Todgha Gorge and Dades Gorge are where we are headed today. As we start to drive east of Skoura, we see there is fresh snow high up in the Atlas Mountains.
Todgha Gorge is about 140 km from Skoura, but at the speeds we have to go, it takes us 2 plus hours to cover the distance. We cruise along at 80 kph for a bit and then have to slow to 60, then 40 and then 20 for road construction or a police stop or a traffic circle. The speed through the towns is 60 and the driver sticks to the limit as police radar is everywhere.
The Todgha Gorge is grand in scale. We walk through it on a road that happens to be a national highway that carries tour buses and large trucks. There are loads of tourists and everyone is on road. Rock climbers scale the sides of the canyon and tourist tip toe on the rocks in the river bed adjacent to the highway. The water running through the gorge is crystal clear and surprisingly not frigid. The vegetation is lush along the river supplies the valley beyond the gorge with vital water for irrigation .
We drive through the Dades Gorge its grandeur is only apparent from above. The drive up is on a steep zig zag road. Once at the top, a viewpoint allows us to see the gorge and the river flowing through it. We figure the large tour buses cannot manoeuvre through the switch backs so this gorge isn’t populated with as many tourists.
On the drive back down and towards Ouarzazate, it starts to rain. Because the drainage is poor the rain causes havoc in the villages and on the roads. The water runs down the side streets and collects on the main road. Huge pools form and we must drive through them.
The last few day we noticed Moroccan kids out and about when they should be in school. Checking the internet the reason would be there is a nation wide school holiday this past week. The kids are out on the street playing or hanging out but very few of them have thier nose pinned to a cell phone. I don’t know what the reason would be but unlike almost every place in the world Moroccan children are not wired 24/7.
Another odd thing we noted on today’s journey in Tighir, close to Todgha Gorge, there are new apartments being built in new subdivisions. Not just a few apartments, there are hundreds of new apartment buildings. The city is big enough but there are definitely not enough people hanging about to fill all the new housing. I don’t know if someone is expecting an influx of people moving to Tighir or what. The building don’t look particularly inviting there appears to be windows on one of the four sides. This would make for very dark interiors as the natural light would only penetrate so far.
Although today’s destinations were quite grand the journey was equally impressive. The country side in Morocco is well worth exploring.