{"id":10858,"date":"2020-02-28T11:14:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T19:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/?p=10858"},"modified":"2020-05-11T09:05:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T16:05:59","slug":"middle-atlas-mountains-with-barbary-macaques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/28\/middle-atlas-mountains-with-barbary-macaques\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588523467\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588523467_250483f5bf_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The terrain of Morocco is diverse. It&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588523192\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588523192_3c2a5251e9_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As soon as we parked our van in a small dirt lot, we crossed the street to explore our surroundings.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587784638\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587784638_4aaaef42dd_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587595258\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587595258_254d565938_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We found tall trees, sheep, sheep dogs and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588279061\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588279061_1e1021890f_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>SNOW! The kids were smiling ear to ear, even with freezing toes in their flip flops.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588089341\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588089341_fda763dd60_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588332087\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588332087_0ab9dcaeff_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ran into three donkeys as well.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588332432\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588332432_87ff1955e8_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588088611\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588088611_a56cce3176_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Next to the park&#8217;s museum, we found a group of monkeys that enjoyed snacks from tourists but they were not bold. They didn&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588331887\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588331887_4c43ff474c_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mila had a terrible time with the monkeys at Gibraltar but came around to the monkeys here in Morocco. Still holding her daddy&#8217;s hand but smiling. Yeah for a positive experience to help the bad one fade away.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588087446\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588087446_b5a4806bbf_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Can&#8217;t get over the size of these cedar trees.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588330937\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588330937_1e198339cd_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Someone forgot to wear socks and eventually got sore feet.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588330872\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588330872_6b88d4256d_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the ride, daddy!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587592423\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587592423_4463312cb2_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When we got back from our walk, our neighbors told us there was one monkey watching all the vans from the tree. So cool.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588086806\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588086806_e5017e6236_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588329612\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588329612_b182903b07_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And then we joined everyone around a campfire. Extra special since we haven&#8217;t had one since Norway this summer!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587589728\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587589728_cb9c52c2d7_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The next morning we headed back on another walk to see monkeys.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587589778\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587589778_3bee4e4313_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Calm monkeys equal to photo opportunities with the kids.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588328147\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588328147_881344be32_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mila did it! Yeah!!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588328262\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588328262_bb5a653d5e_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Next we were off to find another wild camping spot.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587587988\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587587988_57705decd4_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Scouted out a small lake near the monkey place.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588326452\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588326452_50a908e1e2_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But it wasn&#8217;t a lake that the kids could swim in so we kept going.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588326437\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588326437_2db54b7088_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325962\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325962_e9dfcd710a_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325582\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325582_6a80c61820_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325407\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325407_c46684da07_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So crazy to see these trucks packed with so much stuff.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588080916\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588080916_2eb139d2fb_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587587118\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587587118_dcdaa83018_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We actually ended up camping again with our new friends from the cedar forest.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325222\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325222_413ffbb2dc_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is Bob.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325087\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325087_b0912ba260_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is Caleen.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588325052\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588325052_e691dbc61a_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is our dreamy view.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588080521\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588080521_eed6873e2f_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is Ava enthralled with rereading the Harry Potter series on her Kindle<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588324447\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588324447_57216d2e13_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587586123\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587586123_95e614ba77_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Feels nice to be in the high desert again. It&#8217;s been a long time.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588324562\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588324562_956387a5d3_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588079986\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588079986_b497d2d715_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49587586358\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49587586358_e71442c776_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Time to stuff our faces with sushi. Yum.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"49588079931\" alt=\"Middle Atlas Mountains with Barbary macaques (monkeys). Wild camping in our Sprinter van in Morocco, Africa.\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/49588079931_c8dbcaf44a_c.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And here is the video Dan put together of our time with the monkeys. Enjoy!<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K9Q0Fr6Dc_k\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading,<br \/>\nMarlene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;s super green in the north, mountains in the middle, deserts in the south and beaches to the west. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[264],"tags":[266,82,270,265,245],"class_list":["post-10858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","tag-africa","tag-boondocking","tag-monkeys","tag-morocco","tag-wild-camping"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/49587589778_3bee4e4313_c.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkBzA-2P8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}