5: Surviving the Sand & Heat!

Now we're talking! As a birthday treat for Janette, Nick has come up trumps and booked us in to a lovely riad for the night just outside Zagora in a village called Amazraou.

This is a lovely place, peaceful and surrounded by a beautiful garden and beyond that a palm grove. We all, dogs included, have a lovely time lolling about in the sunshine in the garden.

The weather is warm and sunny and we enjoy lunch on the patio and they serve Moroccan wine, what's not to like?!

We then wander through the palm grove where, beneath the shade of the palms all sorts of vegetables are being grown and of course the palms are rich with dates.

Next morning after a delicious dinner, peaceful sleep and hearty breakfast, we're refreshed and all set to head off on the next stage of our adventure.

Next stop - Foumz-guid. The palms in this area are in a dreadful state. We don't know if they are dying for lack of water or if they just have a life span which they've reached the end of.

This campsite is busy, it serves as a launching pad for those travelling to the desert. There are plenty of interesting vehicles for Nick to admire - and lots of tinkering going on before they head off into the Sahara.

It’s a relaxed environment and Janette takes the opportunity to catch up on a book.

When we go for a walk to the nearby village we encounter a number of ladies in traditional Amazigh shawls and glitzy skirts - they are all very jolly but don't speak French or English and so we have no idea what's afoot though they are clearly all off for some sort of jollification.

Our next destination is the town of Tata, which has a reputation of being very ‘French’ and un-touristy.

Almost immediately we drive into a sand storm - this is not something either of us has experienced before, the wind is fierce - blowing and buffeting high-sided Lionel relentlessly. At times the visibility is very poor and we have to stop as we can’t see the road!

We have friends who go storm chasing in America and although we think this storm is quite something, they are unimpressed!

Gradually conditions improve although the wind is still strong and every so often dust flies up so we need to keep all the windows closed.

We drive alongside a deep gorge and see a moonscape environment on the other side - this is what we love about Morocco, these unexpected and frequently spectacular landscapes.

We pass the occasional Dromedary wandering at the side of the road… we've been merrily referring to them as camels, but as was pointed out, a camel has two humps and a dromedary only one! Although they look wild, the majority are actually owned by nomads.

The campsite options in Tata aren't great, we chose the best of them and on the plus side we can walk into town and also walk the dogs (with the assistance of plenty of keen helpers!). We head towards the old part of town where there is a small reservoir with drainage channels feeding the palm grove.

There are no tourist shops here, it's very much a workaday Moroccan town and we like that. If we want to buy supplies it's a case of mucking in with the locals - and we do exactly that!

Our next stop proves to be a highlight of the trip so far. Icht is a small town in the draa-Tafilalet region of southeastern Morocco - it hardly rains here and it's pretty much off the tourist track.

We want to come here to go to the ancient Amazigh underground village but what we don't expect is that we'll be surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside so far.

The weather is warm and sunny and we head off on a walk, we see no one else and the peace is total. We have a 360 degree panorama, we are surrounded by mountains of all shapes and sizes, some near and some distant.

Today we are visiting the ancient village. The walk there is along a dry riverbed and it's lovely.

Much of the village is in a derelict state but our guide tells us that some of the homes are still occupied in the summer by people from the town seeking refuge from the 50 degrees heat.

The village is extraordinary, it's 2,000 years old! There are a handful of other people there but otherwise it's deserted.

A network of corridors and tunnels spread two floors underground. Wooden roof beams are made from roughly sawn palm trunks and don't suffer from rotting due to the humidity which averages 58%.

The old mosque is interesting with the place where they washed bodies to prepare them for burial still in evidence.

We go into one building where we explore all three floors and the roof terrace. Three families would have shared this space. We see where the kitchen was - the beams are blackened by smoke from the fire.

Modern life is apparent as soon as we leave the village, we meet and chat to the local lads busy gaming on their phones!

They’re on their way back from school - where they’re taught English, French and the local Amazigh language.

We love it here so much we decide to stay an extra night before we head away from the desert and towards the mountains.