We left Fez on a Sunday, and looked forward to a relaxed tour into the mountains. What we hadn’t considered: while it had rained in Fez, it had snowed in the mountains, and it felt like the whole city was out and about to enjoy it, which led to chaos on the roads, with accidents, traffic jams and diversions. Many police men tried to regulate the traffic with moderate to no success.
First, we had to take a detour through Ifrane, which is a favourite holiday destination for the Moroccans. The houses look more like in an Alpine ski resort, than what you expect and see in the rest of Morocco.
It was great to watch how much fun everybody had. Families were taking pictures, built a snowman or slid down the hills on plastic bags or sledges made from old skis.
We reached a height of 2,200m, around the Michlifen skiing area, where the most snow was to be found, especially on the northern slopes and in the shade. In the sun exposed areas, the grass was already showing again. Up here, it had only 2 degrees, which didn’t keep the locals from having their picknick next to the road.
Of course, we couldn’t resist doing the same as everybody else. When we found the perfect spot, it was selfie- time!
After we had finally left the snowy heights, we took a gravel detour until we reached the Moulouya reservoir, where we spent the night. Tomorrow we want to explore a mining valley.