Who flies with the raven

On our way towards the Atlas Mountains we pass through the city of Azrou and arrive in the Ifrane National Park, which is known for its cedar forests. We notice the difference in altitude quite quickly, because suddenly there is snow everywhere. Even more than at this time in Switzerland. This is how this region is also called here: The little Switzerland of Morocco. We almost felt at home if it weren't for one crucial difference: the monkeys. They stand next to the road, walk over it, stop the arriving cars and thus get food. We park next to picnic tables in the forest and are absolutely alone for the first time in a long time. In the middle of the silence of the first snow. In the trees we see relaxed monkeys, one visits us briefly while we are cooking dinner and then moves on. The next morning we met another, huge camper from Germany: NeunTonnenFreiheit. The small family will also be traveling in Morocco for the next three months. However, their car is a lot more off-road capable than ours 🙂

Taking the wrong turn

We heard that you can fly in Guigou today, so we head there. The landscape changes quickly. We leave the forest behind us and drive into a brown valley. A bit like the Rhine Valley, but brown and with far fewer towns and villages. But with a lot more onions on the fields. When we arrive in this onion capital, we take a wrong turn and end up in the middle of the souk. This is a Moroccan market (or bazaar) that takes place once a week. There are stalls with fruits and vegetables, all kinds of teapots, mattresses, carpets never ending flow of people on their way around and between the cars. At some point a tractor comes towards us, and every movement, no matter how small, comes to a complete stop. Traffic jam is nothing in comparison. A few tents need to be rearranged so that things get flowing again.

Zouhaïr Laaz

Our bus doesn't make it all the way up to the launch site, so we leave it where it is. Once at the top we get to know several people. Among them is Zouhaïr Laaz, the founder of Club Crête Atlas. He will be with us a lot over the next few days. No flight is possible today but one of the group invited us to his home. Afterwards we drive to the small mountain town Boulemane. There we can stay in the parking lot next to the house of Zouhaïr's family.

He is 24 years old and his life is all about paragliding. This sentence is easily said, but never before have we met anyone where this is so accurate. He took an interest in paragliding two years ago. He studied geography and would also like to do a master's in meteorology, but it doesn't exist here. His home are the mountains of the Middle Atlas. The birds he observed from a young age made him want to fly himself. After he failed to build a hot air balloon (he even had to produce the hydrogen himself but everything was too unstable in the end), gliding was on his plan.

However, getting your own paraglider in Morocco is difficult (customs, authorities, shipping costs, etc.). So he made his first one himself. He spent hours studying the theory, designing his umbrella and collecting all sorts of materials. Thus, fabrics from old umbrellas and tents were sewn together by hand and found a new purpose. And did it work? Yes! Only a few moments and only a few meters above the ground, on a rope, but Zohair took off.

From then on, nothing could stop him. He founded the Club Crête Atlas and began teaching his friends to fly. He came to a real paraglider and used it to explore the area around Boulemane for possible launch sites. He probably practiced ground handling almost every day. He also hung a construction in his room to explain various maneuvers. He even ran his own safety course over a nearby lake. This included all the maneuvers he had previously researched on YouTube. (Everything is documented here) 

No more flying alone thanks to Raja

One day he decided he didn't want to fly alone anymore. He wished to be accompanied regularly. He found them in a forest. There he discovered a raven's nest and took home an egg. Raja hatched. Zouhair raised her herself from the start and she has her own room out in the yard. She is out during the day but comes back every evening. And when he wants to go flying, sometimes she comes with him. She recognizes his glider, flies after him, has never gotten tangled in the lines and likes to sit on his arm - in mid-flight! It is a unique and incredible experience. 

Back to level one

We are at Zouhair for almost a week. Abdellah - member number 5 of the club - is also there every day. He is actually a beekeeper but has a lot of time at the moment as the bees are in hibernation. The two are on the road with us every day and show us the most diverse flight areas. And tirelessly practice ground handling with us. It's difficult at the beginning, the wind is strong and the languages are so different. But once again it turns out that when you are thrown back to the basics of a language, understanding each other becomes easier. The two explain to us with hands and feet how we have to react in which situation.

For me (Bianca) it's all very frustrating at the beginning. Everyone around me has their paraglider so much better under control. Luca also learns very quickly and gets into the air with his usual ease on the first attempts. I am afraid of falling over and damaging my knee further. That hinders me and is noticeable. Everything goes slower and I need a lot of patience with myself. Something that the others seem to have an infinite amount of. No matter how hopeless the situation seems to me, the laughter never stops, neither do the explanations and at some point it even works for me.

Luca flies with the raven Raja once. She lands on his arm. It sounds a bit romantic, is exciting to watch and not really understandable. But the reality is that she's just a bird. And birds like to peck. No matter what. Luca tells how, after an initial moment of enthusiasm, he actually wanted to get rid of her very quickly. Because she started to chop at his lines. And on his wrist, in his arm, in his jacket. Unfortunately, the battery of the flight camera was empty, so only his words remain, which we have to believe 😉

Everyday life

Nothing really happens in the evenings. It is noticeable that we are far from "normal" tourism. Usually we are either in Zouhair's apartment, with Raja, and cook tajine (he explains how), or we go out to eat somewhere on the street. Our vegetarianism or veganism is not always understood immediately, but it is always very respected. Of course there are also questions, but the conversations that emerge are very pleasant. We are also allowed to visit the “Gendarmerie Royale”. You want to register our stay. We are glad that the two boys are taking care of it. 

Often we just sit in the only heated room and talk about possible flight plans. For the next day or anywhere in Morocco. Next door, Zouhair's father plays ottar - a Berber instrument. Like a guitar, just different. Luca understands very quickly how it works. To the delight of his father, he can play with him on the first evening.

We leave the village after a week. Maybe we will come back. We could learn so much from the people here. In addition to new paragliding skills, we now also have some Arabic and Berber in our luggage.