Mountain Monkeys

Today we hiked! We took the bus up into the High Atlas. We stopped at Ifrane which is more Swiss than Moroccan. The buildings all loook new and have high sloped roofs. There are manicured parks with green grass and working fountains. For only being a little over an hour away, it felt like we had jumped continents.

Next we went to our guide's farm for a traditional Berber breakfast. His mother had laid out the spread of a lifetime for the 30 of us. There was the regular Moroccan bread that has become a staple in my new diet here, but there was also some sort of cornbread and a kind of tortilla thing. There was freshly made butter, marmalade, and honey, and let's not forget the Berber whiskey-green mint tea! After our very delicious and filling breakfast, we hiked out through the fields to the mountains. The mountains had large trees, hundreds of years old, and there was very little undergrowth. Our guide pointed out interesting plants along the way-one that is good for asthma, one that cures indigestion if boiled, one that acts as an herb for cooking.

Before I knew it we were in a little clearing with large, furry monkeys all around. Some people took horseback rides around the forest, but I played with the monkeys. They would take bread right from my hand. There were babies that were playing with their mothers, and big males hulking around trying to get the most out of the tourists that had arrived. One monkey stole Anne's bag of chips and ran away. A baby monkey was in a tree nearby, and I couldn't help but give the cute little one the majority of my bread.

The next stop was another hike, but this one led us up to a gorgeous view of the Moroccan countryside. Daniel and Iman (the directors) may have regretted their decision to bring us up to on top of that cliff after watching some members of the group playing and hiking too close to the edge, but everyone made it back down to the bus safely.

Sorry if this blog is not quite as exciting, but think of it more as a carrier for the photos.