Paradise valley - Agadir

Paradise valley - Agadir

Paradise Valley is a section of the Tamraght River valley in the Moroccan Atlas mountains. It is located approximately 20 km north of Agadir. The valley is known for its abundance of rock pools and small waterfalls.

Most visitors to Paradise Valley travel onwards from the palm groves and gorges of the river Tamrhakht up into the mountains towards Imouzzer. The names of this and other villages differ according to whom or from where you are receiving your directions. This variance applies also to the names of valleys, estimates of distance, timetables of bus transport, and of course the cost of getting there and back. Getting to Paradise Valley and the mountains beyond requires a hire car or collective grand taxi.

Here you can see two youtube video of Paradise valley Agadir:

Part one

Part two

It was an amazing experience, the unfinished road might be a problem to reach paradise valley but mostly it is a good road, then you have to walk for about 20 mins in the valley, and that's fun because you will be walking in nature, among mountains, trees and water..

I also noticed some small "cafes" created by locals, the beautiful thing is that some of them have chairs on water so you can feel water running on your feet while you're having a drink as you could see in the video.

Paradise valley is in the middle of the road to Imouzzar, another nice place with beautiful waterfalls

This is a video of some Cliff Jumps in Paradise valley Idaoutanane:

some cliffs are pretty high, so if you are into cliff jumping then this area would satisfy your desire, waters are good, depending on what time of year you decide to visit, avoid the summer as it is way too crowded with both locals and tourists, best time of year to visit paradise valley is during the spring, between April and May, after the rain season is over and the level of water is a little high, and also everything around you would be green and the weather is mostly beautiful.

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Morocco: The best of in 2 minutes

Morocco: The best of in 2 minutes

This post is about letting you know that the link to the slidshow about Morocco and moroccan cities I have posted before has been changed, and it doesn't let me change it in the older post, so I have decided to post it again, in a wider video because the last one was in a small screen.

The video shows pictures and landscaped about the most beautiful cities and places in morocco that you should visit, from the north to south, east to west, desert to the beach, forests to mountains..

cities shown in this video: Agadir, Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Ouarzazat, Ouzoud (Azilal), Ifrane, Tangier, Tetouan, Asila, Fes, Meknes, Martil, Taghazout, Merzouga, Erfoud, Chefchaouen (or Chaouen/Chawen for short),

Enjoy!

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Chefchaouen or chawen

Chefchaouen or Chaouen

Chefchaouen is one of, if not the, most beautiful places to see in northwest Morocco, also called "the blue city" or "the blue town" because of the blue colors that dominates most of its buldings.
Watch the beauty of Chefchaouen in these videos:

In this second video you can see more of chefchaouen plus Akchour or "Akechour", wich is a beautiful natural place near chefchaouen, with breathtaking waterfalls and beautiful clean water:

More about Chefchaouen from Wikipedia:
Chefchaouen or Chaouen (Amazigh: ⵜⵛⴻⴼⵜⵛⴰⵡⴻⵏ Accawn, Arabic: شفشاون/الشاون, Spanish: Chauen, lit. "horns") is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name, and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue.Chefchaouen is situated in the Rif Mountains, just inland from Tangier and Tetouan. The city was founded in 1471, as a small fortress which still exists to this day, by Moorish exiles from Spain led by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami to fight the Portuguese invasions of northern Morocco. It was known as one of the main concentrations of Moriscos and Jews who sought refuge in this mountainous city after the Spanish Reconquista in medieval times. In 1920, the Spanish seized Chefchaouen to form part of Spanish Morocco. Spanish troops imprisoned Abd el-Krim in the kasbah from 1916 to 1917, after he talked with the German consul Dr. Walter Zechlin (1879–1962). (After defeating him with the help of the French force Abd el-Krim was deported to Réunion in 1926). Spain returned the city after the independence of Morocco in 1956.

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Ifrane

Ifrane

Ifrane Morocco in video:

Ifrane (Arabic: إفران/يفرن‎; Amazigh: ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵏ/ ⵢⴼⵔⵏ Ifran) (nicknamed Little Switzerland) is a town and ski resort in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco  (population 73,782 in November 2014). Ifrane is 1665 metres (5,460 ft) in altitude and is part of the Meknès-Tafilalet region. In Tamazight, the regional Amazigh language, "ifran" means caves.

One of the cleanest cities in the whole world

Background

Developed by the French during the protectorate era for their administration due to its Alpine climate, this Moroccan town has a remarkable European style, as if it were an Alpine village. Because of its elevation, the town experiences snow during the winter months and a cool climate during the summer. Ifrane is also the place where the lowest temperature was ever recorded in Africa, -24 °C in 1935. Animals to be found in the vicinity include the threatened Barbary Macaque. Among the local tree species are the native Atlas cedar, Scrub oak and the introduced London plane.

The first permanent settlement of the area dates to the 16th century, when a saintly sharîf by the name of Sîdî 'Abd al-Salâm established his community in the Tizguit Valley, seven km downstream from the present town. By the mid-17th century the zâwiyah was well enough established to receive an extensive iqtâ' (land grant) from the 'Alâwî sultan Mûlây Rashîd b. Muhammad. While the founder's lineage was ethnically Arab, the inhabitants of the village today mostly speak Tamazight.

Ifrane is a colonial “hill station,” and a “garden city.” It is also an “imperial city,” a mountain resort, a provincial administrative center, and a college town.

