Merzouga to Fes

 The good news today was that all nine of our COVID people have tested clear.

The dromedary riders were up early to see the sunrise from the top of the dunes. I was not one of them. By all reports it was a 'once in a lifetime experience', it was freezing cold and riding dromedaries is not an easy thing to do. Photos are from David, Margot and Jane.

An 8.30 departure and our first stop was for dates in Erfoud, then to the  Macro Fossil Kasbah where they do amazing things with fossil filled rock over 500 million years old. Our local guide Mohammed talked us through the whole process, from getting the rock to cutting, polishing, carving and creating artistic and useful things. As the Sahara was once a sea the fossils are sea creatures.

Once more we drove over incredible roads and saw the amazing scenery of the High Atlas Mountains. Again a geologist and geographer's dream.  Once we reached the Wadi, that green strip in the valley stood out like an amazing beacon. Our primary school education on the Sahara Desert has sure been shot to pieces ... an oasis is not a small pond with four palm trees!

And as for snow in Morocco!

Midelt is situated between the High Atlas mountains and the Middle Atlas mountains. It is noted for apple growing and they even have the Big Apple, or two!

Our lunch stop restaurant served soup, fresh trout and an apple slice.

After lunch we headed into the Middle Atlas where the spectacular views continued but gradually changed into wooded hills then became more fertile.

In Midelt Driss bought a bag of bread 'for his friends'. Along the road we came upon a nomadic camp where the families live like the Bedouins we saw earlier except that these people have sheep, goats and dogs. We stopped by the road and women and children came running, their big smiles showed how they liked to see Driss

Another stop in the cedar forest to look at the monkeys. They are Barbary macaques and are quite rare.

1st May is Labour Day in Morocco so it was a public holiday. Despite the quite bitter weather by late afternoon, lots of families were out enjoying the holiday with picnics, games and walking.

Our last stop for the day was Ifrane which had beautiful gardens, alpine architecture, very modern shops, a Royal Palace and is close to the ski fields. 

Eleven and a half hours after leaving the Kasbah we arrived in Fes. For many of us it was straight to bed as it had been a big day. Fes is a city of over 1 million people and we are staying at a big hotel,  the Barceló Fes Medina. The shower has a wall size photo of the sand dunes.

The sad news for the day was that we have COVID case number 10, just when we thought we were clear.