Refelcting by the Cascades
Trip Start
Aug 04, 2008
1
19
42
Trip End
Oct 15, 2008
Ouzoud,
Morocco
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Secondly, after uploading my last entry, I've kinda felt like writing blog posts and keeping up to date with my movements had become the main focus of my trip, which it really isn't. And I had time to realize this fully on the first night, and the following morning, we've spent by the Cascades d'Ouzoud, a sweet and laid-back spot with some majestic waterfalls, a great place to relax and think...oh yes, there was a lot of thinking.
But first things first: Ouzoud is easily reachable, located on the road from Meknes to Marrakesh, and well signposted. Plus, it's been in the Lonely Planet for a long while, so the tourist facilities are numerous and well organised, with scores of camping sites - the one at which we stayed was nice but VERY basic - some hotels and a plethora of cafes and restaurants with panoramic views over the waterfalls.
We got there late in the afternoon after a long car journey in the scorching heat. Very tired, we stop at a site called Amlou, a stone-throw away from the beginning of the scenic path around the Cascades. Pleased with the campsite we come up with - all mod cons and rather picturesque - and with the sweet spot - in the mountains is not too hot and, above all, we've just missed the Summer tourist rush! - we decide to stay for two days and enjoy a full day swimming by the waterfalls.
It is indeed a great place that the LP describes as "Morocco's most spectacular waterfalls...a popular attraction with both tourists and Moroccans", but looking at them on my lazy time spent there I couldn't help but think that they are not that different, in terms of tourist potential, from the Oued Oumrabiee source (see previous post) where I was the other day, the only foreigner among Moroccans, a place that we reached only after a long trek on sometimes unpaved roads with no signs I could decipher. In contrast, the Cascades d'Ouzoud have been on the tourist route for a while and it shows.
Again this topic comes up, and I start feeling a bit repetitive, but I also feel that it is important to think about the impact that tourism, both local but mainly international, has on certain places and cultures. Moreover, I'd like to point out how popular guidebooks such as the Lonely Planet foster the development of certain particular areas while others are neglected.*
I did ask J while, we were walking up the souvenir-stall-and-café-lined steps from the bottom to the top of the waterfalls, if, in his opinion, this place was so special, and if it was prettier and more unique than the ones near his hometown that he had showed me the day before...
I also posed him this question: "Would you like your area to be as developed as this one, at times literally overrun by tourists and more expensive than it used to be?"
His answer was obviously yes, because tourists bring euros that are good for the local economy, which so many times is the main focus of people's activities anywhere in the world, from West to East.
Once again, I agree it is place worth seeing, and swimming by the falling waters that spray mist all around and form pretty rainbows when the sunrays catch them has been one of the highlights of my trip so far. So, I am glad I've found it in way or another...but I was also lucky to happen to be there after high season. ... So many thoughts to reflect on and so little time!
I believe the question remains the same: how to struck a balance between development and preservation, between locals' right to welfare and obsession with money, between the been-there-done-that type of tourism and conscious and inquisitive traveling? Comment.
Stay Tuned for more reflections by the waterfalls - I still need some time to process it all - pictures here.
* You will appreciate that I obviously do not mean to say that any guidebook does this on purpose, as it is in their job description to review places of interests as I do all the time myself. But let's remember that they also are limited in what they can see, try, and review while researching.
