The many faces of the Atlas

Adventures in Morocco continued... 

We bid farewell to Marrakesh early one morning, and jumped in a minibus full of the usual suspects to drive across the Atlas mountains, destination: the Dades Gorge. I don't know what I'd been expecting from the drive, but the amazing variety of landscapes we saw took me completely by surprise. 

After driving through the farmlands and plains surrounding Marrakesh, we began to ascend into the Atlas mountains. At first the hills were lush and rolling... 

But the landscape gradually became more and more barren, and the temperature dropped... 

Till at last we reached the highest point of our trip and were surrounded, astonishingly, by snowy peaks! 

We left the snow behind (thankfully - I wasn't dressed for it after the warmth of Marrakesh) and descended quickly into the Dades valley, where the landscape was much less lush than on the other sides of the mountain, which excited us a little - we were reaching desert country!

After stopping for a break at the kasbah of Ait Benhaddou (a 'kasbah' is like a castle), which was apparently featured in several hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator (no sign of Russell Crowe, sadly), we hopped back in the bus for the last leg... 

Finally arriving at the Dades Gorge just as the sun was setting and the changing colours were playing over the valley walls... 

Stay tuned - next up : camels, couscous and the Sahara! 

Bisous, 

Alice x