Ozoud

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I have been hearing about the wonders of Ozoud for almost two years now, and finally got to see the splendor for myself. Photos really don’t do it justice. People have been showing me their photos for a while now and I was only vaguely impressed.

The majesty of Ozoud must be appreciated in person because only then do you feel so completely dwarfed by the huge falls. I’ll admit, I haven’t seen Niagara, but after driving for a couple hours across the foothills of the Atlas, the Ozoud canyon opens up without warning in a wide, desolate plateau.

We escaped the oppressive flat-land heat of Kelaa in the morning and drove along back roads through the towns of Freita, Ouarji, El Sahrij, Majden and Tanante (none of which appear on my map of Morocco) before turning off the “main” road for another 16 kilometers to the falls. As Salma slept in her carseat beside me, we passed children riding donkeys loaded with hay, men forking wheat into threshing machines, work crews repairing irrigation canals, endless rows of olive trees, dogs sleeping in the dust on the side of the road, fields of cactus flowering yellow, herds of sheep wandering dangerously close to the road, and countless unnamed little villages marked only as a community by the minaret of their mosque.

At one point we passed the most beautiful mosque I have seen outside of an imperial city. The minaret towered over the valley, the intricate geometric designs startling without an urban setting. There was no village, only a building I assumed the caretaker lived in. I can only guess people must come out of the hills somewhere, though how they get there five times a day is more puzzling than who could have paid for such extravagance in the middle of nowhere.

A little community has grown up around the falls, feeding off the tourists who flock to them year-round. There weren’t too many foreign tourists (though I did chat with a Spanish couple who were biking to South Africa from Madrid and also found a few other Peace Corps Volunteers) but Moroccans come from all over the country to visit Ozoud. We happened to arrive at the same time as two busses from Marrakech, crowded with city dwellers who took more pictures than I thought possible. They all had their tiny digital video cameras rolling, videoing everything that got in their way.

This was Maryam’s fourth time at Ozoud and Hichem went ahead to stake out a place in the shade for us to camp out at. There are lots of semi-developed areas downstream from the falls with reed awnings to shade picnickers. They sell tajines and tea, though for a small fee they let us spread our blanket out on their plastic mats and lay out our own lunch. Maryam had brought a big cooler with watermelon, our own tajine, tea in a thermos complete with tea glasses, and more stuff than I thought possible. We borrowed a gas stove from somebody to heat up the tajine and were more comfortable than at home - since it’s horrendously hot in her upstairs apartment and the falls create a cool breeze rushing down the canyon.

We took turns walking around and sitting in the shade, trading Salma off so she got to explore the area too. She loved the monkeys, though the first time she saw them she was almost as nervous as Maryam. The second time we were having lunch and they came across in the trees above our reed roof, yelling at each other and distracting Salma from her rice and carrot mush. I loved seeing them so close, though I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t protest when other people around us gave them food. I talked loudly to Maryam about how people food would make them sick, but that’s it. I guess that’s why I’m not an environment volunteer. The monkeys are so tame that they’ll come right up to us and even seemed to pose for my pictures. They snatched food right out of people’s hands and I saw one trying to pull stuff out of a trash can. They’re cute, but I don’t think the tourists are good for them.

Besides waterfalls, monkeys and picnic areas, there are plenty of good places to swim and jump off scary heights, and even rowboats for a more sedate close-up of the falls. Lots of entrepreneurs have set up little shops that sell the sort of things you can find in the souks of Marrakech and farther downstream there are camping areas and little auberges and restaurants. Despite all the amenities, Ozoud is refreshingly undeveloped and wasn’t too crowded. Summer weekends are the highpoint of tourist season and it probably gets worse in August, but it was definitely not overcrowded for our visit. Being so far off the beaten track must help.

It was a relaxing day, playing with Salma in the little streams below the falls, hiking around with Maryam, chatting with Hichem while he did crossword puzzles, playing Frisbee with the other PCVs and listening to the gnawa and other traditional music groups that walked around playing for picnickers. (Unlike some wandering musicians, these guys weren’t at all annoying. They only played after you paid them and were quick to move on if they saw you didn’t want their services.) This is the sort of place I’ll ask Maryam to take me when I come back to Morocco to visit. It’s close enough to the end of my time here that I’m starting to count the days, wondering if I’m ready to face life back in the US.

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Photos

The Falls
The spray flows down the canyon, cooling traveling musicians, Marrakechis escaping the city, families picnicing and vendors selling mint tea.

Undeveloped
The whole area is refreshingly undeveloped, with just enough amenities to make the day comfortable.

I swear I didn't use a zoom
It's a bit sad how used to people the monkeys here are, but I admit I loved being able to see them so up close and personal. They're quite friendly.

Maryam, Salma and me
We left Hichem doing crossword puzzles on the picnic blanket and walked around listening to music and talking to other tourists.

Swimming
The kids and even some older men swam in the cold water and climbed the rocky walls around the pool to jump down in the pool below. There were boats you could ride in for a more relaxed closeup of the falls.

Grinding grain
A little information for those who want to learn Tamazight (Berber).

The Stairs
536 of them to be exact. At least on the way back up the cooler was empty, though Salma was probably heavier. She grows so fast!

The Star of the Show
She slept in the car, wanted to climb up in the trees to join the monkeys, laughed when strangers kissed her and was all around the perfect baby all day.