El Jadida to Fes

February 26th to March 2nd 2026

Published March 15th 2026

Horse-drawn cart on a straight road through green farmland under hazy sky

Two cows grazing beside flooded fields under overcast sky

Man seated in a tiled porch with hands clasped — This man was curious about my camera, we had a good chat a little photo shoot.

Bike parked outside a small mosque with a green and white minaret — Having planned to camp in the nearby woods I was invited for iftar in this mosque with the imam, Youssef - a huge meal with food cooked by five different families from the village.

Rolling green hills and farmland under a hazy sky

Winding road through flat green fields under low cloud

Field of orange wildflowers with green hills behind

Green tent pitched among yellow wildflowers on open hillside — Camp spot at the bottom of a valley along a mule track.

Loaded touring bike outside a mechanic's workshop — A rear derailleur adjustment

River flowing past a town with colourful buildings from a bridge — Khenifra, back to the mountains.

Cyclist pushing a loaded bike up a dirt track through barren hills in fog — Steep gravel climbs with Rocco to start the morning.

Goat standing on rocks beside a cave and stone wall

Empty road winding through tall cedar forest

Bikes parked under blossoming cherry trees in a mountain village — Monkeys, pine forests, and cherry blossoms in the same day felt a bit like a fever dream.

School and basketball court at the foot of a forested hillside — With a somewhat eery abandoned mountain side campsite to cap it off.

School building and basketball court on a misty hilltop

Barbary macaques sitting under oak trees on a hillside

European-style buildings on a distant hilltop seen through haze — The European alps style architecture of Ifrane, where many pastries were consumed.

Dirt track winding through a rocky valley with green trees — Long gravel track through Ifrane National Park, beautiful but with some unwelcoming dogs.

Smiling cyclist posing with loaded bike on a rocky hilltop trail

On the descent down from Ifrane the heavy layer of cloud that had been around for the past several days broke and we got drenched on the way into Fes (hence a lack of pictures) which caused the locals much amusement. Taking a route past the garbage dump and up and down an under-construction highway to avoid the streets of the 'new city' during the pre sunset rush as everyone headed home for iftar we got views over the huge city and its green, olive tree covered surroundings.

At this point my bike was starting to show signs of the kilometers with:

the earlier rear derailleur issue resurfacing
an over worn chain
a completely non functioning front derailleur

Just about managed to get it to roll down the hill and push it the last kilometer up to the medina as the sun set.

Why does it feel like I've gone through a time machine?