Should have been a more straightforward day today as we set off north on a main road to see the very spectacular Aït Mansour Canyon.
This viewpoint was south of the gorge and seemed to be within easy reach for us, but we hadn’t reckoned on flood and earthquake damage.
One of the villages in particular was in such an awful state, we felt bad even driving past. The problem is, there’s never anywhere to turn around! It looked like newer houses had been built in front of the old damaged ones but obviously in the exact same location – hard to get your head around, but maybe there’s no choice. Later in the day, a local man told us that the roads had been severely damaged by flash flooding in September last year.
We couldn’t believe the amount of trees and general detritus that had been washed down the wide river bed – it must have been terrifying.
As for us, the roads were in a diabolical state. Just washed away in places, but fortunately, the locals had placed stones around the major holes. It was strange, as these awful stretches were interspersed with sections of newish tarmac which made us think ‘Ah, it’ll be ok now’, three miles on, it would all start again!
The canyon at Aoukerda though, WOW! The whole area looks like some kind of geological bomb has gone off. Must be like a small version of the Grandad Canyon. We had to pull in at the side of the road as we could see that the rest of the track was impassable for us. This meant a 7point turn for Guy but he still did it in less time that the man parked next to us on a little car 🤣!
We had a walk down the rest of the road to see the amazing ‘window of life’ in the rock face. Uphill on the way back, but we did get to see some little stripey ground squirrels and white crowned black wheatear birds.
We had planned to go back down the road we came up, but there was no way on earth that was happening. The alternative idea was to carry on north to Tafraoute, then pick up the main roads tomorrow. Problem was, the road north was almost as bad in places.
A few kilometres from Tafraoute there are some painted rocks – blue and pink to be exact. A stunt pulled off by a Belgian artist in 1984 – apparently, he enlisted the help of some firemen to hose the paint over the rocks!
Again, we struggled to get anywhere near, so we parked up and walked. It is quite a spectacle, but I think it would be better if everyone else hadn’t joined in over the years…there’s almost too many now, detracting somewhat from the main event.
Got sandblasted walking back and now in a huge dusty carpark for £1.30 along with several other homies. The town looked ok, but we got hassled by a guide even when stopped for petrol.
