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25
September 07 – Skoura to Todra gorge
We left Hotel Sawadi after breakfast and drove further up the Dadès
valley until Boumalne, where we branched off to Tinerhir. Then we drove
up through gorge-ous scenery to
‘Auberge le Festival’
in the Todra gorge, where we had lunch on their terrace accompanied by a
bottle of Moroccan red wine. Later we would find out that it was their
last bottle!
Later in the afternoon, the ‘patron’ of the Auberge, Adi, drove us down
the road so we could walk back up through the ‘petit gorge’ to the
Auberge. An hour’s walk is about the limit for Flemming’s right ankle
joint at the moment.
Adi is rather an unusual Moroccan. Since about the age of 18, he is no
longer a Muslim, so no Ramadan for him. He was married for five years to
an English girl and speaks excellent English. He started up his Auberge
as a tented camp some years ago but some of the local hoteliers didn’t
like the competition and paid some nomads to burn them down. After that,
he built the stone Auberge which is virtually indestructible. There is
hardly any water nearby, so all the water has to be trucked in. The
showers have hot and cold water but, to save on this precious commodity,
one has to give him advance notice if one wants to take a shower. The
hot water only comes after letting the water run for a time, so Adi runs
it for use in the kitchen till the hot water appears. He is now building
a retaining wall to collect water from flash floods.
26 September 07 – Todra gorge to Dadès gorge
We followed Adi back down through Todra gorge to the start of a walk
through a palm grove. It wasn’t as straight forward a route as he had
led us to believe, and we got a bit lost in the ruins of a Kasbah.
We eventually found our way out and drove back to Boumalne, where we
branched off to Dadès gorge. After 27 km we arrived at
‘Chez Pierre’ where we
had an excellent late lunch on their terrace. We had chosen this auberge
for its reputation as the best place to stay in the gorge and for its
cuisine. The food certainly lived up to expectations, as well as the
setting: the auberge is perched on a steep hillside. The room was
spacious and there is a refreshing pool. Our only criticism would be
that the cushions on the pool bedchairs and the towels are showing signs
of wear: Angela’s towel had a large hole in it!
27-28 September 07 – Dadès gorge
We spent two more relaxing days at ‘Chez Pierre’, not trying to do too
much. We went for a drive to the end of the paved road and went on a
couple of short walks. Flemming’s leg is gradually improving.
A special
authorization is needed for Taroudant airstrip from the governor of
Taroudant in addition to that of DAC Rabat. We had sent them a fax
several weeks ago from Geneva, and already followed it up with several
phone calls.
From Chez Pierre, we phoned the office several times, but no reply.
Finally the last day Monsieur Vandri said he would send the fax with the
authorization, ‘enshallaah’, he added with a little laugh! Things in
Morocco move slowly during Ramadan.
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Lunch at Auberge Le Festival
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Late afternoon walk through Todra gorge
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