Weekend in Morocco--Part II, Volubilis

Taxi from Fez to Volubilis? We figured that with the seven of us two taxis would suffice, but our Fez tour guide would have none of it and strongly argued for the services of his van (and his services). The fact that his charge would be more expensive than two taxis didn’t phase him AND when you have seven individuals with a couple of different opinions and Moroccans who
love a good dispute…consensus building moves to an entirely different level.

We did eventually take the van to Volubilis, but at a lower rate than first quoted.

Our destination was a Hotel about a mile from the ruins of the Roman town of Volubilis. We now know that if you are traveling by car in Morocco assume that it will take you twice as long to get there. The hotel is quite a lovely place…in the middle of nowhere within sight of the ruins and the holy city of Idriss. (If you visit Idriss five times in your life, you don’t have to visit Mecca.)

This part of the country is rural with rolling hills of ripe grain, dotted with olive trees. It is not unusual to find cows, sheep, or donkeys grazing by the side of the road. We saw some baby donkeys and a farmer plowing his field with a horse. There was not much traffic on the roads, but there was the occasional truck packed full of onions, or hay and livestock…all running with only two gears.

It is spring here. We see bougainvillea vines, jaranda trees, and hydrangea bushes all in bloom. There are olive trees past bloom but with the start of fruit appearing. On the side of the road…sometimes like hedges marking boundaries is prickly pear cactus (also in bloom)…just like the American southwest.

The hotel was lovely light yellow with white trim with balconies and a swimming pool. It overlooks the ruins and rolling hills. It is picture perfect. Not many guests in the dining room, at least as early as we were eating, but after dinner many had congregated in the lobby. We found out that it was a wedding party when the band began playing at 11:00 that evening.

We were up early and walked a mile to the ruins. The sun was shining brilliantly and it was very comfortable. We walked around smiling at the tour bus of school children and a small group of French tourists. There is a large stork nest at the top of one of the columns with four babies. Great picture opportunity.

We travel to Meknes by taxi and catch the train to Rabat (again, not on time). But we do have a place to sit. It was great to share our experiences with the two other groups of travelers. One group traveled to the desert and rode camels, and the other went to Marrakesh and Fez.

We are happy to be back at homebase for dinner and wonder when it started to feel like home.