MOROCCO – THE SOUTH AND THE KASBAHS
Morocco is a door coming after the other, that open once you progress. Each door is in front of a different perspective of the imaginary: a space, a face, a voice, a mystery… “Tahar Ben Jelloun”
Morocco is a country made of warm colors and thousands of shades that can satisfy the traveler who loves nature and landscapes and also the one who wants to know the history and the culture of the place that is going to visit.
Once you cross the Atlant mountains you meet the real Morocco, the one you don’t expect, the one who excites you.
You reach Ouarzate and Zagora. Then you continue towards the South and the street ends in M’Hamid, where the golden sand took over. The dunes interrupt the blue of the sky, and from here you can move only with off-road vehicles or on a camel, the time flows slower and the sight loses itself in the infinity. You have to stay a couple of nights in M’Hamid to have enough time to visit the dunes of Erg Chegaga, nearby the boundaries of Algeria. Rest in a tented camp among the dunes…you’ll never forget the desert.
Still in need of sand and rocks and still with the movie “the tea in the desert” in our minds, the must-sees are Merzouga, Rissani and Erfoud, then reaching the Draa valley and the palm trees on Tinherir, the deep gorges carved by Dadès river and the kasbahs, the red sand castles all over the less known part of the country, certainly the most charming.
On the road between Rissani and Ouarzazate, you’ll find a large amount of kasbahs, palm trees, houses made of dark sand and the beaufirul “Gorges du Todra” and “Gorges du Dadès”, gorges carved by the two rivers, side by side with high rocky walls.
Stop in Tinherir, on the road that leads to Gorges du Todra, and enjoy the landscape of the city immersed in green palm trees.
Between Boumalne Dadès and El Kelaa M’Gouna, you can’t miss the festival of roses in May, with songs, dances and the reunion of the farmers that celebrate the harvest of those perfumed petals.
Even though is one of the most visited destinations all year long, don’t miss for any reason the beautiful Ait Benhaddou Kasbah, a few kilometers away from Ouarzazate.