Ourika Valley

The Ourika Valley was one place I hadn't seen in Morocco until the last couple of weeks. It is a very picturesque valley coming down from the High Atlas Mountains and relatively close to Marrakesh, only a 45 minute drive away. The valley has steep mountainsides, a bubbling stream running down the centre of the valley that is bordered by green fields of crops. Cooler than Marrakesh (not hard when it has been 43 or 45 degrees for the last few days) and an attractive peaceful environment it is an ideal destination for day trippers. There are lots of cafes and restaurants scattered along the valley edges to cater for these visitors. In addition there are also many hotels and auberges for visitors who want to stay overnight. I can imagine it would be a very peaceful place then, once the day trippers go home. It certainly is picturesque with th buildings being forced to be built on the stepp mountainsides, often painted very colourfully or decorated in an ornate way.
Located 24 kilometres up the valley is th pilgrimage site of Setti Fatma. here an annual festival is held at the shrine or Koubba of Setti Fatma. Not when I was there though.
We returned directly along the Ourika Valley to Marrakesh, however to enter the valley we followed the piste (dirt) road from Imlil , winding through the mountains, past earthen housed Berber villages and road excavation. We also passed turn off to Oukaimeden, Morocco's main ski resort, which is reached by following the Ourika Valley. Travelling the piste road gave the opportunity to see some stunning mountain vistas. Unfortunately photographs can not give the scale and grandeur of these views. so high were the mountains that the villages looked like they wre made from brown paper-covered matchboxes. Juniper grew wild in many areas of these mountains - Red Juniper, Spanish Juniper or Prickly Juniper. Here is an attempt to depict these stunning views in the photograph below.