Not what I expected in Morocco
Forest road in the mountains near Ifrane, Morocco
This is certainly not the typical scene I expected to see while on a visit to Morocco. Our tour took us up into a mountainous area near the ski resort of Ifrane. The forest area was beautiful, not unlike that in the Adelaide Hills here in South Australia, or the area around Mt Macedon north of Melbourne – or perhaps even the Katoomba area in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
The main reason our tour took us to this area was to see the monkeys that are resident in this forest.
We didn’t see the monkeys – but the scenery mostly made up for our disappointment.
For those who are interested, the animal in question is the Barbary macaque which is found in various habitats in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria. A small population of unknown origin can be found at Gibraltar, the only wild population of monkeys in Europe. You can read more here.
Hanging out in Sefrou, Morocco
Washing hanging out in Sefrou, Morocco
One of the smaller towns we visited on our tour of Morocco was Sefrou, a short 30km drive from Fes. This town was just as fascinating as any of the larger cities we explored, and over the coming days I’ll share some of the photos taken during our visit.
Today I show just 2 photos. Below features our guide, Said, and some of the tour group. Said was exceptional in his knowledge of his country. He was also very considerate of each member of the touring group and we were immediately at ease with him.
Above is a quick snap I took of washing hanging out to dry. In many of the places we visited we were able to mix with the local people going about their everyday activities. In that regard one could say that we really experienced the genuine people, their culture and lifestyle. Although we did visit a large number of obvious tourist oriented sites, we were never far from the authentic experience of Morocco.
The photo above also shows some of the ancient fortified wall of the town. Such walls are a feature of many of the older towns and cities in Morocco.
Our guide (left) and some of our tour group, Morocco
Tuning in, Fes, Morocco
Rooftops in Fes, Morocco
While we were exploring the delights of the city of Fes in Morocco we had a view from a shop overlooking the rooftops nearby. I was amazed at the number of satellite dishes sitting on the rooftops. It’s not a sight we see here in Australia, but I found it relatively common in Morocco.
Just one of those quirky little differences I found on our journeys.
Views of Fes, Morocco
View of Fes, Morocco
During our visit to Fes in Morocco we had the opportunity to take stairs to the top of a building to see the view. Today I share some of the photos taken on that occasion.
View of Fes, Morocco
View of Fes, Morocco
On the carpet in Fes, Morocco
Carpet shop in Fes, Morocco
One of the beautiful shops we visited in Fes, Morocco was a carpet outlet. It was quite an extensive building with several stories, each level opening up to large rooms filled with carpets for sale. Most of the carpets were huge – up to 4 x 3 metres. The prices were also large, especially if one had to consider the extra cost of shipping one to Australia. Today I show a collection of photos of some of the carpets for sale or on display.
Carpet shop in Fes, Morocco
Carpet shop in Fes, Morocco
Carpet shop in Fes, Morocco
Carpet shop in Fes, Morocco