I forgot to tell the most interesting stop from yesterday. It was at a Berber Herbalist Pharmacy. The pharmacist told us what the products were used for, and let us smell and sample them. The prices were reasonable.
Today we drove 5 hours into the High Atlas Mountains. There was snow on the ground at one of our photo stops. We left our van at the town of Imlil and our daypacks were loaded onto 3 donkeys for the rest of the journey up the mountain to our gite. A gite is basically a Bed and Breakfast. It was a fairly steep walk up the mountain path. Amanda and I did get to ride the donkey part of the way up. It was cold but comfortable with the physical activity. It took us about an hour to get to the gite. There were 5 bedrooms with 3 mattresses on the floor of each room. There were 2 toilets, 1 squatty potty (hole in the floor), and 2 showers. No way anyone was going to use a shower. There was one small propane heater in the main room. That was it. And it was cold, probably in the 30's. Three generations of the family who owned the house lived on the basement level. We were served tea at our arrival and then Ismael entertained us by writing all of our names in Berber, Arabic, and then gave us a Moroccan name. Dinner was a vegetable and potato tagine, and some meat, supposedly beef. The beef was full of fat. Not the best meal. After dinner, Ismael had some games planned, but I couldn't stay in that room any longer. It was too cold. I had to get into my sleeping bag with the heavy blanket on top.
Forgot to mention, on the drive up the mountain, we passed Richard Branson's own hotel, called Kasbah Tamadot, a luxury retreat with room rates of over $500 per night.
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