For 30 minutes we were glad we had sweaters...

On Wednesday we left Fez at 7:30am and arrived in Marrakech at 10:30pm, driving the length of the middle Atlas Mountain range. 

We stopped for a rest in Ifrane in the morning and suddenly we were at 5,000 feet and greeted by the most pleasant weather.  Ifrane is a beautiful little ski (yes ski) town designed by the French with an International University and a statue of a lion carved by an imprisoned Italian.

Here are some photos along the way.

We stopped for lunch in Beni Mallal at the villa of a woman and her two daughters.  After her husband passed she wasn’t sure what she could do other than cook, so she turned her beautiful home into a restaurant called Rim Atlas.  We will attest, she sure can cook! Once again we had a seated in a separate room and had an incredible duo playing traditional Berber music for us.  Very different but beautiful music and one of the most beautiful instruments.  

Desert, crepe-like with honey and butter -- delicious!

After lunch we hopped back in the van on our way to see Ouzoud waterfall.  The waterfall is over 300 feet tall and you have to walk down about 300 steps to get to the bottom.  The slippery, narrow staircase down is full of shops, cafes, cats, grills, people, and donkeys with packs or tired people.  Once you get to the bottom though the view is incredible.  We took a raft ride to the base of the waterfall and had a wonderful time watching the kids climb the cliffs and jump off into the water.  They put on quite the show.  Then came the walk back up.  Those donkey rides weren’t looking so bad after 300 steps.

Back to the van for another 3 hours to Marrakech, where we ate a three course dinner, as quickly as possible.  Every was full of the giggles you only get when you’re too exhausted to do anything else.  Off to bed.