tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21773193924206311212024-03-13T04:58:10.151-07:00Morocco Tours and Camel TrekDestination The Pre-SaharaLuxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-14771969930589458702012-11-24T06:24:00.002-08:002014-07-02T08:57:40.988-07:00Tiffoultoute<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MhXwu9TI1CQ/ULDYdHphnrI/AAAAAAAAAeI/IuLiFqfU-Q0/s1600/Kasbah+de+Tifoultote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MhXwu9TI1CQ/ULDYdHphnrI/AAAAAAAAAeI/IuLiFqfU-Q0/s400/Kasbah+de+Tifoultote.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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A few kilometres from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/marrakech-excursions/ouarzazate-excursion-marrakech.html">Ouarzazate </a>on the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/marrakech-excursions/ourika-valley-excursion-marrakech.html">Marrakesh </a>road, at a height of 1160 metres, stands the casbah of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/ouarzazate-citytour-kasbahs-excursion.html">Tiffoultoute</a>, a historic property of the Glaoui family. Built more than two centuries ago in the characteristic light ochre-coloured hardened clay, it was probably restored at a later date. In the past, its inhabitants represented a threat for Makhzen and Ouarzazate as well as for the surrounding area. Today the casbah boasts a hotel and restaurant and is simply an attraction for passing tourists who wish to enjoy the magnificent view over the valley furrowed out by the <a href="http://authentic-sahara-tours.com/tours-marrakesh-to-zagora-2-days.html">Ouarzazate </a>wadi.<br />
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-42581441866970233412012-05-06T18:00:00.001-07:002014-07-04T08:41:14.508-07:00The dunes of Merzouga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fwWhtfjx7xs/T6ceoOAxI4I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/j8Tcgenil9Y/s1600/DSC00126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fwWhtfjx7xs/T6ceoOAxI4I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/j8Tcgenil9Y/s320/DSC00126.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Erg Chebbi - the sand dunes at <a href="http://authentic-sahara-tours.com/tours-marrakesh-to-the-dunes-of-merzouga-3-days.html">Merzouga </a>- are one of the great sights of <a href="http://authentic-sahara-tours.com/about-morocco.html">Morocco</a>. They are reached most directly along the 3461 road south of Erfoud, which is surfaced for the first 16Km, then gives way to 35Km of piste.It is along this road that the landrover tours , to catch sunrise at the dunes. If you can't afford these, it way be possible to join up with other tourists doing the trip , either the night before or at dawn . Your presence may be welcome as an extra shoulder to push the car if it gets trapped in the sand. </div>
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You can, alternatively, reach <a href="http://www.marrakech-private-tours.com/marrakech-tours/fez-to-marrakech-4-days">merzouga </a>by way of Rissani - or complete a circuit by travelling back this way. The <a href="http://authentic-sahara-tours.com/tours-marrakech-to-merzouga-desert-5-days.html">merzouga</a>-Rissani route is covered in a southeast to northwest direction; it is served by local transit and landrover taxis.<br />
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-6324410442062958152011-03-19T08:12:00.000-07:002014-07-04T08:26:03.041-07:00Tamegroute<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp8K-jwlc1I/TYjgOSO45BI/AAAAAAAAAVI/TDOHTlCON50/s1600/Tamegroute.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp8K-jwlc1I/TYjgOSO45BI/AAAAAAAAAVI/TDOHTlCON50/s400/Tamegroute.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586961873770177554" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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TAMEGROUTE is an interesting and unusual village. At first sight, it is basically a group of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/ouarzazate-citytour-kasbahs-excursion.html">ksour and kasbahs</a>, wedged tightly together and divided by low, covered passageways with an unremarkable Saturday souk and small potters'co-operative. Despite appearances, it was once the most important settlement in the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/zagora-draavalley-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Draa valley</a>, it appearances, it was once the most important settlement in the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/gorges-vallee-du-draa-et-erg-chebbi-en-3-jours.html">Draa valley</a>; it appears on nineteenth-century maps -produced in Europe - as Tamgrat or Tamagrut, surrounded by lesser places whose names have little or no resonance today.</div>
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It owes its importance to its ancient and highly prestigious zaouia, which was a seat of learning from the eleventh century and, from the seventeenth century, the base of the Naciri Brotherhood. Founded by Abou Abdallah Mohammed Ben Naceur (an inveterate traveller and revered scholar), this exercised great influence over the Draa tribes until recent decades. Its sheikhs (or holy leaders) were known as the "peacemakers of the desert " and it was they who settled disputes among the ksour and among the caravan traders converging on <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/zagora-draavalley-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Zagora </a>from the Sudan. They were missionaries, too, and as late as the 1750s sent envoys to preach to and convent the wilder, animist-minded Berber tribes of the Atlas and Rif.</div>
