The morning sun is intense here at 4,000 feet on the southern side of the High Atlas Mountains. It darts up over the horizon and blasts through the semi-sheer fabric that passes for curtains in the country.
It’s too early in the year to ever feel “hot”, which might be the most unsteadying thing about the blinding light. Here we are in North Africa, maybe 100 miles from the Sahara, and highs hit 70 degrees most days (if we’re lucky).
Our Euro-African Journey (So Far...)
Another tasty and filling breakfast on our road trip.
A close-up view of the construction of the guesthouse.
Leaving Auberge Migusta, we drive a short distance toward the center of the oasis to have a look around.
The best way to see the oasis is on foot or on bike. Skoura really isn’t suited for driving—the roads are astonishingly narrow (for such a flat village with so much space to spread out), and most of the more interesting things to see have to be accessed on foot anyway.
I don’t know how many of these old and crumbling Kasbahs there are in town. We came across at least half a dozen.
Interesting to take a look around, but we wouldn’t dare set foot inside. The mud walls look like a gust of wind could topple them at any minute.
Wandering around the vast palm oasis is arguably Skoura’s most distinctive experience. But Kasbah Amridil might very well be its most popular and recognizable attraction.
Palm-fringed 17th-century Kasbah Amridil is an exceptionally well-preserved earthen citadel and living museum, showcasing authentic rammed earth architecture and traditional Berber life.
Among other things, it’s special for being featured on the 50 Dirhams banknote and continuing to be managed by the original family.
The boys love this sort of school day. I love that we’re often the only ones in these places (or close to it)—a very different story from Marrakesh.
There are three separate sections you can enter at Kasbah Amridil—the largest section (on the far right as you enter), the middle section, and the restaurant on the far left.
We’d read that the best value for your time and money is the right-side, and we think we’d agree (we did not bother with the center section).
We didn’t originally have plans to visit the restaurant, but after spotting it from the highest point of the complex, I wanted to check it out.
An espresso and a unique view.
Before we knew it, it was time to head on to our next waypoint.
Along the way, Lori thought it might be worth checking out the Valley of the Roses. We knew this wasn’t the season for roses, but it still sounded worth a little detour.
The Valley of the Roses is dotted with ruins of Ksars, much like Aït Benhaddou, but not in as good of condition (to say the least).
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a massive bird’s nest on the top of a minaret. The blaring speaker five times a day must not bother them much (maybe they even like it?).
After Valley of the Roses it was a tedious and soul-crushing slog through a seemingly never-ending string of villages until reaching the turn-off for Dades Gorges.
Note from the future: On the way back, we discovered you can skip this stretch by taking the alternate highway to the southeast via Ait Haqi. However this also bypasses Valley of the Roses.
Our next pitstop: Hiking Nomads Guesthouse in Dades Gorge. A bit pricier than the rest, but with two separate rooms…
…and a private and spacious balcony with a view.
The rooftop terrace ain’t bad either…
However, the best attribute of the guesthouse might just be its proximity to the gorge’s famous Monkey Fingers, seen here at sunset. We’ll be hiking that tomorrow.
