Ouarzazate

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The city lies at the centre of a desert plateau in stark contrast to the rugged greenery of the surrounding High Atlas mountains - an exceptional setting geographically and climatically speaking, at the crossroads of the Drâa, Dades and Souss Valleys. Founded by the French in the late 1920s, this former garrison has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years, both in terms of the tourist trade and the craft industry, and now has an international airport. The hub of regional trade, Ouarzazate is reputed for its pottery and carpets, and a major cultural centre is currently under development.

The sourroundings

Registered as part of UNESCO world heritage, this fortified village, adorned with serrated towers, is rightly considered one of the most beautiful in the country. Restoration work has been carried out to protect it against erosion, some of its clay-brick houses having been damaged and also to encourage the residents to keep the village alive.

Formerly known as Ksar Es-Souk, this modern town is located on the estuary of the river Ziz, at a height of about a thousand metres. Originally built by the French, this garrison town owes its importance, firstly, to its geographical situation, and, secondly, to its administrative and military role.

Surrounded by a vast palm grove, the town contains several mosques with blue-tiled roofs and white minarets. Tamgroute owes its renown to a Zaouia whose influence extended over the entire the Drâa Valley, the Dades, the Souss, and even the Anti-Atlas. The town’s workshops are known for their varnished, green-enamelled pottery, rustic and functional, reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Also worth visiting are the renowned Ksar Tamgroute and the Zaouia library.

As you leave Ouarzazate, the Dadès Valley presents a bare, desert landscape, suddenly interrupted by the splendid Skoura palm groves. The famed "Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs" starts just before Skoura, and stretches as far as Boulmane du Dadès. The many Kasbahs that punctuate the road no longer function as fortresses, having one by one been abandoned by their owners in favour of stone houses offering more in the way of comfort and security.

Built in 1971, the dam, whose reservoir holds 560 million cubic metres of water, controls the level of the River Drâa. It enables permanent irrigation of a 14,000-hectare area of the valley, largely made up of farmland and scene of a major reforestation programme.

Built of pale ochre adobe, now alas in poor repair, the Kasbah overlooks a village on the slopes of the River Ouarzazate valley. Transformed into a hotel in the 1960s during the shooting of the memorable film "Lawrence of Arabia," the kasbah, with its fairy-tale views now has a restaurant and guestrooms and is the scene of regular folklore shows for visiting tourists.

A small town with a population of about 30 000, Tinerhir is the administrative centre of the region. This former military post was built on terraces on a rock spur overlooking a vast palm grove. This is one of the most beautiful oases located on the banks of the river Todgha lined with fruit trees and wheat fields. This place is a real haven of peace, of natural and architectural beauty.

Right on the edge of the Sahara, this is the most fascinating of the valleys in the south of Morocco. Its geographic situation lends the place its original nature: it has always been the junction between Fez and the famous Tafilalet. It was the gateway to the Sahara for the caravans crossing the Sahara. The farmed fields and palm groves take over from one another, punctuated by about ten fortified adobe ksours. This is the last stage in the Atlas massif before you go into the desert.

Built at the foot of the Erfoud Massif during the Protectorate, the town originally served as a military and administrative centre. Here flourishes one of the Kingdom’s most imposing oases, planted with more than a million palm trees, in the shade of which local farmers toil, their fields and orchards irrigated by the waters of the rivers Ziz and Gheris. With such an abundance of palm-trees, the date is the symbol of the entire Tafilalet region, and every October the traditional date moussem is held. Erfoud is also a starting point for excursions to the first major sand dunes of the Sahara.

This fortified village, renowned for growing roses, was built at a height of 1467 m, in the area around the river M’Goun. It is mainly made up of several kasbahs and ksours which now lie in ruins, but their splendid embellishment can still be admired. This is a good departure point for trips into the High Atlas, especially to the massif of M’Goun.

Rissani, spiritual capital and native city of the current Cherifian Alaouite Dynasty and final stop-off for the caravans of the Deep South for eleven centuries, keeps alive the ancient memory of the wondrous Sijelmassa, earliest capital of the Tafilalet region. Today, the city boasts a thriving market held in the shade of adobe archways, magnificent bastions and Ksour, the best known being the Ksar of Oulad Abdelhalim, built in the 17^th century by Moulay Ismail as a residence for his children.

Red and mauve hued rock towers above the road, burrowing into the Atlas Mountains through the Dadès gorge. Kasbahs rear out of the ground, rooted in chaotic masses of purple rock, while the greenery of their many gardens adds a finishing touch to this breathtaking panorama.

Located about 53 km from Erfoud, forming the Erg Chebbi in the midst of the desert, the Dunes of Merzouga are a series of superb orange-tinted sand dunes, some of which rise to a height of 150 metres, overlooking the village of the same name.

Surrounded by high, turreted ramparts flanked by square bastions, and overlooking the River Imarene, the famous Kasbah of Telouet, or "Dar el Glaoui," was built in the 19^th century and was enlarged and magnificently decorated to serve as a residence for Thami El Glaoui. Among the luxurious but now dilapidated buildings, only two, the harem and the reception hall, still maintain their Andalusian-style decoration and give an idea of the former splendour of the place.

The Todra Gorges

The River Todra is a branch of the Rheris which, flowing down from the High Atlas, has hollowed out a network of passes and gorges. The valley gradually narrows, its sides rising to a height of 300 metres. Downstream, the river waters palm groves and terraced gardens before gushing into the resplendent oasis of Tinghir.

Zagora was once the final stop-off for caravans before they journeyed into the endless solitude of the Hamadas. Today, the town bears little of interest, its buildings are in sharp contrast with the charming adobe villages dotted all over the valley, but it is still the most southerly point in pre-Saharan Morocco. For lovers of desert adventure, its surroundings make it ideal for short excursions to the first dunes 26 km away, or longer ones further south to Mhamid El-Ghizlane, one of the first gateways to the desert.

Les sites sur Ouarzazate :

http://www.berbere-evasion.com/

Circuits through Morocco in 4x4.

http://www.iriqui.com/

Excursions in the Moroccan desert in 4x4 or àdos.de camel. Restaurants,