The long and winding road.......

 

We left  Bini el Ouidane and began the drive  northwards, firstly by crossing a huge barrage, guarded by Moroccan soldiers

 The recently surfaced R304  wound it's way along  and up the mountainside, whilst the river below, meandered it's way through a steep sided gorge.
Despite the new tarmac, the road was being dug up and, as has been our way, we met the digger!! The driver gave us a cheery wave, arched the hydraulic arm, and under we went.

Once at the summit, 34 kms and two hours later, we looked down at Morocco's "bread basket".

The vast Tadla  Plain lay before us, criss-crossed by irrigation canals and intensively farmed.

There were acres of wheat and barley, peaches, oranges and every vegetable that you can think of. Two old girls still attract a friendly wave from the farmers!  A yellow flowering cactus is cultivated to attract bees and a special honey is produced.

 

We drove through wealthy large towns and shopped in an Acima, a Moroccan supermarket. The plan was to spend the night at Camping Les Maggots, if only for its name.

Our plans have a strange way of coming unglued.

Having bowled along N8 towards Azrou, we made a right turn on to a single track road which appeared to go into the middle of nowhere. When Sue said that we had quite a few miles to bounce along it, alarm bells gave a slight tinkle but the scenery was magnificent and we were enjoying the views, so we thought no more about it. Threshing is done by hand in the fields, donkeys

 collect the wheat so there's not much in the way of large agricultural machinery, apart from the ones we get stuck behind, in these remote places. even turkeys, that are used more than chickens, can stroll about without fear of becoming "road kill"
Eventually, we looked at each other and decided that perhaps we had turned off the main road a tad too early!! Hey ho. By now we had driven so far that it was pointless to turn back and anyway, the road had to go somewhere. It did...... up a mountain, just like a mini Tizi n Test all over again!!
We came across small Berber settlements, where smiles and waves were exchanged and young children tried to run alongside the van. Goats leapt over ditches to avoid us and  small lizards scuttled to cross safely. Suddenly, the long and winding road became a rutted track..
but still we ploughed on. Forgive the pun.
Finally, on the horizon we saw a large town, which according to our map,( we had given up on the GPS miles back,) was Ain Leuh and the campsite. There was still the problem of squeezing through the narrow streets and at one point I had to do some serious headlight flashing to stop a taxi bearing down on us!  After all those bone shaking miles, when every screw in the van probably requires tightening, the campsite did not materialise!!Deep breaths were taken and a few gentle expletives were vented and it was off to the Cherry Orchard at Azrou, where we had stayed last year. A final glimpse of nature in Morocco for today.... a tree full of egrets in the main square of the town.

To our delight, the fruit was ripe and being harvested.

 Those of us using the site can pick them straight from the tree, and gorge as many as we like from the 100 year old trees. Even the chickens eat them but there are no pink egg shells as a result.

That was yesterday. Today,  the trees are full of lithe young lads, employed seasonally by the owner , to pick the cherries

. Their chatter resounds around the orchard and their iPods are playing local music as they clamber amongst the branches, filling small buckets which are then transferred  to punnets

. Two girls sit under the shade of a tree, taking off any leaves and then box them for roadside sales. We have just found three children up our well laden tree. They have been sent there by the chief honcho because they are lighter and can collect the cherries on the thinner branches One of them has given up the harvest and is drumming on his empty bucket. Throughout our travels here in Morocco, drumming is a favourite pastime, and on Sundays, groups of youngsters gather in parks or by rivers, and play intricate rhythms with others clapping to accompany them.
To conclude, we have just been given our third punnet of cherries by the lads and Sue is taking tomorrow's avocado off the washing line, where it has been ripening all day in the sun.
Oh and today's piece of practical motorhoming advice, which you might get to see if the Internet signal improves tomorrow,

 ...when needing to hold down your awning if the wind gets up and also to provide yourself with warm water for washing, fill two large water bottles and string them to your awning ends and leave to roast in the sun.
  

Bin el-Ouidane

We left Campingt Zebra

 

 and all the friendly people with whom we had shared our time.We had supped wine and eaten nibbles with Brits, dined on tasty Moroccan food prepared by Dutch owners,Heidi ,Paul and their staff, studied maps and routes with a charming Austrian couple who have a truck for off-roading and bade farewell to a somewhat, asthmatic donkey, who never quite got his "eeyores " to sound right. We then drove the relatively short distance to Bin el-Ouidane.

