White water rafting in Morocco had never even struck me as a possibility, so imagine my surprise when I was pacing nervously around the stage at the Adventure Travel Show, waiting to go on, and I spotted a stall advertising it. I zoomed over and started chatting to Hamish from Water by Nature. We had actually talked about nine years ago when I was planning the Draa Expedition. Before I became the first recorded woman to walk it, I toyed with the idea of doing it as a huge kind of triathlon: cycling, walking and kayaking. I found Hamish online and we discussed it, although in the end it proved too complex. But I did call my favourite camel Hamish so all was not lost.
Fast forward and suddenly the option of white water rafting in Morocco is being tantalisingly dangled in front of me. Am I in? Of course I am!
I finished writing my Crossing Saudi book on Sunday evening, packed and was scraping the ice off my windscreen in the Atlas Mountains at 5 am to drive down to Marrakech to meet the team.
Let’s go rafting
We headed off to Azilal and the Ahansal River for a week of fun. The crew – Joey, Kate and Reuben – were all New Zealanders in their twenties who had driven the raft over from the UK. A non-stop endurance feat in itself with one person driving, one sleeping and one allegedly trying to keep the driver awake, although snores were reported.
The countryside was bursting with wild flowers, with the snow caps of the Atlas Mountains presiding over a sea of red poppies. Joey navigated down a tiny track dragging the huge trailer with aplomb and we set up camp on the banks of the river, shaded by giant oleanders – called river roses here. I met Holly and Matthew my two co-guests, blonde, tanned and experienced rafters. They’d come all the way from Hawaii.
Michelin stars
I’d joined for the adventure, but that first evening gave me another reason to enjoy the trip. The team were great cooks. We had salmon steaks with a creamy sauce and charred broccoli, an orange and beet salad with a delicate dressing and I was in heaven. Then, they brought out the strawberries dipped in chocolate.
I was nervous getting into the raft for my first day on the river. It has been raining and snowing a lot in Morocco this year, which meant the Ahansal was flowing really fast. This actually presented a bit of a problem for the crew, because what would normally be a six hour journey was compressed into one hour. I looked with some trepidation at the trees being swept downstream and the brown, churning water.
Joey and Kate were on the baggage raft in front and the rest of us were in with Captain Reuben and Mostafa an additional crew member from Tilougite who has his own raft and knows the river inside out.
Captain Reuben
I love Kiwis. There is no fannying about. Reuben gave us a proper safety briefing, a set of easy instructions and advice for if we tipped out. ‘What two things don’t you do?’ he bellowed over the roaring river. ‘Panic and put our feet down,’ we answered dutifully.
Then, we were off. Fast. The river grabbed us and flung us towards the first set of rocks. ‘Forward paddle!’ yelled Reuben. ‘Back paddle!’ ‘Left over!’ ‘Right over!’ Holly and Matthew in the front whooped maniacally as we bucked and slammed over the rapids. ‘You’ve just done a grade 3,’ Reuben told me. I felt a definite sense of accomplishment even though I think my contribution to the paddling was pretty pants. Meanwhile, Kate was lounging like Cleopatra on top of the baggage raft and sketching as Joey glided swan-like through the water.
Monkey Business
In camp on the third night, we were near a handmade bridge which was the only crossing point for kilometres and was busy with local shepherds. As the dusk deepened, a whole tribe of macaque monkeys ran across it. They had been feasting on the carob trees on the far bank and were running home.
This region of Morocco is still untouched and wild. I found dinosaur footprints in the cliffs and one afternoon we walked up to a local mud kasbah, stopping on the way to look at an ancient millstone which was dragged round by a donkey to crush the olives and extract the oil. These glimpses of Morocco’s rural heritage are becoming rarer and more precious.
In the kasbah, a shepherd was hand shearing his sheep, who were huddled in the cool shade. In came Reuben, and to the shepherd’s utter amazement, grabbed the sheep, upended it and started plying the shears with aplomb. He shears sheep back in New Zealand. The faces of the men of the kasbah family were a picture. I could almost read their thought bubbles. ‘A foreigner shearing a sheep? But foreigners can’t do anything useful! He’s good too. Knows what he is doing. Indeed, God is the Most High. This is surely a miracle.’
It’s just a perfect day
On our last day, we had some thrills on the Cheeky Monkey rapid and then the river started to quieten as we drifted down to the Bin El Ouidane Reservoir. The water turned turquoise and we saw eagles and hawks above us and some jewel-blue darting birds with forked tails. At lunch, I swam across the river, feeling so at peace in the cool water between the high gorges.
This trip was the perfect combination of adventure, exploration and amazing food. The river flows through pristine landscapes and our only encounters were with shepherds and monkeys. The world felt a million miles away. It’s a place where you can still see Morocco’s past as the country races towards mass tourism with all the good and bad that brings.
It was a hugely enjoyable experience in a stunning location with very interesting and fun people and every night I was sung to sleep in my tent by the soft voice of the river.
If you fancy the thought of white water rafting in Morocco, Water by Nature run trips all over the world. I can highly recommend them. Check out the Morocco trips here.
There are photos on my Instagram and an Alice in wAnderland podcast about the trip too.
