Tea Time in the High Atlas and Sahara

We leave the city of Marrakesh behind and head off to the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco towards the Sahara.  The drive is very long but the amazing terrain that Morocco displays is a geologist's dream come true. The land varies across the vast distance that leaves you with the feeling that you have somehow touched every part of every country. You can see the lush green land with olive trees or palm trees near streams of rivers. There are times where it seems like you may have landed in Scotland instead of Morocco.  As we made our way through, I was never short of amazement for this land and the people in it.

The people here are so hospitable - even when you drive by, you see kids and adults alike waving to say hello or wish you well on your journey wherever you went. You are always greeted with smiles and curiousity of where you are from. Driving through the mountains, we stopped by Mohammad's house for lunch. It is a little Berber village in the mountains and he tells us his many stories as we sat and had mint tea and almonds and walnuts before lunch is served. Mark (Mad About Morocco) has been so great in translating French/Arabic/Berber and the like to us and have also taught us some words to at least say Thank you and Goodbye and our favourite ... please :)

The weather has been cold and rainy here and with the rain brings many possibilities of landslides up in the mountains. Mohammad knowing these mountains well (and is a guide), suggested we check out the White and Red Villages that are just a couple of kilometres near his village. Magdaz was one of our stops but it was said the road was not assessible esp crossing the river. So we opted to go to the Red Village.

The path to the village was very challenging as the roads were rocky and narrow. We kept inclining and saw nothing but some people here and there popping up once in a while. When we finally got to the village, we were greeted by a crowd of children who were curious about us. We did take photos and showed it to them on the digital camera which they loved and next thing you knew, we were like the Pied Piper. Everywhere we went, you can hear the whispers and giggles behind us. One family invited us for tea. They shared the food they grew like the walnuts and almonds. They were such a nice family and were very keen and proud to show us what they did. They grew a special root, that we have yet to find out, that is helping them.

After tackling the mountains, we headed towards the Sahara where we ended up stopping at Mark's friend's grandmother who is a Nomad but has lived in the same place since 2006. She even built a small house there. The nomads usually move when the water becomes scarce but lately there has been plenty of water due to the rains. They invited us for tea while Mark gave them some photos sent by Russian travellers that were there earlier. They were amused with the photos as many people here have never seen how they looked like. We were able to spend time with the family after tea by heading off to help one of the daughters carry jugs of water back from the well. When we got back, we saw the SUV's alarm going off and I thought I saw goats jumping off of it. Mark thought it was the children. Perhaps it was both!!!!

We did get to the Sahara and the wonderful camp there with toilets (yes toilets) and such (will write more later). We got a chance to ride on the camels in the Sahara and watch the sunrise. Beautiful!!!