Two weeks ago, I got to go on another ISA excursion with the group. We went to Ifrane and Azrou, two smaller mountain towns that had both the local and tourist-y feel. Downtown Ifrane was our first stop. 
Iman brought us to a restaurant that was connected to a hotel, and told us that ISA was paying for our meals. I had an amazing Nutella crepe, plus the meal came with a grilled cheese sandwich, which I didn’t know before ordering. It was probably one of the best meals I’ve had at a restaurant since I’ve been in Morocco.
After breakfast and a brief puppy playdate , we loaded the bus back up to go to the rural part of Ifrane where we would be hiking for the day.
The bus dropped us off at an empty field in front of a mountain, and that’s when I knew this was a serious hike. Our guide started bringing us towards the mountain, which managed to get steeper as we went on. The incline was about 45° for about half of the hike, so I got tired pretty quickly. We hiked for about an hour, and the terrain started to flatten out. Iman brought us to a part of the forest we were in so we could play with monkeys.
I think the best part of the entire hike was with the monkeys. Some locals had bags of peanuts and crabapples for sale for about ten dirhams, so of course I had to get some. This is probably the best ten dirhams I’ve ever spent, just for the record. The monkeys were adorable. They just walk up to you and snatch the apple and run away. It’s clear that they have adjusted to being around people, and they didn’t seem to care that we were there, even when we surrounded them to take pictures.
The next part of the hike was downhill, at least for a while. 
Right after we walked away from the monkeys, there was a little Berber village with a few houses and North Africa’s tallest tree. 
There was also a man playing an Oud, a traditional Berber instrument. We hung out there for a while, and eventually continued the hike.
I know I talk a lot about excursions, but that makes up such a big part of the trip that I feel like I should tell everyone where I’ve been and everything I’m seeing. This weekend we are going to Rabat and Tangier, so I’ll try to not talk about it next week, but I can’t make any promises.
Thoughts From Places 