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Published: November 25th 2007
TODRA GORGE HIKE
BRY, MARK, AND ME ON TOP OF THE GORGEWe are in Rabat but camping in the next town across the river called Sale, it is next to the river front and you can smell the delicious fish being cooked from the various food stalls, we took a walk for a bit around the ocean front and it was full of rubbish and next to slum looking area, some people are fishing as well. The people are very nice and greet us politely as we walk along, Mark almost got bitten by a dog but didnnt so that was good. We are staying here mainly to apply for visas to Mauritania and Mali, we stayed for three nights , we cant really go around town until after noon to make sure we are around if problems with visas arise. We drove as far as we can but ended up bush camping at a service station and our cook group have to make dinner for 20 plus starving overlanders. The next day we met our guide in Fes his name is Callam and he showed us around the city including the Medina, confusing narrow streets we went to some mosques, tanneries, artisan shops, and a perfumery, the tannery smells so bad
TODRA GORGE HIKE
US CLIMBING TO THE TOP. PHOTO BY MARK BRADLEY I was so relieved to be out of there, in the early evening we checked in to the camp site and went out to a nice restaurant to experience Moroccan food and culture quite tacky but at the end of the eve we had fun, there were belly dancers, magicians and a mock wedding ceremony of which I was involved, I can now say I have 3 new wives! The next day went to a cash and carry place called the Metro to stock up on lots of booze and other things from there we got back to camp and went to a hammam with some people on the group, we were led by a woman who lives in Florida; she took us to a local hammam where they go regularly, for only 50 dirhams we got scrubbed and stretched to the limit our limbs would go, quite an experience as the local guys were staring at us all the time, Dave had his first hammam and made it through the ordeal hopefully not scarring him for life. Took the bus 17 to get back to camp, it was a cold night.
The next day we stopped at a
town called Ifrane to do some food shopping and I went with the cook group so I can buy some street food, I had the kebeb mix with spicy sauce quite delicious. This town has a Ruropean feel to it quite lovely.Stopped on the roadside for some lunch; we had soup as it was very cold 2 shepherd boys watched us the whole time. For the night we bush camped near the town of Ourzazate, the camp was very rocky. The next morning we stopped at a viewpoint for some photo of the town of Ourzazate. Then stopped at the town of Tinerhir for cook group to buy lunch and we had to grab our own lunch as well, I had a dalicious lamb chops. From there wr continued on to the Todra Gorge at the narrowest point of it and stopped for an hour for us to walk around and take pictures thel drove to our camp site called Auberge Festival Camp, it was just below the gorge and quite cold during the night, After dinner we joined the locals for some drumming session, it was quite fun, almost everybody had a go at at least one type of
RABAT
CLOTHES WASHING DAY AT CAMP SITE IN SALE drum. The lext morning I decided to start earlt and hike up the gorge, from the orientation the day before the trek seems to be easy so I went with Brian and Mark and started climbing up the gorge without a guide it took us about an hour and a half to get to the top the last bit quite difficult as so have to rock climb to get up there we were on our all 4s; quite a task so we were in euphoria soon as we got to the top. Took our time there took snap shots of our achievement then the hard part came as we cant find a proper trail to get down it is mostly steep descent but somehow malaged to clamber down slowly, it was very difficult as the rocks crumble from under our feet, quite slippery and dangerous, we found a deep ravine of dried up waterfall that we voted to follow as it would eventually drain out to the river bed below, it keeps getting harder and harder to climb down with deep canyons we keep going around until we find the suitable place to climb down we were on our butts
for the most part, Mark and I slightly twisted our ankles along the way but were fine just tired and a bit worried, we have climbed down quite a distance but still cannot see the river bed as the ravine has many bends and keep twisting; drops are getting higher as well; I was at the front and would test the trail if it is doable or not, after 2 1/2 hours we somehow managed to make it to the river bed relieved we all kissed the tarmac of the road next to the riverbed. We made our way back to the camp site a good 10 minutes and realized we were the first to make it, Brian kissed the truck and thqnked the mountain for getting us down safely, got hold of some beers and celebrated. I also tore a big hole on the back side of my pants from scrambling down the mountain.We lounged around for a bit then had a shower; hours later the girls came to view halfway up the gorge they apparently got lost but found an angel shepherd thqt led them down the right path; they later found out they were taking q perilous
way down, tired and exhausted they were fine in the end after trying to climb down for 6 hours. Simon and Dave who trekked together were still not back after the sun went down and we all got worried, we sent some people to find them to no avail, went to bed early as I was exhausted but come daylight I learned Dave came back around ten thqt night but left Simon at the top for he could not go on anymore severely exhausted and out of water0 Dave wrnt with a guide to find Simon early the next morning and we met them up at the narrow gorge entrance, they made it back sefrly with a story they will tell for a long time, now the group is back together again and all suggested to Di the group leader, the next truck should hire a guide as the trails are not clear and the gorge easy to get lost and confused.
WIKI INFO:
RABAT
Rabat (Arabic الرباط, transliterated ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ), population 1.7 million (2007 estimate), is the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer
region.
The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, Rabat's bedroom community. Together the two cities account for a population of 1.7 million. Unfortunately, silting problems have diminished the city's role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain relatively important textile, food processing and construction industries; some are from sweatshop labor by major multinational corporations (see Salé).
In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat the second most important city in the country after the larger and more economically significant Casablanca.
FES:
Fes or Fez (Arabic فاس , French Fès) is the fourth largest city in Morocco, after Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech, with a population of 946,815 (2004 census). It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane Region.
Fes is one of the four so-called "imperial cities" (the others are Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat). It is separated into three parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah), and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes). The Medina of
CAMP SITE IN RABAT
JAMIE AND DAVE PREPARING LUNCH Fes el Bali, the largest of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world. Fes el Bali is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
TODRA GORGE:
Todra Gorge (French: Gorges du Todra, Arabic: تدرة جورج) is situated on the remote east side of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Both the Todra and neighbouring Dades Rivers have carved out cliff-sided canyons (Arabic: wadi) on their final 40km through the mountains. The final 600m of the Todra gorge are the most spectacular as the canyon narrows to a flat stony track as little as 10m wide in places with sheer and smooth rock walls up to 160m high on each side. The tiny glacier stream is something of a misfit and the river which once filled the gorge can only be imagined. It is easy to hike in the gorge - there is a well-maintained dirt road to walk along. The scenery is spectacular. Local people live in the area and can be seen with their small donkeys, or herding camels.
It is no longer as remote as it once was, there is a reasonably
well-maintained asphalt road that leads up the valley from Tinerhir to the Gorge. A concrete road continues on, past the hotels at the mouth of the Gorge and up to the villages of Aït Hani, Tamtatouchte, and Imilchil.
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amena
non-member comment
out of the frying pan...
hi gilbert. glad you managed to escape from nigel's kitchen to make it out into the big, wide world again! three wives, though? they'll bring you nothing but trouble... happy birthday (belated)!! glad you made it down from the mountain safely xx