Morocco travel

Lying immediately beneath the harsh and dramatic landscape of the Dades Gorge and overlooking the green banks of the wadi, one of the main attractions of the town of Boumalne is in fact this unusual and extreme environmental setting where the palm trees are unable to grow. In addition to serveral impressive kasbahs, a picturesque weekly market is held in the town. The  famous Kasbah of Tizzarouine, a characteristic structure built in pisé, provides a truly magnificent panorama over this extraordinary region. Also worth visiting is the nearby ” Valley of Birds ” , a spectacular combination of rocky desert plains and grassy expanses fed by the waters of the wadi, where hundreds of birds belonging to numerous species can be seen.

It might seem strange, but right here in the heart of the desert is the ‘’Valley of Roses’’, its capital being the fortified village of El kelâa M’Gouna, high up overlooking the left bank of the M’Goun wadi in the centre of a typical cold oasis. Situated at a height of 1476 metres, the altitude is too great for palm trees to survive but almonds, apricots and pomegranates can tolerate the colder heights. And here splendid rose bushes flourish everywhere along the valley of the M’Goun that becomes increasingly narrow ending in a tapering gorge. Solidly set in a canyon here is the mighty ksar of Bou Thrarar. Much prettier, though, is the environment around El Kelâa M’Gouna where the roses grow and where in the month of May every year a magnificent celebration is held. In contrast, not far from here the village of Azlag is famous for the crafts manufacture of daggers which involves almost its entire population.

Not far from the el Mansour eddahbi dam, 35 Km to the east of Ouarzazate, in the Dadés Valley is the lush Oasis of Skoura an ancient Ksar most probably founded in the 12th century by Yacoub el – Mansour. The name is derived from the Haskoureni, a Berber population who originally settled here, and the settlement is famous for rose cultivation which is surprisingly widespread in this area. However, the secret of the charm of this town is also certainly due to the splendid oasis, which is not only unusually dense, but also extremely large, sustaining, amidst the green palm groves, a considerable number of attractive villages and impressive casbahs, often exceptionally well-preserved. without doubt one of the most majestic and elegant of these is the casbah of Amerhidil, once an important fortified residence of the most powerful family in the region, guardians and lords of the surrounding lands and villages.

Following the route of the Dadés, a delightful valley extends between the harsh mountain landscape and deep rocky gorges dug out of the southern sides of the Atlas bu perennial wadis (essential arteries giving life to the oases) until it reaches the first dunes of the Sahara. A broad artificial basin has been created by the building of the el Mansour dam, making it possible today to provide regular irrigation for the land in this area, thus facilitating a considerable improvement in agricultural production. Beyond this basin begins that section of the Dades valley known as the “casbah Route” as it is quite literally dotted haphazardly with splendid oases and consequently with ancient fortified settlements. From Skoura to Boumalne this is the constant and characteristic architectural element of the landscape. And the unique dusky colour of the beaten earth used in the construction of these buildings stands out imperiously against the deep green of the valley, the bright ochre of the desert and the dark, almost reddish outline of the mountains, frequently illuminated by the glistening white peaks.

As is indicated by a historic signpost, at some 52 days journey from Timbuktu on the back of a dromedary, is a splendid oasis surrounding a town that, while now offering tourist services and structures of a good standard, is still proud of its long   and noble history. The presence of piles of stones representing the remains of ancient tombs scattered throughout the valley indicates that the area was already inhabited in very early time. It was in 1056 however, that Almoravide Abu Bakr (who would found the city of Marrakesh eight years later ) began the construction of a fortress here that later became the departure point for the ultimate conquest of power in Morocco. In fact, in the 16th century the Saadians, natives of this region, began the conquest first of Souss and then of the whole country at the time under the rule of the Merinid before undertaking the great advance that took them as far as Timbuktu. Today the city, lying 5 Kilometres to the north of Jebel Zagora on the banks of the Draa valley, which is the last stopping point before venturing into the heart of the dunes is visible only a few…

