In which we venture off road in the high desert

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Ginger

It may have been an outskirt of Boumalne that we circled back to, or more likely, it was another, smaller town we came to. Wherever it was, our guide Hicham made his way to a street where the paved surface disappeared.

We followed this, er, street? path? track? out into the wilderness.

We were keeping our eyes peeled for some Bedouin, whom Hicham assured us often came to this area. Sure enough, we did see their encampment, but the Bedouin themselves were not there. Probably tending their goats our somewhere…greener.

We took this stop as a chance to get out of the car, stretch our legs, and recover a bit from all the jouncing about.

Then it was back into the car, and more stunning desert scenery.

At last the outskirts of Bou Tgharar (also sometimes spelled as Boutharar) came into view. Time for lunch!

Boumalne du Dades and the lower Dades gorge

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Ginger

After leaving the market, we drove through the town of Boumalne du Dades.

We were heading through the idyllic Dades valley, with its picturesque farmland and adobe dwellings.

Soon the landscape turned more rugged.

Just in case you didn’t get the scale of these rock formations, here is an enlarged detail of the dwelling (or kasbah or other structure) in the lower third, toward the center, of the above picture.

In the foreground is part of the formation that our guide Hicham called “the monkey’s paws.” Here is the whole thing:

After this, we followed the road out of the Dades gorge…

…and back into farmland to continue our journey.

Market Day in the Desert

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Ginger

Just outside of Boumalne de Dades, we noticed some people walking through the desert. They seemed to be walking purposefully, all in the same direction.

Surely, it was not just their morning constitutional!

“Where are the people going?” we asked Hicham, our intrepid guide.

“To the market,” he replied.

Market? We hadn’t seen a market.

“It’s the weekly market in this place,” Hicham explained.

“Oh, wonderful! Can we go, too?”

Hicham must have been thinking something like, Crazy Americans, but being a kind and polite person, he didn’t say this. Instead, he took us to the market.

And here it is: A very well-attended, very local market, with lots of fresh produce offered by a variety of vendors.