The Drâa Valley – 10 & 11 Feb
The evening of 9 January was definitely our most bizare yet! Having had dinner Neil and I were treated to a private “jam session” in the campsite with four locals who had whipped out some drums and an electronic keyboard. Helped out by shots of straight vodka our friendly quartet drummed the night away as we watched on in amazement at how pleased they were to be performing for such a small audience!The next day we left Tagounite to begin our drive back North towards Marrakech. Our route followed the Drâa Valley – an incredible palm-lined river dotted with orchards and large Kasbahs which are made using the abudantly-available mud of the Drâa itself. We spent the night in a campsite at the entrance to Tazentout where we were treated by Richard and Chippy to a dinner at a local restaurant. Ait Benhaddou was our first stop on the 11th of February. The enormous Kasbah, built by Berbers from the 14th century onwards, was on the other side of a river which could be crossed by donkey for the cheeky fee of 20 Dirhams. True to our South African principles, however, we all rolled up our trousers, took off our boots and waded across, much to the amazement of our European counterparts! The Kasbah was well worth the visit although it was a pity it was so geared towards tourists.
After lunch we continued north along the main road and decided to take a detour into Toulet to see a very old castle which had belonged to the Glourie Brothers. Despite the harrowing 21km drive off the main road this proved to be a very worthwhile excursion as the castle was magnificent and devoid of any other tourists. The highlight, however , of our day’s journey had to be the drive through the High Atlas. The pass took us up steeply to just below the snow line before winding down, swithback after switchback, through small villages precariously placed on rocky outcrops. That evening we stayed in a hotel just outside of Marakech which allowed us time to recover before our assault on the bustling city the next day !