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Al Hoceima

Al Hoceima (Amazigh: Biya or El-Ḥusima, Arabic: الحسيمة) is a city and in the north of Morocco on a northern edge of the Rif Mountains, on the Mediterranean coast. Al Hoceima and its surrounding regions have a population of 395,644 (2004 census). Al Hoceima city is the capital of the Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate region. It is situated in the territory of the Ayt Weryaghel and Ibeqquyen tribes of the Rif, who speak Tarifit Berber, locally called Tamazight.

History

The Spanish started to develop Al Hoceima around 1925. General Sanjurjo landed with his troops on the beach of Al Hoceima during the Rif Rebellion and claimed the territory for Spain. He named the territory Villa Sanjurjo, after himself. Many locals still refer to the city as "Villa".

The Spanish troops built houses, schools and hospitals above the beach, creating the beginnings of the town. In the 1920s and '30s the town had almost no growth in population. Its name changed from Villa Sanjurjo to Villa Alhucemas, and the few streets above the beach were still occupied by mainly Spanish soldiers and their families. The first major was Florian Gómez Aroca.

After Morocco gained its independence in 1956, Al Hoceima developed quickly, and the Moroccan government changed its name from the Spanish Villa Alhucemas to Al Hoceima.

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Tetouan

Tetouan (from the Berber Tiṭṭawin, Arabic: تطوان, Spanish: Tetuán, French: Tétouan) is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi (60 km) E.S.E. of Tangier. In 2004 the city had 320,539 inhabitants (census figure). Tetouan's civil airport Sania Ramel Airport is located 6 km to the east.

Arabic is the official language but it is not used for everyday dialogue. The city has its own dialect, a particular citadin variant of non-hilalian Arabic which is distinct from Jebli Arabic. However, Jebli Arabic is predominant since people from the neighboring rural areas settled in the city during the 20th century rural flights. The use of Spanish and French is still widespread especially by the businessmen and intellectual elites. Its main religion is Islam. A small Christian minority lives in the city.

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Tanger or Tangiers

Tangier or Tangiers (UK: /tænˈdʒɪə/, US: /tænˈdʒɪr/; Berber: Tanja or (archaic) Tingi, Arabic: طنجة Ṭanjah), is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 (2012 estimates). It lies on the North African coast at the wester

n entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. It is the capital of the Tangier-Tetouan Region and of the Tangier-Asilah prefecture of Morocco.

The history of Tangier is very rich due to the historical presence of many civilizations and cultures starting from the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a Berber settlement and then a Phoenician town to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a refuge for many cultures. In 1923, Tangier was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, writers and businessmen.

The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernization. Projects include new 5-star hotels along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier's economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.

Tangier's sport team I.R.T. (or Ittihad Riadi de Tanger) is a prominent football club with a large following base. Tangier will be one of the host cities for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, which shall be played at the new Ibn Batouta Stadium and in other cities across Morocco.

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Marrakech

Marrakech

Marrakech or Marrakesh (Amazigh: ⵎⴻⵕⵕⴰⴽⴻⵛ, Merrakec, or Murakuc, Arabic: مراكش Murrākuš, local pronunciation: Mərrakəš), known as the "Ochre City", with a population of over 1,000,000 inhabitants is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakesh is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, being also the third largest city in Morocco according to the 2004 census.

 Like many Moroccan cities, the city of Marrakesh comprises both an old fortified city (the medina) and modern neighborhoods, the most prominent of which is Gueliz, for a total population of 794,620 and 1,063,415 in the metropolitan area (2004 census). It is served by Ménara International Airport (IATA code: RAK) and a rail link to Casablanca and the north.

 Marrakesh has the largest traditional Amazigh market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.

Quick tour in Marrakech in this video:



Marrakech in the 50s in Video:

More photos of Marrakech:

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Ouzoud Waterfalls

Ouzoud Waterfalls (French: Cascades d'Ouzoud) (110 m high) are located in the Grand Atlas village of Tanaghmeilt, in the province of Azilal, 150 km north-east of Marrakech, in Morocco.

Ouzoud is the Amazigh word for "olive", referring to the nearby olive trees.

The bottom of the falls is accessible through a shaded path of olive trees. At the summit of the falls, there exist a dozen of old small mills that are still in use. One can also follow a narrow and difficult track leading to the road of Beni Mellal while descending the gorges from the "wadi el-Abid" by a canyon sometimes which one does not distinguish the bottom with nearly 600 metres.

It is the most visited site of the region. In the vicinity, Green valleys, mills, orchards and a superb circuit of the gorges of the El Abid River (in Arabic, "Slaves' River" ), are found. Many local and national associations lead projects to protect and preserve the site.

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Rabat

Rabat

Rabat (Arabic الرباط; Amazigh ⵕⴱⴰⵟ, transliterated ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ or (Er-)Rbāṭ, literally "Fortified Place"; French Ville de Rabat; Spanish Ciudad de Rabat), is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000 (2010). It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region.

Rabat on Video HD

The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, the city's main commuter town. Together with Temara the cities account for a combined metropolitan population of 1.8 million. Silting problems have diminished the Rabat's role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain important textile, food processing and construction industries. In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat one of the most important cities in the country.

Rabat is accessible by train through the ONCF system and by plane through the nearby Rabat-Salé Airport.

Rabat in the 50s in video:

More photos of Rabat:

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Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ, original name in Berber: ⴰⵏⴼⴰ Anfa) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.

Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb region. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture of Casablanca and 3,631,061 in the region of Grand Casablanca. Casablanca is considered the economic and business center of Morocco, while the political capital city of Morocco is Rabat.

Casablanca hosts headquarters and main industrial facilities for the leading Moroccan and international companies based in Morocco. Industrial statistics show Casablanca retains its historical position as the main industrial zone of the country. The Port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the largest port of North Africa. It is also the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

Casablanca in video:

More photos:

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