This morning, we find out that Louise continues to be ill, and she does not come down for breakfast. Of course, no breakfast for me either, since my stomach was very queasy! Leaving Ouarzazate, we had to drive over the High Atlas Mountains to get to Marrakech. This was a very bad ride for me, and I was either asleep or sick for most of the trip. We drove past places where there were many cactus plants, mostly growing around living areas. Someone asked Larbi about these cacti and he told us that the people use them for medicinal purposes, mainly for stomach problems. At this point, I was wishing I had some to try! I remember, at one spot, we saw the remains of a tour bus that had recently hit the outer guardrail on the narrow, winding mountain road. Later, Martha asked our driver to pull over because I was sick again. I didn't make it off the bus, but luckily, someone had given me a plastic bag. I just wanted to get to the hotel!
There was a lunch stop somewhere, but I did not eat and I cannot remember much about the food. I do remember that we were in a beautifully decorated restaurant. The walls were covered with tiles and the arched ceiling was entirely covered with carved plaster and stuccowork. I discovered that now, other people in our group were having health problems. Marian had a cold and sore throat and Bob also had a bad cold. Larbi had been sick since Erfoud and Louise was still feeling very badly, and did little with our group for the remainder of the trip. Phil was having some stomach problems, and Lucille told us that both she and Claire had been fighting head colds for days. Of course, by now Martha had mostly recovered!
At long last, we arrive at the very nice Hotel Es Saadi in Marrakech. The second oldest of the four Imperial Cities, Marrakech is also the site of Larbi's home and he will be able to be with his family for a couple of days. We relaxed in the hotel for a while and then had dinner. I still could not eat and almost immediately returned to our room to sleep.