Once again the scenery was breath- taking.The newly surfaced,tarmac road was a treat to drive and the only tizi en route, snaked its way up the mountains above the snow line ( not much fell this winter so farmers are struggling to irrigate in some places) We had to stop for bread in Azlal and as you can see from the bag, it was nibbled as we pottered along. Hey come on, fresh, warm bread, what's not to like!Also the town had the largest market we had ever seen in Morocco. As we wondered whether to join the throng, a policeman stopped us, asked where we had come from, where we were going etc and basically encouraged us on our way.
On the way down through the wooded hills, we caught a glimpse of water, shimmering in the distance. This was the reason for today's journey.

Bin el Ouidane, the largest lake in Morocco. Apparently it covers 94 acres and is used to irrigate the agriculture on Tadla Plain. The turquoise waters of the lake are broken by spits of land and small islands, surrounded by red hills and the lakeshore is dotted with a few isolated properties.
People are able to use the waters for fishing, swimming, boating and cleaning their cars!!

 

Can you see our parking spot? It is a derelict boatyard and a Guardian will keep his eye on us overnight for the princely sum of £3. No facilities, but we have our own on board and the solar panel will feed the batteries so that we have lights tonight.

A river flows through it

Today's visit to the Cascades d' Ouzoud, has been a "must see" event since we heard about them last year. Cheated a bit today, as the post title is lifted from a Meryl Streep film, but it describes everything we saw so well.

This simple map is painted onto the wall of the restaurant here at the campsite. The river or "oued"

From Zebra, the gently flowing river continues through olive groves and meanders along side the golden wheat fields. There are simply constructed terraces holding back the red earth and creating flat ground for fruit trees.

Then the valley widens a little and  the  tranquil waters of a small lake, sometimes used by local fishermen, can be seen from the bridge. Surely this isn't the waterfall? Hush and listen....there is a muted roar reaching us from the right.

Now that's what we call a cascade!! Not quite as full as earlier in the Spring, but cleaner. It is brown as mud when full of the winter snow melt. This is the first level, before the river throws itself a further 100 metres to the gorge below.

In the plunge pool, carved out by the force of the falling water, boatmen take visitors to the foot of the cascade, where they are immediately saturated by the spray.

I'm getting a stiff neck just looking up and I am only half way to the top. It really is spectacular.

Visitors come from Morocco too, not just the coach loads of tourists, whose busses are parked some distance away. We don't think that we would be very happy doing our travelling being herded from place to place and following a person carrying a flag!

There are both Macaque monkeys and Barbary apes being fed by the souk owners, so they are used to people. Some walk along the hand rails of the walk ways, posing for pictures, whilst others swing through the fig trees. A very cheeky one gave Sue's head a gentle scratch.

This young one was quite happy for me to get up close and personal.

Every now and then a short rest is required. There are footpaths and steps cut into the earth which provide access, and platforms set in the paths, enable you to marvel at the majestic cascades, whose spray creates a permanent rainbow, arcing across the gorge

These are the sides of the gorge, where the perpetual moisture has created amazing patterns in the soil and bare rock

Thundering and then splattering on the ledge below.

From the top, you can glimpse the torrent throwing itself over the edge .

and this flume just looks as though someone has turned on a tap

This was our final glimpse of the falls, as the water pours over the reddish cliffs, crashing off a succession of rocky ledges into the canyon of Wadi el-Abid.

Camping Zebra

 

 Life is all about learning, especially from our mistakes. Well today we too have been on a learning curve of our own. Behold, an oven. These have been a part of the Moroccan village landscape throughout our journey.
 They are made from wattle coated in mud and are perched in the garden, usually with another one for company.
Today,  we discovered how wrong we were. It is in fact, an African toilet. Guess that's as far from an oven as you can get!!After that small confession, back to our travels. Ninety miles east of Marrakech, we came to a rather luxurious site called Camping Zebra, run by a Dutch couple, who having travelled around the African continent for several years, decided to settle here in Morocco and establish this site named after their favourite animal. Needless to say, there are plenty of black and white stripes in evidence, from the table mats at dinner to the plastic loo brush holders in the loo.

Sue sat amongst the fluffiness of cushions in the shady, lounge.

The dining area , under a Berber canopy, where tonight we will  eat tasty Moroccan food. We have been told not to be late.Each meal is prepared for the time that you request, so roll on 6-30pm

 

This is where we ate. Just look at that impressive light fitment. The food was delicious, full of Moroccan spices, apricots,raisins ,mint yoghurt beef and chicken. Yummy!

This beautiful jacoranda tree ( well we think that's what it is ) is growing right next to where we are parked.

This was our sunset last night. We wondered whether you had such a clear one. The call to prayer is echoing around the valley, so time to settle down for the night.