Driving off a Bridge

Once out of Fez it was time to head across the Atlas mountains and south towards Todra Gorge. It was also time to start bush camping! Even though Morocco is a pretty warm country this was winter-time, and up in the mountains that means temperature drops of down to 0°C during the nights. First night we found the remains of a house that we could pitch the tents in as shelter from the winds. The second night was a bit warmer, but we didn’t have any wind shelter instead. Of course there were a few strong gusts just before bed time resulting in one tent taken by the wind. Luckily we could find it only a few hundred meters away the next day.

The next day, January 31st, was supposed to be a short drive to reach our destination Todra Gorge. Two thirds through the day’s leg and just before noon we had to cross a narrow bridge. Oncoming were two cars and suddenly one started overtaking the other. Sure, Moroccan drivers are crazy, but this was just madness. The overtaking driver almost made it past but ended up hitting our front tire causing the whole truck to turn to the left. Without power steering our driver didn’t stand the slightest chance of turning back and off the bridge we went. Apparently we had all the luck in the world. We nosedived into the only dirt pile of roughly the same height as the bridge. Any other spot would’ve meant a fall of several meters with who knows what as a result. Everybody survived and only three people in the group had to go to a hospital. I got away with a few fractured or possibly broken ribs.

The truck is surprisingly sturdy too. There’s a few things to fix on it but it should be good to go after a week’s work or so. Sadly one person will quit the trip but the rest of us are eager to continue.

While waiting for the truck to be fixed we kept going as well as we could according to the itinerary. We stayed a few nights in Todra Gorge and did some easy hiking there. The most spectacular (and most touristic) part of the gorge is amazing with high cliff walls and only 10 meters wide at the narrowest point. The hike to and from the gorge was pretty amazing too with old ruins, Berber villages and of course a carpet shop “just for looking”.

Next stop was Marrakech where we stayed until the truck was ready. We stayed at the most amazing place in Marrakech, sleeping under the stars on the rooftop of a hotel in the middle of the city.

But except for the accommodation I’m not really sure what to think about Marrakech. The main square and the tiny shopping alleys in the Unesco world heritage medina are really interesting to see but quickly gets annoying with all the vendors insisting that you have to buy all kinds of junk at way too high prices or almost force you to pay for a photo together with a monkey or a snake, a photo that you didn’t even want. There is one thing I really love about the Marrakech Medina though. There are loads of stalls selling fresh orange juice for €0.40. I have probably never had this much juice in a week before!

The truck should be here tomorrow and then we’ll keep going west to the coast and then further south to Western Sahara!