Jacques and Rollande: Day 6 - October 15

We were up at 6 this morning for a departure of 7:00 a.m. We lucked out and were able to sit in the front seat which has a great view.

We spent all day in the bus except for comfort breaks and a few photo shoots of 5 minutes each. But we saw amazing scenery.

Sheep everywhere.

Midelt is between the high atlas mountains and the high plains or middle atlas mountains. It is known for it's apple cultivation.

Apple venders along the road.

Interesting sculpture as we enter Midelt.

A fortress outside Midelt.

The 1st comfort break was in Ifrane. Youssef told us to hurry first to the bathroom. He was right because when the first of us came out there was a line-up of at least 50 people or more.

A sculpture representing the last of the Atlas Lions.

One of the photo stops was to see the Barbary apes. There were many. They are the same apes that you see in Gibraltar but just a tad less agressive. There were many men there trying to give us peanuts to feed the apes, if you take the peanuts then they want money.

We saw where there were nomadic people who had set up their herds and made huts. It looked like a pretty tough life.

Nomad encampment.

Ski hill. No lift so the skiers have to walk up the hill.

For lunch Jacques and I decided to try the camel tagine. It was pretty good with prunes, onions, walnuts, peanuts and a slice of pineapple on top. The meat was very lean and tender with a slightly different taste than beef.

Camel tagine - Very good.

When we passed the oases we saw small towns as well as a big city built around the oasis. Their houses are made of clay, hay and bamboo. It makes the houses cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.