Thanks, George!...

...for being born on this BEE-you-tee-ful day.

In honor of Washington's birthday/President's Day, Denise and I scheduled a day off for ourselves. Admittedly, I'm getting a bit spoiled to being in charge. There is no longer a director for our American School, so Denise and I are on our own. We fiddled with the calendar for the second semester and added a few holidays in. As this is the first year of the school's existence, we aren't yet monitored by whatever governing body monitors the schools. So, freedom is ours, if only for a short time. We rented a car for the day, and drove out of Agadir. Lachen drove Denise, Hassan, Abdellah and I up into the mountains, past some stunning vistas, to Hassan's village. There his mother served us a lovely lunch of tajine. Before the tajine, we had almonds, fresh honey, really fresh butter, olive oil, & moroccan bread. Needless to say... stuffed. The people of this region are known for honey gathering (thank you Eyewitness Travel Guide), and so let me say a bit more about the honey. sweeeeeeeeet. chunky honeycomb. mmmmm. Is that a word?

Now, I would have liked to explore the village a bit more. A rather large one, I'd say, as mountain villages go. 300 families, Hassan said. However, the boys seem to have the mindset that if a car is rented, it is being wasted if not in perpetual motion. So, off we went to Immouzer. The drive and the place itself reminded me a bit of Blanchard Springs in Arkansas. Oh, except the face that when we were winding around the mountain... we were in 2-way traffic on about a lane and 1/2. Morocco is a bit like LA in that way that you pay attention to the horrid driving habits and begin to anticipate their moves and ultimately replicate them to keep yourself alive. Yep, drive crazier to remain safer.

Anyway, we drove past palm groves...

and almond trees everywhere...

terraced hills where the villagers grow food gardens and wheat for bread...

amazing.

And now back to Immouzer. It is at the base of a mountain where a spring is fed by waterfalls. The waterfalls high up on the mountain were smallish (they vary in different seasons), but we walked into a canyon where the spring forms a deep pool. An unofficial guide told us that the water was 45 meters deep, and offered to dive from the cliffs for a fee. We were all broke, so we had to pass.


We were back in Agadir by late afternoon. A great day, but Denise and I agree that we must take control of the itenerary next time so as to have a more relaxing day.

HERE are some more pictures of our day.