0350. Morocco's Amazing Waterfall (Mor 181--new)

Ouzoud is much more developed touristically than Imin Ifni—there’s a regular flow of cars, vans and busses loaded with tourists coming from Marrakesh to see the falls.  There’s a large hotel and a row of shops where I’m able to buy some non-counterfeit batteries for my camera… Then I follow the road that I think leads to the falls but it leads across a bridge to Ouzoud village instead… I go ahead and explore the village a bit.  Nothing unusual about the town except for the row of outdoor restaurants selling tagines and the campsites in the nearby forest.  A very tranquil, ordinary place—you’d never guess that one of the most spectacular falls in the worlds is just a few hundred feet away…

Like Natural Bridges, I’ve also seen my share of waterfalls.  In fact, I spent a couple of summers in Oregon, USA where there’s a beautiful waterfall every couple hundred yards… So I didn’t figure Ouzoud would be all that big a deal…

But I was wrong again.

I stepped up to the lip and gazed down— The water that seemed to plunge into infinity… the cavelike formations on the cliffs… the semiarid mountain panorama… The rainbow created… it all combines into one of the most beautiful falls in the world. 

OK, I’ll admit Niagara falls and Foz de Iguazu are pretty impressive—but there’s something about seeing a massive waterfall in the middle of a semidesert that is incredibly refreshing…

I Hiked down the path to the bottom, lined with tagine joints and souvenir shops.  Stopped to take a clip halfway, and another at the bottom—which will probably be one of my favourites.

After soaking in the beauty for a bit, I crossed a small footbridge and followed a zigzag trail of the mountain on the other side… From there I got yet another great angle view of the falls…

So… though I hate to admit it, Ouzoud is a touristy location that makes it high up my list of favourite places in Morocco…