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Arriving in the village, you'll likely be "adopted" by a guide and taken off to see the Zaouia Naciri (8am-12.30pm and 2-6pm daily; donations expected), the entrance to which is on a side-street to the left of the main road (coming from Zagora).If you are not 'adopted' or prefer to explore unaided, look for the tall white minaret to the left of the main road.</div>
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The zaouia consists of a marabout (the tomb of Naceur, closed to non-Muslims), a medersa (theological college - still used by up to 80 students, preparing for university) and a small libary, which welcomes non-Muslim visitors and where you will see illuminated korans, some on animal hides, as well as twelfth-century works on mathematics, medicine and history. The sanctuary, as for centuries past, is a refuge for the sick and mentally ill, whom you'll see sitting round in the courtyard; they come in the hope of miraculous cures and/or to be supported by the charity of the brotherhood and other benevolent visitors.</div>
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The library was once the richest in <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Morocco</a>, containing 40,000 volumes. Most have been dispersed to Koranic Shools round the country, but Tamegroute preserves a number of very early editions of the koran printed on gazelle hide, and some interesting books, including a thirteenth-century algebra primer featuring western Arabic numerals, which, although subsequently dropped in the Arab world, formed the basis of the West's numbers, through the influence of the universities of Moorish Spain.</div>
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The potter's cooperative is on the left as you leave Tamegroute <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">travelling </a>towards Tinfou. Visitors are welcome(Mon-Fri, 7am) and there is no pressure to buy. If you want to see the production of pottery in its simplest form, you will find this an ideal opportunity. Do not be surprised to find the green glaze, on finished items, reminiscent of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-marrakech-merzouga-dunes-fez-5days.html">Fes pottery</a>. This is no accident; the founders of the Naciri Brotherhood wanted to develop Tamegroute - to city status, they hoped. Thus, they invited merchants and craftsmen from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-imperial-cities-morocco-7days.html">Fes </a>to settle in Tamgroute. Two families, still working in the pottery, claim Fes forebears.</div>
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More recently, in 1995, the pottery enjoyed further patronage, in the form of a state grant to purchase two gas-fired kilns. This is part of a project to revive the fortunes of the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-marrakech-zagora-dunes-2days.html">Draa valley</a>. You will see elegant bowls thrown from the local clay on a foot-operated wheel and then the sun-dried "biscuit" stacked in seven traditional kilns built into the slop. Spinifex (known locally as jujube) and sagebrush raise the temperature to 1000°C, producing the green-glazed ware in a single firing. The minerals for the glaze colour are found locally (copper) and near Tata (manganese).<br />
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-21915940251273513382011-01-17T16:28:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:24:01.408-07:00Moroccan pre-Sahara<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TSsk2uQmRuI/AAAAAAAAAKc/jf2F_1-ZWko/s1600/IMG_1572.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TSsk2uQmRuI/AAAAAAAAAKc/jf2F_1-ZWko/s320/IMG_1572.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560578687468193506" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 214px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Moroccan pre-sahara</a> begins as soon as you cross the atlas to the south.It is not sand for the most part -more a wasteland of rock and scrub -but it is powerfully impressive. The quote from Paul Bowles may sound over the top. but staying at <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">M'hamid </a>or Merzouga, or just stopping a car on a desert road between towns, somehow has this effect.There is, too, an irresistible sense of wonder as you catch a first glimpse of the great southern river vallys -the Drâa, Dadès, Todra, Ziz and tafilalt. long belts of date palm oases, scattered with the fabulous mud architecture of kasbahs and fortified ksour villages, these are the old caravan routes that reached back to <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Marrakesh</a> and <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-imperial-cities-morocco-7days.html">Fes</a> and out across the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">Sahara </a>to Timbuktu, Niger and old Sudan, carrying gold, slaves and salt well into the nineteenth century.They are beautiful routes, even today, tamed by modern roads and with the oases in decline, and if you're <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">travelling in Morocco</a> for any length of time, they are must. The simplest <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Morocco tours</a> Marrakesh-Zagora-Marrakesh, or <a href="http://www.marrakech-private-tours.com/">Marrakesh</a>-Tinerhir-Midelt- can be covered in around five days, though to do them any degree of justice you need a lot longer.</div>
