Jenny, Karien and I took a day to go explore a valley in the Atlas Mountains just outside Marrakesh. It was an awesome day. Started on the rooftop of the apartment I rented..
Then Jenny, Karien and I met in the Medina square (Jemaa el-Fnaa) for breakfast and hit the road… Jenny had organised a local guide for the trip.
First stop was to look at the mountains and we stopped at a Berber co-op to look at locally made crafts. I bought a tagine and hooded cloak (Djellaba). Will take pics and post later.
Next to the craft shop was a small building where they put metal bands around the outside of tagines. They let me snoop around as they wielded the bands to the tagine.
Then we drove for a bit and stopped at the base of the Atlas Mountains. There were a lot of cafes along the roiver bank and we stopped here for some food and just to hang out. Jenny went for a walk while Karien and I hung out.
We then drove back down the valley, taking a few photos of other cafes, as well as some villages, as we went.
Then the guide took us to a Berber family home for tea… they were lovely people and gave us permission to take some photos of their house. Inside they had a cow, a heap of tagines and the coal cooking pots for tagine, a millstone for making flour, a bread oven … it was super fascinating. Our hosts were wonderful and the team and assorted nuts and biscuits were delicious.
We returned to the square at night and had dinner together before going our separate ways… each off for our own Moroccan adventures over the next days…. it was a perfect day.