Dadès & Todra Gorges to the Edge of the Desert

January 9^th, 2026

Today was going to be another driving day.  I was between 4-5 hours away from Merzouga, one of Morocco’s deserts, but with stops along the way, I figured I’d be on the road for the majority of the day, which was indeed the case…but what a drive.

 

It started off with driving through the Dadès Gorge, which was just a few kilometres from the campsite I stayed at last night.  It was quite narrow with tall rock faces on either side with the Dadès River running beside the road, but it wasn’t very long. 

About to enter Dadès Gorge.

Driving through Dadès Gorge.

The road began to snake up the mountainside as the sun started to light up the eastern faces of the striated rock.  I was getting closer and closer to the snowline.  I couldn’t help but stop numerous times to snap photos.

That's actually a frozen waterfall!

This is looking back from where I came.

Good job Octi!

Good morning Morocco!

Look at the snaking canyon.

The buildings in the distance are almost camouflaged.

And to think that this little river created those canyons in the previous photos...

Hitting the snowline for the first time in Morocco.

I didn't see any other traffic for a long time.

What a gorgeous day!

Starting to come down from the high pass through the mountains.

A beautiful ridgeline.

Soaking it all in.

I passed a few shepherds with their herd of goats and then saw a local woman in her 60s by the side of the road trying to catch a ride.  I decided to stop and give her a lift.  She climbed up into my front passenger seat, and I instantly regretted that I hadn’t lowered my window before she got in…phew.  Let’s just say that she didn’t smell like roses.

 

She didn’t seem to speak any French so our conversation was limited to me patting my chest and saying “David”…and that was it.  As I suspected, she was just going to the small town in the distance.  She motioned for me to stop.  As she got out, she rubbed her thumb and forefinger together while muttering something and it was obvious she was hoping for some money.  Well, she’s got gumption that’s for sure.  She got a free ride, might as well go for the jackpot.  I shook my head as I thought I’d done my good deed for her already and headed on my way while rolling down my window for some fresh air. 

A lake formed by a dam, just 4-5 kilometres from where I dropped off the woman.

The other side of the dam.  The road then dropped down and followed the canyon...making all drivers put a lot of trust in the dam not breaking!

Still driving through the canyon.

Seemed like a strange place to live to me...but it actually wasn't too far from a small city.

The first palm trees that I saw in the canyon.

There are some rock climbers just below the middle of the photo...the little black dots.

The start of the Todra Gorge.

Driving through Todra Gorge.

Of course there were vendors selling souvenirs beside the road.

It was impressive.

Popping out to the palm tree groves of the small city Tinghir.

Okay...I must be getting close to the desert!

Those are small, almost identical hills, almost like waves.

There's a tourist place near Enderby, in BC near where I live in the summer called the Red Barn.  It sells touristy stuff but also baked goods, smoked salmon and all kinds of stuff.  Outside of the Red Barn, to get your attention and make your little kids in the backseat say "Daddy, can we stop here?" are statues of animals and dinosaurs, along with some goats running around.  Well, this looked to me like the Moroccan version of the Red Barn!

Seeing the big dunes near Merzouga.

There were this strange squares made with little fences of some kind of straw.  I couldn't figure out what they were for but the next day I learned that they were constructed to stop the sand from blowing on the highway, as that has been a hazard in the past.

The "sand immobilizers".

Almost there...

That's an impressive dune.

Arriving into Merzouga.

I found the place, met one of the adult sons of the owner who was name H’med and then met his dad, Mohammed.  Super nice guys.  I enjoyed some tea while talking with Mohammed and he ran down my options of things to do while I was here (all in French, so I didn’t catch all of the details) and he was going to sort me out in the morning, starting with a three-hour tour with H’med.

 

The night before arriving here, I had a strange dream that involved some weird bobsledding, the details of which I won’t bother with, but in the dream I ran into a paragliding friend of mine, Pierre.  I used to know Pierre in Victoria back in the early 2000s and we met up in France in 2010.  I’ve seen him once since in Lumby so it’s not like we’re close, but for some reason he ended up in my dream. 

 

Anyways, the campground in Merzouga where I’m at is called “Camp La Liberte” (Camp Freedom), which is a great name since I work at the Freedom Flight School in the summertime.  But get this, what is Pierre’s last name?  Yup, Laliberte.  Crazy!

Octi's spot for the next 3 nights...right at the edge of Erg Chebbi.