May 18, 2025
Our final morning in Marrakesh, we had a great time in the city. Most of the activities were fun for both the boys and us which is always a treat. The city was a great combination of old and new with friendly people while always feeling safe. We had one final breakfast at our riad and meet Abdul for our first long drive, ~4 hours to Ouarzazate.
The drive was through the Atlas Mountains so it was very scenic but also very twisty. Kayleen goes in the front with Abdul to prevent car sickness and I sit in the middle row with one of the boys and the other is in the third row. They switch back and forth after each stop to keep things “fair”.
Shortly after leaving Marrakesh, we passed a van with quite a few sheep on the top of it. They were held on by netting that somehow stopped them from flying off. Imagine seeing that in the US! It must have been quite the ramp to get them up there. Once we entered the mountain, we saw a large section of the main road closed due to a massive rock slide that a smaller road had been added to go around it. Abdul mentioned this is a common occurrence on the mountain roads but usually not of the scale we saw.
We made a few stops on the drive for some photos of the mountains, valley, and very small communities with traditional house made from mud, clay, & hay. The quick stop at the Tichka Pass was very windy so we just snapped a quick photo and continued the drive.
We stopped for lunch at a nondescript roadside restaurant that had a large outdoor seating area a flight of stairs down from the road. I’ve been eating various dishes cooked in the traditional Moroccan tagine. It comes out very hot in the base of the tagine to the table with a protective mat underneath. The lemon chicken for this lunch was the best yet, very delicious.
We continued our drive which goes by surprisingly fast with the scenery and a Harry Potter audio book playing. The audio books are very long but so much more detailed than the movies, like any book. With all the driving in Morocco we expect to finish the Chamber of Secrets and get through most of the Prisoner of Azkaban before we leave. For context the Prisoner of Azkaban audio book is 11 hours!
We decided to go straight to our hotel and return to visit Aït Benhaddou in the evening once it cooled off. Our hotel was large for a place that receives guest mostly for a night or two. The grounds were very nicely kept with a salt water pool in the large courtyard.
We got all our things up to our room on the 3rd floor and the boys had some learning game time on their iPad so we could have some peace. I walked around the grounds and found the gym for a bit before taking a dip in pool without being attacked. Kayleen read her book in peace.
We went back to Aït Benhaddou, only 10 minutes from the hotel, at 5PM. It was cooler and we wanted to see the old city where so many movies and shows had been filmed over the years. The boys were not as interest and complained of walking, being tired, or being hungry. They only had energy when they wanted to climb places they were not allowed. We walked to the top of the city but the very top was closed off because of damage from the last earthquake.
We sat to have tea with Abdul and enjoy the view before we walked down. The boys become unbearable, even with the promise of ice cream at the end. Abdul showed them a slight of hand trick where they pretended to remove their thumb which had them entertained briefly.
We headed back to the car and crossed a dried riverbed where they filmed scenes from Game of Thrones season 3. Then we got a few ice creams from a small convenience store where we had parked. It is incredible how Ollie is able to get the ice cream on parts of his face so far away from his mouth.
We got back to the hotel for dinner. Luckily it was a buffet so we could eat at our own pace. We did our best to go as quickly as possible and head to bed. Kayleen and Lenny left a bit before Ollie and I. I climbed a lookout tower inside the hotel with Ollie for a little adventure and got a good view before heading to bed.
