Ill in Imlil

On our last night in Marrakech, I (Jake) got hit with the first illness of the trip. Two hours after we ate our nicest rooftop meal yet, we began to watch the movie Casablanca to prep for our upcoming trip to Casablanca. Nausea slowly crept over me and before long, I was keeled over the toilet. Throughout the night, after a few more bathroom trips, I spiked a fever - just in time for our taxi commute to Imlil where we planned to hike some mountains! 

I crashed in the Taxi and woke up to our driver swerving along the mountain roads as we climbed up the Atlas mountains. 

Upon arrival, we checked into our little hotel and walked through the small town to the first restaurant we could find. 

Hoping some yummy food would alleviate my fatigue, I was instead met with (after group consensus), the worst tasting shawarma on planet earth, probably. Small slivers of chicken smooshed in a sea of cold vegetables and drenched in mayo. We were physically unable to stomach the first round, so our second attempt was chicken and rice. We were served a cold pile of rice, pasta, no visible chicken, vegetable scraps, and once again mayo. Alas. 

Back at the hotel, I immediately went to bed and slept for 16 hours straight. While I rested, Logan and CJ watched Memories of Murder, which I only discovered after listening to their rants about the "unsatisfying" ending the next morning. 

To my relief, I woke up with loads of energy - just in time for our hike! While eating breakfast, we struck up a conversation with Danish hiker who gave us a day hike recommendation. 3.5 miles to the top of a valley, where we would find 360 views of the Atlas mountains. On top of that, the weather had a clear forecast with 0% chance of rain - what could go wrong!


After a relaxed start along a steep but well maintained path, the sky opened up and all hell rained down on us. What started as a drizzle turned into a thick hail storm coupled with thunder and lightning. Only a half mile from the top, we camped under a tree hoping the storm would pass. It did not. The hail turned back into rain, only this time much heavier and colder than before. 

We stuffed our faces with chips and peanut butter nutella sandwiches before deciding to descend the mountain as quickly as possible. The thunder and lightning moved directly above us and became so loud that it left our ears ringing. The original path was completely washed out. I kept a hand on the ground at all times to keep from slipping on the wet, unstable rocks below me. The temperature continued to drop until CJ started shivering. When we got back to the town, we beelined it for the hotel, only to learn that a flood had wiped out the crossing and we were stuck. We camped out under the overhang at a nearby riad until our hotel staff began shepherding guests through the newly created river of mud. 

When we arrived to the room, CJ's shivering intensified. Over the next 2 hours, he too was hit with a fever and nausea. The next morning, we packed up our soaking wet belongings and hit the road with Youssef to begin our Sahara desert tour. Our time in Imlil had come to an end, but CJ's illness remained.