Mt. Atlas, Erfoud and Sahara Desert

December 28-29, 2018
001 - P1160009 12/28 tour day 4 itinerary being Fez via Mt. Atlas to Erfoud -- 早上出發途經阿特拉斯山脈往艾佛德。
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002 - P1160012 ... our first pitstop after journeying southward for some 45 miles approx 1.5 hours driving distance from Fez ~~ Ifrane, a town in Morocco’s Middle Atlas...
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003 - P1160011 ... located at an elevation of 5463 ft (1665 meters), the resort town with Alpine climate established high up in the mountains in 1928 by the French during...
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004 - P1160014 ... the tidy, ordered and modern resort town of Ifrane, often referred to as the Switzerland of Morocco...
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005 - IMG_4379 阿特拉斯山擋住了南部撒哈拉沙漠的熱浪，加上它瀕臨大西洋和地中海，令摩洛哥氣候溫和宜人，贏得「烈日下的清涼國土」的美譽，也被稱為「歐洲的後花園」。走過山巒起伏景色壯麗的道路，轉往摩洛哥以及阿爾及利亞邊境附近的典型綠洲城市艾佛德。艾佛德是進出摩洛哥的必經之路，是其中一座「沙漠大門」。此外，它亦是前往東撒哈拉沙漠必訪的城市。
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006 - IMG_4384 Most of Morocco lies at high elevations, averaging about 2600 feet above sea level; two chains of mountains divide eastern from Atlantic Morocco - the Atlas...
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007 - IMG_4380 The Atlas and Rif ranges were formed during the Paleogene and Neogene periods (between about 65 to 2.6 million years ago) by the folding and uplifting of...
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008 - IMG_4373 ... ah, it's getting late, let's have lunch please ~ in the small town of Midelt in central Morocco some 85 miles south of Ifrane - Midelt, famed and known as...
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009 - IMG_4374 ... no wonder apple pie served as dessert...
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010 - IMG_4385 ... along the N13 national highway heading southward to Erfoud, the inland city-towns of Midelt, Kerrandou, Errachidia, Aoufous - an introduction to mountainous...
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011 - P1160015 The Atlas Mountains comprise three distinct chains - the 460 miles long High Atlas (Haut Atlas) in central Morocco, rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean...
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012 - P1160022 ... spectacular scenery of the Ziz Gorges, a series of gorges on the upper course of the Ziz River - Ziz River, a river in the south of Morocco and Algeria; its...
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013 - P1160016 ... City-towns along the Ziz river include Errachidia, Aoufous, Erfoud (an oasis town in the Sahara Desert, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region in eastern Morocco),...
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014 - P1160020 ... the nearby Tunnel Zaabal or Tunnel de Légionnaire built by French colonial troops in the 1928 in order to create a passageway to the Ziz Gorge...
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015 - P1160019 ... a closer look at the mountain pass...
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016 - P1160023 ... starting just south of the Middle Atlas town of Kerrandou some 32 miles north of Errachidia, the tremendous Ziz Gorges provide a rocky passage south through...
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017 - IMG_4390 ... the valley widens further south, presenting a spectacular sight - a dense canopy of palms wedged between ancient striated cliffs dating to the Jurassic...
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018 - IMG_4392
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019 - IMG_4388 Middle Atlas, a mountain range in central Morocco lying between a plateau-plain region (northwest) and the main part of the Atlas Mountains (southeast); many...
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020 - IMG_4393
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