Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques.

After visiting 3 cities in a row, we NEEDED to get back to nature and that is exactly what we did after exploring Fes, Morocco.

The terrain of Morocco is diverse. It’s super green in the north, mountains in the middle, deserts in the south and beaches to the west. We are now heading into the Middle Atlas mountains, and more specifically the Cedar Forest National Park.

As soon as we parked our van in a small dirt lot, we crossed the street to explore our surroundings.

We found tall trees, sheep, sheep dogs and…

SNOW! The kids were smiling ear to ear, even with freezing toes in their flip flops.

While walking on a path through the national park, we saw wild Barbary macaques (monkeys). These were the same type of monkeys we saw last week in Gibraltar. They are native to this forest and are COMPLETELY different than the ones in Gibraltar who were too bold with tourists. These kept their distance from us.

Ran into three donkeys as well.

Next to the park’s museum, we found a group of monkeys that enjoyed snacks from tourists but they were not bold. They didn’t mind that humans were near and would take food from tourists in a gentle way. We chose not to feed the monkeys or any other wild animals.

Mila had a terrible time with the monkeys at Gibraltar but came around to the monkeys here in Morocco. Still holding her daddy’s hand but smiling. Yeah for a positive experience to help the bad one fade away.

Can’t get over the size of these cedar trees.

Someone forgot to wear socks and eventually got sore feet.

Thanks for the ride, daddy!

When we got back from our walk, our neighbors told us there was one monkey watching all the vans from the tree. So cool.

It was nice to be boondocking again. Because nature but also because people come out of their campers and say hello. Friendships are somehow made easier when not in a campground.

And then we joined everyone around a campfire. Extra special since we haven’t had one since Norway this summer!

The next morning we headed back on another walk to see monkeys.

Calm monkeys equal to photo opportunities with the kids.

Mila did it! Yeah!!

Next we were off to find another wild camping spot.

Scouted out a small lake near the monkey place.

But it wasn’t a lake that the kids could swim in so we kept going.

Today also happens to be a vintage French car race (called 4L, I think) so it caused a bit of traffic. Cute traffic but still traffic.

So crazy to see these trucks packed with so much stuff.

We actually ended up camping again with our new friends from the cedar forest.

This is Bob.

This is Caleen.

This is our dreamy view.

This is Ava enthralled with rereading the Harry Potter series on her Kindle

Feels nice to be in the high desert again. It’s been a long time.

Time to stuff our faces with sushi. Yum.

And here is the video Dan put together of our time with the monkeys. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading,
Marlene