(Part 1: Dades Valley to M’Hamid)
A Country I Thought I Knew
After all the time I’ve spent in Morocco, I thought I knew what to expect. I’d seen the wide extremes of its landscape and was excited to share my favorite places with Nike. But as it turned out, this journey still had plenty of surprises for both of us.
Nike had never been to Morocco before. But she’d done her homework—reading up, asking around, and picking out a few spots she really wanted to see. That was a win for me too, because it brought us to places I hadn’t planned for, and I got to rediscover the country through fresh eyes.
Mountains, Monkeys, and Canyons
We wandered beneath pine trees and cheeky monkeys in the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas. We spent a night in a village known for its dinosaur fossils. And then came Todra Gorge—a stunning but cold hike that left us breathless (in more ways than one).
Nike was keen to check out the Dades Valley too. I wasn’t overly excited, expecting something similar to Todra. But it was absolutely different—rocks like monkey fingers, winding roads, and snow-covered mountains that felt straight out of a storybook. The guesthouse we stayed in was the warmest, best maintained Moroccan-owned place I’ve visited so far.
The Road Less Traveled—And Snow Covered
What I didn’t know back then was that the next day would take us straight into the unexpected—again.
We chose a shortcut over the Anti-Atlas, one of those typical Moroccan backroads I remembered from my early travels: narrow, rugged, winding through a wild, dry mountain range. Or at least, that’s what I thought it would be.
But Morocco has changed.
Gone are the old, battered Mercedes taxis struggling up dusty hills. In their place: smooth, new roads wide enough for two lanes, flanked by bike paths stretching all the way into the Sahara. Most of the cars now are nearly new, and the infrastructure was better than I’d ever seen it.
So when we finally hit a narrow, potholed road in the mountains, I had to smile. “That’s more like it,” I thought—until the snow hit. The temperature dropped to freezing, and the road was suddenly covered in white. We were completely unprepared for snow in the desert, but thankfully, once we came down the other side, the road was dry again.
Return to the Desert
That day ended in M’Hamid—one of the most meaningful places for me in all of Morocco. It’s where I started my solo Sahara trek back in 2013, a trip that changed my life. I was thrilled to be back, to reconnect with my old friend Yahyah, and to share the magic of this place with Nike. We were ready to spend the final days of the year out in the quiet, golden silence of the desert.
I hope you enjoy the ride. Until next time—stay curious, stay salty.
– Floh