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I haven't done much traveling (for leisure) lately, so I'm excited to meet up with Ingrid and embark on a new adventure! Read more
  • Jonny Gzlz

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  • Morocco Morocco
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Friendship, Short trip, Vacation
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  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid
    1

    Atlas Mountains

    September 19, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today we left the hotel early to meet up with the tour group we'd be traveling with for the next three days. We had considered going to the dessert camp in Merzouga and from there to Fes on our own, but couldn't find any reliable information on how to travel that route using public transportation, so opted for a tour instead.

    The Marrocan landscape in this part of the country is dominated by a palette of burnt sienna, ocher, and olive or dark green hues of the shrubs and low trees that thrive in arid climates.

    These pictures were taken along the Tizi n’Tichka pass in the Atlas Mountains, reaching an elevation of 2,260 meters above sea level. It connects Marrakesh with Ouarzazate and serves as a gateway to the Sahara Desert.

    It was part of an ancient caravan trade route between the Sahara and Marrakesh, the main goods being salt, gold, and spices.

    We also stopped at a women's cooperative for a short demonstration of the traditional method of making argan oil.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Ksar Ait Benhaddaou

    September 19, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Ksar Ait Benhaddou is a historic fortified village and UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its earthen clay architecture and has been featured in numerous films, including “Gladiator” and "Game of Thrones" (see picture with the full list). The Ksar looked mostly uninhabited, housing only little stores and art galleries. The people live across the river.

     It is here that we learned that the Berber don't actually like that name as it is historically derived from the Greek/Roman "Barbaros" (barbarian) and is considered pejorative. They prefer to be called Amazigh - which translates to "free people".

    I was also fascinated to learn that the paintings I had been seeing around the Ksar are made with natural pigments: saffron diluted in water for red, green tea with sugar for black, and dried indigo plant for blue.

    After the demonstration (see video), I approached the artist asking about the mixtures he uses, as I like to paint with watercolors as well. His face lit up and he said: "Oh, so you're an artist too!" and gave me a painting with the symbol for "free woman" in addition to the personalized painting I had already bought (with my name in the Amazigh alphabet).

    Unfortunately, since I had packed a blank sketchbook for this trip and hadn't painted anything yet, I didn't have a sketch for him and decided to give away one of my brushes (with a built-in water reservoir) and my gold Faber Castell marker.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Tea and carpets in Tinghir

    September 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    This morning, we woke up to the last sound we had expected: rain! At least we wouldn't be getting a sunburn...

    Our first stop was in Tinghir, where we walked through the old part of town, barely meeting a soul, and went to visit a carpet dealer.

    He showed us a variety of carpets, each of them meticulously woven, often taking weeks to complete, and featuring patterns that tell stories of the weaver’s experiences and beliefs. Some carpets had more modern designs, so much so that I saw one or two that had the same design as IKEA carpets. It made me wonder who inspired who...

    For many Amazigh women, weaving is both an artistic expression and a vital source of income. We also learned that before the Morrocan territories were conquered by the Arabs, who brought with them Islam, face tattoos were very common, with different lines and dots to symbolize whether a woman was married, widowed, or divorced and how many children they had.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Todgha Gorge

    September 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The Todgha Gorge, near Tinghir in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, features towering limestone cliffs up to 300 meters high, carved by the Todgha and Dades Rivers over millennia. Historically significant to the Amazigh people, the gorge is now a popular rock climbing destination with routes for all skill levels.Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Welcome to Merzouga!

    September 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Finally we arrived at Merzouga, a small village on the edge of the Sahara Desert. From here , we'd venture into the Erg Chebbi dunes, which are among the largest in Morocco. It had stopped raining, but it was cloudy and there were puddles everywhere. We even had to drive through a flooded street to get to our destination - something that is very commonplace in, say, Costa Rica but would have never thought we'd have to do here.

    We were dropped off at what appeared to be a general meeting point for tours into the desert, with several tourist shuttles pulling up and people dropping off their bags, putting on scarves and turbans, and stocking up their water supplies. The air was buzzing with excitement... and heavy with humidity.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid
    1

    On a dromedary with no name

    September 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Once we were all good to go, it was time to get onto the dromedaries that would take us to the desert camp. We were divided into groups of four and our little caravan consisted of the Canadian couple, Ingrid, me, and our dromedary guide Abdul. I was assigned to the first dromedary, a white one, that actually did not have a name.

    It was most definitely a very different experience than horseback riding. Unlike horses, dromedaries move both legs on one side of their body at the same time, creating a swaying motion. It felt a little bit like being on a boat in a strong, sideways swell and it took a few minutes to find the right balance and rhythm to move my hips along with the flow of the dromedary as we advanced through the silence of the desert.

    Getting off was my least favorite part - I always felt like I was about to roll off head first down the animal's neck as it first lowered the front legs and then the back in a rocking movement that felt quite abrupt.

    We stopped amid the dunes and people lined up to slide down a dune on a sandboard (which was quite entertaining to watch). I wondered whether it was possible to build a sand castle, now that it had rained and the sand was damp. However, only about the first 3-5cm had been permeated by the rain and I soon uncovered the dry sand underneath, which was extremely fine-grained, trickling almost like water as I moved it from one hand to the other.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Desert camp

    September 20, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The first raindrops started to fall and Abdul rounded us up to continue to the camp we'd stay at tonight. At first, we walked into the wrong one though - people were swarming in from all directions, walking down a pathway toward a disco tent blasting music into the desert, past the welcome station with tea and cookies.

    Someone was flying a drone over the crowd, everyone was hyped up, and it all felt somewhat surreal. Maybe I've seen too many horror movies but in my mind's eye this was the opening scene of some teenage slasher movie that starts out with everyone ready to party all night long while danger lurks in the desert to pick them all off one by one as the storm rolls in...

    When we didn't find our bags at the dropoff point we were told we had come to the wrong camp and were directed to the correct one behind the next dune - and we were kind of relieved, as the tents looked much nicer and more comfy. And if we did feel like partying, we'd know where to go.

    We were served a traditional dinner accompanied by a drum circle (instead of the dancing show that had to be cancelled due to the pouring rain). Breakfast the next day was scheduled for before sunrise, so I went to sleep at about 11 PM to the gentle and relaxing patter of raindrops on the tent's tarp, hoping that by morning the clouds would have given way to some stars.    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    One last look at the Sahara

    September 21, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Unfortunately, the next morning was cloudy again as we mounted our dromedaries in the dark to return to the meeting point. As we trudged along, the colors changed from night to day and we once again enjoyed the tranquility of the desert, only interrupted but occasional grunts, burps, and jabba-the-hut-like splurs from the dromedaries.

    Large puddles had formed next to the street, a photo opportunity I could not miss...    Read more

  • Jonny GzlzTravelerHere's looking at you , kid

    Ziz Valley

    September 21, 2024 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Some of the regions that impressed me the most when it comes to landscapes was the Ziz Valley with its towering gorges and contrasting palm groves. The road (national route N13) twists and turns, at times winding through the cliffs and at times offering panoramic views of the valleys below. If we hadn't been on a tour and we'd been driving on our own, I most definitely would have stopped a couple of times here to further explore the area. And take some better pictures and videos that the ones out of the side window as shown above 😉

    It is here that people started getting motion sickness - luckily, I was spared this time around.

    Music: Tinarawen    Read more

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