Back from Skoura (Morocco)

Thanks for this update! I’m leaving soon—did you encounter any snow? Any difficulties getting around? Also, congrats on the photos, they’re really stunning. Have a great evening.

No snow, except for the stunning views on the Atlas Mountains, just sunshine and warmth; it felt like the middle of summer! However, the nights are cool, but everywhere we stayed had big fires in the fireplaces in the evenings and extra heaters in the rooms. Have a great trip! It's a wonderful country!

For the roads, no problem at all. The main roads are very well maintained; if you take the backroads, make sure to check ahead—you’ll often need a 4x4.

Good evening Marie-Claude, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who’s fallen under the spell of Skoura’s palm grove. All the best.

Thanks for this really recent info.

We’ll be spending a few days in Skoura in April. What sights did you visit? What’s worth seeing over 3 days? Looking forward to your tips. Thanks.

Check out all the discussions about Skoura, and you’ll find precise and varied answers. It’s often talked about on the forum.

That’s so true, thanks!

From Skoura, there are plenty of lovely walks besides the Dades Valley and gorges, which already take a full day. We enjoyed strolling through the palm grove, visiting a large Kasbah in Skoura, heading to the almond tree valley (gorgeous this season and no tourists—head toward Toundount north of Skoura), and the village of Boutharar by taking the road starting from El-Kelaâ M'Gouna. A little tip: even if you have a GPS, a good Michelin map bought in France isn’t useless—the GPS doesn’t recognize small roads or tracks. Happy exploring! MC

Did you get a chance to visit the douars off the beaten path beyond the wadis and the first palm grove? We discovered them last fall and found these villages incredibly peaceful and serene.

no, what do you mean by douars?

For me, a douar is a village.

Yes, the douars are small villages, not municipalities—just villages. The ones I visited in the fall are part of the Skoura municipality but are located about ten kilometers from the center of Skoura. You have to cross the wadis and head toward other palm groves with magnificent kasbahs, gardens, and the mountains in the background.

Thanks for the explanation—I was mixing up *douar* with *dar*.

From Skoura, there are plenty of lovely walks besides the Dades Valley and gorges, which already take a full day. We enjoyed strolling through the palm grove, visiting a large Kasbah in Skoura, heading to the almond tree valley (gorgeous this season and no tourists, head toward Toundount north of Skoura), and the village of Boutharar by taking the road starting from El-Kelaâ M'Gouna. A little tip: even if you have a GPS, a good Michelin map bought in France isn’t useless—the GPS doesn’t recognize small roads or tracks. Happy trails! MC

FYI, there’s now a detailed map of the Skoura palm grove. Since ads aren’t allowed here, feel free to DM me...

You're right, having a plan is great, but you'll also get excellent tips at hostels, and they definitely have maps and great deals to help their visitors.

Yeah, I thought that’s what a douar was—a small village.

Good evening Marie Claude, I agree with you on all the positive points about the guesthouse La Palmeraie. Ghizlane is an amazing cook and Mohammed is a very interesting guide. We saw so many things thanks to him, with a big highlight being the nighttime irrigation of the palm grove in his company. On the last day, we found out there was a cobbler in Skoura who made custom babouches, but it was too late... what a shame... Returning to France was tough—a real wake-up call, just as François predicted... The snow wasn’t far off, and it was difficult. I hope everything went well for you. Elodie

Hey Elodie, It was really tough for us too, that cold Paris region weather... I'll send you the photo you asked for as soon as I can—I'm already swamped! The other photos are already up on the site; you can check them out. They bring back such great memories!

From Skoura, there are plenty of lovely walks besides the Dades Valley and gorges, which already take a full day. We enjoyed strolling through the palm grove, visiting a large Kasbah in Skoura, heading to the almond tree valley (gorgeous this season and no tourists, direction Toundount north of Skoura), and the village of Boutharar by taking the road starting from El-Kelaâ M'Gouna. A little tip: even if you have a GPS, a good Michelin map bought in France isn’t useless—the GPS doesn’t recognize small roads or tracks. Happy hiking! MC

For your info, there’s now a detailed map of Skoura’s palm grove. Since ads aren’t allowed here, feel free to DM me...

Hello Christophe!

I’d love to get your map! I’ll be in Morocco from April 6th to 18th with my backpack! The goal is to do some short treks and get lost in the Atlas... I wanted to do Toubkal solo without a guide, but I think I’ll decide on the spot depending on the snow conditions. If you’ve got any tips, itineraries, or must-see off-the-beaten-path spots, don’t hesitate!

Thanks for sharing.

