We were once again off to our next destination, the Todgha Gorge located northwest of Merzouga. Along the way we passed through some very interesting landscape and stopped occasionally to look at rocks.
Almost inevitably in this area, Chris — much to his delight — found some fossils. This particular one is an orthoceras, which can occur in great abundance in some Moroccan locations.
This rock is filled with fossils. On the upper right is where the Orthoceras which is in the next photo is located.
Close-up of Orthoceras
Sometimes as we travelled, we saw in the distance large brown Berber tents belonging to nomadic families who usually had large herds of goats and sheep. The Berbers would live there for some time and then move on to other areas making sure their animals had enough to eat. To see people living in this way was kind of awe-inspiring for us though, at the same time, we were well aware of how extremely harsh and challenging their lives must be.
Berber tent
Berber woman herding goats
Nomads gathering at a well.
One of the delights that day was passing through an area that had many acacia trees that we had fallen in love with when we were in East Africa a few years ago. The umbrella of shade that they provide is a true haven on a hot day.
The shade of an Acacia tree.
Also, there were camels! We stopped quite a few times to take in the presence of these amazing animals and photograph them. We thought they were likely wild, but later in our trip we discovered that these days all camels in Morocco are actually owned.
At home in the desert.
As we neared Todgha Gorge, we passed through the large city of Tinghir. As we were driving along, we started noticing all these women wearing white cotton shawls and walking along the street in the same direction, often together in groups. We thought that they are heading to the mosque, but we never really knew their destination. In different areas of Morocco, the women dress very distinctively — in some places with, for example, very plain clothing; in other places, with very colourful and richly embroidered clothing.
Tinghiri women
As we started to climb out of the valley containing the city we had a great view of the huge old city set amongst the trees. Luckily we were able to find a safe place to stop and take it all in.
The Old City of Tinghir.
This probably was the ruins of an old fort.
For the last hour of the day's trip, the very windy road climbed up into the mountains. The scenery in Morocco never ceased to amaze us and this proved to be yet another really beautiful area. We arrived in the town of Aït Baha which is situated very close to the Todgha Gorge and, after a short time, located our lodging (Dar Tiwira) for the night. It was a little complicated to find as we had to drive some way up a dry riverbed (the river floods from time to time!) that ultimately led to our place which was tucked into the base of a cliff.
This is the road that is also a riverbed when it rains!
We chose Dar Tiwira it as it is run by a Berber family — this, we thought, would give us a good opportunity to experience being in a Berber environment. We got off to a bit of a rocky start, though, as there was some misunderstanding about which room we had booked. We got it sorted out and had our supper in a large room (a 'majlis') where house-guests are received and can gather. There we met and chatted with a group of rock climbers who were also staying at Dar Tiwira.
One of the main things visitors can do in the Todgha Gorge area is to go on a longish hike through part of the gorge, up the west side of the valley, south along the top of the mountain and then back down to Aït Baha. I was up to the challenge, but felt it was wise to get a guide as the instructions for the hike seemed a bit sketchy. Our host contacted a friend of his who, he assured us, would speak English. We were a bit dubious about this, though, and did not have this assurance confirmed until the next morning when we met our guide-to-be. He had lovely energy and spoke English well, and we both felt confident that he would be a perfect guide for the day. The 16-km hike was long and tiring but was well worth doing as it really was amazing. We started by walking along the valley bottom through carefully tended family-owned gardens where much of the food for the year is grown. The valley soon narrowed into the steep-sided gorge which we found to be quite dramatic.
The start of the narrowest section of the gorge
Looking back after emerging from the narrow section of the gorge.
We came across a set of steps up into a side-valley and our guide started to lead us up them. It was a good thing that we had already had a lot of practice with what we called ”Moroccan steps,” the high steps we had regularly climbed in guesthouses and other places.
The beginning of the hike. It is a good thing that I didn’t know how much climbing there was that day!
Mahjoub, our guide, was very open to our taking our time so that we could really enjoy the hike and all the sights we saw along the way.
Goats a familiar sight
As we climbed higher, we encountered our first woman who was coming down from her mountain-top village with some mules and donkeys to get the daily water supply.
