We crossed over the High Atlas mountains today. We have become friends with two British couples over the last week. They did a night in the desert with Bedouins trip that is on every agenda for Morocco. Ton and I have been debating whether to do one the entire time, after their debrief of the camel ride and the desert tent experience the debate is over- we will not be doing a night in the desert.
They also described the drive over the Atlas to get to the safari site as hair raising. They said their guide was reckless and the road was very twisty and steep. So we were a little concerned when we set off in François this morning.
The Atlas are a large mountain chain that separates coastal Morocco from the Sahara. But it turns out the road is very well built, and while the climb is steep and there are a great many switchbacks to get up the steep mountains it was not nearly as stressful as I expected. In a couple of spots major repair work was being done where landslides from the earthquake two years ago had wiped out the road.
We did see a lot of motorcycles coming down from the peak as the R-9 is on the bucket list for a lot of motorcyclists. In the end we enjoyed the drive and the views, and François handled the climb like a champ, though we did spend a lot of time in 3rd and 4th gear.
We ended the day in Ouarzazate which bills itself as the Hollywood of Africa. There are two film studios here that specialize in supporting movies filmed in the desert.
We settled in and after a very short discussion decided to take the afternoon off. We both have been battling a stomach bug that is causing us mild but not debilitating discomfort, so a break seemed in order and besides the movie studios Ouarzazate doesn’t appear to have much to offer.