MARRAKECH CITY GUIDE / OUZOUD FALLS AND THE MOYEN ATLAS MOUNTAINS

Part four of the Marrakech city guide

Before my boyfriend and I got to Marrakech, we had decided that we definitely wanted to do a tour out of the city. Luckily, I talked him out of the camel ride and once we got there we decided that a day trip to the Moyen Atlas mountains would be lovely.

We were fortunate that we could book the trip right from our hotel, but there were lots of trips around on the internet and around in travel shops in the city. Our trip was booked with Thomson and it included time at the Ouzoud Falls in the Moyen Atlas mountains, a traditional lunch in the Berber town of Demnate and went on to Imi-n-Ifri, a natural bridge that creates a beautiful cave-esque effect when you look into the rock cavity. 

Ouzoud Falls

Ouzoud is several hours away from Marrakech, but starting the tour early in the morning meant that I slept for some of the bus journey. It was interesting to look out of the windows at the countryside, and it meant we saw many a mountain goat! So cute!

Owing to the fact that the falls are some of the largest in North Africa, there are a lot of steps - roughly six hundred each way. Along the path of steps, there are shops and restaurants so if you have time then walking down them leisurely would definitely be easier on you than climbing all six hundred to the top in about 15 minutes (from personal experience...). 

There is a little viewing platform opposite the falls about a quarter of the way down, and up there you could find some Barbary apes. These furry friends do look adorable but I wouldn't touch them, you can buy food from locals up there, but they are wild after all and they often scratch and urinate on tourists trying to feed and pose with them. It's much better to just enjoy the view with them in it. 

At the half way point, there is another viewing platform, this time much closer to the falls, which provides some spectacular views. 

Once you make it to the bottom, there isn't too much to see. Locals were swimming in the lake at the bottom of the falls though no tourists were - most are advised against it due to our unfamiliarity with the area and the wildlife (a.k.a snakes).

Many locals at the base of the Ouzoud falls offer boat rides into the main lake underneath the waterfall. Definitely do this. Our tour guide had a deal with them and we paid around 40 dirhams (£3-4) for the ride, each. You can haggle this down to around 10-20 dirhams, but for us, it was easier and less hassle to just pay a little more. That being said, it was very much worth the money, and I would have paid a lot more for it. 

They take you out on the raft and row you around the lake and then right against the back wall of the waterfall - we got absolutely drenched! It was terrifying, but we got out of the raft and stood about a metre away from the water.

Back at the top of the waterfall, there is a second path which veers round to the right (instead of left to the steps) which allows you to look down from the source of the falls and see it all from up high. 

 The Berber village and the natural cave 

We journeyed from Ouzoud about an hour onwards to the central Atlas and the Berber village of Demnate where we were treated to a three-course lunch of traditional Moroccan dishes. If you ever get an experience like this, you can have your standards, but please just give things a try! I am a terribly fussy eater, but compared to the other people in our group, I was one of the best.

The beef tagine was beautifully presented and so delicious.

About a quarter of an hour on from Demnate is the 'natural bridge' at Imi-n-Ifri. What looks like a cave is in fact a bridge owing to the fact that you can actually pass through, via a very cramped opening. While we didn't try this (locals will offer to 'guide' you through, but we were warned that some parts are on hands and knees and it is all rather dangerous), just looking at the cave is impressive enough.

If you have the chance to do a tour in Morocco, I would highly recommend it. The Atlas mountains were not at all what I was expecting (though they are so huge and we only saw a very small area), and it was really interesting to see the more rural Morocco as opposed to bustling Marrakech.