Aug 20 – The long dusty hike to the dead tree

We wake up early such that we can walk as far as possible while the sun isn’t too strong. Breakfast is French pastries and mint tea at the patisserie, before we try contacting the tourist bureau for tourguides. There is no one answering calls – we decide to go it ourselves. We acquire water, a loaf of round Moroccan bread and try to piece together the vague directions given by LP (where we’re going is off the Azrou map) and the concierge back at the hotel. We left our luggage under a table in some storeroom at the hotel, but took pictures of the assembled bags first because we didn’t fully trust them. The bag on the top was a new acquisition of K's to carry back all his souvenirs in.

Thus began the 13km hike to we’re not sure where. I’m wearing A’s runners, because my sandals have been falling apart since the Netherlands (they’re several years old) and I wasn’t certain they’d stand up to the rigours of this trip. They completely fell apart several days after I returned to Toronto, so I was pretty lucky. I wasn’t about to acquire new footwear in London (most expensive city I’ve ever been in) and I made one attempt to buy some in Meknes, but they had no sandals in my size (“Ces souliers, ils sont pour les hommes?” Oui “Avez-vous celui pour les femmes?” Non, les femmes ne portent pas ce type de souliers. – apparently all they wear are things with heels - “Pour les enfants?” Non. Ah well.)

The family from WI passes us in their vehicle at some point. The only other ppl on foot are those who live in the area. We ask a security guard to a hotel for directions, to check that we’re going the right way. He tells us to walk to the point where the road splits where we’ll see a sign and two policemen pointing. A and I are extremely confused as to whether we’d understood him correctly. If there’s a sign, why do they need policemen to stand there and point? And two of them? Maybe one is holding the sign and the other one is pointing….? Finally, we see the policemen – they seem to act as a checkpoint rather than a direction post.

We pass by farms, with donkeys grazing on rather dry-looking land, scraggly chickens and dogs. Finally, we begin to see trees replacing the farms above us and ahead of us.

We take our first rest stop when the road begins cutting through the trees, beside a shepherd leading his flock of sheep. Cars with EU plates pass us carrying other tourists. We feel ridiculous for trying to walk it, but the thought that we can’t be too far now keeps us going. We’re covered with a layer of dust clinging to dried sweat and sunscreen, but now that we’re in the trees, there’s shade.

And finally, we’re there! There is a parking lot surrounding a gigantic dead tree – the Cedre Gouraud. Surrounding the parking lot were random stands selling fossils, drinks, necklaces, postcards and peanuts. The area was a sort of park thing where many Moroccans came for day trips to enjoy the green and see the Barbary apes (you feed them the peanuts). Our first glimpse did not really impress us – we’d hiked 13km to see a dead tree? But, we were able to capture some more impressive photos later when some interesting cloud formations came through behind it.

We sat down and shared out our one loaf of bread while A made faces at the ‘donkey water’ she’d bought from one of the stands. Most of the vendors probably can’t afford vehicles, and the only way to haul crates of water and pop up all this way from Azrou was to use pack animals. I suppose that the sweaty creatures must transfer some of their aroma to the load they carry.

Next on our agenda was to stroll through the trees and look for these Barbary apes. We wandered for a bit, and saw our first one halfway up a tree looking like a furry little Yoda. Soon, we came across a whole band of them being teased by some of the picnickers. They kept trying to feed the monkeys drinks out of plastic bottles and offer them bits of food, screaming if they got to close, but prodding them if they didn’t move. There was also a girl leading a donkey its baby around, offering ppl rides.

When we finally tire of wandering around, we begin to ponder how we are to get back. K is pretty adamant that he will not walk those 13km back. We decide to try asking the vendors. Their initial suggestion is to ask the military ppl in their trucks for a lift back. A gives this a go, while K and I follow her unbelievingly, thinking we’ll be shot. It turns out they’re going further up the mountain, rather than back to the town. Finally, one of the vendors gets in touch with a friend who owns a car (one of the other vendors has a cell) and we negotiate a ride back for 60Dh. We’ve paid more for shorter distances. At this point it is early afternoon.

Next - Aug 20 – Azrou back to Fez