For most of the ride itself, we followed the River Draa. It was swollen since its restraining damns had been opened both for the seasonal irrigation and in honor of the new King of Morocco who was making his first official tour of inspection. Several times as we crossed the river, the water came up almost to our saddles. The Draa valley contains tens of thousands of palm trees. They can cover many acres and contain in addition to palm trees, plots of land enclosed by cactus and adobe walls in which the villagers grow crops such as wheat and vegetables.
Open irrigation ditches criss-cross the palmerie carrying water from plot to plot.
Individual plots are farmed by individual families. Many paths along with the irrigation ditches traverse the palmeries. People, donkeys and mules were busily at work in the palmerie. While all the palmeries are enclosed within walls, some of the older ones are still surrounded by fortified walls interspersed with guardtowers. In contrast to the desert surrounding them, one feels in a palmerie as though one is in a Garden of Eden.