Heading North through the great canyon of the Ziz Gorge

We are in the heart of the Ziz Gorge at Kasbah Hotel Jurassique Camping (N32.15329 W4.37468), a lovely little campsite and Kasbah overlooking the gorge - trying to get rid of the desert sand in poor old Sonny (our motorhome), that we have accumulated from the Sahara!

Great view from our camping pitch

It was with a heavy heart that we left the Sahara Dessert and headed north, as we have had 4 fabulous days and nights at Erg Chebbi, Merzouga and wished we could stay longer.  But we have to get the ferry back to Algeciras from Tangier no later than 28 April and there is still a lot more we want to see.  However, we couldn't leave before climbing up on those sand dunes once again to watch one last sun set!

Mel hitching a ride in my shadow up to the high dunes!

So the next day it was back out on the N13 from Merzouga leaving the vast dunes of Erg Chebbi stretching out behind us (28kms from north to south, and 7kms at their widest). And driving through the blackened hammada.

Passing one of the many fossil selling shops in the Sahara.

Some more bad roads as we have to tackle Rissani again to go north.  A crate in the middle of the road indicating that that part of the road needs to be avoided or at least more so than the rest of the road!

Watch out for that crate Mel!!

The next part of the drive was lovely through the date-palm oases of Tafilalt.  Unfortunately, the effect of drought and Bayoud disease have destroyed a lot of the palms.  Then, near to Erfoud we come across this Museum Fossil and Mineral, with a Diplodocus skeleton outside.  It is the only private fossil museum in Morocco but we laughed when we thought of all the things they would be trying to sell on the unsuspected tourist!

Then the Atlas Mountains come back in to view - we're looking forward to going back over these again!

But before then, we stopped at the small palm grove of Meski, which is watered by a natural spring water pool – the famous Source Bleue de Meski.  Apparently it is full of sacred fish and the locals like to swim in it – no chance of us doing so.  It was cold and yes full of fish!

Source Bleue de Meski

There was a campsite right next to it that we thought we may stop at but (1) it was really run down and dirty looking and (2) it was full of touts trying to pedal their wares, so we thought it best to move on.

We stopped off at Errachidia to stock up on provisions at Acima supermarket.  It was well stocked but European prices (£1.40 for a small packet of biscuits and £2.60 for a little bit of Camembert.) however, needs must!  Bottled water was still cheap 77p for 5litres and fruit and veg not badly priced, although we prefer to buy off local fruit and veg stalls to support the locals.  Parked up in the supermarket and about to leave as we arrived were about 10 old banger cars on their way down to the Sahara.  They were over in Morocco for 18 days doing a rally, calling themselves Rust 2 The Sahara.  The organiser had a rusty old Jaguar Mk10 and told us we could follow them on their website called Rust2Rome.
Errachidia was originally a French Foreign Legion Fort; the town’s role as a military outpost however remained after independence due to the threat from territorial claims from Algeria and a large garrison is visible along the roadside.  It certainly looked an affluent area with their houses (nothing like the mud/wood ones we had been seen up and down the country), perfectly tarmac roads (which was a pleasant relief from the potholed roads we have been experiencing) and the planting up of palm trees to line the roads in and out of the town

Very modern looking houses in Errachidia

A few kilometres passed Errachidia we found a lovely picnic spot by a large reservoir – Hassan Eddakhil

Lake Hassan Eddakhil, where a large group of goats were grazing near the water

We are used to being approached by people, usually selling something or kids wanting sweets.  So, we were pleasantly when a middle-aged Morrocon guy came up to us on a bike asking only if we could spare a cup of water.  We gladly gave him a cold bottle straight from our fridge and talked with him for a while.
Driving through the great canyon of the Ziz reminded us a bit of Dades Gorge, with the swirling patterns.

The Ziz Gorge

The River Ziz and Palmery

The next morning we thought we would have a little walk.  We got talking to the owner and he suggested a hill, just across from the campsite, that we could climb to get great views down the gorge   It should only take you about half an hour to get to the top he said and there is a path you can follow.  We are familiar with being told about paths from Moroccon’s as their version of paths and ours are definitely not the same, so we weren’t expecting it to be a brilliant path.

The climb begins - where's the path??

Half-way up!

That could be nasty if you slip Mel!

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the top as the paths were non-existent and the sheer drops became quite scary, plus we had been walking up for way over an hour and it was getting very hot!  But apparently not if you're a mountain goats, as quite a few of them came bounding by our way.

Once we had found our way back down it was a gentle stroll around the river Ziz.

and taking a look at the local wildlife of frogs and grasshoppers.

Then Mel thought it would be fun to cross over on the other side of the river - those stepping stones are a long way apart for my legs, needless to say my trainers and part of me got a washing in the river!

Then it was back to our little home on wheels for a relax in the sun, it was 27°C in the shade!  At 7pm tonight it was still 23°C but the rain came.  It was strange as we heard the pitter patter of the rain on the motorhome roof – rain is something we haven’t seen for months and strangely enough we enjoyed it whilst it lasted!  Unfortunately, for Morocco’s fields and rivers it didn’t last long.

Sally x