The Cascades D’Ouzoud

This weekend I traveled with a few other students from Alif to go to some huge cascades south of Fez. To get there we took the 2:30am train on Saturday morning to Marrakesh, we arrived there around 10:30am had breakfast then took a Grand Taxi for two hours to the Cascades. We had 5 people cramed into 4 spaces. It was very uncomfortable but seeing the Cascades was so worth it! The are set of hug powerful water falls that are absolutely spectacular. Half of the group I went with stayed at the Cascades overnight and just walked around and were in complete awe of the beauty. We ate right next to the falls and saw monkeys climbing up the cliffs next to them. It was beautiful! We spent the night, five of us crammed into a three person room to save on money, but we all passed out easily being so tired from no sleep on the train. Our experience trying to get a Grand Taxi on Saturday was very frustrating. We went out to the Taxi drivers and the quoted us a ridiculous price. We said absolutely not, and countered with a lower offer. They said, “You are rich Americans, you can afford it!” We said, “We are students and cannot.” The thing they said next really annoyed everyone, “Well make your daddy pay for it!” I was so annoyed. Do they really think that Americans sit on their butts all day and that money just grows on trees for us. This was really frustrating for me as this does not fit my families situation at all. I wish right there and then I could tell that taxi driver just how much my family has had to go through to get to where they are today. On Sunday morning only one other girl and I wanted to try and get back to Fez at a decent time so we left the cascades around 9:30am in a grand taxi. We arrived at the station in Marrakesh around noon and took the 1pm train back to Fez. We got back to Fez around 8:30 and went our separate ways home and passed out. I was so exhausted from the whole trip and even though we spent more time in transport trying to get there, seeing that water rush over that cliff at who knows how many miles an hour was absolutely worth it! I am very glad I chose to do it. An interesting thing happened on our way to Marrakesh from the Cascades. Once we got to Marrakesh our driver was trying to ask us where we wanted to go, we told him the train station and he said he understood but then he took us to the bus station. When we go there I told him no, the train station. He proceeded to tell me that there was no train station in Marrakesh and I would have to ask a Petite Taxi to take me there if there really was one. Petite Taxis are any cities local taxi service. I said no. The girl I was with and myself each paid $40 to get to Marrakesh and we were going to get our moneys worth. Finally some other random guy was able to explain to the driver where we wanted to go and also proceeded to get in the taxi with us. He kept wanting to talk to us but I was so annoyed and tired that I was very short with him. Once we got to the train station our driver asked for more money!!! I was so disgusted with this that I just walked away. He was yelling after us but did not follow because we were in a public space and there is not much he can do about it. I do not understand this countries hunger to get as much money as they can out of Americans. Overall though, it was a good experience, even with taxi drivers and hotel owners trying to rip us off several times. I am glad I went even if it is just for the experience of getting to know what Moroccans truly think of Americans. And seeing those cascades...worth every penny.