Not far from Zagora – a real ” gateway to the desert ” leading south – the splendid library of Tamegroute is well worth a serious visit. This small settlement is surrounded by a lush palm grove and the many mosques with roofs of blue-green tiles are evidence of its historic, and contemporary, religious role. In the 17th century a zaouia was founded here, a traditional religious school that also functions as a sanctuary housing the body of a marabout, a holy man who attracts pilgrims. Buried here is Sidi Mohamed Benaceur, founder of the zaouia – one of the most important in Saharan Morocco. Thus within the austere crenellated external walls there is an important library that conserves, among the thousands of items held, books written on gazelle hide, ancient volumes of history and medicine, as well as rare copies of the Koran, magnificently illuminated, including one dating from the 13th century. Talking of colours Tamegroute is justifiably proud of its production of ceramics cloured with dyes made from minerals mined near to the town. The busy workshops of these unsophisticated artists are just on the edge of the village. The palette of the craftsman potter is made up…

At the foot of Jebel Kissane, which flanks the river Draa for a few dozen kilometres, on the road that was constantly travelled by caravans heading south from Ouarzazate during the Middle Ages, is Agdz, a town of typically small houses plastered in red lending them a particularly rural appearance. Agdz is the centre of one of the five main oases in the valley dominating a series of cliffs, literally cut out by the Draa and rather interesting geologically as their unusual stratification lends the mountain a curious striped appearance. A colourful and lively market – distant reminder of its commercial past – is held in the central square of the town where, surrounded by characteristic small shop and cafés, one can buy spices, rock salt, fabrics and metal items decorated in the local style. THE RIVER DRAA The river Draa rises in the High Atlas from the confluence of two streams, the Dadés and the Ouarzazate, and in ancient times was the longest in Morocco. It might now seem strange, but both polybius and pliny in the fifth book of his Natural History, mention that originally the ‘flumen Darat’ was in fact crocodile infested. Today, instead, the Draa after…

Also known as the “valley of the thousand casbahs” due to the surprinsing number of fortified, earth-built settlements located around the oases in particular, the valley of the river Draa (between Ouarzazate and Mhamid) is considered one of the most lovely areas of Morocco. In the past, the Draa was a permanent river with abundant water flowing across some 1200 Kilometres before meeting the Atlantic ocean. Its presence is responsible for the numerous palm groves that cover much of this naturally arid valley together with fruit and fig trees and pomegranates. In the upper part of the river’s course date palms still grow, indicating the presence of numerous oases, but the waters, which rise not far from Ouarzazate at the foot of Jebel M’Goun, disappear into the sand after less than 300 Kilometres of the original route. This is partly due to the el Mansour Eddahbi dam built near to Ouarzazate with the intention of better utilising the waters of Draa by distributing them more equally to the 50 settlements scattered along the 200 kilometres of the valley. However, the building of the dam was to the detriment of the lower reaches of the Draa Valley where the old river…

The highest pass in Morocco is Tizi n’ Tichka ( 2260 metres), meaning the ‘passage of pastures’, and it marks the border between the western Anti Atlas and the High Atlas. Here, a route winds away from the main Marrakesh – Ouarzazate road, passing close to some interesting salt mines, and leads to the village pof Télouet at a height of 2000 metres. This quite splendid casbah is the result of many additions ans adaptations first begun in the early 20th century. The grandeur of the typically Berber structures and the magnificent Andalusian style decorations in plaster, carved wood and coloured tiles (an unusual combination of two architectural styles in a casbah huddled in the austere solitude of a mountainous landscape) recall the splendours of the powerful pasha Galoui, lord of the southern Atlas who died in 1957. The poor state of conservation and the feeling of fragility that today seem to threaten this once powerful fortress are evidence of the increasing and worrying risk of decline and ruin. Such imposing grandeur might appear unusual in an environment that is so wild and unwelcoming al-most lunar in some areas – yet there is a logical explanation that is also evident…

The majestic, jagged “Mountain of Mountains” separates the Atlantic ocean from the Sahara Desert and extends right up to the Rif massif and over to the coast of the Mediterranean. The chain is made up of a series of mountain ranges, ascending from north-east to south-west : the Anti Atlas, High Atlas, Grand Atlas, Saharan Atlas and Lower Atlas. The High Atlas in particular, Adrar n’Dern in Berber, With its glistening snowy peaks soaring above the desert plains, is without doubt the roof of Morocco reaching over 4000 metres in height (the highest summit, Toubkal, is 4167 metres high). At the foot of these cragged peaks lie gentle valleys, filled with flowers in the springtime, dotted with small villages and immense granaries, sweeping down towards the sea where the mountains seem almost to bow down before the Atlantic ocean. In the warm season, the natural scenery is quite magnificent and visitors discover the unexpected marvels of a country that is on the threshold of the desert.