Dayet Ifrah

Dayet Ifrah is one of the daya, the closed limestone depressions of the Middle Atlas plateau that fill with water - shallow, roughly circular, with no outlet, gaining and losing water through the rock beneath and through the seasons. Unlike the forest lakes further west, this one sits in worked country: barley fields and grazing come down to the shore and hamlets of the Ait Seghrouchen stand around the rim, so what you see is a lake in the middle of ordinary agricultural life, with sheep at the water and storks on the fields. In spring it is full and the surrounding land is green; by September it can be much reduced and in dry years nearly gone, which is the pattern of these lakes and has become more pronounced. Birds use it on passage. The tracks around the rim connect several other daya on the same plateau.

What you actually see

• A closed depression - a shallow karst lake with no outlet, filling through the rock.
• Farmland to the shore - barley and grazing worked right up to the water.
• Berber hamlets on the rim - Ait Seghrouchen villages around the lake.
• A seasonal lake - full in spring, much reduced or dry by late summer.

When to go

March to June, when it holds water. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It can be nearly dry in late summer and in dry years. There are no facilities at all. Tracks are rough and unmarked. This is working farmland - stay on tracks and ask before crossing fields.

Nearby

Ifrane is west; Dayet Aoua is on the same plateau.