DAKHLA A BREATH OF RENEWAL AT THE GATES OF THE SAHARA

Dakhla, in Morocco: a breath of renewal at the gates of the Sahara

    Between the desert and the Atlantic, the city of the wind fascinates lovers of winter sports and nature. She hopes to make them forget more than forty years of regional conflict. Achieve.

In July and August, he was so blown away that he became obsessed, causing migraines and fatigue. But here, no one dreams of complaining about the wind, which is called six days a week, alternately the trade wind or the sirocco, laden with fog or desert sand. It is even one of the most precious resources of this humble little coastal town. Today, at the edge of the Boucher des Boers, heroes in the air, balancing on their boards, clean themselves against the scintillating waves below, until the belt tightens, and at the end, they can allow yourself to ride between the sky and the sea in a kite ... In Dakhla, 1200 kilometers south of Agadir, we are used to Being close to angels. And making the most of a difficult position has become second nature.

Dakhla's magic elsewhere: in her isolation:

With its narrow tongue of sand extending in the Atlantic Ocean for about forty kilometers and forming the Gulf of Rio de Oro, this coastal city of 100,000 inhabitants deploys its plane straight on a plateau at five meters above sea level: a blessing from the wind rushing down the boulevards and the streets To go further, sweep through the heart of the city of Has-E san-II, paved with pink. The architecture here is not surprising. But it is cut off from the world by two large areas, the ocean, and the desert. The nearest big city, Laayoune, is 530 km to the north. On the market stalls, vegetables, spices, dessert tea, acacia juice, fabrics, balm, and cosmetics are intended for the locals. Between the white dunes and the lake with turquoise waters, the beaches follow one another as far as the eye can see from north to south. From the beach, you can admire the ballet of hundreds of bokes, these blue boats dance on the waves to fill their nets with sardines, anchovies, and tuna. We can almost forget that Dakhla is located in the heart of Western Sahara, on an area of 266 thousand square kilometers of desert and discord, claimed at the same time by the Polisario, the independence movement which declared the Sahrawi Arab Republic democratic 1976, after the end of Spanish colonialism in force a year ago. 1884, Morocco, which today exercises effective sovereignty over most of the territories. Especially in Dakhla, whose Moroccan authorities want to make it a leading city in the south of the country, investing 7.6 billion euros over five years, in particular, to attract tourists. In fact, in the 1980s, as the front line with the Polisario was moving south, they invited surfers from all over the world to discover the pleasure of skiing ... and to see for themselves that the region was peaceful and safe. Word of mouth did the rest and the number of visitors has increased from 25,000 per year in 2010 to 100,000 to date. The objective displayed is to multiply this number. In order to build a large commercial deepwater port, to open-air links, but also to build a regional highway crossing the desert and industrial parks ...


In the streets drawn with the line or on rue Mohammed V overlooking the bay, on the terraces of cafes, women share a cup of tea, dressed in a chic outfit. The traditional Bedouin clothes, which were once worn by the grandmothers of the desert, are made of a single piece of fabric about four meters long wrapped around the body to circulate the freshness of the wind. Today, young people have brought these updated fabrics, but last year, they replaced blue and black with bright colors, ocher, orange or red, sparkling in the sun of the Atlantic Ocean. This mixture of desert and coastal cultures is on the table, where we share voluntarily - fish appreciated for their appetite for their stuffed meat ... with camel meat, accompanied by some clams.

Moving from sports tourism to ecotourism:

Because of the good points, Morocco would like to collect them in this region observed closely. Hotels coming out of the sands have nothing to do with sports bungalows. Their watchwords: chic well-being, spas, and eco-responsible tourism, in compliance with the Vision 2020 plan, which oversees the tourism development of Morocco. Hundreds of kilometers of beach and high cliffs are indeed the refuges of thousands of migratory birds like the quail or, in spring, the bald ibis with bluish-black plumage and long curved beak. Throughout the year, large colonies of flamingos feed on the small shells and crustaceans that abound in the lagoon. Dakhla is also home to the world's largest population of monk seals. And you come across rare species in its waters such as the spectacular eagle rays - 2.50 m wingspan - and humpback dolphins. The discreet killer whale also sometimes comes to rest in this quiet bay. To discover this fauna, small groups of travelers are taken on foot or by 4x4 to the wildest corners of the peninsula. Along the kilometers of the wild beach which surround the bay, to observe, armed with binoculars, migrants before their departure. The White Dune, thirty kilometers from the center, northeast of the bay, is a small mountain of sand formed in the winds and which plunges into the lagoon to embrace a small forget-me-not lagoon. A sumptuous meeting point of the desert and the ocean, and the favorite place for violinist crabs and flamingos. Thirty-five kilometers north of the city, off signposted roads, the Asmaa thermal spring spits in the middle of the desert. Amateurs can immerse themselves in the water at 30 ° C with a strong smell of sulfur, known to treat skin diseases and rheumatism. The great desert lovers, they push further. In this Sahara of canyons and surprising small mountains surrounded by savannah, the gazelles have disappeared, it is, however, possible to bivouac and meet herds of camels and their camel drivers, but also to see, at nightfall, fennecs, zorillas (a kind of polecat) and hedgehogs in the desert. No trace of the conflict around Dakhla: the wall of sand erected between 1980 and 1987 to separate Moroccan forces from Sahrawi troops, 2,700 kilometers of embankments and ditches trapped by anti-personnel mines, is more than 300 kilometers away. We then forget that in the city, about fifteen hotel complexes are under construction, gradually gaining in the vastness of the landscape... We can't hear anything. And yet something shines in silence […], ”wrote the author of The Little Prince. We then believe that the Saharan dream is not dead.

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