Resetting our Goals

On route to crossing these mountains

Driving in Morocco is not for the fainthearted. When I first arrived in Morocco, I expected the driving to be much different than at home, but what I did not expect was the lack of general rules. For example there are speed limits, but rarely do police enforce them or pull cars over for reckless driving. Taxi drivers are the scariest because they go fast and carry seven people in a normal sized car. Basically it seems like people drive however they want. My friends and I rented a car to travel south towards Merzouga, a Saharan town. The drive was amazing yet it was quite dangerous due to the driving. While crossing the High Atlas mountains, there were cars passing us on the sharp mountain turns. Figuring out this system of driving was very difficult and frustrating at times. Only large cities are connected by an advanced highway system in Morocco, which is extremely different from the common routes. This inconsistency holds the country back from modernizing in the Western sense, yet the original routes connecting cities is how this country functions. 

Road work seems to come out of nowhere and is poorly marked. Pot holes sometimes have trees planted in them or rocks inside of them. Sometimes barriers in between construction has rocks stacked on top of each other to symbolize a construction zone.

Stopped at this beautiful lake on the way to the desert

I've come to realize with many things Moroccans tend to make use of whatever capital they have available. In more wealthy regions the road systems look american yet in poorer areas they make use of what they have. The picture of the road shown is what a nice road looks like in less populated areas.