He Says – But deserts are dry places!

07 – 09 September

Having finally read the guidebook we realised that we did not have to get the Mauritanian visa in advance, we could save 4-5 days avoid Rabat and enjoy ourselves by getting the visa at the border. Knowing that this is a risk but we both decided that it was worth it, we changed our plans and decided to head for Marrakech the next day instead of after Rabat.

The map says that the road is only roughly 480km. Do-able in a day. We started out early, we both agreed that it is a bad idea to get in to a city of that size late in the evening so we would stop some where along the way. Well we road all day long with only a few 5-minute brakes and lunch and were still 200km away when we decided to stop.

We were in red soil country so it felt a bit like home. The largest waterfall in the country was only a 24k detour. The Cascades d’ Ouzoud should be a nice place to stop. Well the 24 km was actually as the crow flies, the actually route was closer to 70km as the road was a series of switch back turns climbing sharply in and out of the gorge. The gorge was an amazing sight that would have been a tragedy to miss. Unfortunately the road was no better then a one-lane road and so it was not easy to safely stop and take pictures. We arrived at the waterfall to again be swamped with touts for their campsites, hotels, and restaurants none of which looked all that appealing. The GPS, however, suggest that there was at least one more campsite out of town called Zebra.

As we had nothing to loose, so we headed that way. As soon as we pulled up I knew it was going to be good. There was an old Yamaha tenere parked out front, it was going to be good. We were then greated by the owners, Paul and Renate a Dutch couple who sold everything, travelled for 4 years around Africa before settling here to run a small campsite. (Are there any people actually in the Netherlands these days?) The site was situated above the valley near the waterfall and looks down thought the valley on the other end. It was stunning to say the least.

It was also extremely nice to talk with people that have done what we are doing. To again talk to people that understand and ask questions like “why did you decide on this XX and not YY?” and not the same old questions that we get from people that don’t understand. We were not strange to them not since Malaga did I feel like I was with people that understood me. For the first time I can understand why celebrities hang out with celebrities, it is simple you can skip the explanations.

That night was spent watching a film with Paul and Renate, and watching one of the heaviest rainstorms we have had on this trip to date. Although, in true monsoon style, it only lasted about 5 minutes. It was the first rain of the summer and it did wonders for the temperatures. The plan was to get up early and head to Marrakech but the site was so nice and we could both use a relaxed break that we decided to take a day off and do nothing but wander around Ouzoud.

After a slow morning, we did exactly that, we left the campsite at about 1100h and heading into town to buy our food supplies for that night. The people of the village are used you westerners walking around the souq but when we actually asked for a rack of goat ribs the butchers eyes went wide for half a second. Then he graciously took down the skinless but headed goat that was hanging by one foot, confirmed the size of ribs we wanted. With our any other hesitation removed the head and dumped it on the table for sale to another punter. Two heavy blows with what could only really be described as a hatchet, and a perfectly cut rack of ribs was shown to us. As a final curtesy our butcher asked if we wanted then sectioned, with a nod of my head and a blur of his hands our rack of ribs was now a pile of riblets perfect for my one burner tajine. I handed over our 12 durham (1€) we took a way our 2kg of ribs.

Less dramatic but just as easy was the purchase of the rest of our veggies for a total cost of for that meal being less then 2€. From there we walked along the major though fare to find the falls. Once again we had to avoid the persistent touts offering guiding or meal or anything else you ask for. We walked to the top of the 100m falls and looked down as the spray cooled us. Then with a little of two-up navigation savvy we went the wrong way (e.g. we were confused as where to go next despite the huge sign and hundred or more tourist tack shops). At long last headed down the well paved and easily followed stairs down to the base of the falls.

At about the 10th step I was worried that maybe we should have gotten a guide as the one trail with no branches or turning option may be hard to follow, we may get lost!!. Alas we made it to the bottom without incident, except for our breath being taken away by the beauty of what we were looking at.

There were little boats at the bottom that took tourist close to the falls, we were both temped but decided against it. After a little bit of an explore on the other side of the river we had a lovely lunch at a café about 1/3 of the way up, past the tout who offered us a guide back up the one and only set of steps on the one and only path where getting lost is so very possible. We ate our lunch gazing at the falls. Then in true intrepid explorer fashion we walked up the paved steps alone without a guide and survived, narrowly avoiding the grave perils. We bravely passed the heaving fatness of a tour-group of yanks and their smirking guide, as he warned them about the dangers of the steps.

It was time to head back to camp and take care of some chores and relax. It was hot by this time and it was nice to get out of the sun. Dinner was started early as goat can be a bit chewy if it is not cooked well. No sooner then I had the meat nicely browned, did the wind picked up and clouds rolled in. With in 30 minutes it was raining hard enough to make the pervious days rain look like a sprinkle and it lasted for 30-45 minutes. When it was over the light show was spectacular there was lighting in all directions, with thunder rolling on top of thunder. Tam described it as what films try to make hell or Mordor look like.

The storm amassed right on top of us, although it did not rain (hard) there was lighting forking directly above our heads for a good hour. I was transfixed by the sight and sounds. No one had ever seen anything like this, and all of us were standing around with silly expressions on our faces. It was the kind of light show that pyrotechnicians strive for. I doubt (but hope) any storm will ever top this one.

Shortly after the light show slowed down (a couple of hours) Renate got a phone call, telling her that the town was flooded. We jumped in to their Land Cruiser and headed into town to see. On route we collected several other curious people. When we got there all the other campgrounds were gone. I can only hope there was no one there, or else they would have been washed over the falls. I hold little enough hope for the little ferries at the bottom of the falls. The souq was gone, and most of the town centre was under a metre of water. The river peaked at 6m above normal, where it was when we had walked around just a few hours earlier.

The official word was that there were no causalities, but the Moroccan way of dealing with the old or homeless is to ignore them. If there was any one there they would be gone and it may never even be noticed. A bit shell-shocked we headed back to the site and said our goodnights.