We left the desert camp driving south to Marrakesh. We were between the two ranges of the Atlas Mountains which contains an elongated oasis. Oasis are areas of vegetation in the middle of the desert where there is a water table running bellow the surface that the vegetation has found. These appear near mountains as they contain the runoff from the snowpack.
The largest film studio in Africa is along the way and we stoped for a quick photo op. You can see the list of films and tv shows that were produced here. Then onward to the Kasbah where the film people stay. This is a very historic Kasbah as it is the oldest documented one in the desert of Morocco. There is a small structure built at the top of a 300 ft hill which we climbed. This had been constructed as a money exchange when built thousand years ago. Recently it suffered damage due to the earthquake. You can see the damage and we saw more damage along the roadway as we crossed out of the Atlas range into Marrakesh. There we checked in to a wonderful riad for a 2 night stay. We had a big group dinner of Tangine and Couscous which is the native dish.
The following morning we were the first to visit a Berber pharmacy. This would be what we call naturopathic and they put on quite a sales demo. It reminded me of the “sham-wow” commercial. The guy must have sold us 2-5,000$ worth of product in 45 minutes. The Jardin Majorelle which is a beautiful man made garden which reportedly was a favorite spot of Yves St Laurent. Another historic riad and then lunch near the town square.
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