Later, we passed several other similar women-and-animal groupings on their way down. Parts of the path were very steep and I just could not believe they do this trip up and down every day ..... but this was simply a routine part of their nomadic life. The women were generally pretty shy about being photographed, but I was able to get some shots of them for which I was very grateful.
Mahjoub doing some crowd control on the mountain as the path was narrow.
Chris, getting out of the way of the mule.
This photo shows the roughness of the path and just how steep it was.
Even the older women make this journey every day.
We finally reached the top of the gorge, which was a relief for sure and we rested for a while before continuing.
The top of the mountain. This women was also just walking up to the top.
On top of the world!
Once rested a bit we continued our hike along relatively flat, sparsely vegetated ground to a nomad village made up of a few randomly placed stone-walled, one- or two-roomed, low-roofed buildings inhabited by members of a fairly large family. When we arrived, a fine-looking elderly man was sitting there alone as the rest of the villagers were off getting water or shepherding flocks of sheep and goats. There was very little shade, and it became so very obvious to me that the living conditions here were unbelievably harsh.
This was the scene as we walked into the village. The village elder is in the background of the photo.
One of the many rooms that the families lived in.
It was hard to imagine what daily life would be like there. The Elder offered us tea which we were delighted to accept, so he proceeded to make tea in the traditional Moroccan way.
Preparing our tea.
Mahjoub pouring our tea in the Moroccan way.
With Mahjoub translating, we found out that the Elder was over ninety years old and was no longer able to leave his village. I noticed he had a bandage on his leg so I asked about it. Apparently he had tripped over a rock some days before. He told me that he had never seen a doctor in his life and that they treated injuries and illness with local herbs and medicine.
We left some money for him and continued on our way along the top. Mahjoub found a great place to have our lunch where we had a view of Todgha Gorge. We had come a LONG way! Our Dar Tawira hosts had packed us a lunch which we really appreciated.
Looking back at the village we had just visited.
Ait Baha in the distance.
The scenery was really stunning that day!
Before long we started back down into the valley where we had begun our hike. The clouds that day had been amazing!
What a sky!
The descent into the valley seemed endless, but eventually we were just above Aït Baha. As we were nearing Ait Baha, we met a man who Mahjoub knew and who was one of the family members of the elder man that we visited earlier in the day. He is usually herding his goats and sheep but he had been in town that day to pick up supplies.
Shepherd that we met.
Ait Baha nestled in the mountains.
The local laundromat!
Our selfie with Mahjoub!
Just before reaching town, Mahjoub invited us to his home for tea and, although we didn’t want to add to our walk, we could not say no to his invitation. Luckily, his home was not very far out of the way from our guesthouse. The building itself was several storeys high and it seemed that many of the brothers in the family lived there with their families and their mother. What really struck me was how barren the accommodation was other than the majlis where we sat to have tea, bread and olive oil which is customary. We met one of his brothers and hoped to meet his daughter, but she was still at school. We were so appreciative of our day and our time with Mahjoub.
Tired, we headed back home and rested for a short while. Generally in Morocco suppers are served late around 8pm so although tired from the day, we took advantage of the daylight hours that were left and explored further along the gorge by car. The road was pretty rough, but the scenery was amazing. The only thing that made us turn around is that we were losing light and didn’t want to be navigating that road in the dark. These are some of photos we took on that trip of different views as we drove north along the gorge.
A road not in very good condition!
The “feather” cloud was just the icing on the cake of fantastic scenery!
The night before I had asked the climbers where was the best place to eat in town and their opinion was that it was our guesthouse. That was lucky for us. The meals they served were ginormous! It was like food for four people instead of two. We knew that whatever we left wouldn’t go to waste so that was reassuring.
Though it would have been lovely to explore more of this area and farther west from here, we needed to head south as our trip into the Sahara was beginning the next day, February 28th. We decided to travel down to Zagora through the town of N’kob which is known as a place where many women weave traditional rugs, blankets and clothing. We arrived at the town in the afternoon hoping to find a co-operative shop where their weaving was sold. We looked and asked around but it seemed that there wasn’t really any such place there, so clearly the women’s work was being sold directly to buyers or markets elsewhere. N’kob is really off the beaten tourist path, so it made sense there wasn’t a shop there.
