We kicked off the morning at 7:00am for our 100km trek to Erfoud. Meli started a trend by purchasing a leather backpack purse from a vendor outside our bus, before long almost everyone had purchased a purse if not two.

As we made our way through the Atlas Mountains our first stop is the Swiss City of Ifrane , where a 5 star hotel is kept for the king in case he decides to visit. As we approached our destination the La Paix Coffee shop for a split second you forgot your were still in Morocco. There was no snow, king, or ski-lifts as advertised in this quaint little village but plenty of good coffee and cookies.\

Continuing our drive through winding cedar forests our next stop is to visit our primate friends the monkeys. They quickly gathered around once they figured out there was food. Haj shared his peanuts and Matt his orange, one even tugged on Matt’s pant leg because he wasn’t fast enough at handing out orange slices. As we all wandered off in pursuit of capturing the perfect shot a fight broke out between two of the male monkeys over a female.

As our journey continued and with lunch time approaching we were all eager for the meatballs Meli had promised. Unfortunately, we were in for a surprise as lamb tagine with quince and prunes was served, fortunately for Meli it was quite delicious.

Our next stop was a home visit to a Bouran village family. We were given a warm welcome and offered mint tea and nuts. As we got comfortable on their new couches we learned they had recently purchased a solar panel.

In the background they proudly displayed their new TV.

Making our way through the Valley of Ziz, we made several photo stops. At one village we were able to capture the locals with their loaded burros. As we approached the Palm’s hotel we were welcomed by the Kings military and helicopters, luckily for us we were able to share the hotel with the King’s bureaucrats. According to Meli last years’ group wasn’t so lucky. For dinner tonight we are presented with a buffet in the hotel.

    
                                 The King is getting to leave the desert