Past POIs - Tree Goats of Morocco [Morocco]

Tree Goats of Morocco, not a name of a type of goat, but rather, a gathering of goats that like to climb up Argania trees which are commonly located in southwestern Morocco.

Argania trees produce argan which are commonly used for argan oil which is used to food as well as cosmetic products and these goats are attracted to them. So much so that they actually climb up the trees to eat them.

When we visited Morocco, we hired a private driver who would drive us around based on where we wanted to go and we stopped at a random tree and we saw the goats along with what looked like a shepherd. We got to take some pictures and ended up on our way, however, the shepherd was actually expecting to get a tip from us for taking pictures of his goats in the tree. It made me wonder whether this was staged or not, but accordingly to Google Searches, these goats do climb up trees, so I'm not really sure what to say.

I thought it was very neat to see since I have never seen anything like it before and if you are in the area, maybe you will see this as well.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Louise Bourgeois' Spiders [Ottawa, Ontario, Canada]

While I thought this was a cool sculpture when I visited during Winterlude, little did I know that it is actually a part of a limited edition set of sculptures!

Created by Louise Bourgeios in 1999 is the Maman, a set of six spider sculptures was created and installed in England, Doha, Japan, South Korea, United States, and Canada!

When you visit, make sure to look at the sac, which apparently contains 26 marbles eggs! Unfortunately I didn't do this or didn't even think to do it, I just took some goofy pictures with it...

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Hallein Salt Mine [Hallein, Austria]

While near Salzburg, make sure that you don't miss the salt mines that are available for tours here! We went with the one in Hallein since it matched our itinerary, however there is one in Berchtesgaden if that is preferable. Based on our experience, I would say that it is a fun activity and you should definitely check it out for both the slides, the train, and the history.

There are plenty of things to see and do here which maps the trip worthwhile. Included when we went in 2015 were 2 slides, a showcase of the oldest wooden staircase in Europe, a mine train that takes you out of the mine, and a small museum. In all, it took us about 1.5 hours from start to finish of the tour of the salt mine. After the tour, you are free to wander the grounds and for the look-out point that is not to be missed.

When you go, I would suggest that you avoid heels and nicer clothes. When you arrive, you are fitted in a jump suit that is included in the tour to keep you from getting dirty, however, they don't provide full protection and since the ground may be muddy, wearing some shoes that you don't mind getting dirty is probably a good idea.

Fun fact, 'salz' is actually 'salt' in German and in the past, salt was an important commodity, so important that cities where named after it, examples being Salzburg and Salzkammergut.

For more information, visit the official website at https://www.salzwelten.at/en/home/

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!