Cascadas d’Ouzoud | Life of Saturdays

CHAPTER 19

We all enjoyed our brief time in Marrakesh, and probably could have stayed there for a few more days drinking sweet tea and kissing snakes, but alas, our time was up. The desert beckoned. We were headed east, to the far side of the Atlas, to the small village of Rich, where the Peace Corps had decided to send their tallest, curly haired volunteer, ensuring Taylor would stick out as a infidel no matter how thick he grew his beard to blend in.

There were basically two routes we could choose from: head south and cross the mountains over the pass we had just traversed to and from Ouarzazate, then turn east hugging the southern edge of the range till we found Rich; or travel along the relatively greener northern slope of the mountains and cut down over the Atlas once we got to the town of Midelt. Not wanting to retrace our steps, we chose the northern route, with the added bonus of a cool side trip our local guide recommended. A few hours out from Marrakesh, we turned south off the road into the Oued el-Abid Canyon, and came upon the Cascadas d’Ouzoud. I hadn’t heard of Ouzoud before, even though it is often included in the Moroccan tourist propaganda, but Tylor said it was mostly a locals kind of attraction, and worth a look. He was definitely right.

It was no Niagara or Iguazu, but still impressive considering the typical vision of arid Morocco. We limited ourselves to enjoying the view while eating a picnic, but the Moroccans were using it as a natural waterpark and loving it. The best part was watching as they scaled the muddy cliffs to dive from small outcrops high above, egged on by cheers and gasps from the bathing throng.

*Note: Photos with a “JR” suffix are credited to J^2

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