I Belong in the Mountains: Ifrane, Morocco

I am in love with Ifrane.

Today, the “Switzerland” of Morocco gained the prestigious ranks of my absolute favorite places of all time. And I finally checked “Ride a Horse in a Different Country” off of my bucket list! It was a truly amazing day for a lot of reasons.

Ifrane is an eerily quiet town in the Atlas Mountains that is also apparently the second cleanest city in the world. (No clue what the first is.) The contrast between the noisy urban streets of Meknes and the calm fresh breeze of Ifrane was almost shocking. I thought I might actually have left Morocco somehow and ended up in the Alps. The rocky landscape is full of mighty, deep rooted trees and a gorgeous mixed aroma of pine and cedar. I never wanted to leave.

The horseback riding worked out absolutely perfectly. After a big Berber breakfast at the ranch house, Katie and I headed off on our horses while the group started out on their hike. The plan was to meet up with them after the short first leg of the hike at the point where we could see the Atlas monkeys. Our guide was a boy who looked like he might be ten years old if I’m being generous and we were accompanied by two other boys who were 13 at best. They were really sweet boys who constantly asked if we were okay and apologized whenever the trail had hanging branches. The horses were of course beautiful, sporting funny Berber saddles complete with tiny silver sequins. My horse was ornery, because when have I ever had a horse that isn’t ornery? I think I attract the sassy ones.

The ride was peaceful and so beautiful; it really reminded me of all the things I love about riding horses. You get to let go of so many things on a horse, and they just fall away with each brush of its tail. There’s a certain level of connection with nature that you can only achieve when an animal takes you there. I wouldn’t have wanted to first see the mountains any other way.

After our ride, we joined the group for the long stint of the hike from Ifrane to Azrou. The hike itself was strenuous, and the view was of course stunning, but today was also significant to me for another big reason. The trek up through the forest to the top lookout point was genuinely difficult. It was steep and fast-paced and a hard, hard hike for a good majority of the people in our group. I, in particular, found myself really struggling and frustrated because of that struggle. It’s a pretty well-known fact that I do not take care of my body as well as I should, I have a lot of accidents, and my lungs are completely useless bags that don’t work very well in normal conditions. So today, I struggled. I hurt. I wanted to quit. But my body didn’t give up, or stop, or break down on me. My body worked hard – legs, lungs, heart and all. And when I got to the top and looked out at the gorgeous view from the mountain, I was proud of my body. I spend a lot of time criticizing my body for all that it isn’t and I forget to be grateful for all that it is – strong, capable, and mine. Without it, I couldn’t be here doing all that I am. I couldn’t have hiked the mountain and I couldn’t have held little babies in my arms. For that, I love my body.

So, to reward my awesome body for all its hard work, I had an avocado and shrimp salad for lunch. It tasted like victory. And on the bus ride home, I napped like a champion.

On the rest of the hike down to Azrou, the fast half of the group ended up in front of me and the slow half was behind me. I could just see the first group and just hear the second, but I was otherwise alone in the middle of our convoy. I could feel the pace of my heart in my chest and my feet on the ground line up perfectly with each other, with cool air chilling the sweat on my neck. It was one of those moments that begs to be prayed in, when you can practically feel God listening. I laid out a lot of the questions being here has raised for me and sought direction for my next two weeks. Then I thought about what happens after those two weeks are done. What direction am I supposed to take when I go home with all these new strings attached to my heart? I don’t have an answer, but I know that one exists. I just don’t think I will know it until I get there.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to work with more stories to share from Meknes.

Until then.