Nature games in the desert

A very small adventure in the wet Anti-Atlas

After the violent thunderstorm on the evening before in Ourzazate A sunny morning greets us, after breakfast we plan to drive to Agdz and the Draa Valley. While we are still sipping our coffee, we hear deep rumbling outside and within half an hour the morning darkens and the sky opens again and a downpour, followed by heavy hailstorms, falls over the city. Even our room is not spared, water is pushed into the room under the balcony door. So we postpone our departure and marvel at the spectacle, the masses of water and the increasingly white city. And again the sewerage system is overwhelmed and the streets in Ourzazate are once again under water.

Ourzazate during thunderstorm

After about an hour the situation calms down and we leave with delay for our planned excursion. Leaving the city already turns out to be complicated, the main road is impassable. We are diverted over smaller side streets, which are also flooded, but our rental car masters it in the walking pace very well.

Let's go to Agdz.

The highway behind Ourzazate is free, almost no traffic, ahead of us still the dark, black clouds of the thunderstorm. After half an hour's drive we see a standing convoy of vehicles, traffic jams in the desert? No, the thunderstorm has turned a wadi into a wide, torrential river. It was impossible to drive through. Even SUV drivers and trucks find it too tricky. So wait and see, walk a little along the wadi and get used to the idea that you have to turn back, because the wadi swells more and more and you can't imagine that it will be passable on this day.

On the opposite side of the wadi there are no vehicles, probably there will be another flooded wadi. After about an hour and a half the wadi starts to sink noticeably and all waiting people are hopeful. Who makes the first attempt? And then it's really a truck driver who dares to be the first to cross the tides. We all follow his attempt with excitement.

The first

From now on there is no stopping, like a starting signal everyone jumps into their cars and dares to cross, vehicles are also coming from the other side. Some try to drive through very quickly, others sneak through. I also prefer slow speed so no water can get into the air filter. It takes another fifteen minutes until it's our turn because oncoming traffic now also crosses the wadi and we prefer to drive through the wadi without oncoming vehicles. A Moroccan tries to direct the chaos, signals to oncoming traffic to start or stop, but in the end he gives up and everyone has to see how he gets there.

Free route

In the end we made it without any problems; five minutes later the same wadi actually crosses the road again at a similar width. But here too the passage is risk-free. Afterwards the route is completely clear, in places the outgrowths of the storm can still be seen, white desert landscapes, other wadis filled with water.

The rain has completely changed the color of the landscape, the already colorful, contrasting Morocco is now even richer in colors and structures. One hour later we are at our destination and have only blue sky for us, a warm sun, only in the distance you can see the thunderstorm.

The return trip was dry and unspectacular. All wadis had no more water.
Like nothing happened.