Blogs from Ouarzazate, Souss-Massa-Draâ, Morocco, Africa - page 4

On our exploration of Morocco south of the High Atlas, we had originally considered cycling a loop from the Draa Valley village of Tansikht through Risani and Erfoud back to Ouarzazate, but soon realized we wouldn't have enough time to complete it before Kate had to catch her March 18 flight from Marrakech for a quick visit to the U.S. So, not wanting to pass up the Dades and Todra Gorges - "don't miss" destinations, from all the first-hand reports we'd received - we rode the bus from Zagora, near the end of the Draa Valley, back to Ouarzazate. After spending the night in familiar territory again, we started riding eastward along the Dades Valley on what was to be the last cycling leg of our trip through Morocco. The leafy character of central Ouarzazate quickly ... read more

We enjoyed a morning lounging in bed and avoiding getting dressed in a very cold room. Just as we were about to get up someone knocked at our door to remind us checkout time was in fifteen minutes. When Rob reminded him we were staying two nights, he didn't even apologise for disturbing us. Once we were up we went into the souqs in search of bread and cheese for our picnic. We found baguettes easily enough but the only cheese we could find was at the overpriced supermarket for westerners. We tried a few of the cremeries which are little more than a counter serving everything you can think of. When we asked for cheese all they could produce were triangles of Dairylea. We did eventually find a place that sold us some edam along ... read more

I woke up around 7am, the streets were quiet and empty. I went upstairs towards the terrace where the hotel served breakfast, looking at what they offered and how much it cost I decided not to have it. Bread, jam and coffee for Dhm20 not even an omlette, no way. I walked towards the Taourirt Kasbah, went inside for Dhm10 and checked it out. I met this french couple at the Kasbah who told me about Al-Mansour ed-Dahabi dam. I had breakfast off the street nearby, Harira and Omlette is becoming my regular diet now that I have stopped eating fish. It was about a 3km walk and I did not see any dam although I did see something that resemmbled a lake. However while getting there I passed a village with children playing football and ... read more

Somewhere between the High Atlas Mountains, and their snow covered caps, Antoine poisoned me with tap water. I will get back to that in a couple minutes. At 2750m, we stopped to take pictures and that turned into a snow ball fight. The road to Ouarzazate looks like a three year old scribbled on the map, and every 15 seconds you make a sudden turn along the side of a giant mountain. Every five minutes a medieval bus of the Moroccan transit system tries to run you off the road. Four hours later, we find ourselves in Ouarzazate. Kouidre and I are looking worse for wear and after getting to the hotel, Kouidre begins to sleep for 20 straight hours. Antoine, Ludo and I eat at a café and return to the room early for some ... read more

One of Peace Corps’ most important philosophies is that volunteers are happiest when their support network is primarily made up of Host Country Nationals (HCN’s). I have certainly found this to be true. If I didn’t have a lot of friends and great people to work with in my town, where I spend the majority of my time, then I doubt I’d being enjoying my service nearly as much as I am. Human beings, even those of us who enjoy large amounts of privacy and solitude, are naturally social beings. We need person-to-person interaction in our daily lives to keep us energized and busy or else we become reclusive and morose, missing out on the best parts of life. Peace Corps Volunteers in particular need to reach out to the people in our communities, not only ... read more