Hello Everyone.

I'm having a great time here in Morocco. I've seen lots of places and met many wonderful people.

I'd like to send a big THANK YOU to Ben. Without him, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to come here.

I'd also like to say thank you to Brooke, my host here in Morocco. And, I loved traveling with Thomas, Terry, and Fazia from Journey Beyond Travel. Check out their website journeybeyondtravel.com

Day 1: Arriving in Ifrane

This is my new home in Ifrane for the next few weeks. Ifrane is a small town in the Middle Atlas Mountains. As you can see, we just got snow! I never knew it could snow in Africa! I can't wait to explore the town and the rest of Morocco. We'll see where the wind takes me next!

Fact: The lowest recorded temperature in Africa was in Ifrane.
On February 11, 1935 the temperature went down to -11°F.
Here they use celsius so it would be -23.9°C.

Day 2: The Lion

This is the famous lion statue in Ifrane. They say there used to be lions in the forest here!

Everyone who comes here takes a picture in front of it. Here I am right next to his eye in this picture.

Day 3: Lunch in the Market

Today I went to the local market in Ifrane. Everyone calls it the "marchè" (pronounced marshay), which is the French word for market. Most Moroccans are multi-lingual, meaning they speak many languages: French; Arabic; and some speak Berber, the language of the indigenous people of Morocco. Bon appetit!

Day 4: Fez

Fez is only one hour away from Ifrane. This is the entrance to the "medina" (pronounced medeenah). Medina means city in Arabic. No cars can go inside, only people, donkeys and mules. The streets are very confusing, it was like walking through a maze!

Did you know that this medina is over 1000 years old?

Day 5: The Supermarket

This is the big supermarket chain called "Marjane". It's pronounced mahr jan. They are located in every big city. We went inside to do some shopping and I wanted to take a picture but I got in trouble.

Day 6: The Gas Station

Brooke and some friends are going to Marrakesh to run in a marathon.

This is a picture of me and Mr. Chokri at the gas station. He's a history teacher at the American School of Ifrane.

They use liters here and not gallons. They also use meters, kilometers, grams and kilograms instead inches, miles, and pounds.

Day 7: Marrakesh

That's me in the coils of a cobra! This man was sitting in the central square of the Marrakesh medina. In Arabic it's called "Jma el Fna". There were snake charmers, fortune tellers, story tellers, singers and dancers all around!

It's one of the most colorful places I've been to. It was absolutely

Ssssssssssssssspectacular!

Day 8: Sweet Stand

Before the marathon, all of us needed energy so we ate some yummy snacks from this sweet stand in the medina.

This man sold delicious nut bars with cashews, peanuts, and walnuts, all covered in honey!

I'll have to run a marathon more often if it means more nutty treats!

Day 9: Stray Cat

There are so many stray cats here. This one decided to take a nap on this car!

Day 10: Olive Grove

Today we went to an organic olive farm. I got to see the olive oil-making process, following the olives all the way from the tree to the pressing machine. Fazia's friend said he knows men who are over 100 years old because they drink olive oil.

Maybe I'll start with the olives in this tub first!

Day 11: On the Road

We're heading to the town of Ouarzazate. It's on the way to the Sahara Desert. We spent a lot of time driving so I wanted to get a picture of me on the road.

Ouarzazate

Ourzazate is a town where the famous Atlas Movie Studio is. The studio has been here since 1983 and many movies have been filmed here. I'll just name a few that you might have heard of like Jewel of the Nile, Moses, Kundun, Cleopatra, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Mummy.

Here's a picture of me on the set of The Mummy!

Zagora

Zagora was where we spent the night after visiting the movie studio. It's about 3 hours away from Ourzazate. This town has a very big City Hall. Here's a picture with me in front of it.

Day 12: Tajine Dinner

A tajine (pronounced tah jeen) has 2 meanings. It means the conical-shaped dish made of clay that people cook in, and it also means the stew prepared inside of the dish.

Tonight, I had a tajine in a tajine!

Day 13: Tazzarine Road

This morning we are going to Rissani along the Tazzarine road. The area is pretty desolate and arid, but I found a funny road sign that I had to take a picture of!

Rissani

We arrived in Rissani at sunset.

This town is very important because it used to be the wealthy trading center of Sijilmassa on the Trans-Saharan Trade route during the Middle Ages when Morocco brought back gold from Timbuktu.

If you didn't know, Morocco is a kingdom with a king in power, and this town is where the current ruling Alaouite Dynasty originated from.

I took a picture in front of the arched entrance to the town.

Pit Stop

We needed to get out and stretch after being in the car for so long.

See the Arabic writing in black on the top of the sign. It's written from right to left and not left to right like in English.