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The southern oases were long a mainstay of the precolonial economy. Their wealth and the arrival of tribes from the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/desert-sauvage-en-3-jours.html">desert</a>, provided the impetus for two of the great royal dynasties :the saadians (1154-1669) from the Drâa Valley, and the present ruling family, the Alaouites (1669) from the tafilalt. By the nineteenth century, however, the advance of the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">Sahara </a>and the uncertain upkeep of the water channels had reduced life to bare subsistence even in the most fertile strips. Under the French, with the creation of modern industry in the north and the exploitation of phosphates and minerals, they became less and less significant, while the old caravan routes were dealt a final death blow by the closure of the Algerian border after independence. The pattern of the last twenty-five years has been one of steady emigration to the northern <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/les-villes-imperiales-et-desert-en-5-jours.html">cities</a>.</div>
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Today, there are a few urban centres in the south; <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Ouarzazate </a>and Er Rachidia are the largest and both were created by the French to 'pacify' the south; they seem only to underline the end of an age. Although the date harvests in October, centred on Erfoud can still give employment to the ksour communities, the rest of the year sees only the modest production of a handful of crops-henna, barley,citrus fruits and uniquely roses-the latter developed by the French around El Kelâa des Mgouna for the production of rose-water and perfume in May. And to make matters worse, in recent years the seasonal rains have frequently failed. Perhaps as much as half the male population of the ksour now seeks work in the north for at least part of the year.</div>
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Tourism brings in a little money, particularty to Ouarzazate and <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/zagora.html">Zagora</a> - once the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Gate of the Desert</a> (fifty-two days to Timbuktu) but it too has declined in the 1990s, leaving many hotels empty or, in the case of <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/ouarzazate-and-draa.html">Ouarzazate</a>, unfinished.</div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-22381581878756504422011-01-17T14:41:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:27:44.288-07:00South to Zagora: the Drâa oases<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS5QGmXvw3I/AAAAAAAAAMs/9Zw23ejpQYQ/s1600/zagora.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS5QGmXvw3I/AAAAAAAAAMs/9Zw23ejpQYQ/s320/zagora.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561470664158724978" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 214px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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The road from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-ouarzazate/tour-ouarzazate-chegaga-dunes-2days.html">Ouarzazate to Zagora</a> is wide and well maintained, though it does seem to take its toll on tyres. As in the rest of the south, if you're driving make sure you have a good spare and the tools to change it with. If you're on the bus, get yourself a seat on the left-hand side, for the most spectacular views. Although Zagora is the ostensible goal and destination, the valley is the real attraction. Driving the route, try to resist the impulse to burn down to the desert, and take the opportunity to walk out to one or another of the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/aitbenhaddou-excursion-ouarzazate.html">ksour or Kasbahs</a>. Using local transport, you might consider hiring a grand taxi for the day - or half-day - from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/marrakech-excursions/ouarzazate-excursion-marrakech.html">ouarzazate</a>, stopping to explore some of the kasbahs en route; if you intend to do this, however, be very clear to the driver about your plans.</div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span">The lake and over the Tizi n'Tinififft</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">The route begins unpromisingly: the course of the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/gorges-vallee-du-draa-et-erg-chebbi-en-3-jours.html">Drâa </a>lies initially some way to the east and the road runs across bleak, stony flatlands of semi-desert. After 15km a side road,leads down to the El Mansour Eddahbi dam and reservoir which you can see from part of <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-zagora-en-2-jours.html">ouarzazate</a>. In 1989 freak rains flooded the reservoir, and the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/gorges-vallee-du-draa-et-erg-chebbi-en-3-jours.html">Drâa</a>, for the first time in recent memory, ran its course to the sea beyond Tan Tan.