So, an early start and our customary search for breakfast, which we failed at entirely.
We’d agreed to meet the others in Marrakech that afternoon/evening so we had 2 options – either we could head straight down the N8 to the south west and get there as soon as possible, or take a detour up into the mountains in search of exciting roads.
Obviously we took the mountain road option! On the way out of Beni-Mellal there was a hell of a lot of low lying fog/mist which made it all a bit eerie, especially when we drove through some sort of market and only realised when we were surrounded by people and cows. Anyway we headed out along the N8 for a couple of kilometres and then turned south along the R304 towards Afourer, where we stopped and got coffee and breakfast, where everything was still shrouded in mist and fog.
After that the road got nice and windy, with trucks, walls and corners looming out of the mist with not much warning – after a while and with constant climbing it started to brighten up and all of a sudden we broke out of the cloud into blue skies which was really beautiful, driving along these narrow roads above the cloud and surrounded by mountains.
The road we were on was winding it’s way up a river cut gorge towards the Bin El Ouidaine dam and a rather large reservoir, all very pretty though I think they are nervous about it for some reason, a few gun emplacements and guards floating about.
After a quick photo stop at the reservoir we decided to head towards some well known (relatively..) waterfalls at a place called Ouzoud further down the R304. Kostas suggested, correctly, that it would be more fun if we took a less main road as it was more direct and looked more fun and off the beaten track – it took me a bit of finding on google maps but you can see it below – essentially turn NW at Azilal and follow the road – try not to fall off the edges.
Cascades D’Ouzoud is actually a pretty awesome little place with beautiful waterfalls, it seems like in high season it could be a bit touristy but in January it wasn’t at all. We parked up, having accidentally almost driven into a river looking for a parking spot in a forest and went and took some pictures. It’s quite a big drop and there aren’t many paths, which I kind of like – less health and safety. In the UK you’d have railings and signs all over the place. They even have monkeys.
You can walk down around the side of the gorge the waterfalls are in, passing various touristy stalls on the way down. I found some rather nice ammonites and fossils there for sale and bought a few as I know Katy likes that sort of thing, as well as sea shells. On the way and down the bottom there are a bunch of restaurants/cafes and since it was nearly lunchtime we had some food. I think the options were basically Tagine, or, if you really asked, Tagine.
We had Tagine, with loads of bread and bits and pieces.
Here’s a video of the bits and pieces that I threw together – turn down your volume!
We headed off towards Marrakech, getting there about 6pm having battled with some of the maddest driving I’ve seen outside of GTA and met up with everyone else at the hotel – I can’t remember what the name of it was but it was about a 10 minute taxi ride from the main square and, shall we say, slightly ornate.
Here we can see a Kostas lording it up in a four poster bed.
Once everyone was there we all headed into the main square, which is massive and very busy of an evening, we managed to find essentially a tent with some benches in and had a good feed.
After this, Kostas, Matt, Brian and myself decided we wanted booze, so off we wandered to try and find a bar. We eventually found a place after asking around and being led down dark alleys for about 20 minutes, up several flights of stairs and onto a rooftop bar. We had a bunch of beers and even some gin and then called it a night.
Tomorrow the Atlas Mountains!
Notes
- Don’t be afraid to go off the main roads, makes it a lot more fun
- The Ouzoud Waterfalls are pretty cool and worth a look
- Marrakech is great fun, very busy and I would like to have spent more time there if possible
- You will end up eating a Tagine at some point, it’s unavoidable
- Finding a place for beers that isn’t massively touristy can be a bit tricky
Route
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