Notes on the Geography of Morocco: South of the AtlasHere's a transect from the Atlas south to desert oases, where caravans once set out to cross the Sahara. Make default image size larger ![]() Between the Mediterranean coast and the Sahara, the Middle Atlas rise high enough, here between Fes and Midelt, to support a forest. ![]() The trees seem like giants in a country as dry and long-occupied as this one. ![]() Not far south, however, the forest is forgotten. The Oued Ziz winds its sinuous path through the desert. ![]() The Ziz finally disappears in the desert, but not before irrigating a series of oases. ![]() Look closely, and there's always a water channel. ![]() Date palms are the staple, but there's room for field crops. ![]() A village street in the oasis. ![]() Turning a hoist to lift sediment from a water tunnel. ![]() Some of the oases are good-sized, like Tinerhir, at the mouth of the Todra Gorges. ![]() Others are in ruins. ![]() There are many challenges to farming in this environment. One of them is suggested by these apparent fences of thatch. ![]() They sometimes cover whole hillsides. ![]() The quadrillage, to give this interlocking system its French name, is a sandcatcher. It works for a while but is finally overwhelmed. ![]() The government of Morocco has tried more modern materials, in this case corrugated concrete panels. ![]() Along the paved road following the Ziz into the desert: a fortress. ![]() Another, all in mud-brick. ![]() Ornamentation. ![]() Ait-Benhaddou, an abandoned fortress northwest of Ouarazate. ![]() Detail. ![]() Architectural detail of the wall. |
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