Guillaume

Hi Marie-Claude, Hi Elodie, We're heading to Skoura and we'll be thinking of you! Everyone gets their turn! We hope to find everything you experienced, but there’s no reason it wouldn’t be the same. Thanks for taking a few minutes to share your experience.

If you stay at the guesthouse KASBAH LA PALMERAIE, give our love to Abdessamad, Ghizlane, and Mohamed for us. Dominique and Marie-Anne

Hi Elodie, I’ve been enjoying your posts! I don’t mean to rub salt in the wound, but the babouches made in Skoura are gorgeous! Have a great Sunday!

Marie-Claude, I took some time this afternoon to explore your blog—it’s gorgeous! The photos of the men from behind, the bread, and the baker in Skoura are stunning. Just magnificent! A huge thank you for this Sunday trip into the chill!

Beautiful photos, that’s true! We recognized ZARA in the photo taken at the guesthouse—lovely shot, and what great bread! A real treat! Though for the hands, it must be terribly tough how hot it is!

We're thinking of stopping in Skoura in April, but we haven't booked yet. We're not sure exactly which day we'll be there—I hope there's still room for our little family!

there are 9 rooms in the palm grove good luck

A really beautiful blog full of photos taken during a stay in Skoura... http://b-by-bel.blogspot.com/2013/03/watercolor-course-at-skoura-authentik.html

Thanks Marie-Claude, that’s really kind of you to reassure us. We know Skoura from having passed through some time ago, and we’re heading back this year with the family.

Call a little beforehand—during All Saints' Day, it was fully booked for us, but that was school holidays...

A really beautiful blog full of photos taken during a stay in Skoura... http://b-by-bel.blogspot.com/2013/03/watercolor-course-at-skoura-authentik.html

After reading your blog, I’m a bit worried about crossing the Atlas Mountains to reach Ouarzazate and Skoura. Is it really as dangerous as you say? I hadn’t come across that kind of warning before...

A beautiful blog full of photos taken during a stay in Skoura... http://b-by-bel.blogspot.com/2013/03/watercolor-course-at-skoura-authentik.html

After reading your blog, I’m a bit worried about crossing the Atlas Mountains to reach Ouarzazate and Skoura. Is it really as dangerous as you say? I hadn’t come across that kind of feedback before...

Hi, That’s the blog of a friend who’s really into 4x4s, and she’d made the trip from Tangier to Skoura in a vehicle that had a minor issue—so she probably had a bit of an adrenaline rush... The road between Marrakech and Ouarzazate isn’t brand new, it’s full of reckless drivers, but it’s not necessarily much more dangerous than plenty of others... In any case, nothing that should put off a "normal" driver. Have a great trip...

Don’t be intimidated! There’s no such thing as zero risk, neither in France nor in Morocco! You’ve got to stay alert, of course, but no need to panic!

really nothing to worry about, the road is magnificent! As with any mountain road, you just need to be careful... Lots of friendly trucks let us pass....

What a strange idea to scare tourists for no reason! Go there carefully, but do go.

OK, thanks! We’ll take our time and be really careful! Anyway, everything’s already booked—we’re not canceling! But we sure scared ourselves!

Good thing it was booked! Surprising that a hostel owner would discourage potential guests with that kind of comment.

Call a little beforehand—during All Saints' Day, it was fully booked for us, but that was school holidays...

That’s our case—we’ll be in Morocco for spring break. And since we’re traveling as a family, we need 2 rooms, so we’ll call before arriving. Thanks, Dominique.

Good evening Marie Claude, I agree with you on all the positive points about the guesthouse La Palmeraie. Ghizlane is an amazing cook and Mohammed is a very interesting guide. We saw so much thanks to him, with a big highlight being the nighttime irrigation of the palm grove in his company. On the last day, we found out there was a cobbler who made custom babouches in Skoura, but it was too late... what a shame... Returning to France was tough, a real wake-up call as François had predicted... The snow wasn’t far off—it was difficult. I hope everything went well for you. Elodie

Good evening Elodie, I’m planning a stop in Skoura... at the guesthouse La Palmeraie. I just read your post: the nighttime irrigation of the palm grove... Could we learn a bit more about it? Thanks, and looking forward to reading your reply.

This must be the irrigation for the palm grove gardens.

Definitely. That seemed possible

Why at night? That’s surprising!

To ensure everyone gets their share, since water is scarce and precious, there’s a schedule—each person gets no more than 3 hours in a set time slot on rotation. In this case, it was supposed to be between 10 PM and midnight, or 11 PM and 1 AM, I can’t remember exactly, and we didn’t take part ourselves. It’s tough—you have to move fast and bring headlamps, plus shovels to open or close the channels where the water flows (coming from the springs).

