SEGMENT 5
Tuesday, October 21: We left Marrakech behind and traveled south-west through the High Atlas. The narrow and windy road led us through colorful high desert with lush green valleys and barren mountains (pic 01). On our descend after the pass, we were almost run over by one of the many wild Moroccon drivers who consider the road their personal property, which they don't like to share with others. Upon reaching the valley, we hit straight south, covering some beautiful desert plains until we reached the Atlantic coast. Our first glance over the cliffs revealed a large shipwreck which must have been washed ashore ages ago (pic 02).

We finally reached the mouth of the Chebeika River where fantastic sand dunes have been formed by the wind and decided to spend the night in this beautiful lagoon. We were lucky to explore the dunes just before the winds blew in thick rain clouds (pic 03). All night long, they kept blowing, rattling our Jeep and washing off the sand and dirt we had collected since the last rainstorm.

In the morning, it was calmer but as we turned around to head back north, the rain followed us all day. During the next days, we continued along the western coast, enjoying the beautiful shoreline and taking a few walks along the sometimes deserted beaches. The area just north of Agadir is known for the production of argan oil, which is produced in cooperatives of local women. Argan oil is appreciated for its nutty flavor, but is also manufactured for cosmetic use. Not only humans like the fruits of the argan tree - local goats also cherish the leaves and are often seen perched on the branches as if they thought they were birds (pic 04).

Further north, we explored the scenic town of Essaouira which was long held by the Portuguese and has thick and impressive fortress walls to show for it. Its medina is unusual inasfar as the alleys intersect mostly at right angles which makes finding your way around much easier.

Casablanca was only a quick stop where we visited the Grand Mosque of Hassan II (pic 05), the highest religious building in the world, and the second largest mosque after the one in Mekka. The mosque measures 100 x 200 meters (yards) and its minaret is 200 meters high!

El Jadida was buzzling with activity and excitement as the town was getting ready to welcome the king for the opening of the yearly horse races. All the streets were decorated with huge Moroccon flags and various giant-size portraits of the king, and early in the morning people started to line up in front of the hippodrome. As we left town on the highway, we noticed policemen and military every 300 metres (about 1000 feet) who were watching the road. We even found them standing on some farm roofs.

After a relaxing day at Mehdiya Plage (pic 06), it was time for us to leave the African continent. We closed our loop in Tanger and boarded the ferry which carried us to Spain as the sun set. A wonderful trip to an exotic and impressive country had come to an end.

On our long drive home, we stopped in our old stomping grounds Alicante for a couple of days to visit friends and chill out. Then we got on the highway and turned our Jeep north to Germany.

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