Day 7 - October 16 - Gorge of Todgha and Dades Valley

We were on our way at 9:00 to meet the rest of the group who went to the overnight camping. 

Our hotel in Erfoud and our bus waiting for us.

We went to a centre where they work with sealife fossils. The fossils are 360 million years old, an era when Morocco was under the sea. A shift of the tectonic plates made so much pressure that it killed all marine life. 

We then continued on our way towards Tinghir stopping along the way for a photo shoot of the old wells that were there to manage the water. I don't remember how old they were but they still work except for the fact that they have been in a drought for the last 6 years so there is no water. We also made a stop in the fortified town whose name I don't recall.

Underground tunnels that caried water from the mountains for the wells.

We will be seeing the High Atlas mountains until we reach Marrakech. They are 800 kms long and 100 kms wide.

Everything is very dry except where there is irrigation.

School children travel by bicycles.

After lunch in Tinghir we visited a woman's co-op where we saw many beautiful Berber carpets from many tribes and of course they were for sale.

City Center

Many beautiful carpets. It appears that they were disappointed that no one bought any.

The Gorge of Todgha was the highlight of the day. It is known as the grand canyon of Morocco. It is not quite as impressive as the grand canyon but very close to it. There is a very narrow valley, a small river and very high red cliffs on both sides. It also reminded me a lot of Utah. We saw some rock climbers trying to make their way to the top.

A couple of rock climbers.

An abandoned hotel that was closed due to danger from falling rocks.

After the Gorge we crossed the oued (river) Dades and drove along the almost 24 km long street to the valley of roses and the town of Kalaat M'Gouna where they manufacture everything having to do with roses, water, creams, soaps etc.

A bit blurry but hard to get a quick shot like this on a moving bus.

An example of modern construction methods in the middle compared to traditional methods on each side.

Another oversized load.

It is hard to understand where this country is getting all the money from. The roads are fantastic they are even working on widening them. Frankly they are better than any roads we have at home. With all this they are building towns with hospitals, schools, apartements, houses, post offices, courts, the whole nine yards. Nobody is living there yet. When I asked our guide where the money was coming from, he said, mining, agriculture and tourism. We didn't see that much agriculture except in the oases. This is the desert there is not that much that grows here. Yet the economy seems to be thriving.

We arrived at our hotel around 7:45 so another long day.