Well, in fact, I found millions of dates in the Draa Valley... the fruit kind I mean. Sorry for the bad joke... And the worst is that I don't like eating dates... So we just drove through this beautiful valley and here are some pictures.
INFO & PLANNING TIPS - Draa valley
The Drâa valley runs Southeast of Ouarzazate. It is home to the Draa river (the longest in Morocco, 1100km) which flows from the High Atlas mountains and emerges over 95km between Agdz and Zagora. Thanks to the river a lush oasis has formed and it is filled with palm tree plantations.
Zagora used to be the end point of the trade caravan from Tombouctou. (which takes 52 days with camel according to a sign there). But the valley's history goes back for thousands of years.
TIPS FOR TRAVEL PLANNING ADDICTS
Getting to the Drâa Valley
- N9, 50km Southeast from Ouarzazate
- Main cities of Agdz and Zagora
Visiting the Drâa valley
- The area is actually huge. Driving along the oasis via small roads will take you a good portion of the day
- Most people only drive through it on the way to the desert
- HIghlights include walking through the Palmeraies, the date market in Agdz 4WD driving to see the rock formations all around, rock carvings and the waterfalls of Tisgui and more
- Becoming more and more touristic, the valley offers good accomodation
The Drâa river
The Draa river is the longest in Morocco. It used to be flowing all along but now many portions are dry.
Purple mountains
What I loved the most were the layered red-mauve mountains. Their shapes and colors were fascinating.
The palmeraies
The Draa valley was originally known for its olives. However when the caravans came, they started palm tree plantations because the trees allowed to create more byproducts apart from the dates: carpets, shade, baskets...
And now there are palm trees everywhere!!!! According to my guide there are 4 million palm tree in the area... that means a lot of dates...
Of course what you will see depends on when you go. The fruits are picked in October.
The dates
We stopped by some market vendors selling dates. I had no ideas there were some many varieties of dates!
The end of the valley
Then we drove to the end of the valley and stopped on our way back to Ouarzazate to see intriguing shapes in the canyon and mountains.
Do you like dates?
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