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4 Stars - 21 Opinions
Morocco 2008
Berber camp at dawn, Zagora
tents made with mudbrick surrounds
through the village along the main road
From Ouarzazate to Zagora goes this nice valley full of Palm trees. The road is fully paved, though a bit narrow.
The first hour from Ouarzazate (till Agdz) is a bit monotonous, dry landscape, and almost no traffic. After Agdz you enter the palm woods, and there are more little towns on the way.
The camels we encountered during our trip were mainly dromidaries- the 1 humped model!
These ships of the desert have carried man and cargo over the centuries, aiding the Trans- Saharan trading development. Nowadays, their ancestors earn their living by transporting travellers and tourists from near and far, into the Saharan experience. Plus probably having more photo shoots than a pack of supermodels!
Apparently camels live to about 25 years of age, the camels on our trek were probably between 12 and 14 years of age. They are bought and sold at the local markets.
When a camel is too old to work, or it dies, its meat is used for food - apparently it is mainly the inhabitants of the Saharan villages that eat this tough meat. Their skin is used for materials,- tent coverings, bags etc, and the bones are used as knife handles etc!
During the days of our stay in Zagora a Harley Davidson's Meeting took place there. They were coming from France, all the way down through Spain. It was a nice view, all the motorbikes through the desert roads. Made me think of "Easy Rider"...
OK kids, you didn't make that 9 hour trek from Marrakech on the vomit-bus and crammed into the back of a grande taxi listening to the same annoying 2 songs over and over.... for nothing. You did this so that you could say; "I rode a camel into the Sahara desert!!!" when you got back home.
Zagora isn't the only place you can do this but it's the closest one we could find.
Turns out, (as it appeared to me) real people don't usually "ride" camels, they walk them. Only us touristas do this thing. I kept hearing how horribly uncomfortable it was to ride a camel, I found it to be no problem at all, in fact, much better than riding a horse into a Costa Rican volcano (g*damn english saddles!).
Any-wayyyy, our 2 guides were great, they walked us a couple hours out into the desert till we arrived at the toureg tents amongst the (small) sand dunes, where we disembarked.
at the southern end of Zagora on the other side of the river is the you must have seen it already hill or mountain of Zagora.
From it you can have spectacular views over the valley with its palmeraie for miles, jazzed up snazzy kasbah hotels such as the Asmaa before you and if like me when i was up there a beautiful view with a rainbow over the whole lot.
Half way up the jebel are the remains of the Almoravid fortress from the 11th century which can be explored. The modern day fortress at the top belongs to the army and is offlimits.
Its recommended to head off up there early in the morning before it gets hot but also while the sun is still rising for its most attractive lighting. The views are pretty spectacular from well below the top. The lonely planet has written that you can drive up but i couldnt find any driveable access road. Now though that there a hotel being built on the far side that should make the incline more accessible.
Otherwise take the road to the left past Hotel Asmaa which goes towards and past Camping la Montagne and take the piste road to the right.
and then walk back through the palmeraie.
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Address: Douar Ouled Driss, Zagora, 45500, Morocco
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