Hi there, I took a little time to reply, but as Mohammed would say, "a man in a hurry is already dead"... so, watering the garden: we had visited the palm grove one morning with Mohammed. He explained the water-sharing system, the irrigation canals, etc., to us. One evening after dinner, he tells us it’s his turn for water, that he’s going to water his garden, and he invites us to come along. And off we go!! His water turn lasts from 10 PM to midnight. We grab our headlamps and head into the palm grove to open the irrigation canals that correspond to his plots. Then we head to the first plot, and there we sit in the field and wait for the water to arrive (all under a stunning starry sky). We don’t really understand why we have to wait for the water, but we wait... and after a while, there it is! And then it begins! The miracle of water! The water follows the small furrow dug along the edge of the field to flood a first section at the far end. Once that part is flooded, we quickly plug the entrance and open the passage to another section of the field, and so on until the entire field is flooded. This brings us to around 11:30 PM, and we think we’re going to head back to sleep—but no, that was just the warm-up... We quickly close the canal at the entrance of this field and rush to another field where a small furrow runs through the plot, this time from olive tree to olive tree (no need to waste water by irrigating the whole field; we focus on what’s essential). Mohammed shows us the path the water will take and explains which canal we’ll need to block so the water then takes the second small path into the other part of the field, and then... he heads off to the other side of the palm grove to close another canal and open the one that will bring water to the garden by the house. Our mission is to close off the first furrow once the water has reached the end and open the second passage. And we wait patiently for the water to arrive... The two of us (me and my partner) watch the journey of this water, so precious here, and cross our fingers that we’ve understood what Mohammed asked of us so we can rise to the occasion... Mohammed returns—mission accomplished for us! We head toward the house and do the same thing for the garden. And just like that, it’s 1:30 AM. We’ve finished "watering" the garden and have truly grasped the sacred nature of water... Thank you, Mohammed, for sharing this moment with us.

Hi Elodie, Your explanations are great—so authentic! Did you get the two photos of the Kasbah with Ghizlane?

This is great, I'm so happy I learned all these little things. Thanks a lot for the explanations.

Thanks Elodie, It's awesome to know all that, and even better to have experienced it!

Hello, I took a little time to reply, but as Mohammed would say, "a hurried man is already dead..." so, watering the garden: we had visited the palm grove one morning with Mohammed. He had explained the water-sharing system, the irrigation canals, etc... One evening after dinner, he tells us it’s his water turn, that he’s going to water his garden, and he offers for us to go with him. And off we go!! His water turn lasts from 10 PM to midnight. We grab our headlamps and head into the palm grove to open the irrigation canals corresponding to his plots. Then we head to the first plot, and there we sit in the field and wait for the water to arrive (all under a stunning starry sky). We don’t really understand why we have to wait for the water, but we wait... and after a while, there it is! And then it starts! The miracle of water! The water follows the small furrow dug at the edge of the field to flood a first section at the far end. Once that part is flooded, we quickly plug the entrance and open the passage to another section of the field, and so on until the entire field is flooded. This brings us to around 11:30 PM, and we think we’re going to head back to sleep, but no—this was just the warm-up... We quickly close the canal at the entrance of this field and rush to another field where a small furrow runs through the plot, this time from olive tree to olive tree (no need to waste water by irrigating the whole field; we focus on what’s essential). Mohammed shows us the path the water will take and explains which canal we’ll need to block so the water then takes the second small path in the other part of the field, and then... he heads off to the other side of the palm grove to close another canal and open the one that will bring water to the house’s garden. Our mission is to close off the first furrow once the water has reached the end and open the second passage. And we wait patiently for the water to arrive... The two of us (with my partner) watch the journey of this water, so precious here, and cross our fingers, hoping we’ve understood what Mohammed asked of us so we can rise to the occasion... Mohammed returns—mission accomplished for us! We head toward the house and do the same thing for the garden. And there we are, it’s 1:30 AM, we’ve finished "watering" the garden, and we’ve truly grasped the sacred nature of water... Thank you, Mohammed, for sharing this moment with us.

To be even more precise about this beautiful experience, we can note that "water rights" are divided among families over 24 hours, and within each family, time slots are then allocated. Nighttime slots are preferred, but why?

Several reasons: In summer, the heat... and the fact that crops also prefer to avoid the magnifying effect of water in full sun. The nighttime silence, which allows you to "listen" for any potential issues in the circuit. The fact that during the day, outside of allocated water rights, some people divert the circuit for a few minutes to water a few square meters, which disrupts the schedule—at night, they don’t do that. And probably other, more personal reasons...

Regarding the water distribution in the palm grove and the time slots, I think women and elderly people are prioritized for daytime irrigation, so younger men get the nighttime slots. That's what I was told!