Car trip around central Morocco from Agadir 6 to 19 November 2012

Picked up our Dacia Logan hire car from Weekend Car Rental in Agadir on 6 November and set off on a two week tour of central Morocco with our friends.

Our tour took us via the fast Agadir - Marrakech motorway to the north of the Atlas Mountains then recrossing them via the Tissi Techla pass to the tiny hamlet of Tisselday

where we spent two nights in the very friendly picturesque family Dar Isselday Guest House

  where Najep served us the best Tagines in Morocco 

and had a guided hike to a Kasbah 

 

and remote Berber village.

Then via Ouarzazate to Boumalne Dades

from where we explored the Dades Gorge, which was flooded

 

and enjoyed two short hikes.

Thence to Tinerhir from where we explored the Todra Gorge

  and had a superb hike meeting this Berber lady on the way

 and later visited a carpet weaving riad in Tinerhir

 Then to a Tazzarine, on the way passing several camels

 where we spent the night in a delightful remote Kasbah.

 with views over the surrounding palmery

Then to Zagora past more camels 

 via the Date Palm filled Draa Valley.
 

 After an early morning hike to the top of the hill behind the hotel,

we drove further south to the superb Chez le Pacha Kasbah hotel in Mhamid

 where we transfered to camel

 Our guides nicknamed Mike Ali Baba

  then transferred to a 4-wheel drive

 for the two hour drive  to a Berber tented camp for a night in the sand dunes of Erg Chigaga dunes on the edge of the Sahara Desert.
 
 Had a hike up to the top of the highest dune to see the sunrise

 and returned to camp for a welcome breakfast

 before returning to Mhamid

from where
we had a long drive to Taliouine, the Saffran centre .
The Saffran is a form of Crocus

 Picking

 separating the stamens - the only part of the flower used for the famous spice

Next day we drove to Tafraoute

passing the famous climbing rock faces 

The next day we had a suberb ridge walk

 with some scrambling

 Had planned to spend 3 days here to do more hiking but the weather deteriorated
so decided to return for a night on Dutch Link in Agadir.

The next day drove to the picturesque walled fishing village of Essaouira.

passed some tree climbing goats

 Enjoyed a break before exploring Essaouira

 view of the sea walls of the old port of Essaouira

 Hotel Riad Nakhla where we spent the night, accessed from a dark tunnel

 Rooftop terrace breakfast

Carpets for sale

After a pleasant night in the friendly Hotel Riad Nakhla
 we parted company with our friends
who took the bus to Marrakech for a couple of days before flying home,
and we drove back to Agadir after having had a superb couple of weeks.
Stopped at a beachside cafe for lunch

Had planned to stay a few days longer in Agadir but a short weather window presented itself
followed by a period of contrary strong winds. So we left Agadir on 21st November and had a very good sail to
Lanzarote in the Canary Islands where we are now anchored in Arrecife.

In the next few days, I plan to publish several blogs covering our trip in more detail.