MOROCCO TRIP - Day Four - Merzouga to Todra Gorge

After a peaceful night dreaming of starry night skies in the desert we woke up early to photograph the sunrise as it reflected on the dunes - well worth the effort. What a truly beautiful place, I could have stood there captivated for hours but we had places to be.


This morning was to be my big treat, I was to have a personal bird guide! I had been really looking forward to this as Morocco is rich in ornithological diversity and although I can look at most birds and usually work out roughly what type they are and then pour over a field guide until I work out exactly which species it is, there is something very luxurious about going to a new region and have a local expert show you the native species - yes I know, I'm lazy! But it is nice and actually very rewarding, and a lot less frustrating! When you are on your own you can very often narrow the bird down to a couple of possibilities which have subtle field markings that differentiate them and when you go to cross check the pesky bird has flown away and so the puzzle is left unresolved!


So we met up with our bird guide and set off. I had requested that we head straight for a nearby lake which was a well known birding spot and particularly productive first thing in the morning so imagine my surprise when we started heading off in the opposite direction! Now I know that my sense of direction is not good but even I could tell this was not where I was hoping to be going. My husband has an excellent sense of direction so I waited for him and sure enough he soon commented. Only to be told that we were going somewhere 'just down the road' first. Now I have lived in Africa long enough to know that the 'just down the road' phrase should have rung alarm bells with me immediately but instead I kept quiet.


Said our guide, explained to me that our bird guide was taking us to an area to see Bustards. I was a little surprised by this as everything I had read prior to our visit had said that the Bustards had been pretty much eradicated by Saudi Arabians hunting in the area with falcons. But hey - who doesn't want to see a Bustard? I had seen them a couple of times in Zambia but they are, none the less, a rare sight. So again I kept quiet. We drove further and further away from civilization and we actually started heading towards the Algerian Border! (Eeek!) Still no Bustards. It was around this time that I started noticing that we were driving past various other bird species and my precious bird guide was not saying a word. So the next bird I spotted I asked Brahim to stop and I asked what the bird was. The bird guide rattled something off in Berber to Said but dear Said's area of expertise is the vast history and culture of his country, not the bird life. I asked what the bird was again but of course Said didn't know what the English name was - totally not his fault, he's not the bird guide. It is then that Said explains to me that the bird guide only speaks Berber and so won't be able to tell me the names of any of the birds! The whole time that this circuitous discussion is going on, the obliging little bird is sitting patiently beside the vehicle. I now have a driver, a guide, a bird guide and my husband looking at me expectantly.............
So what is it? Wait a minute, I've only been in this country for four days, I don't even have a field guide for the region and now I am the guide! How did this happen? I look carefully at the LBJ (Little Brown Job!) Jeez could the damn thing be any less remarkable? OK think - well it looks kind of like a lark, well of course it would! One of the hardest groups of birds that all look very similar and oh guess what there are about twenty possible species of lark for Morocco! Whoopee! I have a field guide for birds of Europe so I start flicking through the lark section - Hoopoe Lark! Brahim and Said are very pleased with this funny sounding name and repeat it to each other several times. Well you would think in all that time that my husband who had the seat nearest the bird, would have got off some decent photos - not so much! So ladies and gentlemen, I give you - the Hoopoe Lark (I did warn you it was unremarkable!)


So now I knew the tone the morning was going to take. My dream of trundling along being told the names of numerous new and wonderful bird species was just that, a dream. I had stepped back ten years and I was the guide again - ho hum.
In the mean time we were driving into more and more barren desert! But I did hit it lucky with the next avian spotted - Shrike! Now Brahim and Said are looking seriously impressed! I pour over the field guide again, pretty clearly a Great Grey Shrike but of course there are seven different sub-species! (What is this, 'lets screw with Celeste Day?') So going purely on range I hit on Lanius excubitor elegans.


Oh yes and needless to say, still no sign of a Bustard!


Well we are driving deeper and deeper into barren desert, and closer and closer to the Algerian border. The morning is ticking away, my cherished lake is far away and, well you tell me, does this look like productive birding country to you?


I thought not!




I did get one small consolation prize, a brief glimpse of some wild donkeys! And yes they do look very different from their domesticated cousins.


So there we are three and a half hours later, one lark and one shrike to our names and yours truly was beginning to get a little fed-up! 'Do you think we could possibly go to the lake now?' 'What, you don't want to see the Bustard?' I grit my teeth, smile and manage to say 'No I'm fine if we don't see the Bustard.' Finally we start to head to the Lake.


