Morocco

Day 13 : TREK (Agdz)

Posted on by Brian and Marisha

Wow. What an amazing experience we just had. Not only is Morocco just an experience in itself, but this trek has allowed us to see things and experience the people and culture like never before. Travel has changed for us yet again. Last night we got into Agdz pretty early so we had time to hang out and work on the blog and send some emails etc.  Then: diner beers, bed. This was the last day of the trek. Boohoo. So sad. We are going to have to start fending for ourselves again.

 

 

Agdz, Morocco. Going into town last night and This is it. Main street. See, Starbucks, there are still more places you haven't tapped into yet. Oggie, I can get you a mug once they set up shop. It will say BFE Morocco and the design will have goats on it.
A local guy cruising to work maybe? Hope he isn't late.
A local boy probably NOT going to school. Work, that is their school. ...donkey......
Our lodging. L'Oasis Auberge (guesthouse).
Just an idea of where a lot of these places are located. Very un-assuming from the outside. You roll up out front and are usually surprised. Oh, we're here
Just an idea of where a lot of these places are located. Very un-assuming from the outside. You roll up out front and are usually surprised. Oh, we're here.
The common area of the L'Oasis. Most people pull their mattresses out here at night and sleep outside. Much better.
Cowles, brushing his teeth with bottled water. A must. with all the out of bounds travel we have taken down quite a lot of tap water in just our food and drinks....but why risk it where you don't have to right????
Our Room. Again, note to self, with remaining beers...put outside at night.
Our Host Mr.Smiles. Saying Goodbye. I had issues with the wifi password and he just kept giggling because I thought his 1 was a 7. Its the small things I guess.

As we made our way out of Agdz and the Sahara, we had one last day of changing scenery. We are headed into the mountains one last time to cross over and back into Ourzazate. We hit a fossil field first, which was unexpectedly very cool. The size of a large lake, the field was covered in fossils. Every rock we picked up was loaded with little sea creatures that once were. I grabbed a sizable one with plenty of little guys in it for my niece Danyella, who like my Dad....loves that stuff. I also grabbed a tiny one incase the rock is just too annoying to carry around for the next 12 days. Brian thinks I am crazy and says I'll never get that out of the country or into ours.. we shall see Brian....we shall see.

 

Leaving Agdz. A local woman walking along side the road. We were headed out into the middle of nowhere, so not sure where she is going...... maybe she was just at Sams club, that's a lot of stuff.
Holy Dryness..... heading out of the desert region for good. A hotel/Casbah in the background. That was supose to be a lunch stop, but it was closed.
Moroccan cemetery . We have a weird draw to cemeteries. Not sure why, but they are interesting in other countries or if they are very old. This one is just very cool and somewhat creepy.
The Fossil Field. Nothingness. The scenery changes are crazy. Every corner we turned it was like a new trip. This place was nothingness and fossils as far as the eye can see.

wow...really cool. soooo desolate though. From sara, on Oct 7, 2013 at 02:57AM

Ok Danyella. Because I am such a great Aunt, I will lug this huge fossil around because I know you are a rock nerd and I will bring this home with me in my already heavy backpack. I know, I know. I am a super cool Aunt.
No Danyella. Not this one. A little too aggressive for my back.

That's a Devonian cephalopod, about 380-400 million years old. Ancestor of the squid (or nautilus before it spiraled up). Love that fossil bed! (or one very much like it) From daniel, on Jan 8, 2014 at 09:39PM

In true Peter form, we made three random pitstops on the way back.  Actually four.

#1 - We went to visit a unique private hunting camp. And we use the word "camp" pretty literally. Some extremely wealthy Saudi Arabian bought a huge plot of land. He has some particular birds he likes to hunt that are not indigenous to Morocco. So he flew in a huge flock and pays 2 guys to sit on a hill all day every day to guard his birds so no one else hunts them. Crazy right? He even provided the guys with a desert vehicle to trek around in just incase they need to patrol.

Stop #2 - Visit a villager friend who lives in a dreamy little Oasis and have lunch at his house.

Stop #3 - Visit yet another friend who lives in a mountain village.

Stop #4 - A little off road fun/death hill climb to scare the **** out of Marisha and even Brian a little. Peter really has a way of making the last day count.

 

Here is one of the Saudi Arabian bird guards. They get paid to stay up here and watch the birds so no one else hunts them. Crazy.
"Well my ignorant and pampered American friends, that is a Goat carcass beer cooler". Yup. That's what we said. What do you do when you have no power and its over 100 degrees every day? You keep your beers cold in a severed hollowed-out goat Boom-Boom. Take an animal hide (preferably a goat) dip it in water and hang it. As the breeze skids across the wet hide, the condensation creates a cooling effect - wha-la... science. Bet ya Floyd Boyd Loyd has one of these next to his couch.
The mountain Oasis we were headed to. We had lunch here and visited with a family. For the rock nerds. We usually think all mountains are pretty but these rocks look fluid. Very cool looking. It went on like this for miles and miles.
Visiting locals. We parked and hiked up a bunch of stairs to get to Peter's friend's house. His daughters and wife make rugs which we weren't even asked to buy. Niiice.
El-Capitan. Our fearless leader. Stopping for a little mint green tea at a restaurant. A very colorful restaurant.
Waking Jesus up from his nap. Again peter says.... "want to see another Film location"? Sure - why not. This is the tomb where Jesus rose from the dead....just checking to see if he is up yet. Jeeeesssuuuss.... time to get up!
The Oasis. This is just a cool shot with our chariot in it.
As Mr Saudi was showing us pictures of his kid, we wonder.... "what the hell is that behind him?! Is that a dead animal?"
The green you see is NOT grass or moss or anything living. It's rock. It is bright green.....and has loads of copper in it which oxidizes and creates the green color.
The Mountain Village we are headed into for a visit and of course more mint green tea. Always tea.
Heading up into the house. Build right into the mountain.
This is the size of the sugar cube Peter puts in to his tea. And mind you it still comes with sugar anyway - you can see another one already floating in the glass....
Inside a typical Oasis. You always think they are desert only, but here the mountains are like desert..... The water is from a natural spring. We actually passed some local boys playing a game near it on the way in. The "lets throw huge rocks at each other game". Fun.
This is Mohammed. He is hilarious. He never stops laughing. He always carried a fresh pot of green tea with him and he calls it Whiskey-Burber. He picked us fresh grapes, nuts and figs from his farm. Here is is saying hello to his new buddy Brian.
The Mounains and our drive out.....so sad.
How to pour tea = spillage for Marisha.
Tea and lunch with the fam. This is the living room, dining room....entertaining room....
The hill of Thrills and Death. Looks pretty in a picture. You can't see the top or sides when coming up in a car. Its freaky for sure. I'll try the video , see if that gives a better idea. But it never does.....

Up over the mountains one more time to get back to Ourzazzat. This was the one person we saw this day...sharing the road. Just chillin' on his donkey riding in the rain. That's one hell of a commute. Now we are back in Ourzazzat and back at   Peter's house for a shower, dinner and one more night before we head to Casablanca by plane.

This is Peter's Garage. He offers motorcycle tours of Morocco. Same deal we did , but on bikes usually. "Biker's Home" Morocco. Roland....this has you written all over it. You can even tell him before hand if you like fancy hotels, camping, both...whatever. He is so flexible which is the best part.
Peter and his wife Zineb took us to a small cafe in their town for their favorite meal.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *