by miguel santos » Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:44 pm
Here is my report from a very nice trip I did with my family to the south of Morocco last July.
After visiting in the past ( non herping trips ) the north of Morroco I headed this time to the south of Agadir and the Atlas mountains. Because it was July I arranged the trip in a way that we were never too far from the coast fo avoid exteme heat and to provide my kids with some beach pleasure.
As it turned out, July turned out to be much cooler than normal, and a few nights were also quite windy. It was my first experince in this type of environment but I think that I missed some nocturnal species because of the wind. Because of the distances I had to drive ( and got lost ), I missed the perfect timing to see species like Uromastyx because it was to cool, and in the High Atlas I missed some species because I was there underway during the warmest period of the day.
It was a good learning experience though, as a family trip is was fantastic and we all want to go back. The combination family/herp trip it is a lot harder in Marocco than in other places I’ve been in Europe.
Still, we saw a lot of wildlife from birds, mammals, herps to insects and took a good number on pictures.
We visited the Souss-Massa National Park and went with a good guide to the north of the Park. While you can walk freely along the coast and close to the villages, you are not allowed without a guide in 3 main areas: close to the richer and most sensitive area with fauna along the Massa river ; in the North where they breed big mammals for reintruduction and where the military have a base and shooting range. We saw Park rangers in two ocasions, with the guide we were allowed to go ( no money paid ) but on our own we had to turn back but were friendely informed of where we were allowed to walk.
We also vizited the area of Tiznit were the ladnscape is at places very dry and at places covered with argan trees.
We stayed close to Guelmim where we had a-typical cloudy and windy weather. I was finding frogs and toads at night instead of snakes, in July!!!! During daytime I saw no snake in the oasis that I vasited. I had expected Natrix mauras to be rather common.
We moved to the area of Mirleft and Sidi Ifni. Sun and Fog were both present but also lots of small mammals.
On the way to the Atlas mountains we found few animals along the road exepr agama’s. they are everywhere.
The northen flanks of the Atlas gave us more animals ( specially birds) and the only snake of the trip. The High Atlas gave us in a couple hours a few new species. But not all. In fact it took us quite some time to get there. Next time I need to find a B&B closer by and go up there before breakfast is served.
Any comments or corrections are welcome
All the best,
Miguel
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- Adult Acanthodactylus aureus N.P. Souss-Massa
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- sub adult A. aureus NP Souss-Massa
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- juvenile A. aureus
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- habitat of A. aureus Nationap Park Souss-Massa
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- female acanthodacthylus pardallis in Sidi R'bat
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- male acanthodactylus pardalis Sidi R'bat
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- mauremys leprosa saharica on the river Massa. We saw them in quite some oasis and water bassins
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- blue eyes
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- agama impalearis on a Argan tree near Tiznit
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- tarentola mauritanica juliae
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- landscape in the Tiznit area
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- Near Guelmim at the end of the afternoon a chalcides polylepis in its burrow
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- on a windy night no snakes but frogs next to a village nearby Guelmim
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- is this an animal? yes it is a ptyodactylus oudrii in the firsf hours of the day.
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- better view
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- went to the east of Guelmim but the weather is rather mild ca.24 degrees. Only saw mesalina guttulata and a chalcis ocellatus (not on picture)
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- mesalina guttulata female?
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- saw several acanthodactylus boskianus to the east of Guelmim
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- a nice male agama impalearis in the sun
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- finally it got warm and we saw this Trapelus boehmei asleep next to the stone road. I even reversed and he did not move. I even thought it saw dead. But it was not
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- detail of the head
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- Habitat not far from Guelmim
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- South of Sidi Ifni saw something small crossing in front of the car. A juvenile Trapelus boehmei
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- here he goes
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- found waking next to the beach south of Sidi Ifni
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- habitat south of Sidi Ifni
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- East of Taroudant found a pound with lots of Pelophylax saharicus. some rather big specimens were found
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- one other shade of green
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- chalcides mionecton found next to the road in th sothern flanks of the Atlas.
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- habitat of the c. mionecton 1000m as we crossed the Atlas to the East of Taroudant
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- again chalcides polylepis, now at 1200m of aftitude
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- We stayed in Ouirgane (1200m and saw this little blanus mettetali (looks like any other blanus to me) escaping from the gardners cutting the grass at out B&B. I think they thought it was a worm and I saved him. I only took this pic because he was quite stressed by the handeling from the gerdeners.
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- these mauremys leprosa have a "normal eye"
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- Ouirgane at 1200m we also found Amietophrynus mauritanicus
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- the only snake in 12 days found at night just outside our room in Ouirgane at 1200m
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- Northern flanks of the Atlas at 1200m
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- one of the few podarcis vaucheri seen at about 2500m in the High Atlas
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- one of two scelaris perspicillata seen
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- day gecko (quedenfeldtia trachyblepharus were seen in good nunbers
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- Hyla meridionalis in a habitat without trees or bushes
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- Habitat in the High Atlas
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