TA Loeffler's Adventures that Move

The morning is free to enjoy the beach or the souk and after lunch we will head back to Marrakech to celebrate the end of our expedition.

DO YOU KNOW: The Marrakech Agreement, manifested by the Marrakech Declaration, was an agreement signed in Marrakech, Morocco, on 15th April 1994. What was established in that agreement?

ANSWER: The World Trade Organization

DID YOU KNOW: The Atlas Mountains was once home to the Africa’s only bear. The Atlas Bear, Ursus arctos crowtheri, was the only African bear to survive in modern times. Unfortunately it was hunted into extinction by the 1870s. Romans once used the bear for damnatio ad bestias, which translates to “condemnation to beasts”. It was a form of capital punishment in which the condemned were maimed by the bears on the circus arena or thrown into a cage with the animals.

We will hike through coastal forest over rocky promontories and along the beach to Sidi Kaouki where we will meet our vehicles and drive Essaouria.

DO YOU KNOW: In 1952 director and actor Orson Welles directed a film based on a Shakespearian play which contains several memorable scenes shot in the labyrinthine streets and alleyways of Essaouria. What was the name of the film?

Answer: Othello

DID YOU KNOW: The city name Essaouria is a Berber name which means the wall, a reference to the fortress walls that originally enclosed the city.

We will walk through coastal hills and farmland to Sid M’Bark . It will be about 5 hours walking.

DO YOU KNOW: In 1943 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and French Generals Charles de Gaulle, and Henri Giraud met in this Moroccan city to decide that it would only choose unconditional surrender from the Axis powers in World War II.

ANSWER: Casablanca

DID YOU KNOW: In December 2012, Bank-Al Maghrib issued a 25-dirham banknote to commemorate the 25th anniversary of banknote production at the Moroccan State Printing Works. It is the first banknote in the world to be printed on Durasafe, a paper-polymer-paper composite substrate produced by Fortress Paper similar to the new Canadian bill made in Canada.

We’ll trek along the coast to and trek to little port of Sidi Ahmed Srir. Camp. It will take about 5 – 6 hours.

DO YOU KNOW: Moroccan Nawal El Moutawakel accomplished something in the world of sports that was a first in her country? What was it?

ANSWER: She was the first Moroccan and the first woman from a Muslim majority country to win an Olympic gold medal. She did it in the 400m Hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles games. King Hassan II declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honor.

DID YOU KNOW: Tafedna is a small fishing village. The fishing industry in Morocco accounts for 56% of the agricultural market and 16% of total exports. The Kingdom is considered the largest fish market in Africa.

We’ll have a short walk down to Imlil, where we meet our transport for the drive to the Atlantic coast reaching Tafedna after approximately 5 hours.

DO YOU KNOW: What Hollywood film starring Brad Pitt was partially filmed in the village of Imlil?

ANSWER: Seven Years in Tibet

DID YOU KNOW: On 17 August, 1995 following 70 millimetres (2.8 in) of rainfall in just 2.5 hours, the village of Imlil was catastrophically flooded. A six-metre wall of water washed down the surrounding valleys, with a reported 27 times the average volume of water. Official figures state that up to 150 people, including 20-60 tourists, perished. The villagers experienced significant losses to food stocks and agricultural lands, as well as a depleted tourist industry over the ensuing months.

We will hike via the holy site of Sidi Charmouch to the Neltner Refuge (3207m. / 10,522ft.). Camp.

DO YOU KNOW: Moroccan currency is the dirham. Who are the only two faces ever depicted on dirham bank notes?

Answer: King Hassan II and King Mohammed VI

DID YOU KNOW: The currency of Morocco is the dirham. The Canadian exchange rate as of July, 2013 was 1 Moroccan dirham = $0.12 Canadian dollars. By the way Moroccan currency is not allowed to leave the country so you cannot legally take it home with you.

We return to Marrakech via the Dades Valley, along the famous “Road of the Kasbahs” then over the Tizi n’Tichka to Imlil at the foot of Toubkal. We stay overnight in a comfortable gite at Ait Soukha.

DO YOU KNOW: A strategic mass demonstration was coordinated by the Moroccan government in November 1975 to press Spain to hand over the disputed, Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco. The demonstration of some 350,000 Moroccans advanced several miles into the Western Sahara territory, escorted by near 20,000 Moroccan troops, and met very little response by opposition forces. What was the name of that demonstration?

ANSWER: The Green March

DID YOU KNOW: A Kasbah was a place for a local leader to live and a defense when a city was under attack. Kasbahs have high walls, usually without windows, and sometimes they were built on hilltops so that they could be more easily defended. Some were placed near the entrance to harbors.

Having a Kasbah built was a sign of wealth of some families in the city. Almost all cities had a Kasbah, which was seen as something necessary for a city to survive.

A spectacular start to the day spent wading the waters through the Gorge de Achabou where the walls tower overhead only a few metres apart. After 45 minutes the valley opens out and we once again trek through fields and Berber villages to reach Aguerzaka where we stay overnight in a gite.

DO YOU KNOW: The traditional dish of Morocco is made from semolina (tiny granules of durum wheat) which is cooked by steaming and served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. What is this dish called?

ANSWER: Couscous

DID YOU KNOW: Can you walk from Newfoundland to Morocco? Not now but 500 million years ago you could have. Morocco and the Island of Newfoundland are more closely related that you may think. Many renowned geologists suggest that Morocco and the eastern margin of the Appalachian Mountains on the island of Newfoundland belong to the same continental block, the Avalonian plate.  See an interesting map here.

This will be a superb and varied day. We follow the Ameskar Gorge, through an ever-changing landscape of green fields and ochre-coloured villages. Passing the villages of M’Rabtine (1900m) and Ifkiren we make camp at the entrance to the gorge.

DO YOU KNOW: Morocco is one of only three countries to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Do you know what the two other countries are?

ANSWER: Morocco, Spain, and France.

DID YOU KNOW: The Atlas Mountains are home to the Atlas dwarf viper. It is the smallest member of the viper family and it is found in semi-humid mountainous ranges, and can be located in areas with stones and cushion-like thorny plants.