Accountant Adventures: The Kindness Continues

At the Big Tree

I intended to sleep in today because I felt really tired last night, but I woke up early and I was ready to start my day. My hotel is a restaurant on the first floor and a hotel on the second floor. I went down to the restaurant for some breakfast and asked for a menu. The waiter told me they didn’t have a menu and of course he only speaks French so ordering without a menu was difficult. He listed off items and when I heard words I recognized and desired I repeated them. I ended up getting an orange juice, two croissants and tea. The tea here, I’m not sure about all of Morocco at least at my hotel, is hot water with mint leaves in it and then they bring giant sugar cubes that can be added. It was all really good and a nice way to start off the day.

Yesterday, when I got to my hotel there was a man in the restaurant that was speaking to me in English and after I checked in he invited me over to his table. When I joined him, we talked for a while and then he got to the point. He was selling guided tours of the mountains and the surrounding area. When I asked him the price he told me about his 4 year old daughter and 5 month old son. Then he told me about his failed rug business because rent and taxes were too high. When he finally told me the price it was 300 MAD, a lot more than I want to spend. He did however tell me the places he was going to take me and I saw a sign for one of the places 5km away from my hotel. I decided to take a walk on my own and see what I can see. I loaded up my backpack with 2 water bottles and a croissant and headed out.

Along the way I came upon a fruit stand and bought some apples. When I had walked 5km I came to the sign I remembered that pointed up a steep hill 4 km to Cedre Gouraub, basically a very large tree. As I started to ascend a car pulled up and offered me a ride to the top. No one I meet claims to speak English, but all of them have better English than I do French. At the top, is the giant tree but there is also a cedar forest. I’m assuming it’s a cedar forest, but I honestly don’t know. There are some small shops and opportunities to ride a horse while a man walks next to it. That didn’t seem like fun, so I started to walk around the forest looking for trails. I found a trail that had some white blazes like the AT that led to a large field. The trail ended in the field, but I was able to locate a dirt road that was really just a path logging trucks have made. The path seemed to head up a hill and so I followed it to the top. I wanted to stop several times because it was hot and I was tired but I pushed myself so that I could get some views. When I finally made it to the top there were no views because there were too many trees. I turned around to head back and came across some loggers at their camp. These are local people, who I assume speak Berber and they are manually cutting down and chopping up trees. They sleep in tents made from logs and plastic. They were just sitting down to lunch and invited me to join them. The first course was a large animal and round flat bread. The second course was chicken with dates. Then we had grapes and bananas for dessert. It was all really good and so generous of them to share their food with me. I thanked them and headed back.

As I was walking back down the 4km hill I saw 2 kids riding a donkey and their mom next to them on a horse breast feeding an infant as they climbed the hill. A car passed me and then stopped and offered me a ride. They were heading west and I east, but they finished taking me down the hill. As I was walking the 5 km back to town, I passed a man riding a donkey, I guess they are really slow animals. I also passed a man who was carrying a large sack on his shoulders. I offered him water and he was very happy to accept a drink. He gave me a salute from his shoulder and then took the bottle, removed the cap and promptly poured a large amount of water into the street and then took a drink. I guess he was getting rid of my germs, or it is a custom among his people I am not sure. He saluted me again and said a word in Berber and then we parted ways. With all of the generosity other people have been showing me it was the least I could do.

I have started to exercise daily and I was doing some wall squats two weeks ago and it really hurt my knees, today however climbing the mountains (they might actually be only hills) they didn’t hurt at all and I have a very positive outlook. I think once Julie leaves I am going to trade in my tennis shoes for something a little more rugged and get another backpack instead of the rolling bag I am currently using. Small towns are where the real people and real adventures are.