Morocco- Tan Tan Plage, Guelmim and Tafraoute

From Khenifiss National park we returned to Tan Tan Plage and Camping Atlantique.  We made trips into town each day for bread, water, fruit and vegetables, as well as buying 1kg of tender beef for 90 dirhams (8 euros).

One day when shopping a young woman spoke to us in English wishing us a happy new year.  We learnt that she lives in the village and learnt English for two years at the local high school.  She said many families in Morocco will celebrate the new year.  It was really nice to speak with a local woman as it is predominantly men we converse with.  Men play the dominant role outside of the house, and are also the shopkeepers (most of the time), waiters, parking attendants and Police officers for example.  However the home is the womans domain.

We wanted to eat out one night, so earlier that day we checked out some restaurants along the main street.  What we really wanted to know was whether we had to pre order tagines, but we struggled to get that across with our non existent French.  Tagine refers to the ceramic dish it is cooked in and comprises of meat in the middle, surrounded by vegetables and spices and cooked very slowly.  We ended up choosing one of the hotel restaurants by the sea.  Once seated we realised what we needed to look for was 'sur commande' and the chicken, lamb and fish tagines all required pre ordering.  We went for a meatball tagine instead, fish skewers (poisson brochette) and a Marocaine salad of tomatoes, red onion, olives, tuna and cucumber.  We had our first mint tea and the price of the meal was under 10 euros!

Mint tea- a Moroccan specialty

From top: Tagine, Marocaine salad and Fish Brochette

After Tan Tan Plage we diverted south again to another lagoon side spot.  We had passed this going to and from Khenifiss National park a few days previously.  Many motorhomers here are taking the term 'wild camping' extremely loosely and have set up awnings and have even marked their 'pitches' with rocks.  The next day we spotted a large group of flamingos (about 50) in the shallows.  We climbed more sand dunes and checked out the estuary.  We saw more snake and lizard tracks in the sand.

Our next destination was back north along the N1 to Guelmim.  The Saturday souk was on and was the busiest we had been to so far, with plenty of people, animals and carts around.  We picked up a couple of bargains- 1kg of mandarins for 2 dirhams (18 euro cents) and strawberries 5 dirhams (55c) a punnet.  There was also a camel and sheep market going on.  The camels used to be used in transporting goods but now they are commonly sold as food.  Our guidebook also mentioned the presence of touts offering trips to the oasis to see the blue men.  We are still unsure exactly what this entails (as it is a con), but we were half way round the souk when a man asked Dale where he was from.  This is usually the sign that someone wants to sell us something, and sure enough it was a trip to the oasis.

The camel market

Whilst in Guelmim we checked out Caid Dahman Takni's palace.  The guidebook states it is the closest thing to a tourist attraction in town.  It is about 100 years old, but in absolute ruins.  Rubbish, animal droppings and glass scatter the site, and the only thing slightly worthwhile about it is the views of the residential parts of town from the top.

Caid Dahman Takni's Palace

We continued on to Bouizakarne where we were going to stop for the night at the campsite.  It was closed as the owner is away so we continued east along the N12 to find a place to stop for the night.  We pulled over at the first hotel and camping sign we saw.  It turns out this was closed but the man in charge of security came running out of his nearby house and said we could stay.  It was 40 dirhams a night without services which was a bit steep, but it saved us from deviating more from our route.

Our stop for the night

The next day we drove to Tafraoute.  We took a minor road to avoid going via Tiznit.  It was a sealed road, though narrow and several taxis and buses forced us off the seal when coming from the other direction.  Dale had done some research on Google maps to check the quality of the road and had spotted a dam.  When we passed it it turns out that it was completely dry.  On approach to the turn off to Tafraoute we saw a road sign saying no access, but decided to take it anyway.  We were hoping that it would work out for the best and we saw cars coming from the other direction.  Early on two diggers which were blocking the road moved aside for us, and we drove through about 20 kilometres of gravel as well.  It seems like they are laying new drainage pipes and then will re seal the road, perhaps?

The dry dam

In Tafraoute we chose Camping Tazka.  All 3 campsites in town appear to offer similar services and only vary in their distance from the town.  The landscape is great- there are the anti atlas mountains and large boulders dotting the landscape.  We took a walk to the painted rocks one afternoon.  In 1984 a Belgian artist Jean Verame along with some Moroccan firemen used 18 tonnes of paint to paint various boulders red, blue, green, black and purple.  Some of which now are very faded.  In 2010 they did re paint some which improves the attraction greatly.  We spent 3.5 hours walking and had very sore legs by the time we got back to the van.

A camel grazing

The painted rocks

Tafraoute has a pleasant, bustling town centre, very clean by Moroccan standards (it is apparently a favourite town of the King).  It is the major trading town for the area.  One day we went out for lunch to Hotel Salara.  For 10 euros we had a massive lunch- Marocaine salad, beef tagine, chicken couscous, bread and drinks.  Sitting outside may have been a mistake as we were accosted by the numerous stray cats all wanting to be fed.  On Wednesday we had a look at the weekly souk and bought some vegetables.  It wasn't anything to rave about and we enjoyed the Guelmim Saturday souk more.  After 4 nights we left for Taroudant.  We had just paid at the campsite when we saw a vehicle from the local mechanics outside the office.  After pointing out our various rust problems and the need for some new paint, we were given a quote.  It was good value considering what you would get for the same price back in the UK.  It was food for thought and we will endeavour to get some more quotes for comparison before we make our decision.

Our view from the campsite