BERBERLOCALLOCALKasbah Illy $$
( 0523 50 89 53; set lunch menu Dh130; ) This splashy kasbah-hotel, 5km from
Demnate on road to Imi-n-Ifri, offers lunch by a dolphin-tiled pool overlooking the valley.
Reserve ahead, and request their speciality tajine: free-range beldi (country-style) chicken
smothered in caramelised onions.
Also recommended:Snak Itrane $
(¼/whole chicken with chips or bread Dh20/65) Some 300m after the city gate on the left, this
sidewalk restaurant serves a mean rotisserie chicken.
Kasbah Timdaf $$
( 0523 50 71 78; GPS coordinates N 31°46,50 W 007°01,13; www.kasbah-timdaf.com;
guest/nonguest Dh140/160) Offers fixed-price lunches and dinners to guests and non-guests by
prior reservation.
Shopping
The Sunday weekly souq 10 minutes south of town is an opportunity to taste-test local olives,
olive oils and almonds, and browse Demnate’s local woodwork, wool outerwear and yellow-
glazed pottery painted in henna with Berber good-luck symbols. The potteries are located 2km
outside town in the village of Boughlou; turn right at the mosque and head 4km off-road.
Honey that’s considered rare elsewhere abounds in the hills around Demnate. You’ll notice a
sign with a bee on it at the hanout (grocer) on the main road on your right about 500m before
reaching the eastern edge of town: approach the counter and ask the grocer to let you sample
local honey (Dh100 per 500g). The mountain herb and wildflower honey is a standout with a
peppery, thyme flavour; the juniper honey is a classic caramel with woodsy notes; the zriga (a
local blue wildflower) honey tastes fruity, almost like guava; and carob honey tastes like maple
syrup.
Getting There & Away
Grands taxis to Marrakesh (Dh55) and Azilal (Dh35) leave from the main gate in Demnate.
Buses leave for Marrakesh (Dh35, two hours) from 6am to 9pm and to Azilal (Dh20, one hour)
from 7am to noon from the bus station (take the road to the right before the town gate).
Cascades d’Ouzoud
Some 167km northeast of Marrakesh and a world away from the city heat are the Cascades
d’Ouzoud, one of the most popular day trips from Marrakesh for tourists and Moroccans alike.
The Oued Ouzoud drops 110m into the canyon of Oued el-Abid in three-tiered waterfalls, and
the view only gets better as you descend into the cool of the canyon, past the late-afternoon
rainbow mists to the pools at its base. The falls are most dramatic from March to June when
there’s more water, but young Moroccans often camp here in summer on terraces facing the
falls. To reach the falls, walk past the signs for Riad Cascades d’Ouzoud towards the precipice,
where converging paths wind down towards the falls.