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">on the main road, the first interest comes just beyond AÏT SAOUN, one of the few roadside villages along this stretch, where a dramatic change takes place. leaving the plains behind, the road climbs, twists and turns its way up into the mountains, before breaking though the scarp at the pass of Tizi n'Tinififft (1660 m). From the summit of the pass there are fine views to the north, with the main Atlas mountains framing the horizon.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">The pass is just 4km beyond Ait Saoun. Beyond it the road swings through a landscape of layered strata, until finally, some 20 km from the pass, you catch a first glimpse of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-south-morocco-tour-7days.html">the valley and the oases</a> - a thick line of palms reaching out into the hazeand the first sign of the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-sahara-desert-high-atlas-10days.html">Drâa kasbahs</a>, rising as if from the land where the green gives way to <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">desert</a>.</span></div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-9292913033903831612011-01-17T09:38:00.000-08:002012-05-04T10:58:58.178-07:00Tamegroute and Tinfou<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTSAxw2RdFI/AAAAAAAAAOc/qQ0QOZOPn5U/s1600/IMG_2482.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563213032123888722" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTSAxw2RdFI/AAAAAAAAAOc/qQ0QOZOPn5U/s320/IMG_2482.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 214px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><b></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Tamegroute </b>(19km from <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/zagora.html">Zagora</a>) is reached by a good asphalt road (6958) down the left/east bank of the Drâa, just past the Hotel La Fibule. Take care that you get onto this, and not the old road (6965) to <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/south-to-mhamid.html">M'hamid </a>on the right/west bank of the river. <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-marrakech-zagora-dunes-2days.html">Tinfou</a> lies 10km on from Tamegroute at a point marked on the Michelin map as "Dunes".</span></b></div>
</div>Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-24452476442761945662011-01-17T08:11:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:25:04.914-07:00South to M'hamid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTR5iV2XSJI/AAAAAAAAAOU/INFj066Eo80/s1600/24_web.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTR5iV2XSJI/AAAAAAAAAOU/INFj066Eo80/s320/24_web.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563205070597081234" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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The <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/south-to-zagora-draa-oases.html">Zagora Oasis </a>stretches for some 30km south of the town, when the Drâa dries up for a while, to resurface in a final fertile belt before the desert. You can follow this route all the way down: the road ( 6958/6965/6954) is now paved over the full 98km from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-desert-mhamid-chegaga-3days.html">Zagora to M'hamid</a>, and with a car it's a fine trip, and with the option of a night's stop near the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-marrakech-desert-chegaga-4days.html">dunes at Tinfou</a>, or beyond. If you don't have transport, it's a bit of an effort; there are buses to Tamegroute and further south to <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">M'hamid</a>, but times are inconvenient : the CTM leaves Zagora at 4pm, and arrives at <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">M'hamid </a>at 7pm, and there are local buses which leave <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/desert-sauvage-en-3-jours.html">Zagora </a>later for Tamegroute only. It is possible to charter a grand taxi for an early morning departure, however, which would not be too expensive if you can find a group to share costs, and limit your sights to a day visit to Tamgroute and <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">the sand dunes</a> near Tinfou.</div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-74390452878482042952011-01-16T08:49:00.000-08:002012-05-04T11:04:58.825-07:00Djebel Zagora<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTRZKETzKZI/AAAAAAAAAOA/8voHFdGcyg0/s1600/P1010667.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563169469199755666" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTRZKETzKZI/AAAAAAAAAOA/8voHFdGcyg0/s320/P1010667.