Having been at Taghazoute Beach for over a week we decided it was perhaps time to start heading back north so an early start found us heading south! The Marjane hypermarket in Agadir was calling us to re-provision (had a little contretemps with a pushy French lady) and we also thought it a good idea to refuel, although we still had half a tank.
Our co-travellers had mentioned a place that they had been told was worth a detour to visit called Paradise Valley. Basically it was a scenic drive through the mountains but featured a "hidden" valley, though because of the way the road twists and turns it is well over 100km and comes out on the coast only 25km of Taghazoute. Nevertheless we agreed to give it a go.
And was it ever worth it! An extremely rough road initially, it soon improved to the usual single track with hardened verges we'd become used to. Climbing all the time we were soon following a twisty route through the valleys and up into the Atlas Mountains proper. With a clear blue sky the views were breathtaking, but the jewel in the crown was the descent and run along Paradise Valley itself. Lush vegetation, huge palm trees surrounded by towering valley sides made this one of the best trips we have ever done. We took 90 photos but, well we've said it before. Here goes anyway:
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| Into the mountains |
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| High Atlas Mountains |
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| Entering Paradise Valley |
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| Followed that blue taxi-bus for ages through the valley |
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| Paradise Valley |
The road out of the valley climbed back up into the mountains. In many places it had been washed or swept away by landslides and poorly repaired so that at times it was slow going, picking our way round the rocks and potholes.
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| Some repairs needed! |
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| No overtaking. Ha ha! |
The road back to the coast passed a geological feature called "Cascades" - basically a waterfall, which was supposed to be a tourist attraction. Of course a waterfall needs rain so we were not surprised to be somewhat underwhelmed.......
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| There it is. Ermm,,,, |
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| Needs some water |
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| Guide offered to jump 45 metres into the pool. Nutter. |
And for the first time in Morocco, ripped off. The parking was barely adequate for anything, let alone a couple of motorhomes and then we were "given" the services of a "guide" who led us a short distance up a hill and through some trees to a viewpoint - then proceeded to have a fight with the "official" guide who then kept badgering us for money. Not forgetting the usual sales merchants of course - mind you we did buy some very nice souvenirs. Then when we got back to the car park our guide demanded paying and wouldn't be fobbed off with the few dirhams we thought he was worth. Spoilt the day a little.
Never mind, at least they directed us back onto the right road and once again we were following the (mostly) surprisingly good road. If a little wiggly....
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| Scale at 1km |
With time was pressing on we still had yet to decide where we were staying tonight. But the views were still tremendous.....
Fortunately the roads were very quiet but nevertheless by the time we reached the coast lights were needed. We had identified a full campsite a little way north along the coast but had no idea if we would be able to get in. Not wanting to be messing about in the dark we instead turned south, back towards Taghazoute where we had been told there was another good place to stay. In the end, we elected to return to the beach site we had left this morning where we groped around in the dark until we found some room.
It will be a long time before we forget today!
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