Maroc 2017

What about Africa for a change?

We spent six weeks in Morocco, a country at the door step of Europe and full of surprises.

We discovered a great people, medieval medinas and modern cities, Roman ruins, colonial relics and breathtaking landscapes, an interesting mix of tradition and modernity.

Full map of all Maroc 2017 pages

Other Things

Thinking of our next destination: Italy and Portugal come to mind, or maybe the time has finally come for a US road trip…

Translate & Share

What's this?
Version française
Deutsche Version

Route des Kasbahs: Todra and Dadès Gorges

(vero;2018-May-05)

Our first stop along the Route des Kasbahs was Tinerhir from where we explored the Todra gorges. Our guidebook was not very positive about the town but we decided to stay there anyway: without our own transport, we did not want to be "stuck" in a guest house somewhere along the road leading to the gorges with nowhere else to go for a meal or a drink. Not to mention the added problem of finding transport once you are there; Tinerhir being a hub, we believed that there would be enough transport departing and arriving during the day. In the end, it proved to be a very good idea. We found Tinerhir very pleasant with friendly people and the bonus of a nice palmeraie with a ksar to explore.

The same reasoning made us stay in Boumalne de Dadès for our second stop. The town is smaller than Tinerhir with fewer facilities and very little to see, but it served us perfectly well to explore the Dadès gorges. We enjoyed the Dadès gorges more than the ones of Todra: there are interesting hiking possibilities and we had three great days exploring the canyons and plateaux surrounding the gorges.

Todra — Tinerhir served us as a base to visit the Todra gorges. The town is quite pleasant and has a nice palmeraie with a ksar and a kasbah.

Todra — while exploring Tinerhir's palmeraie we met this man harvesting some dates.

Todra — view of the oued Todra north of the gorges.

Todra — we hiked up the mountains enclosing the gorges. View back to the north.

Todra — looking up north in direction of Tamtattouche.

Todra — arriving at a pass, we met a man maintaining the trail. He was having a hard time removing a big stone from the path and was happy to get Thomas' help.

Todra — after the pass, we came across a settlement of nomads. Look for the big tent and the caves they have dug into the ground.

Todra — coming back down to the valley bottom and the village of Tizgui just south of the gorge.

Todra — we walked back to Tinerhir wandering through the palmeraie and the ksour located along the valley.

Dadès — after settling in Boumalne we took a grand taxi to Aït Youl, 8 km on the way to the gorges and walked back to Boumalne. View of Aït Youl's kasbah.

Dadès — colourful landscape near Aït Youl.

Dadès — dirt road leading into the mountains a few kilometers north of Aït Youl.

Dadès — a nomadic family making its way along the main road to their overnight stop in the palmeraie.

Dadès — baby goats, too young to walk long distances on their own, are being transported on camel back. They were bleating and seemed quite thirsty.

Dadès — on our second day in Boumalne, we took a bus to the top of the gorges and walked back until Aït Arbi where we caught a grand taxi back to Boumalne. View of the spectacular road leading to the top of the gorges.

Dadès — the oued Dadès seen from the top of the gorges.

Dadès — walking back from the top of the gorges, we did a hike above the gorges, entering some canyons before climbing up the plateau and re-descending to the valley bottom in Aït Oudinar.

Dadès — canyon north from the Dadès river.

Dadès — emerging from the canyon onto the plateau above the gorges.

Dadès — view from the plateau above the gorges, with the palmeraie in the valley bottom to the left.

Dadès — starting our descent to Aït Oudinar and the palmeraie.

Dadès — on our third day in Boumalne, we took a grand taxi to Aït Arbi and set off to explore the nearby canyons, eventually climbing up the plateau over the village. View of the kasbah of Aït Arbi and the famous rock formation called "Pattes de Singes" or Monkeys' fingers.

Dadès — great colour contrasts between the green palmeraie and the brown rock formations.

Dadès — view from the plateau where the Monkeys' fingers geological formation originates.

Dadès — view down the plateau to Aït Arbi.

Go back to The Tafilalet Region: Merzouga and Rissani or go on to Route des Kasbahs: Drâa Valley and Ouarzazate or go up to Photos