Ouzoud is about 160 km from Marrakech. We joined Marrakech Travel Services for this full day excursion. When we arrived at Ouzoud around noon we were joined by 2 other minibus loads of people and met by the tour guide who divided us into 3 language groups – English, Spanish and French.
I thought our guide was joking when he said the tour would take 2 and half hours. I mean, what about lunch?! 🤭😋
We started off from the top walking clockwise around the Waterfalls down to the bottom and up again. At the first glimpse of the waterfalls everyone was hungry for those first photos. But the guide assured us that the best views were yet to come….
We stopped occasionally when the guide gave us interesting facts and figures, such as the new house that were being built for one of the king’s brothers. The guide was articulate and funny!
The trails down to the bottom pools were rather tricky and sometimes slippery. Although I was wearing sensible footwear the descend was fraught with anxiety; the feeling of sand slipping under my feet was rather worrying. But a guide from one of the other groups always appeared miraculously whenever I needed help, bless him!
According to our guide Cascades d’Ouzoud are the highest waterfalls in Africa. At 110 metres there are higher than the Victoria Falls (108 metres) though not as wide.
By this time I would have wanted to have lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the falls. But our guide had another idea, urging us to walk up to the viewing platform for the best views! At least there were steps rather than unmade tracks on the way up!
At the bottom of the waterfalls we took a little boat decorated with flowers (20 dirhams/€2) which took us near the falls. It was awesome to be up close despite the sprays
We dragged our weary legs and empty stomachs up those steps and were rewarded by some great views of the falls with a rainbow thrown in!
And finally we reached the top where a spacious café awaited us! The sight of chairs and the smell of tagines were more than inviting!
At that point I would have paid a king’s ransom for something, anything to eat! So a delicious lunch with a light salad as starter, tagine as main course, fruits and mint tea for afters all for merely 100 dirhams (€10) was fantastic value! I was so hungry that the thought of photos totally escaped me, but I can vouch for the absolute scrumptiousness of my chicken tagine!!
It was only when my battery recharged and humour restored that I recalled with a smile what the guide said on the way: had he let us stop for lunch at the bottom of the falls he could never get us all back together again to leave on time!! He would have been right! Ten out of ten for strategy and organisation💯👍
It was a long day and I couldn’t find a fridge magnet to buy! Fortunately I had photos to remind me of the lovely day!
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