Location
Access
Advices for the road
Climatic conditions
Location
Dar Raha is in Amezrou, which is part of Zagora, capital of the
Province of Zagora. It is at 160km from Warzazat and 360km from
Marrakech.
Access
By airplaine : Warzazat is the nearest airport. Royal Air Maroc, Regional Air Lines, President Air Lines offer direct flights from European capitales and the situation is evolving rapidly. Just check last opportunities !
Alternatively, the nearest airports are Marrakech and Agadir (you need roughly the same time to come from either town to Zagora : a day or so). The road from Marrakech is breathtaking, shorter but mountaneous ; from Agadir, it is as beautiful, longer but easier.
By car from Marrakech, via the pass of the Tichka,
or from Agadir, via Tazenacht ea,nd Agdz) : In both cases, expect
6 hours drive.
From Marrakech, a wonderful mountain road is waiting for you, steep
around the pass of the Tichka (2260m), then getting down to Warzazat
from which you will cross again a lower mountain (1698m) to enter
the valley of the Dra and its superb string of palms groves, kasbah
and qsour.
From Agadir, the road takes you up the valley of the Souss and through
the low altitude mountains from Tazenacht to Agdz.
From Warzazat : 2.5 hours drive
In Zagora, you are likely to be approached by young men on motor bikes
or otherwise, willing to sell you a room and everything you might
dream of. But to access Dar Raha, you juste have to follow the road
in the direction of M’hamid, cross the city centre, then the
oued, turn on right 200m later, and then after less than a kilometer,
you’ll reach Amezrou area. Dar Raha sign.
Zoom
We can book for you hotels and transfers, in Marrakech and Warzazat
: tell us what you wish.
Advices for the road
If you come by bus, it is easy to find a small
(yellow) taxi at Zagora station that will take you to Dar Raha (Daytime
rate: 8 Dh.). The same applies if you arrive by collective taxi,
of which the station is in the city centre (Daytime rate: 4 Dh)
Small advices for the road
Young guys on the side of the road, with a broken down car ? In
the valley, most of the time, it is a stratagem for you to take
one of them and end up inevitably… drinking tea in a shop!
Regular incidents happen with some undeclared mechanics whose ways
of doing are not always recommandable. Better to be careful.
Have enough water with you to guard against all eventualities. The
climate is very dry and the average heat makes it indispensable
to drink regularly. Each small agglomeration has its shops selling
mineral water.
Climatic conditions : What should we take ?
Zagora and the valley of the Dra beneficiate from a dry and hot
climate, dramatically hoter and drier than on the northern side
of the Atlas mountains or the western side (in the Souss).
From June to August, the temperature climbs to 46° and more
(51°), while in December-January, the most humid months, it
goes doxn to 10° and 5° (minimum : 1°).
The rest of the year, day or night are enjoyable, more particularly
from February to May, and from September to November. The most looked
after are the months of April and October, with day temperature
being on the average between 25° and 30°.
Beside summer, contrasts are strong between day and night temperatures,
and day falls rapidly. The difference is again very remarkable between
shadow and sun. It is wise to have something to protect one’s
head from the sun (why not a local « chech » - large
nomdaic scarf) and from the cooling in the evening or the early
morning.
It is between April and August that sand storms are to be expected.
Strong winds can blow for a short while or for long. Then, again,
it is wise to protect oneself with some sort of jacket and «
chech ».
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