The street trees near Saiss are interesting, because they must fruit in late-April. Many of them had a cluster of cars parked near them and people plucking fruit off the ground from beneath them.

The presence of roadside fossil, crystal and mineral sellers, and roadside ceramics sellers an indication that more than just locals are expected on the road. In fact, on the weekend the road is busy with Moroccans on short local road trips.

One of the limousines looks like a stretched Bugatti roadster and the second is a stretched Hummer limousine.

Ifran (also spelled Ifrane)  is located at an elevation of 1,665 m, about a mile high. From the architecture and land use planning, it is very apparent that Ifran was mostly developed by the French. It gives the impression that you have left Morocco, but you haven't quite reached central Europe. It lacks life and depth of character.

It was both a summer and winter "rest and relaxation" and recreation destination for the colonials. Since independence, the Moroccan have used it for largely the same purposes and continued the same development paradigm. It is also the capital of Ifran Province in the region of Fès-Meknès, and home to a large private university for the children of the affluent, an elite sports training complex, and large resorts. It is hard not to see a connection with this and the fact that it possesses a cadre of nasty, rude, in-your-face students -- the Morocco expression of elite-privilege and entitlement.

Infran's green space, in general, and Parc La Prairie in particular, is larger than is generally found in Moroccan towns.

In Tamazight, the regional Berber language, "ifran" means caves. There are some caves elsewhere in the mountains.

Just above the valley floor is the town of Azrou, elevation 1250m.

Fes West Atlas