The towns and villages in the middle of Morrocco have been like a flashback to a previous era with traffic jams and bustling centres full of local people riding their horse and carts. Seeing horse and carts cutting each other up, and overtaking in a busy street, is quite a sight to behold!
The difference in the structure of the streets and overall cleanliness is shocking from the more northern towns. In the UK, the more urban areas have more litter, but the opposite is true in Morocco; in the more rural areas, the litter can be overwhelming, at times even blowing across barren desert. It's sad to see but is simply a sign of the lack of waste management infrastructure and governance here currently.
That said, there are some beautiful places in Morocco; there is so much rich heritage to see and the landscape keeps evolving, so you're never far from the next photo opportunity, but it can be very barren and that emptiness can roll on and on for miles.
When we were driving through to Timoulilt, our next destination, we rounded a bend in the hills only to hear a loud bang from down in the valley and see smoke drifting into the air. It was clear that the road was going to take us in that direction and it was clear that the noise had been a gun going off. I was a bit uneasy, but we travelled on. As we neared the small town, there was the sound of more gun fire and i was as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. Gaz was cool as a cucumber of course. There were lots of mounted horses in a field lined up, and from somewhere out of view, guns kept being fired so Gaz pulled over and said he was going to have a shufty. I couldn't stop jumping, so decided to stay in the car. Which ended up not being the right move - the horses were part of a big display known as the Festival of Fantasia, where Berber riders in cultural dress and long rifles race in lines across a field and shoot their guns into the air as part of a national Berber cultural celebration. I read all about it on the rest of our journey, but if I'd been less nervy I could have enjoyed a front row seat to what I'm sure would have been quite a spectacle.
The small village of Timoulilt, 20 km south west of Beni Mellal, was in the middle of an empty wilderness. We pulled up to the brightly painted gates laden with shocking pink flowers, down a hot dusty track, and when the gates were opened we were welcomed into a beautiful green walled garden oasis, filled with trees and shrubs and birds. In the centre there was an outside kitchen and bar built from old upcycled furniture and mechanical items, decorated with glass drink bottles, tin cans, broken pottery, and material fringing.
The refuse art continued throughout the garden and house, in every nook and cranny. There was even material fringing around the loo! It was an eclectic but beautiful crazy mess of colour and texture and it was so so different to the surrounding environment. We spent 4 days at this eco-lodge, with its amazing hospitality and friendly team who couldn't do enough for us and it taught us that staying in a variety of places, even those that might be a little eccentric at some times, will make our travels even better.
After reluctantly saying our goodbyes, we headed to the outskirts of the city of Marrakesh to spend a few days in a luxurious kasbah with a big pool. And of course, my luck runs out on day 1 after we popped to a local mall to pick up some snacks and stopped for a quick lunch in what appeared to be a good choice of restaurant but I couldn't have been more mistaken. That evening, to say I started to have tummy trouble would be an understatement. I was very unwell for 2 days with a fever and cold sweats. So while Gaz was relaxing by the pool, I was relaxing in the bathroom. It was such a shame that I didn't get to enjoy that pool. Sad times. But I was soon back in fighting shape and taking advantage of the lovely Moroccan tea and the beautiful gardens.
Our next location was only 10 minutes away in the centre of Marrakech, where we were soon to meet friends arriving from the UK!
It looks totally fascinating! Its great to follow your journey 😀