> The Deep South

In the Deep South, the sand lays in wait to strike everyone, its journey is life. Orchards, fields, palm groves, rose gardens..a strip of fertile land unfolds along their sides where men work miracles. They are the valleys of Drama, Dads and Zips. The landscapes follow each other in a succession of vivid contrasts.

Burning sand and snow-capped mountain peaks, dizzy canyons wrapped around lush green countryside or palm trees emerging everywhere, perched comfortably on a rocky outcrop or before an emerald lake. Magnificent Kasbahs, magical citadels, the unexpected beauty of the ksour and sand-coloured fortified villages. These are the valleys of Draa, Dadès, Zis.

Travel down the course of the wadis and take a journey back into time following the Kasbah trail in a natural setting that stuns the senses.

At the crossroads of the Draa, Dadès and Zis valleys, Ouarzazate is a good starting point for travelling to the Deep South. It is ready to blind the traveller with two magnificent Kasbahs: the Kasbah of Taourirt, formerly the residence of the Glaoui family is amazingly beautiful.

The towers rise above the houses, which lean against each other, silhouetted against the blue sky stealing first place from the sun. The Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou is 30 km from the city.

Beyond the imagination: a splendid sand castle resting magically in a field of blossoming almond trees. Its light effects are so beautiful that they were featured in several famous films including "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Sheltering Sky". The proud beauty of this Kasbah was one of the reasons for its entrance into the UNESCO world heritage list.

Starting point for the Trail of the Oases, Ouarzazate is also the arrival point of different cultures and crafts. Its souk is held every Sunday filled with henna, roses, caraway, distilled herb tea, Berber vases, objects in engraved stone, blankets and famous Ouzguita carpets, blue or resplendent gold with beautiful geometric designs. An ideal stopping place: relax in one of its splendid hotels.

Generous, hospitable and disoriented it sweetly prepares travellers for the extreme sensations of the desert.

Created in the High Atlas, the Draa laboriously hollows out its bed up to Agdz (pronounced Agades). That's where it takes revenge! It gives life to a spectacular succession of oases stretching out for 200 km.

On arriving to M'hamid, which was once the longest river in Morocco, it is swallowed by the sand.

Not far to Agdz! The road that runs along the Draa Valley begins in this small village dominated by its citadel, red fort and strange corner of the djebel Kissane. Nature thumbs its nose at the desert by flaunting its colours.

Bunches of golden dates hang from palm trees, laurel bushes brim with red explosive flowers, brown, beige, grey alders are rooted in the ochre-coloured land and, every now and again, like magic, an infinite number of sandy coloured ksours.

The ksour of Tameniugalt, one of the most typical, is the ancient capital of the Berbers, the Igdaoun with its high towers in the form of cropped pyramids, the Kasbah of Tinzouline...

Zagora

From this Oasis, in the 16th century, the Saadians first conquered the Souss and then the whole of Morocco by throwing themselves in the great adventure that would bring them to Timbuktu. This is the starting point for many exciting excursions.

The town of Tamegroute is nearby, with its famous mosques with blue majolica roofs and white minarets, its prestigious Medersa and library built in the 17th century which conserves some marvellous illuminated Korans.

Make room for the sand and dunes! Here is M'hamid, gateway to the desert, which, on Mondays, has one of the most picturesque souks in the whole of Morocco. And M'hamid el - Ghouzlane, "the plain of the gazelles," where the immense desert plateau begins: the hamade du Draa.

The road stops at Merzouga, and so does our journey. Sand, blazing sand, sand as far as the eye can see. Moving sculptures, iridescent colours, sand dunes lifted by the wine as high as the minarets. Captivating, majestic, boundless, the desert always begins where the sand, wind and sun come together to create the infinity.

But when night falls..... a fennec pricks up its ears and peers out of its lair, "the fish of the sand" plods briskly; a gran-dc ulula. Even the desert has a secret life, but few men can actually say they've seen it.

Originating from the High-Atlas, wadi Dadès feeds a series of Oases, and thousands of the valley's Kasbahs. It starts at Boumai, the desert side of the mountain which gnaws at its strip of vegetation. But the wadi is pigheaded, its doesn't budge and erodes thick blocks of limestone. The valley narrows into dizzy walls: the gorge of Dadès.

Founded in the 12th century by Yacoub el Mansour, the luxuriant oasis of Skoura offers an enchanting preview of the "valley of the thousand Kasbahs": el Kabbaba, Dar Aichil, Dar Ait Sousse, and the most beautiful of them all, Amerhidil... Palm groves and gardens, the road unfolds up to the rosebushes, thousands and thousands of roses that perfume the El Kelaa M'Gouna, the most beautiful rose garden of the valley.

For a change of air, there is Azlag, where 120 blacksmiths - almost all the men of the village - make magnificent decorative daggers. The ancient Glaoui Kasbah balances on a rock; the splendid Bou Taghrar Kasbah. Open your eyes and take in the gorge of Dadès! An enormous block of limestone slashed open by a sword thrust. In this rough jagged universe, the Kasbahs join forces with the mauve, tawny, bright red, and purple colours of the rocks.

The road becomes a track and climbs like lacework suspended on a dizzy ravine, penetrating into a secret kingdom where only birds and sheep live. Simply breathtaking! But there are other gorges that are worth visiting like the gorge of Todora. Starting at Tineghir, travel for a distance of around 50 km, and you will come to the end of the world. Two vertical cliffs with a 300 metre drop are separated by one narrow corridor measuring 20 meters wide. An unforgettable spectacle.

On descending from the High Atlas, the Ziz hollows out its bed between the staggering cliffs - imagine how strong it must have been - and changes direction at the height of Rich moving south towards the immense palm grove of Tafilalete. Let yourself get lost in the sands of Taouz.

The medersa of Sidi Salim is not far from Rich. This wise man had the extraordinary gift of travelling to Mecca and back every Friday! If you don't have Sidi Salim's speed, the trip to Erfoud takes a bit longer. Better this way? The water in the Ziz Valley is a source of beauty and intersperses the desert road. The wadi Ziz is truly spectacular.

The valley impetuously carves out a long corridor in the limestone decorated with tall palm trees that shade the ksour and sublime Kasbah of D'Ifri. Then, held back by the Hassan Addakhil dam, it creates an immense emerald lake. Women do their washing on its red-ochre banks, cooled by the shade of the apricot trees.

A bit further away is the blue spring of Meski which is famous for encouraging fertility. Young women adorned with wool pampon, shells, ribbons and amulets, bathe by candlelight in the waters of this grotto. At the end of the trip, the monumental door of Erfoud opens on one side onto... a million palm trees, and millions and millions of sand grains. These are the first dunes and the outposts of the desert. The desert settlement of Merzouga is not far away!

The day breaks on Merzouga.
No one has ever regretted waking up at three in the morning to see Merzouga. Enjoy a mint tea while marvelling at the red sun that appears over the gigantic dunes of Merzouga: the Deep South has some wonderful surprises in store for you.

Pick dates at Erfoud!
Over a million palm trees grow in the region of Erfoud alone. Of course, the date is its symbol. And it is celebrated each year in October with a traditional festival, unbridled and picturesque.

The "Vie En Rose" at El Kelaa M'Gouna.
In May, there is the festival of the roses at El Kelaa M'Gouna. Dance under a continuous rainfall of petals. Incredible: a ton of petals is needed to produce just one litre of distilled rose water!

The kilns of Tamegroute.
Amazing: the potters cook plates, jugs and jars in outdoor archaic kilns. Curiosity: they are all green and brown. Green is obtained with magnesium and copper, brown with antimony and copper. Interesting: the prices are very competitive.