The second tallest waterfall in Africa home to the Berbery apes
We started planning this trip as a get away from Marrakesh, but we soon realised that this is a huge tourist destination so expect to find crowds. We decided to take part to a shared guided tour which allowed us to get out of the beaten track and explore amazing hiking trails.
The waterfall is composed by three beautiful waterfalls with a series of spectacular wide and narrow plunges that drop 110 m into the river below. The small village is charming and we had lunch a delicious buffet lunch (tagines and barbecue) at one of the pretty restaurants in Ouzoud surrounded by lime-trees, and we were served a freshly squeezed orange juice at one of the many cafes along the terraces by the falls. The view was unbelievable!
Ouzoud Waterfalls
The local guide took us on a walk up and down the falls and on the hills behind the waterfalls covered with olive and fig trees, almond and pomegranate trees and oaks. An exceptional panoramic view will welcome you and pay you back of all your climbing efforts.
You can also have a small tour around the pools at the bottom on a raft pulled by people using ropes (of course there is a fee to pay).
One of the main reasons why people decide to do this trip is to meet the friendly Berbery apes. They are used to tourists and they are unfortunately prompted with food by locals to come and jump on you to have a picture with and ask for money in return.
The problem is that people feed them with crisps, biscuits and many others unhealthy food which cause obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and typically human-related diseases. So please don’t feed them and remember that being wild animal they could propagate unpleasant illnesses so it’s better to take pictures at a distance (even if they are really cute!).
We decided to take this day trip from Marrakesh joining an organised small guided tour. It took us a couple of hours to get there, a couple of hours to do the trekking trail and then we had free time to explore the waterfalls area and have lunch together. The cost was around 25€ per person, including lunch, transports and the guide.