Of course by now it is past ten in the morning but I am just happy to be heading towards the water.


Oh you want to see Flamingos! Well not specifically but I had heard that was one of the species we might hope to see. We drove down to near the waters edge and on the distant shore were a group of flamingos. Again I am surprised how none of the waterfowl allow us to approach anywhere near the waters edge without them flying far away. Even in intense hunting areas I have never seen such nervous birds.


I sit down quietly on the edge of the shore hoping to use that age old trick of changing my outline from a threatening biped to an odd legless little lump, but to no avail, the birds stay as far away as they possibly can and this is a big lake so that is pretty far!
This shot is maximally zoomed in and it is still a tough call for ID's but I think we have three Ruddy Shelducks, a ton of Little Egrets and I think four Black Storks, I was torn between Glossy Ibis and Black Storks but the beaks just didn't look like Ibis.


Slowly some of the birds started to get within camera range, a pair of Ruddy Shelducks


A Kentish Plover


and Little Ringed Plovers


I looked further down towards the end of the lake and realised that it was alive with birds, there were dozens of cormorants which my 'bird guide' reliably informed me, via Said, were Crows! Well can we try and get nearer so I can look at the crows? No I didn't really say that - I just thought it! Anyway we drove down towards the end of the lake but before we even got remotely close the usual mass evacuation occurred.


It really was a shame that the birds were so shy because there were clearly masses of different species in the mix. The majority that you can see in this shot are Marbled Ducks.
My Husband did manage to get a reasonable picture of a personal favorite of mine, the Black-winged Stilt.


And then in the blink of an eye the area was cleared of birds. So it seemed like a sensible point to hit the road again, time to head for the hills.
As we were leaving this sweet little procession was making it's way towards the water.


How very orderly they were!


Time to head back into the mountains and, unfortunately the day continued to go 'pear shaped'. My husband loves mountains and so his specific request was that this afternoon we would drive up into the mountains and camp somewhere so that he could wake up in the mountains and hopefully go hiking in the morning. That was the itinerary but somehow things just didn't quite work out that way.


We did head back into the mountains, stopping at various points to stretch our legs,


enjoy the view or walk through a gorge


and it was all achingly beautiful


and I personally wouldn't have missed it for the world.


We stopped in a small mining town


and were told that if we wanted to pick up any extra food supplies we should do so as we were now heading off road. Our needs are pretty simple so we were a little bemused by this as all the food we had had so far had been fabulous. None the less we dutifully poked around in the local 'supermarket' and picked up a couple of bits and pieces.


By now it was late afternoon and as we started climbing the steep rocky track into the mountains we both started looking out for potential camping sites.


At one point I even said, 'if you see a good spot you should say something to Brahim and Said' but to no avail.


We kept climbing. And climbing, and climbing and climbing. By now it was dark so we couldn't even distract ourselves by admiring the scenery anymore. The road was bad, the recent heavy rains had made sure of that but Brahim is an absolutely brilliant driver and he steered us expertly along our precipitous trail, never putting a wheel wrong. We saw a tiny dot of light in the distance and as it drew closer Said explained to us that it was a hostel and that if we wanted we could stay there tonight but if we wanted a more 'genuine' experience we should continue to the next place. So we, of course wanting the genuine experience, agreed to do that. What wasn't explained to us was that the 'next place' involved another two hours driving, over the top of the pass and all the way back down the other side of the mountain! When we finally arrived Said went off to start preparing dinner while Brahim started to unpack the tents. My husband is a shade over 6' 5" tall and as the tents were unfolded it rapidly became apparent that my 5' 5" frame would be hard pressed to fit inside one, let alone his! At one point he picked up one end of the tent and held it up against himself, there were several inches of him protruding from either end. Brahim started to laugh, which was a good thing! There we were in the pitch black, who knew where, trying to put up tents designed for children! The only thing to do was laugh. So we put the tents back in the Land Cruiser and drove back to the 'farm' where Said was cooking which also had simple Berber rooms for rent and after a very late dinner we fell into a deep and somewhat thankful sleep.


Photo Credits - CJT & Dominick V

MOROCCO TRIP - Day Three - Fes to Merzouga

Today we knew was going to be a heavy driving day as we were heading as far as the road goes to the south east corner of Morocco. Finally getting away from the cities and out into the beautiful country side and believe me, in Morocco there is scenery to suit every taste.
The road started to climb into the Middle Atlas and it almost felt like an area of Scandinavia with conifers and gently rolling hills that led into bigger mountains. In some of the small towns even the structures looked vaguely Swiss! It had the same soothing bucolic feel too which felt really good after the frenzy of the cities.

