About Source de Ras el-Maa
The Source Ras el-Maa was really my waterfalling excuse to talk about the magical blue medina of Chefchaouen (pronounced “shef-SHAU-wun”).
We managed to encounter a handful of small cascades that ultimately came about from a spring.
There was a building surrounding this spring so we wouldn’t be able to see the source in its natural self.
Nevertheless, it was still hard to believe that such a spring could produce so much water as the Ras el-Maa River would pass along the eastern fringes of the medina of Chefchaouen before eventually emptying out into the Mediterranean Sea.
As for the waterfalling experience, there really wasn’t a particular waterfall of note.
I suppose one could argue it would be a stretch to call this a waterfalling excursion.
It was really more of a conglomeration of smaller waterfalls, where perhaps the most notable one (shown above) was probably on the order of 5m tall or so.
I think what stood out about this waterfalling excursion was that it was a suitable place to chill out and relax.
Meanwhile, its close proximity to the medina of Chefchaouen allowed us to go back and forth between the Source Ras el-Maa and the medina itself.
Also nearby was a trail climbing up to the Spanish Mosque, which was perched on a hill with a beautiful sunset panorama over the medina and its surrounding mountains.
The Magical Medina of Chefchaouen
Since the Chefchaouen medina was famous for its blue-painted buildings and walkways, we were naturally curious about how this came to be.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be many stories regarding how the city became blue like this.
Even one of the locals was honest to us when he said these stories seemed to contradict each other so he himself had no idea what’s the truth.
One story talked about how it was the Jews who came here during a period of the Reconquest of Spain.
That said, I had read a different account saying that the Jews came here as refugees in the 1930’s.
Nevertheless, it was said that their identity revolved around the blue color in the Star of David, and hence the selection of the color blue.
Another story talked about how the blue color tended to deter the nesting and proliferation of biting insects on some of the trees in the area.
Apparently, it’s lush enough in the Rif Mountains to harbor these pesky insects.
By the way, it’s also lush enough in Chefchaouen that the mountains were also ripe for cultivating marijuana (or cannabis, pot, irie, spliff, bong, whatever you want to call it).
Whatever the case my be, there’s no doubt that the blue of this city was what made it stand out as a very popular tourist destination in Morocco.
It charmed us in a way that we hadn’t experienced since our visit to Oia on the tip of Santorini Island in Greece back in 2010.
Experiencing the Source Ras el-Maa from the Medina of Chefchaouen
The area at the Source Ras el-Maa consisted of a couple of short walkways flanking both sides of the river.
A bridge adjacent to a car park on its east side allowed us to get back and forth across the river itself.
Just downstream of this bridge were a few shelters where some locals used them to wash fabrics in the river water then hang them out to dry.
There were also some locals and visitors cooling off in the cold water directly.
Moreover, there seemed to be a bit of atmosphere to the area during our visit because we heard loud music blaring out of one of the cafes or shops nearby.
At the same time, there were hundreds (maybe thousands) of people either chilling out, visiting, or just passing through (and it was a weekday!).
Just to give you an idea of how compact the Chefchaouen medina was, we happened to be staying near the Bab Souq (or Bab Suk) on the western side of the medina.
It only took us about 20 minutes to walk from there to the Source Ras el-Maa.
However, since we were easily distracted by the scenery of the medina and its numerous side streets, we easily consumed 45-60 minutes in each direction.
We spent roughly 40 minutes around the source though, and I can easily imagine how one could spend as little or as much time here as desired.
Authorities
The Source Ras el-Maa resides in the medina of Chefchaouen (or Chaouen for short) in the Rif Mountains of the Chefchaouen Province in Morocco. I don’t think the waterfalls are administered by any formal authority, but I’m guessing it’s administered by the City of Chefchaouen. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you may get leads from the Morocco National Tourism website.
The Source Ras el-Maa and its cascades were on the east side of the medina of Chefchaouen.
It was roughly 20 minutes walk to go from the west end of the medina to the east end.
There was also a small and busy car park here, where our guide managed to score a spot with some local help.
So for all intents and purposes, this could be thought of as a drive-to waterfall or merely a short modest walk from the medina, where I’d imagine most visitors would be staying on a visit.
As for logistics, it took our driver about 3.5 hours to drive from Fes to Chefchaouen. It also took our driver roughly 2.5 hours to get from Chefchaouen to the industrial port of Tangier MED (which itself was about 30 minutes drive east of the coastal town of Tangier).
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Checking out the cascades around the bridge just downstream of the source of the Ras el-Ma River in Chefchaouen
Checking out the very source of the Ras el-Ma River before continuing downstream alongside the river itself adorned with many small cascades
Top down sweep starting from the source of the Ras el-Ma river then panning downstream to examine some of the most attractive cascades in the immediate area
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