2 hrs, 3.0 kms


For the next stretch I take my time, clambering along the side of the hills, soaking in the beautiful, the surprising and the bizarre rock formations that leave you scratching your head and wondering… how in the world did they get shaped that way . No, today is definitely not going to be an anticlimax. There's the gnome face…the pillars pointing to the sky… the three giant knobs that look completely different whichever angle you look at it. Then I go around the bend… and lo and behold… in front of me is Mr Penguin from Batman on the side of the cliff—definitely worth a backdrop for my videoclip.

I decide to climb a little higher and am surprised to find a sort of flat area with some grass and a couple of rocky streambeds—even with a trickle of water coming through. My first thought is "if the folks from the highlands were living here, they’d be cultivating something here."  I’m tempted to continue exploring uphill, but decide I need to stick to the plan and continue toward Tafraoute.

Now there’s a village below me—and a sheer drop down. Now I’m literally walking along the face of an enormous boulder—quite steep. You get good traction, but I realize I shouldn’t take that for granted. I decide I’d better start looking for a way down. It takes me a little while, climbing over under and around the boulders that have fallen down the cliffside and gotten stuck on the way. I wonder what it must feel like to live right under these boulders, knowing that someday one of them is going to come crashing down and smash your home. But I suppose, when you live an entire lifetime without ever seeing this happen, you don’t think about that danger any more. These rocks just become part of your family.