Ourika valley

The following day we decided to head out of Marrakech and do an excursion into the Ourika valley of the Atlas mountains.

We were impressed by the Berber villages in which all the houses were constructed from mud. We were able to visit the inside of one. I was impressed by this woman's ability to work in this kitchen.

We made a stop to cross this bridge for a great view of the Atlas. We found this Berber blacksmith working in a cave. He was really excited to see the kids and eagerly motioned them in and let them try out his work. We were amazed to see him moving the hot coals around with his fingers. Hopefully our kids know that they cannot do that...

We had lunch at a little restaurant with tables right by the water.

Afterward we headed out on a hike to visit the waterfalls. We had the nicest guide who helped the boys when the going got slippery. He would pick Jonas up over his shoulder. Jaxon thought that looked pretty fun so he started to pretend that he couldn't make it either. Whatever. They will never get that kind of royal treatment again.

A Berber refrigerator.

Trying out a mule

The village of Fatima across the way

The boys were impressed with this tree.

You can kind of make out Eva's brown stripe in her right eye in this picture.

The kids took another plunge in the pool and then had to warm up by the heater.

It was nice having one cat that we didn't have to forbid the kids from touching

The riad parrot

The boys in their Moroccan sultan outfits and Jonas' Berber hand woven wool coat

More stargazing with dad

After the kids were in bed, Daniel and I enjoyed some dates.