Dades Gorge, Morocco

After a great breakfast of eggs, olives and bread we headed out to explore the gorge.  We drove, on a perilously narrow road winding road, up to the top of the mountains, which according to our hotel staff are some 6000 feet in elevation.   

There were no railings or barriers on the most precipitous and dangerous parts of the road, and like many roads in Morocco, it was not wide enough even for two small cars to pass safely.  So when what’s coming  toward you is a 4x4, truck loaded with wood, rock or livestock , or a bus overloaded with people, often careening along at break-neck speeds, you do your best to move aside, without going over the edge.  


For their part, the fun seems to be in weaving and zig-zagging around you at the last moment, grinning and waving and as casual and nonchalant as can be.  We did see a few vehicles that had gone over the edge, but only one accident, shortly after leaving Dades Gorge, in which a mini-bus had had a run-in with a tractor.  The mini-bus lost about half of its side, but it didn’t appear that anyone was hurt.  All this to say that the drive, while spectacular, was also somewhat harrowing.



The Oued Dades, or Dades River, was almost always visible from the road, and often separated from it by 50 feet or less.  Like the gorge, the river is narrow, and on the lazy side, not dangerously rushing rapids, so no fear of falling in, except for the cold, that would deter even the bravest and hardiest folk from dipping more than a hand or a toe in, just to see.  

The air temperature was also very cold at the top of gorge, partly due to elevation and partly to the narrowness of the gorge which meant that much of it was in shadow.  So we stopped only long enough to take photos at various spots, and then started heading back down.







Later in the afternoon, as we were sitting by the side of the road, overlooking a valley bottom, and having our usual picnic lunch, a man with two young boys approached us.  He seemed genuinely pleased to see us, and greeted us in English.  As it happened, he spoke a fair bit of English, very good French, and reasonably good Spanish, so communication was relatively easy.  He called himself ‘Mohammed of the Mountains,’ and told us he had just finished working on his garden plot.  Mohammed offered to take us for a walk in the valley, and turned out to be a very good and informative guide.  We walked along a narrow footpath beside a water canal that irrigates all of the plots in that little valley.  


The canal is made of mud, and the plots, around 20 x 40 feet each, are surrounded and separated by low mud ‘walls.’  Farmers irrigate their plots by making a breach in the wall of the canal to flood a plot.  They then patch up the breach, and move along to do the same for the next plot.  It’s an age-old system that’s used the world over.  We’ve seen it almost everywhere we’ve travelled.  Simple, cheap and effective. 




 Mohammed told us that the plots belonged to individual families, each of whom have around 10 plots.  He said that for things of communal benefit, like the irrigation system, everyone is expected to help when improvements or repairs are needed.  They can do that either by working, or if they could not work or choose not to work, by paying an agreed-upon sum of money.  This money is usually used to buy cement, which is used to strengthen some parts of the canal.   Mohammed explained that at this time only wheat is being grown, but later all sorts of vegetables will be planted.    




One part of the walk was very beautiful, with stands of white poplars, now denuded, but in a way more striking because of that.  Mohammed showed us the various now dry and deadish-looking shrubs and explained their uses as teas, medicinal purposes, and animal fodder.  







Mohammed also talked about Berber beliefs and culture, his community and his family.  The Berbers are the indigenous people of Morocco, many of whom still live semi-nomadic lives.  They have a distinct and very rich heritage, producing colourful rugs and pottery and, as we can attest, make the tastiest tajines.  They are also, in our experience, both genuinely friendly and sincere, and a people with big hearts who care very deeply.



Moroccan breakfast tajine


Decorations on the wall of one of the inns we stayed in

For more on the Berber people, try starting with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbers

Location: Dadès Gorges, Morocco

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