Morocco Day 1 – Saturday, September 13th

In Marbella, everybody splits up Saturday morning and we are about the middle of the pack. Blair and Diane take the car back to Malaga, dropping us off at the Marbella bus station for 9 am where we catch a bus to Algecira, then Tenerife in order to catch the ferry to Tangiers. They go on to Barcelona, then home from there.

90 minutes to Algecira, 90 minutes to Tenerife, 90 minutes ferry and we land safely in Tangiers, and walk our way through the medina and find our nice little Mamora hotel.

We want to find a Maroc Tel outlet – a national cell phone carrier to get a local SIM card – until we do, we are disconnected from the world (gasp!). But it’s Saturday, kinda their Sunday and the only one open is near the train station. We can’t wait for tomorrow cuz that’s Sunday, we need to get on an early train and for sure nothing will be open. But it’s nice weather and so we walk the 2 km or so to the train station along the beach boulevard. Looks like a great beach but we never do go in. (In fact, the whole trip we barely touch the Mediterranean.) We get the SIM card and some cash, head back to the medina near our hotel, only getting a bit lost in the maze and have a lovely mint tea in a cafe.

Hear is where we learn about the beatnik crowd that hung about Tangiers in the 50s. Pedophilic, homosexual perverted drug fiends that came to Morocco where there were no rules. Their activities were peddled as artistic and free, but there’s no escaping the reality of what they were and why they came here.

Not too hard to tell who has the better camera.

We go back to the Mamora hotel to clean up then go out for dinner, we get a roof top view and a nice meal, then tour the streets a bit before heading back to the hotel – we’ve got a fairly early morning.

Morocco Day 2 – Sunday, September 14th

After a very good breakfast upstairs on the 3rd floor we grab a cab to the train station from the ranks at the top of our street, need to pay for our luggage on the bullet train and pass thru some other bureaucracy but all to be expected.

Couple very comfortable hours later we are in Casablanca, but never leave the train station, just change tracks to get the next train to Marrakech. It is NOT a bullet train but still moves pretty quickly to get to Marrakech. Maybe only 100 km/hr instead of 300 km/hr.

We overpay for a private taxi, but probably cheaper than a real taxi to get us to the closest medina entrance to our lodging spot, called a riad. We find it pretty easily, actually. The front of these riads are unassuming, but inside there is a little oasis, literally, with shade, trees and a small, cool pool. We take a quick dip before heading out.

It’s 40 degrees in Marrakech but not too bad in the medina alleys which have plenty of shade. It’s a huge medina and we walk around, eventually find the famous big square where there a million vendors, snake charmers, etc. You look at the snake charmers, you need to pay.

We stop to eat at what looked like the best terrace restaurant, turned out to be pretty average. C not so well after a freshly squeeze pomegranate drink so she didn’t eat much. Luckily all is well next day.

Morocco Day 3 – Monday, September 15th

8:30 am after a lovely breakfast (included) our charter driver meets us right on time just outside the medina for the ride to Imlil – kickoff point for the Mt. Toubkhal trek. Toubkhal is the highest mountain in North Africa at 4,170 m. Altitude sickness is an issue and we’re hoping we’ll be OK. Natch, we forgot our headlamps in the bag we left with Juergen but not too expensive to rent. Also rent hiking poles – turns out to be a godsend.

After repacking everything so we only had one small backpack and the daypack, we set off with our guide Abraham (legally and practically a requirement) for “the refuge” – I think it may be an old hermitage but it is at the top of the valley and lies at the foot of Mt. Toubkhal. It’s a very challenging 5 1/2 hour hike over difficult terrain, including a lunch stop with the ubiquitous tangine meal. We climb about 1500m elevation to get to 3200m at the refuge. We meet a lovely Brit couple, Karen and Ben Watkins, and basically hang with them for the rest of the trip. Easily over 100 people at the refuge.

Rough walk up, glad to see the refuge after 5 1/2 hours walking on tough terrain. We sleep in the dormitory for about 4 hours. No one sleeps well.

Morocco Day 4 – Tuesday, September 16th

Most of us start the ascent of Toubkhal about 3:30 am in total darkness, it is just starting to get light as we reach the top in freezing temperatures – about -5C and pretty windy. Many rocks slippery with frost here in Africa.

We talk about it later but a guide tells Karen that one of the reasons they start in the dark is because you can’t see the exposure of the terrain you are crossing – people would balk if they knew how exposed some of it is.

One foot in front of the other, eyes on the rock you are about to step on that you can only see with your headlamp, think of something else.

Take some photos at the top as the sun rises and head back down. 3 1/2 hours up, 2 hours down and we’re already feeling the effort. Pretty much everyone was the same as me when it came to the altitude – quite a few moments where you knew it was affecting you – tired, a bit dizzy, a bit nauseous, highly winded, spots in your eyes – and not sure you were going to make it but after a few seconds it would pass and you would keep on going.

The way down is a bit scary as (a) you’re going down and (b) you can see the exposure. Down is always more dangerous but we all make it alive although Christy’s knee and leg are really starting to bother her. I am sore and a bit ginger on some maneuvers but generally OK, feeling decently strong. We have a break at the refuge and then start the long journey back to Imlil. Pretty crazy we go from the refuge, to the top of Mt. Toubkhal, back to the refuge and then back down to Imlil all in one day.

About halfway to our lunch stop, Christy is in a lot of pain and struggling but thankfully the hiking poles are saving her from crashing over the very rough terrain. We thought that after the descent from the top, the hike down from the refuge would be easy but it is still very challenging – and when your knees or legs are gamey, it’s challenging AND dangerous. Slips/falls could be deadly.

We get to the lunch spot and our faithful guide Abraham arranges for a donkey to take Christy the rest of the way. Costs about C$25 and well worth it – Christy could have done some serious damage, gotten seriously hurt and at the very least, would have made the remaining 90 minute walk into 3 or 4 hours. I walk the rest of the way with Karen and Ben.