Mountains and Desert Dunes



Middle Atlas Mountains
After a rather uninspiring winding drive through the barren, rock-strewn Middle Atlas mountains, we stopped for lunch in a town called Midelt. Midelt is rather large, considering its location.

The morning’s entertainment consisted mainly of a stop in Ifrane, where a couple of storks were cuddling in their nest across from the restaurant where we had our coffee and a pit stop.  A bit further down the road, we did run into a single Macaque, which is also known as Barbary apes. They are supposedly quite common here, but we only saw the one. Other than that, it was a good morning to doze on the bus, especially considering the early wake-up call.




Midelt is apparently known for its Apple orchards, 
as giant apples greet the arriving visitor. 


The view of the snow-scapped peaks from our lunch stop. 


Another rest stop area. On the road to Erfoud.  

This was a long and not very interesting drive day, followed by the coolest Moroccan hotel and a fabulous camel ride to view the sunset from the top of a dune in a corner of the Sahara Desert. 

The coolest room ever at Kasbah Xaluca in Erfoud. 


After a forty-minute drive in a Toyota Land Cruiser, we arrived at the base of a huge set of sand dunes, with camels (dromedaries, actually) and camel herders ready to take us up the dunes to see the sunset. 














NEXT: The Great Oasis Valleys

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