This Sunday, we mobilized a scouting mission to the area around Her Moumou to see if we could get a line on the mountain. I have still only seen the mountain from a great distance, and not at all since I have returned to Fez, given that air quality here in the summer is less clear than in the winter.
Me, Richard, Hillaire, and White Joe left Fez at 9:00 in the morning and grabbed a grande taxi to Sefrou. The taxi cost 11 dirhams (1.5 dollars) per sitting spot (out of 6), and the ride lasted about 30 minutes. Our taxi driver happened to be from Menzel, and told us that the town is locally famous for its meat market. Once we arrived, we toured the city and waited for our fifth member, Ethan, to arrive by bicycle (because he is a machine).
Me, White Joe, Hillaire, and Richard in the back of a taxi, Two Moroccans in the Front Seat.
Sefrou is smaller and much quieter than Fez, though it still receives tourism because of its spot at the foot of the Middle Atlas Mountains. The Sefrou Medina has the potential to be truly beautiful, in part because it is precariously stacked on either side of a small river gorge. Unfortunately, the river is clogged with years of accumulated refuse, and we were able to play a game we called "count the rats eating trash" from atop a bridge.
The good old days before the river became too dirty to wash one's clothes (http://dafina.net/forums/read.php?52,268513,300020,quote=1).
Upon his arrival, Ethan showed a remarkable amount of trust in humanity by locking his bike up on a public telephone box, and we were off to Menzel. The taxi to Menzel cost 14 dirhams per seat, and we managed to convince the driver to stop at an olive orchard so we could get a view of the Sebou Gorge.
Photoshoot with Ethan
Did I mention Menzel has good meat? The Souq (market) at the center of town is all dedicated to freshly butchered sheep and goats. We tried to order a kilo of meat at a butcher--in part to look busy in the face of constant Moroccan stares--but the butcher said that his sheep were too fresh and consequently had a bad flavor. Who knew?
We did purchase a kilo of meat around the corner (60 dh) and then had the restaurant 20 feet down cook the meat up (15 dh). It was delicious, but I do not have pictures yet. The rest of our Time in Menzel was...interesting. I felt as if I was in a western film, with the empty street and the constant curious/fearful stares that Moroccans were giving us from their second floor windows. The presence of five foreigners (including a woman and an Asian American man!) will continue to be the talk of the town, I think.
We climbed the hill above the town to see if we could see Her Moumou, but no such luck. We did, however, see the Sunday Market in Menzel. People were taking part in a sheep auction in preparation for their slaughtering for the holiday of Eid el Kbir this coming week. As a side note, one of the criticisms levied against the new post Arab Spring government is that (among other things) sheep prices have risen from roughly 120 to over 200 dollars a head.
We didn't go any farther on this trip, since Ethan wanted to avoid biking at night. Zaouia will have to wait. However, Menzel will be a useful stopping off point for the headwaters of the Sebou River, which from all I have heard, seem to meet the Moroccan criteria for untouched natural beauty.
You asked me to come read your blog but you haven't updated anything in three days!
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