Our Morocco Tour

The next part of our Morocco vacation was a tour south east of Marrakech through the High Atlas Mountains to the desert. In between we visited Kasbah's and where amazed at how rocky dry landscapes could suddenly turn into oases of palm trees and gardens clustered around running water.

After passing through the Tizi Tichka pass, which is one of the highest mountain passes in Morocco, we stopped at the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou. This UNESCO world heritage site is a fortified town that would have provided traveling caravans with shelter. From the summit, it is clear that you could have seen any approaching visitors.

The walls of the Kasbah are made from dirt, straw, and stones.  It requires a lot of maintenance and must be rebuilt every thirty to fifty years. We saw this same type of construction in other towns, where the buildings were totally abandoned as people built more modern buildings around them and simply allowed erosion to slowly wear down the older buildings.

The extensive building of the Kasbah and its absolutely unique architecture has resulted in many films being shot here starting with Lawrence of Arabia and more recently Gladiator and Prince of Persia. The film industry has become a staple of the regional economy with a large studio in the nearby modern city of Ouarzazate. Morocco's political stability has made this area the top spot for the filming of desert and ancient city scenes.

We were lucky enough to share our tour with another couple from Sweden. You see them above here with our driver and guide Abdul. We had a great time talking to them and it made many of the long drivers shorter.

This is inside the house of one of the women who still lives in the actual Kasbah. Abdul simply asked her if we could look at her home and she invited us right in. Above you will see the simplicity of the kitchen and below you can see the room where she keeps her animals. Although the room is open to the air from above you have to walk through her main entrance and past her kitchen to where the animals are, remember this is all within the walls of the Kasbah, so there are no yards to have animals.

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After more mountain passes we arrived at our bed and breakfast in Agdz. The tranquil town surrounded by palm trees was a nice break from the twists and turns of all the steep mountain roads.

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The moon rising over the palms.

The next day we visited the Tamnougalt Kasbah which is currently under restoration by a local association with help from architecture students. The architecture was amazing and our local guide showed us the different sections of the city where the market was held, where Berber trades people would have stayed, where the treasury was, and the synagogue.

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When we visited, they were setting up to flim "The Bible". Shades had been put up to help with lighting, and we were able to peak into a courtyard recreated to look like a family dwelling.

Even though parts of the Kasbah were crumbling, others were still in excellent condition and we walked by a couple of houses where families were still living and going about their daily work. Above you can still see in vivid colour the patterns painted onto the ceiling. It is so nice to know that being a tourist in areas like this can actually help them preserve their heritage.

Before going to Morocco, the closest I have ever come to a desert was visiting the Badlands in Alberta. I didn't really know if I was going to like the desert or not. I generally prefer cold temperatures to hot and I am not the kind of person who spends their vacation soaking up the sun. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the desert. The vast open landscape appealed to my western Canadian longing for space and the changing colours provided much to photograph and admire along the long drive.

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We were also lucky enough to see rain in the desert. While we were discussing with each other how we did not come prepared properly for this type of weather, our driver just got more and more excited. What he called rain, we probably would have classified as scattered showers and they only lasted about thirty minutes, but he kept repeating what luck this was, so we simply had to sit back and enjoy rather than dwell on our preparedness. It was an interesting exposure to a different attitude towards weather.

One of the main reasons, I chose the tour company I did was because part of the tour one night at a Bedouin camp in the desert and we got to take camels to get to the camp! In preparation for the two hour camel ride we call bought scarves and learned how to tie them around your head to not only keep your head and ears warm, but to block the wind and sand from your mouth and nose too.

The camels themselves were fantastic. I thought they were going to be more like riding a horse, but they firstly did not smell at all and secondly took their time as they picked their way carefully along the steep ascent and descents of the dunes. Keith's camel was the youngest and made the most noise by far, but in the funniest kind of way. Although we were sore form riding a camel for more than two hours, it was definitely worth it and something I would do again in a heartbeat.

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We started out a bit late so the sun was beginning to set as we traveled across the dunes. The bit of rain and changing light gave the desert different hues of reds and oranges.

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Due to our late start, we ended up doing half of our trip in the dark. This was a surreal experience because the moon was so bright and full we could still see everything around. It was like it was day except that everything was cast in shadows of blues.  It was absolutely calm and the only noise around us was our camels, as we looked up the giant dunes beside us towards the stars. I regret that my photography skills are not sufficient enough to capture the wonder of this landscape that felt like a dream.

The night was exceedingly cold, even though we had at least four thick woolen blankets. We woke before 6:00 with light seeping through the woven camel hair of our tent and were afraid we had missed the sunrise. It turns out that the pre-dawn light was so strong we were able to easily trek up the dune behind the camp to watch the sun crest over the horizon. And then run down the dunes before spending another two peaceful hours on our camels heading back to civilization.

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After showering and having breakfast we headed to the nearest town to take in some traditional music and drink mint tea (a.k.a. Berber whisky).

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We spent the next night in the Todras Gorge. This narrow gorge with its high cliffs protects a spring that supplies water to cities downstream. The river is really only inches deep, but it is amazing to see all of this water start from basically no where. If you look five meters above the spring, it is completely dry. At one time there must have been a huge river that cut into the cliffs, but now only the twisting road is left above the site of the spring.

We stayed at the Auberge Le Festival, on the cliff side quite a ways up from the source. Although there is a good road up to the auberge we really were in the middle of nowhere. Le Festival was remote but beautiful with cave rooms built into the rock face and in addition most of the auberge is powered by solar energy. Along with the other ten or so guests that were staying there that night we were treated to an excellent meal that had these green olives that were to die for. After the meal we were treated to music, story telling and riddles. It was a great night in a great location, and we would have loved to stay longer and hike around the cliffs that surrounded us.

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Thanks to the strength of my telephoto lens, I was able to take this picture of a nomadic camp situated above the auberge. You can see their tent on the left and goat herd on the right. According to our guide, they would likely stay in a spot like this for six months to a year depending on the grazing land and then move on to another spot. It fascinates me that people still live like this in such remote areas with little interaction with the daily modern conveniences cities and towns offer.

This is the way gardening is done along the sides of the gorge. We saw this style built up mounds around gardens throughout our trip next to water sources. The idea is that any water that runs into the garden is then trapped and run off is prevented to allow adequate moisture for the plants. The contrast between these green rectangles and the stoney bare cliffs around them were quite impressive and ingenious.

This was the road up to the highest point of the Dades Gorge which we visited briefly. It is probably one of the more extreme roads we traveled, but gives you an idea of the narrowness and heights we were continually facing. Needless to say, Keith sat in the front a lot to prevent car sickness.
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