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Across the valley from Zagora are two mountains. Djebel Zagora is strictly speaking the bulky one, with a military post on top, but the name is also used for the smaller, sugarloaf hill above camping de la Montagne. Watching the sunset from the slopes of the mountain is something of a tradition. Then turn left almost at once at the river to follow the road/irrigation channel to camping de la Montagne. Here, swing right on the rough track which leads to pass between the two peaks, then bends back, rising across the hillside to make an elbow bend on spur. This is the popular viewpoint - and just feasible by <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">4x4 car</a>. The views are startling : you look out across the palmery to further ksour, to the Djebel Sarhro, and even to a stretch of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">sand dunes</a> to the south. There are ruins a little downhill of an eleventh-century Almoravid fort, built as an outpost against the powerful rulers of Tafilalt; later it was used to protect the caravans passing below, to and from Timbuktu. The road subsequently goes on to the military fort on the summit (entry forbidden) but the view gains little; from the spur a footpath runs across and down the hillside and can be followed back down to the road just opposite la Fibule. On foot you can climb the mountain more directly on an old zigzag footpath up from near the hotel kasbah asmaa.</div>
</div>Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-68256249478690146812011-01-16T07:22:00.001-08:002012-05-04T11:06:49.656-07:00Amazrou<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTRp7eQun_I/AAAAAAAAAOM/9EVEWzOTWfU/s1600/DSC01036.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563187910165831666" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TTRp7eQun_I/AAAAAAAAAOM/9EVEWzOTWfU/s320/DSC01036.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<b>Amazrou</b> is hamlet and palmery just to the <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/south-to-zagora-draa-oases.html">south of Zagora</a>, across the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours.html">Drâa valley</a>, and a great place to spend the afternoon, wandering (or biking - you can rent mountain bikes) amid the shade of its gardens and ksour. The village is, inevitably, wise to the ways of tourism -children try to drag you into their houses for tea and will hassle you to adopt them as guides -but for all that, the oasis life and cultivation are still fairly unaffected. The local sight, which any of the kids will lead you towards, is the old jewish Kasbah, La kasbah des juifs. The jewish community here were active in the silver jewellery trade - a craft continued by Muslim Berbers after their exodus. It's possible to visit some of the workshops.</div>
</div>Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-15368355812235092852011-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:28:14.895-07:00Zagora<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS-Aojp6P_I/AAAAAAAAANg/YFgfGFmD7Pc/s1600/Zagora.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS-Aojp6P_I/AAAAAAAAANg/YFgfGFmD7Pc/s320/Zagora.JPG" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561805499079999474" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-marrakech/tour-desert-mhamid-chegaga-3days.html">ZAGORA</a> seems unpromising at first sight: a street-village with a few modern hotels and government buildings. Two things, however, redeem it. The first is its location: this is the most productive stretch of the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-zagora-en-2-jours.html">Drâa </a>-indeed, of all the southern valleys -and you only have to walk a mile or so out of the town (really little more than a big village) to find yourself amid the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/fint-oasis-excursion-ouarzazate.html">palms and oasis </a>cultivation. The second is a distinct air of unreality. Directly behind the town rises a bizarre Hollywood-sunset mountain, and at the end of the main street is a mock-serious roadsign to Timbuktu ("52 jours" -by <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/morocco-tours-ouarzazate/tour-ouarzazate-merzouga-dunes-2days.html">camel</a> -if the border were open). Another draw for <a href="http://authentic-sahara-tours.com/tours-marrakesh-to-zagora-2-days.html">Zagora </a>is its festivals. The Drâa's big event, the Moussem of Moulay Abdelkader Jilali, is celebrated here during the Mouloud, and like other national festivals here, such as the Fête du Trône, is always entertaining.<br />
<em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Private Morocco Tours</a></em><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #2a353c; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.marrakech-private-tours.com/">Marrakech Private Tour</a></span></div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-75679284144146781282011-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:002012-05-04T11:16:11.239-07:00Tamnougalt and Timiderte<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS-Bl97_eII/AAAAAAAAANo/PV9AoKb25ks/s1600/Agdez.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561806554107181186" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS-Bl97_eII/AAAAAAAAANo/PV9AoKb25ks/s320/Agdez.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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The ksour at <b>TAMNOUGALT -</b>off to the left of the road, about 6km past <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/agdz-and-beyond.html">Agdz </a>-are perhaps the most dramatic and extravagant of any in the Drâa. A wild cluster of building, each is fabulously decorated with pockmarked walls and tapering towers. The village was once the capital of the region, and its assembly of families (the dejmaa) administered what was virtually an independent republic. It is populated by Berber tribe, the Mezguita. A further 8km south is the more place-like Glaoui Kasbah of TIMIDERTE, built by Brahim, the eldest son of the one-time Pasha of <a href="http://luxurymoroccoholidays.blogspot.com/2010/12/south-morocco-destination.html">Marrakesh</a>, T'hami El Glaoui. A kilometre to tha south, across stepping stones in the river, is another superb Kasbahs, the AÏT HAMMOUSAID. there are also rock carving to be seen 7km to the west of Timiderte, signposted from the main road.</div>
