Dwti Draig

I write this from an amazing view, high up in the Atlas mountains, where we parked up overnight. We are 2000m high, flanked by 3000m peaks. It has taken us 5 days to get here, so I thought I’d tell you a bit about our drive south. 

Amazingly, we have been mostly on the same road, the N13,  since we left Tanger Med, apart from detours off to camp sites. This road has varied so much in quality; it has been as smooth as a baby’s bottom at times, and as bumpy as a herd of dromedaries backs at other times. We’ve learnt we cannot possibly predict what it will be like, and have learnt to try and take the road as it comes, a bit like life, full of ups and downs!

Tanger Med is absolutely massive; it is one of the largest ports in Africa and the Mediterranean and handles millions of containers and hundreds of thousands of trucks a year. It is a stark contrast to the sweeping empty views we see before us this morning. Leaving the port and the coastal outskirts the road eased into long stretches of agricultural plains, with vast fields and olive groves. We passed towns as we left the Blue City of Chefchaouen and circumnavigated the busy city of Fes, with no real desire to stop there. The landscape further south varied so much as we left the plains and began climbing as the foothills began to swell into the Middle Atlas mountains. We passed through a cedar forest, famous for its barbary apes, which are Europe’s only wild primates and are an endangered species. We could see some sat chilling under the trees as we drove through. 

At times, the scenery reminded us of South West America as the ground became redder, and the views got even more incredible with rocky plateaus and gorges. Sometimes the road looked as if it would go on forever into the distance. We began to make out the hazy shape of the Atlas Mountains in the distance, but seemed to be in a vast open plateau as we headed towards the town of Midelt. 

The glimpses of Moroccan everyday life we had through our ever changing windows were amazing. We passed so many schools, with children congregated outside, all waving frantically to the truck. We saw so many shepherds and their flocks of sheep. We hit so many police traffic checks, where you have to crawl to a stop until they wave you through. We are lucky to have not been stopped further, although we did pass a French motorhome that had been unlucky. 

We saw so many donkeys. I have always been a lover of thes gentle animals, and was in my element seeing so many of them, until we noticed many of them have had their legs bound together, probably to stop them escaping. This is really upsetting, as is seeing some of them heavily laden with goods, and carrying people. I tried to start a game to while away the hours as we travelled, with the first one who spotted a donkey had to give a loud “eee oooore”. I even gave Lyn a head start of 20 to begin as I knew he was concentrating on the road, but I had to declare myself the winner when my throat finally gave up from braying so much!

We’ve passed every mode of transport, from cars, to buses, to tractors, to huge trucks, cyclists, donkeys and tuk tuks. Every single mode of transport has managed to pass Dwti, especially on the bumpier bits. It really hurt Lyn’s pride to be overtaken by a tuk tuk. The roundabouts in towns have sometimes been chaotic, as they love to overtake and pull in just in front of you, with no indication. Similarly with overtaking on the roads; we can have a string of cars chugging along behind us for miles on straight roads, then they will decide to pass us suddenly on blind summits or corners! Luckily the driving all seems very good-natured, and they will often give us a little friendly warning beep as they pass us. We have seen no road rage at all. The people also seem incredibly friendly, with many shepherds waving to us as we drive past. 

The little towns are interesting to drive through, although Lyn has to be on high alert with people wandering and cars reversing and parking. We pass many cafes with people sat outside and shops with sides of meat hanging in the sun. We enjoy spotting the Mosque towers and listening out for the call to prayer. Some of the towns had “barrieres de neiges” or snow barriers, to shut voff the town when the snow is too bad.

We’ve stopped at campsites on the way down, until we got into the mountains. The campsites have all been cheap and friendly. They are mostly basic compared to European campsites, but the toilet facilities etc have all been clean. When we are paying maybe £8 a night we can’t complain. We spent one lovely night parked up surrounded by olive trees, and spent the evening chatting to an amazing couple from New Zealand, swapping travel stories. Linda and Scotty of @Kiwisflythecoop really made our night special. They are travelling Europe, and have come to Morocco for 3 months to break the Schengen restrictions. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

We have been living mostly on food we stocked up on in Spain before we left, but did visit our first Moroccan supermarket, Marjane. The car park, and the store were both empty. We got everything we needed inside, and the bloke working on the meat store was eager to showcase his good English, as we struggled with our bad French! The cake aisle was filled with loads of different individually wrapped cake bars! We were glad to stock up with fresh fruit and veg; the nectarine I bought was probably the best I had ever tasted! Lyn also had the best coffee he had ever had; although not at the supermarket. We had stopped at a little roadside spot where a little van had a coffee machine in the back. We had seen many of these and were keen to try. It was too strong for me, but Lyn loved his; it made the hairs on his arm stand on end! He drunk his, then had to drink mine; so his driving was hyped for a while after!

Over the next few days we will be leaving the High Atlas mountains as we descend into the edges of the Sahara desert, where the scenery will change dramatically.