Day 5 - Oozoud Waterfall

Happy Wedding Anniversary day! This day last year Anna and I were having the best time getting married. One year on, we find ourselves in the 40+ degree heat in Morocco. Today had to be a day for the memories and thankfully Aoife had a plan.

Last night, Aoife had found a day trip to Ouzoud Waterfall, which had very much a ‘too good to be true’ price. The reviews on trip adviser convinced us it was legit so we went for it anyway. It meant we were up for an early 7.30am breakfast and were picked up down the road at 8.20am by a minibus. The bus was late and of course alarm bells were ringing until the white van full of french tourists pulled up alongside us.

A 3hr trip would take us to Ouzoud Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in North Africa. When all 3 buses arrived, we were divided into our language groups and thankfully we had the nicest guide you could have. We found ourselves interacting with our guide Younus a bit and he even told us about the time he had to run away from snakes in the Atlas Mountains. He was a modern day Indiana Jones.

Our tour started at the top of the waterfall, explaining that green olives are green because they have more water, black olives would be grown at higher altitude with less water. We also got a lesson on making Argan oil, the arabic and berber languages as well as the dealings of arranged marriages in the berber community. Quite appropriate for the day thanks Younus!

Having made our way down the mountainside to the river emerging from the waterfall, we were herded on to boats which were rowed through the small gorge and as close as possible to the waterfall without actually going under. Aoife at the front of the boat got soaked bless her.

After we dried off, we were taken up the steps for some lunch overlooking the waterfall and we all watched on as a guy attempted to jump off it. The whole gorge was engrossed with his attempt and everyone was waiting for it. Time after time he retreated to everyone’s disappointment.

The fans got what they wanted when another guy rocked up and just jumped. It was then when our guide said one of his friends had done that before and died, sucked under by the water and the body couldn’t be retrieved for 2 weeks. It was a harrowing story, yet he managed to tell us in the most direct and unemotional way.

With all the drama finished, we headed back up to the top, past a few wild monkeys who were all up for getting a few pictures with the tourists in exchange for some peanuts. We also passed the guy who didn’t have the courage to jump the waterfall - we had actually seen him earlier as we boarded our boats. He arrived with an entourage of boys, playing loud music and acting like the big man. It’s a shame he was all talk.

As our bus returned home to Marrakech through the sudden sandstorm and rain that ambushed us, we reflected on how good this trip was; picked up and dropped off at your riad, a good engaging tour, a boat ride and a guaranteed lunch (which was only £10 for 5 courses) all for only £17. Bargain!

We knew we were back in Marrakech when we smelled the peat in the air cooking all concoctions of food. We had no time to soak it all in as we had reserved dinner at Palais Jad Mahal and only had 30mins to get ready. Despite our rushing and best efforts, the hotel taxi service had other ideas and we ended up being 30mins late. Never mind, we were here now.

A recommendation from our friend Jan, the restaurant was in up-market Marrakech, a world away from the area we were staying in. Our meal was accompanied by belly dancers and fire eaters and I was made to savour my 5 bits of ravioli - thank goodness for bread baskets. We were living in the heart of local Marrakech so it felt nothing like Morocco to us, but we lapped it up nonetheless.

Before we headed home, we popped round to Jemaa el-Fna Square to see what all the fuss is about. Chaos. Carnage. Madness. Perhaps not a single word could describe what that place was like. Like bees swarming around honey, there were people everywhere and if you weren’t nearly knocked down by a horse or motorbike, you were asked to eat or buy something. After assaults from all sides, we finally made it through and got a taxi home.

The taxi man had never seen google maps before and had no idea where we were off to when I showed him. It felt odd to be directing the taxi man through the streets of Marrakech and the Medina, but we got there in the end. Just as we thought we were home and safe, 2 young kids took a liking to Anna and preceded to jump and scare at her.

We finally got in our room, locked the door and relaxed in the knowledge that we were finally safe, for now at least.