Day 11: The Mountainsides (and the stares)

By Tim

It was a short drive (distance-wise) today to Fes. As what is becoming usual (but hopefully not habit!), we had another lazy start today, getting on the road at noon. The campsite in the mountains of Chefchouen was great. We met two British couples who were convoying together through Morocco for the past 2 months. They gave us some helpful tips, but moreover it was great to chat to to people who decided to take so much time off “normal life” to travel. They had surfboards mounted to the side of one of their vehicles, and one couple even had a child - so cute, she must have been no older than 3 or 4 years old. (So it can be done - traveling overland with children!)

We drove through the Rif Mountains to get to Fes and saw some amazing scenery along the way. At about halfway our stomaches starting growling, so we found some space along the side of the road, started the gas cooker and made some tasty spicy two-minute noodles. We got a lot of looks by passersby, but not because we were cooking along the side of the road. Most probably it was the usual reason we’re getting stares in Morocco: we’re white westerners! We are trying to get over this, but it is hard to not notice. It helps that most of the Moroccans are really nice and politely nod or smile when we say “Salam” (hello in Arabic) to them. One girl could not take her eyes off of Natasha and even said “hello” (in English), which we believe was her way of making an effort to pay respects (as we do when we try to speak their language.)

It is becoming evident that Tash is getting more stares than me, probably due to the fact that she represents freedom for women. Women here don’t really know what it’s like the be her own person; instead they are to be subservient to their husbands, not to be seen (or at least physically covered from head to toe) in public, and mothers. That’s the extent of their role, and it’s sad to see lives limited like that. We occasionally see younger women dressed a bit more liberally (no head scarves), which may be a sign of the coming times... You should have seen the stares we got when Tash was behind the wheel of this Landy!

We made it to Fes in the late afternoon, and after a quick venture toward the city, we thought it would be better to find a campsite first (it is a VERY busy city). The decision was a prudent one; for the next 2 hours we hunted for one of the two campsites recommended in our Africa overland book. After a few stops asking directions, sunset came and went, and we finally managed to find a campground. So Fes will have to wait until tomorrow. For now it’s a dinner of mac & cheese!