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 bed, which once wound through fertile land and extensive fields, is now reduced to no more than a dry sandy strip lost in the desert. However, the upper reaches, after a difficult start where the waters struggle to cut a passage through rocky butresses, are striking for the magnificent luxuriance of the surrounding valley, almost like an extremely long oasis (or rather, a circle of irregularly – placed oases). Distinctive features of the numerous Berber villages here are the farms and collective grain stores as well as towers and fortifications built as protection against the incursions of desert nomads. Date palms, acacias, oleanders all flourish, as well as fruit trees and tamerisks, fields of vegetables and cereals (barley and corn), forage and, of course, henna which is a typical product of the valley. It is as if nature had managed to create a corner of paradise in the midst of a desolate and arid desert.