Day 14: The Sahara Desert

I've never seen anything as amazing as the Sahara Desert; golden sand dunes until the edge of the horizon. It's like one big, never-ending beach!

The Sahara Desert is one of the largest deserts in the world. It is 3,500,000 square miles and stretches from Morocco all the way until Egypt.

Here's looking at You!

I had to get a shot of this young camel. They said he was about 1 years old.

Day 15: Taking a Break

I've seen so much in the last few days that I need to take a break.

Here I am about to fall asleep in our hotel room.

Day 16: Lunch Stop

We stopped in the town of Tinejdad for lunch. I had some soup, bread, and a Sprite. It was yummy!

Tinejdad Ksar

There are ksars and kasbahs everywhere! A ksar is a fortified village made of sun-dried blocks of mud with 4 guarded watchtowers on each corner and one main gate. There are still families who live in them but not many.

There aren't any guards in the watchtowers and more than one door to go inside now. A lot of these ksars are crumbling because not many people live in them anymore. They lived in these fortifications so they would be protected from any invasions.

I had a great time playing in the shady lanes inside!

View of Village and Oasis

I wanted to show you a picture of me overlooking a ksar in an oasis.

Day 17: Dades Valley Kasbah

The Dades Valley is a beautiful lush valley that grows things like, wheat, corn, walnuts, figs, peaches, almonds, and cherries.

This is a picture of me in front of a kasbah. A kasbah is also a fortified adobe structure, but it isn't a village. It's a big house where the most powerful and wealthiest family lived.

Kasbah Wall Design

Many of the old kasbah and ksar walls are decorated with symbols and designs.

I didn't think a mud wall could look so nice!

Day 18: Ait Ben Haddou

Ait Ben Haddou has a ksar that has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This ksar is special because it is one of the most well-preserved ksars in the entire country. This is where parts of the movie Gladiator was filmed.

Mud House

I liked this house, especially the bright blue and yellow windows.

Berber Rug

There are many Berber villages near here that make traditional, hand-woven carpets. The Berbers are the indigenous people of Morocco. The first recorded history of Morocco talks about the Berbers. This was when the Phoenicians were here. Who knows how long they were here before that!

Here is a colorful Berber rug from the Taznakht region.

Snow in the Mountains

We left Ait Ben Haddou and headed into the mountains. It took us 3 hours to cross the whole thing.

Here is a picture of some snow I saw at the peak. I was at an altitude of 1.3 miles.

Day 19: Souk

The Souk is an open-air market where many people living in towns and villages go to buy their food.

There is usually one every week on the same day, but each town has it on a different day. The souk in this town is on Tuesdays.

Street Sign

Here's a cool street sign I wanted to take a picture of.

Day 20: Traditional Oven

Some people who live in the countryside still use a traditional oven made out of clay. They use dried branches to start a fire then they bake round, flat loaves of bread inside.

Here I am pretending to bake bread!

Bread

Here's a picture of what the bread looks like here.

Day 21: Furry Friend

We were driving around the countryside and I made a furry friend!

I've seen so many donkeys in Morocco. They should be a national symbol!

Day 22: Cedar Forest in Ifrane

We are back in Ifrane. This area of Morocco has many cedar forests. Here I am entering the cedar forest. You can see some snow left too.

More Furry Creatures

Barbary Macaques, also called Barbary Apes, live in the Cedar forests. They run around in groups and jump from tree branch to tree branch.

Sometimes people feed them. This is not good because they will continue coming into town to look for "human food".

I was so lucky to get to see them and got a great picture of me near one.

Day 23: Flowers

I saw these flowers today. I think they were blossoms on an almond tree.

Lemon Tree

I saw this lemon tree today too.
It had lemons on it!

Day 24: Painting on a Car

I saw this picture that was painted on the door of a car. I saw a kasbah like this one in person!

Day 25: Meal with a Family

I had lunch with a family today. The family eats together in the main living room that is lined with pretty couches.

Everyone sits around a round table and eats with their hands out of the same dish. They use bread instead of utensils to scoop up the food.

There were 2 kinds of salads: a tomato one and a cooked spinach one. In the middle is the main dish which was sheep-stomach tajine! Then, we had another tajine that had chicken, vegetables, and olives in it. After that, they brought out a big bowl with lots of fruit. Finally, we drank sweet, mint tea and ate cookies.

Everything was finger-licking good!

New Friend

At the family's house I made a friend. His name is Omar and he's 12 years old. He's in 6th grade and he lives in this house with his grandmother, grandfather, 2 aunts, and 2 uncles. He lives here because their house is close to the school. We had lunch and watched cartoons together.

Day 26: Good-bye Morocco

I learned so much about Morocco in the short time I was here.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog.

--Flat Stanley