Snow and Monkeys

Most people probably think of dry valleys and deserts when they think of Morocco.  But it actually snows here too.  It's always fun to see people's first reaction to snow if it's their first time, especially in adults.  They react no differently than children.  We witnessed this so many times on our trip to Ifrane.  It's always so refreshing to see people enjoying the simple things in life.  Everyone was there to just laugh and have a good time.

That's a pile of homemade sleds!

Now, Michlifen is not like your typical ski resort.  There are no gondolas, fancy apres ski lodges, or even a ski village.  There are maybe two ski lifts.  Well, T-bars to be exact.  There is a run down, one story cement building where you can rent old school skis and sleds actually made from skis (quite ingenius to be honest).  It almost feels like an open air market.  Robbie and I brought our snowboards which were actually difficult to ride once the sun came out and turned the snow into slush.  We managed to find skis for the kids.  But of course, they didn't have kid sizes so they ended up wearing boots and skis that were 5 times too big and heavy than they were used to.  Of course, the lift was not operating the day we were there.  But that's why they offer mules to take you up the mountain!  Yes, that's right, I said mules!  How many kids can say they rode a mule up a mountain to go skiing? These are the first two that I know of!

You can't tell from the photo, but they are wearing adult
size boots.

Catching a ride up to the top.

 Ember had her own fun in the snow too.  She got to sled on one of the Moroccan made sleds.  With so many people hanging around the sledding area, it became too much of a chore trying to steer the thing.  So she built a snowman and ate some snow instead.

Would we say it was worth the trip to Ifrane?  Sure, playing in the snow is fun.  Would we go again? Mmmm, probably not.  With kids, it's a lot of work helping the kids up the slopes with all the ski equipment.  There is also no where to hang out by the slopes to take a break.  But hey.......at least now we can say that we've skied in Morocco.

Oh, we saw some monkeys too!