Ifrane - Tata

Garage attendants that made us mint tea

Day 6

Ifrane to Tata.

516 miles.

We woke early for the long drive to Tata. Myself and Steve had decided the route we wanted to take today. We could not just follow our Norwegian friends around all the time just because their car was unreliable and they couldn’t take too many risks with tougher routes. I have felt that I am not experiencing my holiday but tagging along behind somebody else all the time. I have spent a lot of time and money on this trip and I have decided to take some ownership back.

Diesal!

Today was fantastic. If you ever get the chance to drive between Fes and Marrakech. The first part of the journey was up in the mountains. Every town was different and it was great to se them come alive in the morning as we drove through. I have been shocked by the amount of poverty in Morocco. So many people are using horse and carts or donkeys. In this fast paced consumer world we live in it was quite a shock to see.

The best town was one that had old style horse drawn carriages that were being used as taxis. At one petrol station there were a lot of kids hanging around so I started to give out some toys. The one thing I've noticed about here is that as soon as you start to give anything away, all of  a sudden all of these kids appear from nowhere.

After the mountains the countryside completely changed. Now it is huge flat plains. These stretched for as far as you could see with the Atlas Mountains in the far distance. Absolutely breathtaking.

Just before Marrakech we took a left and head for the Atlas Mountains. This was an alternative route to the rest of the tour. We didn’t want to just drive on the main road to Tata. This was amazing. The peak was just over 2220 metres. The scenery was stunning. There were all these amazing ancient village and towns built in to the mountainside. We really tested the car today and so pleased it came through. It was worth taking the harder route. Its not everyday you see the views that we experienced today..

After the amazing drive down the mountains we drove for several more hours to the campsite at Tata.

This was this first night I’ve had to camp and it was in the car park. The ground was solid and we only just managed to get the tent pegs in. It doesn’t matter. Finally a day to remember. Stunning. I slept well, even on a rough car park floor.!