OUARZAZATE to TAROUDANT

Once again, it was a long day on the bus. On the way to Taroudant we stopped at Ait Bin Haddou, an ancient ksar that you can only access by crossing a wadi (river basin). Luckily for us the river was quite low and there were stepping stones that we could use to cross.

We had a local guide, whose name I can’t remember, who led us through the ksar and told us about various repairs made by UNESCO in the past few years. Hundreds of people used to live in the ksar but now only eight Bedouin families live there year-round. Most of the structures in the ksar have been converted to small shops where vendors peddle the typical tourist items. However, there are a few locals artisans who sell weavings and paintings.

You can climb to the top of the ksar where there is a watch tower that provides a picturesque view of the entire valley. It was a bit of a lung-buster (for me, at least) to get to the top but it was well worth the effort. Part of the problem with climbing up to the tower was the goat-like manner with which our guide skipped up the stairs and slopes. He must have been in his 60s but he was bloody impossible to keep up with.

On the way to Taroudant we also pulled over to observe “goats in trees”. It’s exactly as it sounds – apparently this part of Morocco is famous for its goats, which climb into the trees to eat the leaves when there are no other shrubs or plants to eat on the ground. I think I took about 100 photos of the little buggers scampering around in the branches, but unfortunately the photos didn’t turn out very well because as soon as I got close enough to a tree to take a good photo the goats would jump out and run away. You need a proper telephoto lens to capture them “in the act”, so to speak.

We arrived in Taroudant in the early evening and our guide led us on a quick tour of the souks. The traffic was absolutely astounding. We had barely stepped off the bus when we were nearly struck by speeding scooters and donkey carts. I tried to take street shots that captured the chaos but it was hard to get a static image that properly conveyed the chaos. (If – or when – I return to Morocco I’m bringing a small video camera just so I can take videos of the streets.)