I am picking up the thread of this journey after a delay of several months during which the rest of life took a certain priority. But now…back to the Morocco story. As a reminder, this trip took place in December, 2012.

After our busy stay in Fes, Dan and I were picked up at our riad by our guide and driver, Hicham. Hicham is friendly, knowledgeable, and reliable. He works for Morocco Expert Tours, which helped us arrange our customized three-day trip from Fes to Marrakech through the high desert. Between Hicham and Youssef, who runs Morocco Expert Tours, we felt we were taken care of at every moment.

The Atlas mountains, running from northeast to southwest, roughly divide the country into a moist zone that gets enough rain to grow abundant crops and a dry, rocky desert punctuated by oases, which runs ultimately into the sands of the Sahara. We crossed the Middle Atlas mountains near the town of Ifrane, a pleasant town built by the French and with real European charm, that is a popular ski resort. (Yes. Really.) It was a day of mixed clouds and sunshine, even a flurry or two. The scenery in the mountain pass was beautiful. 

Once we were over the pass, the clouds disappeared, and the scenery changed to a dramatic desert.

What houses or towns there were…

…seemed almost dwarfed by the landscape.