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<b>Tinzouline</b></div>
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Another striking group of ksour, dominated by beautiful and imposing caid's Kasbah, stands back from the road at TINZOULINE, 57km beyond Timiderte (37 km north of <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/zagora.html">Zagora</a>). There is a large and very worthwhile Monday souk held here and, if you're <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">travelling</a> by bus, the village is one of the better places to break the journey for while.</div>
</div>Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-65764940712835181472011-01-13T04:26:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:20:42.008-07:00Agdz and beyond<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS8s7j0tQ-I/AAAAAAAAANQ/TnwspHumIto/s1600/P1010848.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FkO9EB55ajg/TS8s7j0tQ-I/AAAAAAAAANQ/TnwspHumIto/s320/P1010848.JPG" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561713466566067170" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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You descend into the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/zagora-draavalley-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Drâa Valley</a> at AGDZ (pronounced Ag-a-dèz; 68km from <a href="http://southernoasismorocco.blogspot.com/2011/01/ouarzazate-and-draa.html">Ouarzazate</a>), a stopping point for many of the buses and a minor administrative centre for the region. The village consists for just one long street, blood-red coloured, save for the columns of its arcade of shops, picked out in flashes of white and blue. Many of these sell carpets and pottery - and in the few minutes before the bus leaves, prices can drop surprisingly. If you stop here -<a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">travelling</a> in either direction -it is unlikely that you'll get a place back on the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">Zagora </a>/<a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/ouarzazate-citytour-kasbahs-excursion.html">Ouarzazate</a> bus; however, there are grands taxis (to either destination), which, like the buses, leave from the "Grande Place", and it is possible to stay, too.</div>
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It is certainly worth a stop, for just to the north of the village begins a beautiful palmery. If the river here is low enough (take care to avoid the bilharzia-infested water) you can get across to view a few kasbahs on the far side, in the shadow of Djebel kissane which, as you approach Agdz from the north - and in certain lights - looks more like Djebel Tajine. Geologically speaking, however, it's an outcrop of the Djebel Sarhro. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2177319392420631121.post-57968256043359772602011-01-12T09:44:00.000-08:002014-07-04T08:20:09.176-07:00OUARZAZATE AND THE DRAA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Ouarzazate - </b>easily reached from <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Marrakesh</a> (5hr by bus) - is the main access point and crossroads of the south. East of the town stretches the <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/dades-gorges-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Dadès River</a>, the "<a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/todra-gorges-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Valley of the Thousand Kasbahs</a>" , as promoted by the Ministry of <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">Tourism</a>. South, on the other side of a tremendous ridge of the Anti-Atlas, begins the Drâa Valley -125km of date palm oases, which eventually merge into the <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-m-hamid-chegaga-en-4-jours.html">Sahara </a>near the village of M'hamid. It is possible to complete a <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/">desert tour</a> through and out from the Drâa, heading from the valley's main town, <a href="http://morocco-excursion-tours.com/dunes-de-zagora-en-2-jours.html">Zagora</a>, across piste roads west through Foum Zguid and Tata to the Anti-Atlas, or north into the Djebel Sarhro (an October to April trekking), or east across to Rissani in the Tafilalt. However,</div>
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most visitors content themselves with a return trip along the main P31 between <a href="http://www.topmoroccotours.com/ouarzazate-excursions/zagora-draavalley-excursion-ouarzazate.html">Ouarzazate and Zagora</a>: a great route, taking you well south of anywhere in the Tafilalt, and flanked by amazing series of thurred and cream-pink-coloured ksour.</div>
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Luxury Morocco Holidayshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14003908378835770841noreply@blogger.com2