Morocco- Ouzoud waterfalls, Azrou and Ifrane

We left Marrakech mid afternoon and drove 160 kms to Ouzoud.  Here there are the highest waterfalls in Northern Africa at 110 metres.  We checked into Zebra camping, a nice site owned by a Dutch couple and 1.5 kilometres from the falls.  We were blessed with hot weather the next day (good for drying the washing!) and set off to the falls in the afternoon.  We approached the falls from the very top and then used a track to get down to the bottom and then came back up the other side.  There were several souvenir and cafe stalls, but most shopkeepers were standing around as there were only a handful of tourists.  We saw some monkeys on the way down as they were entertaining a tourist group- they really know how to play up for the camera.

We had a big driving day ahead of us when we headed north to Azrou.  The journey according to the sat nav would take about 4/5 hours and it took us 6.  We pulled into Euro camping, 4kms from Azrou about 6pm.  We had seen some beautiful scenery that day and for the first time in Morocco the scenery reminded us slightly of New Zealand.  It was a lot greener in this part of the country, and we saw large fields with stock and modest farm houses.

We decided we would walk into Azrou as we could leave the van safely at the site.  We started on the road then took a path that was a shortcut.  It was a good choice as we had some great views of the hills and the outlying suburbs of Azrou.  Azrou is named due to a large rock in the centre of town (azrou means rock in the berber language).  It was apparent that there was a degree of affluence here- in the tidy streets and some European style housing.

Euro camping

Village on the walk into Azrou

Public building in Azrou

The crown at the top of the Azrou rock

The Azrou rock

We had 2 very cold nights in Azrou and we saw a little snow on the 20 kms we travelled to the resort town of Ifrane.   Ifrane felt very westernised.  Even the typical Moroccan grocer shops were replaced with 'superettes'.  It was an interesting place to walk around and the traffic was heaving on a sunny Sunday in winter.

We made a stop on the way to Fes at a lake called Dayta Aaoua.

Afterwards we completed the 50 kms to Fes.  We saw apples and pomegranates for sale on the side of the road, and it felt like we could be in Central Otago.