The Draa Valley is, without doubt, one of the highlights of Morocco. The Draa River itself is the longest river in Morocco and it crosses some of the harshes landscape in the world before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the river is in fact dry (as it crosses the desert) but the upper Draa (shown in the picture) nourishes some of the most spectacular palm groves in Morocco. Framed by the barren mountains of the Jebel Saghro, the Draa Valley with it's rich band of cultivation is something of a garden of Eden, and is home to an estimated 8 million date palms, interspersed with fields of wheat, barley and vegetables. The dates in the valley are normally harvested in late October/early November, and this represents a good time to visit the valley as it can get ferociously hot in the summer months. The valley is not only appealing on a scenic level, it is also has an interesting history, as it formed an important leg on a trading route between Mali and Marrakech. Travelling from Ouarzazate southwards, the Draa gives visitors the impression of having truly arrived in Africa, and great parallels can be drawn between the people and the settlements of the Draa and those of sub-Saharan Africa. This can be easily explained as many of the valley's inhabitants originated in Mali and were brought to Morocco as slaves in the 16th-century. Down the valley there are a number of settlements, including Agdz (legend has it that the town was named after the letters emblazoned on the side of a plane that crash there during the second world war), and further south, Zagora, a French-built administrative centre that represents what is effectively the gateway to the Sahara. The photograph opposite shows a well-preserved kasbah (or house/castle with fortifications), one of many in the valley. Most of the kasbahs in the region date back to the 16th-century and some, like the Kasbah Tamnougalte, just south of Agdz, you can visit. Tamnougalte, which we are taken around on mountain biking tours that pass through the area, is a kasbah at the centre of an old Jewish community. The kasbah was both the private residence and the official administrative seat of the Caid (or chief) of the region, and makes an interesting visit. There were many Jewish communities in the region but the Jewish population dropped dramatically (as it did all over Morocco), with the formation of the state of Israel. All in all, the Draa forms an interesting leg to any 'road trip' through the south of Morocco. |
