Thursday, March 13, 2008

Onion Storage and Storks in Morocco

There are onions in there!

Our guide informed us that these structures are for onion storage. I use the word "structure" loosely as there are no walls. It seems the onions are carefully insulated (straw and dirt?) from the cold and wet so that they last through the winter and the season over which they are sold is therefore greatly extended. It was impressive to see the numerous neat rows with the yellow tarps.

Storks in Ifrane

Soon after the onion storage we started to see the storks on rooftops. I was totally smitten and took pics of every stork and nest that I saw! The storks are considered to be good luck so despite the mess that their nests bring, they seem to be happily tolerated, even in the upscale city of Ifrane, where everything is new. Kinda reminded me of Banff, in Alberta.

More storks in Ifrane

There is a ski hill near Ifrane, but on Feb 6 it was long closed. Spring has come much too early to Morocco this year.

Me on the left, our guide in the middle
and my daughter on the right

We really enjoyed our guide!

Morocco has the High Atlas, the Middle Atlas, the Anti Atlas and the Sahro mountain ranges. These pics were from the Middle Atlas, which usually receives plenty of snow, however not this year. After the mountain ranges a rain shadow effect kicks in in a big way. Anyone know what is to the east of these mountains?

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm going to guess the Sahara Desert - that's generally what happens in a rain shadow!

10:56 a.m.  
Blogger kate said...

The onion sheds are pretty amazing. They remind me of wheat piles covered with tarps.

I had no idea there were ski runs in Morocco.

That is a cool pic of you and your daughter!

10:03 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a variety of really interesting items. The onions, storks (wow those are huge nests) and such -- it's great to learn about and see how different things are in other countries. Thanks for sharing this.

Diane

8:14 a.m.  

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