Ouzoud Falls – Morocco
Ouzoud Falls – Morocco
About 100 miles (150KM) northwest of Marrakesh is one of the most popular attractions in the area, and possibly in Morocco — Ouzoud Falls.
The Ouzoud Falls site encompasses several waterfalls in the area. The falls allow the water running off the High Atlas mountains via the El Abid River (“Slave’s River” in Arabic), to drop about 330ft (110m) in a string of cascades.
There is an easy tourist viewing path near the top. But many people have blazed paths around many of the security bars here to get better pictures. It is a bit nausea-inducing to go near the edge of the cliff with nothing between you and a several-hundred-foot fall. But nearly everyone was doing it.
There were many mills here in the past, which is how the waterfalls got their name. In Berber, Ouzoud means “the act of grinding grain”. There are still some small mills along the falls according to what I heard.
When you get to the bottom area with a big pool, you will be offered to ride a boat to the falls’ base. By doing this you can get splashed by the falls directly. You can see some of the pole-maneuvered boats in the bottom picture.
If you are in the area, it is well worth the day trip to see these.
Our trip was made especially interesting by the fact that a chunk of road along the river washed out so no vehicles could pass. Our driver swapped passengers with a van on the other side and somehow it worked out!
Happy travels!
