There is a round trip from Agadir you can drive in 3-4hours without major stops which makes a nice day trip. Start by going up the coast road to Aourir and then take the turn off for Immouzzer. This road leads up "Paradise Valley", a pretty road up by a river which is supposed to have bathing pools at the right time of year. It was popular with hippies in the 70s and was allegedly given it's name by Jimi Hendrix who seems to have covered most of southern morocco in his week's visit. There are two car parks linked by a nature trail with information boards describing the plants. Obviously this is best done by having someone drop you at the top car park and collect you at the bottom so you can walk downhill. We had previously visited in the summer when it was deserted and we had a pleasant picnic in the lower car park. At this time of year there was much more activity from snowbirds. The campsite inland from Aourir was nearly full of smart campervans. Just beyond that an informal area was turned into a presumably free campsite of some smaller shabbier caravanettes and a number of self converted vans. Up in Paradise Valley the lower car park was full of this type of van inhabited by people with dreadlocks and small children and there was an orange stall. Various other odd vans and tents were set up on various flat bits of land, so hippiedom is not yet dead, although it must go north for the summer. The top car park though which is a bit more exposed was empty.
Carrying on to Immouzzer it is a prettyroad with several cafes and hotels. At this time of year the almond trees are in flower and the valley is green and verdant.
Immouzzer itself is famous for its waterfalls. We've never yet managed to find them although I expect we have seen them from across the valley as the rock bears the typical calcification you would expect. The fact that we have seen no water falling is not a surprise. They only really ever flowed February to June and the flow these days is much reduced at the best of times, partly because a dam has been built upstream and partly because an earthquake a few years ago altered the route of the stream. Nevertheless the falls are advertised as a trip in Agadir complete with picture of falling water. The Hotel Cascades looked very attractive although we did not stop and the tourists from Agadir are deposited outside the Argan Cooperative shop. These are proliferating with smart shops in old buildings and a range of products in modern slick packaging. It looks as though there has benn a grant to develop the trade.
From Immouzzer you can continue over the edge of the Atlas which are not as high approaching the sea and return to the motoerway at either Azroud (the short route we took) or Argana. This road is imposing and beautiful but not pretty. There are no almond trees ,it is too high for them, and few building or settlement. It is a contrast to Paradise Valley. The road is called the honey road because the area is famous for honey and Argan is the honey capitol of the south holding a honey festival each May. Howeve it must be too cold for bees up there at this time of year because the only hives and honey stalls we saw were in the top end of Paradise Valley.
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