Agadir Off The Beaten Path

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From Agadir we drove with our car in the direction of the water falls in Immouzzer des Ida Outanane to visit the Paradise Valley. Coming from Tamraght at the coast we drove first through the mountains and along a wide valley (picture 2), Here we made some stops for the views before we entered the narrow scenic gorge (picture 3) into the direction of the Paradise Valley.

The windy and narrow road, twisting along the steep slopes and palm trees (pictures 1, 4 & 5) made it a spectacular trip. Only this route made it allready worth to visit the Paradise Valley.

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From Agadir we made in 1992 a one day tour with a landrover to the mountains in the area south east of Agadir and north east of Tiznit. First we visited the barrage and lake in this area and then we headed on unpaved roads into the mountains.

With a donkey we took a track to a small mountain village. On our way up we had a good look at the wadi with palm trees and the small fields of the villagers. The village looked very scenic and the villagers were very friendly, came to see us to say hello.

See my travelogue.

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During our tour with the landrover we went with a donkey from the wadi to a small village in the mountains north east of Tiznit.

The village was very picturesque with its houses built between the rocks. Under one of the rocks we saw an oven. Some villagers were very curious and came welcoming us, others were a little bit more shy.

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Tioute lies 48 KM south of Taraoudannt. The first time we visited Tioute in 2000, was on a one day tour from Agadir in combination with Taroudannt.

Tioute has ruins of a impressive kasbah. In the village itself is not much to see, but the atmosphere is nice. We did a donkey ride in the palmeraie. The villager who accompanied us explained a lot about the crops growing in the palmeraie. In the village in a local house I had the best Morrocan tajine and couscous ever.

In 2001 we came back and spent a night in the kasbah. It was nice to sit there in the evening to the great view and the lights of the village down. Most special was the splendid view at the palmeraies with changing light during the twilight.

We learned that in 1952 the kasbah was used for the film Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, a great ambiance indeed.

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Taroudannt is 85 KM east of Agadir. You can easily go there on a daytrip.

Taroudannt is a nice traditional Berber market town surrounded by red-mud walls. Especially the walls are striking. At the background of Taroudannt you have a nice view at the Atlas mountains.

We visited Taroudannt twice in 2000 and 2001. We enjoyed visiting the souqs, to walk around in the town, to have a drink and of course having a look at the spectacular walls. It felt if the atmosphere in and around the town didn't really change for the last 100 years.

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We did spend quite a bit of time traveling around with our own personal taxi driver. He insisted we see the many Berber markets in the small towns we passed. They were always full of fresh produce,meat, fish, veg and spices, all the ingredients for the excellant local dishes at the small restaurants he took us to.

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The Souss Massa National Park was created in 1991 to protect the small colony of Bald Ibis. I think its only Morocco that have truly wild Bald Ibis now and there are only a few hundred left.There are organised Safari's into the park which advertise the chance to see a number of mammals but we chose to go it alone. We hired a taxi for the day and set off on the 40 or so mile trip. We could stop when ever we wanted and had an interesting and leasurely trip there.
The fertile banks of the river were well cultivated and there were many villages on the way. We arrived at the park and for a small fee a warden escorted us along the banks. Wild boar were wallowing in the shallows. The best time for seeing the migratory birds was March to April so we were out of season but we did see about 100 Greater Flamingoes, a few Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis and an abundance of coot and marble ducks. We were dissapointed that we were not able to go and see the Bald Ibis, however we were told another colony existed near Tamri so we arranged with our taxi driver to give it a try another day.

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If visiting Marrakech ask one of the taxis to take you here will only be about 20 MADS.

This is a very old tannery and the smell was realy bad , rotting flesh being dipped in lime this was either goat camel or cow.

When you arrive becarefull because the locals will try and show you around for a tip, it is free to look around might be best to ask if photos can be taken as so not to upset the workers.

At the end there is a leather shop where you can purchase bags and shoes etc.