The Draa Valley
Once I passed south over the Atlas Mountains I entered the Draa valley. It was my route to the desert and my home for several days.
The Draa is Morroco's longest river and provides water for palmeries i.e. palm groves which follow its banks. These in turn support a necklace of villages and towns heading over 150km south into the desert. Once you are a few km away from the river dry desert stretches as far as the eye can see with chains of rugged arid mountains on all sides.
The settlements along the Draa are on the traditional caravan route north out of the Sahara to Marrakesh. As a consequence they were very wealthy and each has at least one mud walled kasbah i.e. castle. The Kasbah's were built to protect people and possessions from raiders.
The palmeries are very fertile and I camped in one that produces dates, figs, onions, aubergines, tomatoes, carrots; wheat and fodder for the animals. Animals are kept indoors to protect them from the heat. In the traditional houses this means actually within the house shared by the family but on a different level. In one village whilst walking through the mud walled street of the Kasbah I watched a man lead his laden donkey into the front door of the house. I had chance to glimpse in and saw a very nice 'reception area' with carpets and tiled floor ......
This year has seen heavy rainfall. However there was a period free of significant rain that lasted for 7 years. The Draa used to drain into the Atlantic, but runs dry out in the Sahara.
To put this area into context Zagora is famous for its Timbuktu 52 days sign. Because it is the last staging post before the infamous life threateningly harsh 52 day journey south.
The Draa is Morroco's longest river and provides water for palmeries i.e. palm groves which follow its banks. These in turn support a necklace of villages and towns heading over 150km south into the desert. Once you are a few km away from the river dry desert stretches as far as the eye can see with chains of rugged arid mountains on all sides.
The settlements along the Draa are on the traditional caravan route north out of the Sahara to Marrakesh. As a consequence they were very wealthy and each has at least one mud walled kasbah i.e. castle. The Kasbah's were built to protect people and possessions from raiders.
The palmeries are very fertile and I camped in one that produces dates, figs, onions, aubergines, tomatoes, carrots; wheat and fodder for the animals. Animals are kept indoors to protect them from the heat. In the traditional houses this means actually within the house shared by the family but on a different level. In one village whilst walking through the mud walled street of the Kasbah I watched a man lead his laden donkey into the front door of the house. I had chance to glimpse in and saw a very nice 'reception area' with carpets and tiled floor ......
This year has seen heavy rainfall. However there was a period free of significant rain that lasted for 7 years. The Draa used to drain into the Atlantic, but runs dry out in the Sahara.
To put this area into context Zagora is famous for its Timbuktu 52 days sign. Because it is the last staging post before the infamous life threateningly harsh 52 day journey south.
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