One of the reasons we've come back to Tafraout is to take the motor bike off and drive to Ait Mansour, a gorge about 30 kms from here, written up in the Rough guide as a must see, and we haven't!!! So first thing in the morning, I get the bike off, we kit up and get on the road. We're going to the gorge. Now it's very warm and getting warmer, by the time today is half way through, it's sweltering for us. Helmets, gloves, coats and trousers, shoes!! A wind so hot that you could throw an egg in the air and it would cook!! Well, ok, I exaggerate but it is so hot we have to take our helmets and gloves off for the ride back up the palmerie and go very slowly. But enough of my winging about the temperature, on with some photos of the day.
After passing through the gorge, we stop as soon as we can find somewhere appropriate to have our prepared picnic. It's also an excuse to take some kit off and cool down, a little. The bike goes well and zooms through the mountain passes and valley floor. I just wish we could be naked!! I mean scantily clad but safety first of course although two young European girls came past us at one point, scantily dressed, no helmets on off road motor bikes! Very sexy and very cool I'm sure but if you come off girls????? Ah well, carefree youth!
Pointing at the sky, I'm sure this burnt palm tree wasn't set on fire by the sun but there again, it could have had something to do with it. Still, a very creative shot by Krysia, who takes nearly all the pics today. She shoots well from behind me and gets a spirit of what it is like to drive through these roads.
Awesome shot of the passing scenery.
Villages are made from the mud and stone surrounding them. They blend in with ease and appear to be born out of the rock. Whole communities living in this harsh landscape, made to endure the scorching sun and reap the fruits of it's action. Sun and water means food and drink. It's a long way from home! yet we need the same ingredients. We just get them in different amounts.
Now I don't normally drink Coke but at a small roadside shop I'll buy and drink anything cold.
And at the same shop, we also have a mint tea in the shade.
It's actually very pleasant under the palm trees with the right amount of clothes on!
Krysia looks cool and beautiful
Helmets on for road driving and you only want to stop if you can take it off. The breeze, although like a hair dryer, does make it bearable.
So we swiftly go the length of the gorge to reach the end to be confronted by hotter and drier landscape.!! We turn around and slowly make our way back up the gorge.
This time, with helmets off and more shade, we can enjoy being here in this oasis in the mountains. Carefully! we drive back up to the start of the gorge, enjoying the breeze in our hair.
With all our gear back on, we head up and out of the gorge, leaving the palmerie behind. The oasis starts as a river or I should say, shows signs of having been a river! There must be springs too as water was flowing through the irrigation canals amongst the palms.
Looking back down towards Ait Mansour and you would have no idea that there is a beautiful green valley waiting for you. Hot and arid up here, plants do grow but on what moisture is a mystery. Life is a mystery!
Which way? Without a thorough knowledge of Arabic, I haven't a clue. So we'll turn around and go back the way we know. It's just too hot to go on wild adventures in the wrong direction.
The road snakes back down into the natural heat bowl that is Tafraout. Temperatures can reach 50 deg C in high summer!! There is no where for the hot air to go. So it gets hotter as we descend, there must be a cap holding the air in place as back home hot air rises!! Tafraout is renowned for it's cauldron like qualities.
A village is nestled at the base to this mountain. There must be water there, some reason to be there!!
And at last we are almost back at the undress campsite! We can try and cool down at the van. Unfortunately, there is little water coming out of the taps here?? so even a cold shower is hard to find!
These are trying conditions but we happily make the most of them. We won't be here long, between the heat and the mosquito's, wow they bite here! It's not only that they bite but they come up in huge lumps on me too, itch itch, don't scratch!! Ah the joys of camping.
Pointing at the sky, I'm sure this burnt palm tree wasn't set on fire by the sun but there again, it could have had something to do with it. Still, a very creative shot by Krysia, who takes nearly all the pics today. She shoots well from behind me and gets a spirit of what it is like to drive through these roads.
Awesome shot of the passing scenery.
Villages are made from the mud and stone surrounding them. They blend in with ease and appear to be born out of the rock. Whole communities living in this harsh landscape, made to endure the scorching sun and reap the fruits of it's action. Sun and water means food and drink. It's a long way from home! yet we need the same ingredients. We just get them in different amounts.
Now I don't normally drink Coke but at a small roadside shop I'll buy and drink anything cold. And at the same shop, we also have a mint tea in the shade.
It's actually very pleasant under the palm trees with the right amount of clothes on!
Krysia looks cool and beautiful
Helmets on for road driving and you only want to stop if you can take it off. The breeze, although like a hair dryer, does make it bearable.
So we swiftly go the length of the gorge to reach the end to be confronted by hotter and drier landscape.!! We turn around and slowly make our way back up the gorge.
This time, with helmets off and more shade, we can enjoy being here in this oasis in the mountains. Carefully! we drive back up to the start of the gorge, enjoying the breeze in our hair.
With all our gear back on, we head up and out of the gorge, leaving the palmerie behind. The oasis starts as a river or I should say, shows signs of having been a river! There must be springs too as water was flowing through the irrigation canals amongst the palms.
Looking back down towards Ait Mansour and you would have no idea that there is a beautiful green valley waiting for you. Hot and arid up here, plants do grow but on what moisture is a mystery. Life is a mystery!
Which way? Without a thorough knowledge of Arabic, I haven't a clue. So we'll turn around and go back the way we know. It's just too hot to go on wild adventures in the wrong direction.
The road snakes back down into the natural heat bowl that is Tafraout. Temperatures can reach 50 deg C in high summer!! There is no where for the hot air to go. So it gets hotter as we descend, there must be a cap holding the air in place as back home hot air rises!! Tafraout is renowned for it's cauldron like qualities.
A village is nestled at the base to this mountain. There must be water there, some reason to be there!!
And at last we are almost back at the undress campsite! We can try and cool down at the van. Unfortunately, there is little water coming out of the taps here?? so even a cold shower is hard to find!
These are trying conditions but we happily make the most of them. We won't be here long, between the heat and the mosquito's, wow they bite here! It's not only that they bite but they come up in huge lumps on me too, itch itch, don't scratch!! Ah the joys of camping.
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