High Times in the High Atlas
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2006
1
11
15
Trip End
Nov 21, 2006
High Atlas Mountains,
Morocco
Monday, November 13, 2006
Our gîte was simple. The locals build the gîtes mostly by hand out of the clay and rocks they find in abundance in the mountains. Our room was furnished with two mattresses on the floor. There was no heat and the "showers" consisted of a dribble from a hose that ran hot only for a brief period of time. The beauty of living like this was when night fell you had very little to do but go to sleep and wake up with the sun
Smiling Two Day Old Lamb
. We had our meals in a big common room and the food was good and nourishing-mostly tagine of course. After dinner, Hamid and his buddies at the gîte entertained us with Moroccan singing, dancing and drumming-they could carry a pretty good beat.We stayed for two nights at the gîte and on our first day we went for a long hike into the mountains. The High Atlas Mountains, like the cliffs around the Todra Gorge, were rocky and barren. During the hike we came across the sheep pen of a nomadic family. The family was away, but their guard dogs remained. The dogs were familiar with Hamid so they didn't mind us playing with the newly born baby lambs. Mel made quick friends with an affectionate 2 day old lamb who smiled nicely for the camera. The hike ended back at the gîte after we enjoyed some nice views of the village below from the heights of the surrounding peaks.
That afternoon, the group went to visit a local Berber family for tea and cake. Paul was tired and so he opted to stay behind at the gîte, but Mel went along. The house was constructed in the same manner as our gîte and had similar simple facilities. The family kept a front living room to which they welcomed their guests with their best furniture and tea cups. The group was served some delicious warm cake that tasted like "ma lai goh" (Chinese sponge cake). After countless meals of tagine, the warm sweet soft cake was like heaven. Mel greedily gobbled up 5 pieces, even sneaking one last piece right before leaving. The others in the group were thoughtful enough to bring back an extra piece for Paul. The only thing Mel brought back was a face full of crumbs and a sore tummy from too much cake!
The next morning we left the gîte early and hiked back down to our waiting van for the long trip out to the sea.