We had yet another wonderful glass of fresh orange juice in a restaurant where they spoke some English so we were able to explain what we were looking for. A young man set off to find a way for us to see some of the weaving. We had a long wait, but eventually he returned and led us to a local NGO that provides education to adults and a gathering place for different groups to learn and create together.
When we got there it was closed, but after another wait a woman appeared then realized she didn’t have her keys! Another young man went off to find keys. Eventually he returned and we were able to enter the building along with a few local people. There was one room for weavers, but no one was there. One of the local women who had been waiting with us found some weavings in a cupboard and showed them to us. A smaller blue-and-cream-coloured one was of a size that we could carry so we bought it. We were really touched at how hard everyone had worked to try and find what we wanted. Also, it was really lovely to discover how proud and important it was for the community to have a learning centre where they could come together and study or be involved in arts activities together. Our hearts were full after our experience of N’kob and, with rug in hand, we drove to Zagora which is located right on the edge of the Sahara Desert.
As we drove into Zagora located in the Draa River valley, it was like a sea of palm trees. It was quite a sight! Although the Draa has not had water in it for some years, the water underground sustains the trees.
Zagora was much more modern than I had imagined. It has a really interesting history especially as it is at the start of an historical trading route to Timbuktu. As always, our first activity was to find our room for the night so, with the help of google maps, we managed to get there, though the way was a bit hairy to say the least. We started off on a two-lane gravel road which quickly became one-lane and then one-lane with deep drop-offs on both sides. There were corners that seemed impossible to turn, but with my getting out and guiding Chris, we managed to get to our lovely guesthouse in what is known as the Palmeries (we were surrounded by palm trees). It was a very beautiful setting. Our room featured traditional Berber style lovely blankets and decorations. As usual, the host welcomed us in the majlis with tea, olives and some other goodies. He was a teacher in town and happily offered us information about the area. When he found out we were going on a trip into the Sahara, he felt it was a shame that we weren’t going with his company, but we were absolutely sure we had chosen what was best for us. We were not disappointed!
Look how close we are to the edge of the road!
There are always surprises!
Chris definitely learned to drive with precision!
Our host offered us a free 45-minute guided tour of the Palmerie and the old Jewish area of Zagora. We happily accepted.
One of the alleys near our Guesthouse.
It was amazing to see how the desert sand is encroaching on the Palmeries. Trees are planted to help keep it the sand from taking over.
You can see how close the desert is to the Palmaries.
These Tamarask trees help to keep the desert at bay!
The desert was literally ten minutes away from where we were staying.
We walked on into the old Jewish area of town which was a very integral part of the Zagora community until Israel was created, leading to the Zagoran Jews' 1958 decision to move there. It often stood out to me that, when people talked about the different Jewish communities in Morocco, they described how Muslims and Jews lived very peacefully together in community. I wanted to take photos in the area, but our guide was hesitant for me to do that. I did, however, manage to get a few photos of some buildings and I had already had taken one of the women from behind.
Ruins in the Jewish section of Zagora.
A photo I took before our guide advised me not to take photos of the women
Eventually our guide took us to a “shop” and — amazingly — this was the first time in Morocco that we were expected to buy something there. When we obviously were not at all interested in buying anything, our guide was eager to get back to our hotel. I suspect the owner of the hotel doesn’t know this happens, but we were grateful to see a bit of Zagora. When we had almost reached the hotel, our guide suggested we give him a tip. We pointed out that we had brought nothing with us as the tour was free, but we would give something to the hotel owner to pass on to the guide. The guide did not want us to do that!
We had supper at the hotel that evening and it was so delicious! It was served outside on the patio and our waitress was beautifully kind and attentive. We spent the rest of the evening preparing for our trip into the Sahara. It was both exciting and a little anxiety producing as we had not had this kind of journey before.
We were treated to a really wonderful breakfast as another large group was staying in the Guesthouse and the staff had gone all out to create a special breakfast for them.
Thanks for following our adventures. We will continue with our trip into the Sahara Desert in our next post. Love, Dana and Chris
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