Ifrane

I travelled to Ifrane last weekend (about a 45 minute drive from Fes) which is a town in the Mid Atlas mountains. Ifrane becomes increasingly popular for Moroccans in the summer time when other cities become too hot. The city is also a popular place for athletes to come and train due to the high altitude. Ifrane was developed by the French during the protectorate period for administrative buildings due to its attractive climate. Ifrane has lots of European style architecture (the college there, built in 1995, looks like a mini Swiss village), a mountain resort, and a beautiful climate. Although Ifrane was originally founded by Arabs in the 16th century, today many inhabitants are ethnically Berber and speak Tamazight, which is a dialect of the Berber language (there are several and can vary significantly based on region).

On our trip I walked in the woods (kind of woods: it's not heavily forested and is visited frequently by tourists) outside of Ifrane and ran into some Berbers (Immazighn is the PC term, but I will refrain from this usage as a. I'm not PC and b. Berbers I have met thus far call themselves Berber) washing wool in a stream as well as doing laundry. I rode a horse around the "woods" for 10 dhirram, which is approximately $1.20 USD. Then we went to a nearby location to play with monkeys and fed them peanuts (they were SO cute). After, we travelled to a nearby lake and met some Berber kids and played with their donkeys and horses, which was perhaps my favorite part of our trip. A boy offered to sell me his baby donkey for 500 dhirram (approx. $60 USD) but unfortunately I had to refrain as I wouldn't have had anywhere to put him when we got back to Fes.

(all above photogrpahs courtesy Caroline Pilhower)