Travel with Tobey and Sue: June 1, 2017 - Ouarzazate to Marrakesh, Morocco

Diversity was the word of the day – from the landscapes to the activities! As we left Ouarzazate, we passed several movie studios. The film industry is huge in this area – not just movie studios, but a huge cinema school for people wanting to learn all aspects of movie making. It is a large boost to the local economy.

The entire area is busy with renovation and construction, including this 17th century Kasbah which is under renovations.

The difference between villages and cities and the construction is vast.

Agriculture and animal husbandry play major roles in the economy of the country. We continue to see herds of goats and sheep, as well as terraced farming.

Construction on the narrow roads through the High Atlas Mountains made us all happy that we were not driving. Much of the drive included narrow switchback sections up to the Tizi n ‘Tichka Pass, before we descended down the mountains to open fields!

We spotted six RVs driving in a caravan up the mountain. They are a bit narrower than most of the ones we have at home and definitely not as long!

When we reached the Tizi n ‘Tichka Pass we were able to take a few pictures overlooking the valley below. The pass peaks at an elevation of 2260 meters (7740 feet).

Coming down the north side of the mountains we passed a large Berber beehive colony. The hills looked barren at a distance, but up close there are several bushes with flowers for the bees to feed upon.

The landscape also changed as we descended and the soil became more red than brown, reminding us of Sedona, Arizona!

We arrived in Marrakesh, the “Red City”, mid-afternoon and had a light lunch and swim before heading out for the evening activities. In 1985 the population of Marrakesh was about 200,000 people – now it is about 2 MILLION! A large portion of the local economy is from tourism. Many of the buildings are a red-ochre color because of the red clay soil.

We had a short bus tour through the new sections of Marrakesh seeing the opera house, the modern upscale shopping areas, the cultural center and museum. After passing through the 11th century gates, we went for a short walk through the souks (marketplace) and saw the water boys, dressed in red. They originally sold water, now they pose for pictures with tourist - for a price.

You can have your picture taken with monkeys, or snakes.

Abdulwahab, our guide, paid the water boys, and the snake charmers so we could take pictures. This fellow played the flute while the other held the cobra. None of us were interested in touching the snakes, because he told us that while they milk the venom from the snakes, they still have venom in them.