Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 0673 82 90 54; Maisonberbere30@yahoo.fr; adult Dh15; 8am-6pm)
This place stands in the
largely uninhabited old hilltop village, where bulging boulders have been incorporated in-
to the pisé walls of the centuries-old houses. You can visit the Carved Gazelle as part of a
tour of the four-floor dwelling, where the knowledgeable proprietor Mahfoud's family
once lived. It's possible to stay the night here (per person including breakfast/half-board
Dh150/230) and Mahfoud, a trekking guide, offers Berber music soirées and tea ceremon-
ies.
Tirnmatmat
To find the
rock engravings
at Tirnmatmat, take the Tiznit road (R104), then after 14km turn
north at Tahala towards Aït Omar. Just before the village, an unmarked
piste
(track) leads
to Tirnmatmat, where you will find the
gravures
(engravings) along the riverbed (the local
kids will lead you there, or engage a guide from Tafraoute). The village sits in a lovely
spot and there are excellent
walks
in all directions.
Le Châpeau de Napoléon & the Pierres Bleues
The village of Aguerd-Oudad, 3km south of Tafraoute, makes for a nice stroll or bike ride.
From the roundabout by the Afriquia petrol station in Tafraoute, take the road to Tiznit via
Izerbi. On the way you will see the unmistakable rock formation known as Le Châpeau de
Napoléon (Napoleon's Hat).
Some 7km south of Tafraoute, 500m past the foot of the road to the Afella-Ighir oasis, a
'touristique piste'
leads uphill to the right to the Pierres Bleues (Painted Rocks), the work
of Belgian artist Jean Verame.
Verame spray-painted the smooth, rounded boulders in shades of blue, red, purple and
black in 1984 and, although the rocks have a faded air, they remain strange and impress-
ive against the landscape. Local lore has it that the villagers give these incongruous tourist
attractions a fresh coat of paint every year.
The packed earth track is passable in a normal car, but this is prime mountain-biking
territory. You can see the rocks after a couple of kilometres, then ride or drive right up to
them some 5km away. The track leads 9km to the village of Afella Ouaday, 5km from Ta-
fraoute on the Tiznit road (R104).