I had viewed this day with some trepidation as I am not a particularly good car passenger, even worse if I am not sitting at the front so I was armed with my motion sickness bands and had my Dramamine close at hand but I needn't have worried, Brahim was such a smooth, careful driver I felt absolutely fine - Hurray! Our first stop was an area of the Middle Atlas known for its 'Barbary Apes'. Although the species is commonly referred to as the "Barbary Ape", the Barbary Macaque is actually a true monkey, not an ape. The monkey is yellowish-brown to grey with lighter undersides, growing to a maximum size of 30 inches and 29 pounds. Its face is a dark pink and its tail is vestigial. The front limbs of this monkey are longer than its hind limbs and the females are somewhat smaller than males. The habitat of the Barbary Macaque is under threat from increased logging activity; they are listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List. Local farmers view the monkeys as pests, and engage in extermination of the species. Once common throughout northern Africa and southern Europe, there are estimated to be just 12,000 to 21,000 Barbary Macaques left. I must admit that the area we stopped in was pretty sad, there were masses of tour buses and roadside vendors selling nuts to feed to the unfortunate creatures although most people seemed to be using these as missiles rather than food, along with anything else that they could put there hands on to hurl at them!
I walked away from this rather sickening circus into the trees and within a few yards had left the crowds behind and was able to watch these animals behaving in a more natural manner.


They did deign to open their eyes briefly just in case I was another sucker who had purchased a bag of food but then when they saw my hands were empty they went back to doing their thing.


Which seemed to comprise largely of just enjoying the early morning sun.


I have never been a huge fan of primates as a group but when they are relaxed and natural like this little group was I could certainly see their appeal. As most of you know, I have a preference for creatures with either feathers or scales and I soon became distracted by this charming little character who drove me crazy in my vain attempts to get a decent photograph.


As you will discover in later posts I was totally on my own when it came to learning the birds in Morocco and although this one looked somehow familiar I wasn't sure at this stage what I was looking at so I snapped away figuring I could then compare my pictures with my field guide and work it out. (And that is another thing - Morocco is the first country I have ever visited that doesn't have a field guide to the bird species found there!) After our little break we hit the road again and I started working on identifying my little friend. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was nothing more than a lowly Chaffinch! The same species that I see on a daily basis when I visit my parents in England! But it looks completely different! Then I discover that there is a North African subspecies Fringilla coelebs africana and yes, it looks totally different from its Europe counterpart (and much prettier!)

So on the road again the scenery continues to get more dramatic as the Middle Atlas unfolded around us.


Even in the most inhospitable, windswept areas there was always something to look at.


Before we had arrived in Morocco they had had the first really good rainy season after fifteen years of drought so even in the rockiest areas of the mountains we would see tiny patches of green and shallow pools of water defying the odds.


We went over the Middle Atlas and then descended into the Ziz Valley.
More dramatic scenery, less open and rolling and more tortured and twisting. Some of the gorges were quite stunning and the road twisted and doubled back on its self following the course of the Ziz River as it carved through the rock.


Slowly the valley opened out and here the geological features became even more remarkable. I have never seen striated rock that has been forced into such contortions by subduction that the striations actually run completely vertically!
There was a reservoir which I had asked to stop at because it was a known birding spot but as I was to discover as soon as a human approached to nearer than a hundred yards from the waters edge every bird took flight so other than some brief glimpses of Ruddy Shelducks it was a little frustrating.


As the valley grew wider the flood plains either side of the river created amazingly verdant areas that were in stark contrast to the windblown, rocky scenery that we had been through earlier in the day. There were endless stretches of date palms and citrus trees all flourishing.


Small adobe villages lined the perimeters.


And we had glimpses of rural Moroccan life going on as usual.


Eventually the Ziz river runs out into the desert and peters out. We had finally reached the end of the road, quite literally, and our destination for the night - Hotel Tombouctou.


The hotel backs on to a beautiful expanse of sand dunes and now I was finally beginning to feel as if we were 'getting away from it all!'
The undoubted highlight of the day for me was after dinner, we walked out behind the hotel into the desert. We were finally away from all light pollution and it was a true dark African night. How I have missed the African night skies with its millions and millions of stars. We stood quietly in the darkness, quite spellbound by the magnificence of it all and then we heard soft footsteps behind us in the sand. Out of the darkness loomed a camel, strolling quietly through the desert night!
I think I am in heaven!




Photo Credits - CJT & Dominick V