Backpacks and Flipflops: Tafraout.... the stuff of Legends..... time to go....Morocco is Magic... Inshallah ...we will return......

Morocco...part 7....the final chapter
Tafraout .... the Berber Heartland.....
...a magical place....time to say Shokran and farewell..

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Prologue

.....the boulders sing....they hum magic....the wind plays the Berber song...here in the Anti-Atlas Mountains....the Valley of Legends surround us.....above...the clouds... the spirits of past Berber and Tuareg traders soar past....casting shadows on the red-adobe boulders that dot this rugged landscape around us....we feel the shivers as they pass through us....ghosts of camel trains met here..once....ling ago....at the crossroads...... from the desert...the ocean...the mountains....we are here...surrounded by whispers... wrapped in the arms of the Anti-Atlas....spells are broken as we mountain-bike over hard pack...crunch gravel in gullies and along dry river beds... we follow the faded paths of those that were here.....the fables...the legends...in this high country....it is Morocco's middle Earth...here in the Berber Heartland....

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Tafraout
Morning has broken...it truly has....here in Tafraout
..the sun shines, rising over the towering peaks that surround Tafraout....we are already wrapped in the spell of this gentle town...

We have a great breakfast at our Riad..then with some plans formed with help from our Riad's host, Bouchra....we decide to rent mountain-bikes and explore the boulder strewn landscape around Tafraout.

We are also heading to an area made famous in 1984 or some would say... infamous..by a Belgian artist's painting of the boulders that dot the region. It seems akin to painting any sacred site, a desecration of a natural splendor. We are not impressed!

We bike out on a quiet paved road, head through a strangely quiet, deserted village of red-adobe that sits under the shadow of a rock formation called Le Chapeau de Napoleon....

We ride through this clean, beautiful village and follow tracks out into the mountain desert and the boulder strewn Barney Rubble/Flintstone-esque vista.

The mountain bikes are perfect for this off road adventure. We stop here and there, clamber up and over boulders.

The afternoon passes all too quickly out in this gorgeous land.

As has been the case for most of our time in Morocco....we are alone....the only ones in the stillness....we inhale the scent of the scrub grass and desert bushes....the wind plays over the boulders...

Our time in Morocco is rapidly coming to an end. Tafraout is the perfect spot to end our journey. The isolation, rugged beauty and friendliness of locals make it an area we'd return to one day.

This area has been on the caravan trail for eons, as well as the Volkswagen bus route of recent memory....It has been rediscovered now as a place of retreat for both Moroccans and foreigners as they build their mountain getaways in the town. Climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, also, have been drawn to its allure for off road adventure.

Stunning beauty...a Berber ambiance....it embodies all the best that we've encountered in our travels through Morocco...........we awake to rain on our last day in Tafraout. After breakfast and lingering over our coffee n tea, we head to the market and hope the skies clear enough for a bike ride to the Ameln Valley later in the day.

We browse the Berber and Tuareg crafts; silver jewelry, knives, precious stones, carpets, robes and tajine pottery are brought here, traded here, sold here. In addition, the town's market showcases outstanding leather work..from bags to shoes. We find a few items, sit and have tea, while watching for signs the sky is brightening.

Inshallah, our prayers are answered...blue skies return and we have several hours to ride into the Ameln Valley.

Still clouded, with streams cascading down the mountain sides, we are able to visit a small portion of the valley oasis and the many small, picturesque villages that dot the green hillsides.

As the sun begins to drop behind the Anti-Atlas, we are rewarded with a rainbow. It seems a fitting end to our way too short time in Tafraout and so symbolic of our month's journey through this wondrous country.

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Final thoughts...
.... Morocco is a stunningly beautiful country...with a varied geography from sublime desert scapes, breathtaking mountain vistas and rugged ocean coastline....
....its people are as beautiful as the country...from dress, to colour to beliefs....
.... Morocco captures your heart, squeezes your emotions, opens its doors and embraces you...
...we have covered approximately 3000 kilometers during our remarkable time in Maroc....
... Inshallah ...we will return....

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....we leave with a quote from James A Michener.....

"If you reject the food....ignore the customs...fear the religions....and avoid the people...you might better stay at home"

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Additional Random Photos