ride to Casablanca. They were lots of fun.

... brown mud rushing over the road. There were cars parked on either side but it was impassable. We got out to survey the scene and take pictures. We started asking people how long they thought it would take to clear the road. The responses were varried but always with an in'sh'Allah (God willing) at the end. "Four hours, in'sh'Allah!" they said. "Maybe six, in'sh'Allah, or tomorrow in'sha'Allah!" This of course came as ...

... The selling procedure includes engaging you to go into their shop, flattering you with compliments if you are a woman, calling you some name like Fatima or cous cous or other silly thing to mae you laugh, sometimes there is mint tea offered (so they can have more time with you), checking out your appearance (to see if they can see dollar signs in your shoes, watch, sunglasses etc), asking if it is your first time in Morocco (if it is they will hike the price well up ...

... nous a prevu un petit arrêt "culture" locale à Tazenaght. La spécialité de la région ? les tapis :) D'ailleurs, nous ne pouvons pas nous empêcher de faire un petit achat ... mais il nous faudra revenir plus tard avec un vrai budget tapis ! On y trouve de pures merveilles, en soie et laine, tissés, brodés ou noués... Nous arrivons sur Ouarzazate ...

... children from a nearby house. I thought they were cute until Clem translated what they were muttering at us... 'give me some cake!.. give me some money!' Back on the road again, our busdriver stopped us at a Berber village, to get a couple of snapshots and generally explain Berber life. While we were there, we were all ushered up into a local's carpet shop, where we watched his sister weave while ...

... and we had a 45 minute wait for the sun to rise. What a sight that was!! Very beautiful and magical. I got lots of great photos including lots of the berbers with us. They love to pose for photos. I even sparked a bidding war with our guide between Cynthia &amp; I. It was who could get the most camels in exchange for marriage!!! They love playing up to us with marriage proposals and such malarky! After that it was back ...

Issam was going to work that morning and had promised to wake me up before he left, because I needed to be at the car rental place early, to take advantage of the day - but he didn't. And I didn't have my cellphone, since it got lost in Casablanca, and therefore no personal alarm clock. So I didn't wake up until at 12:30. I did wake up earlier at one point, but Issam was still sleeping, and as he had to be at work at 6am, the time must have been less than that, so I ...