Morocco Herptrip 2014

Hi everybody,
here comes a little overview of our herping trip to morocco a few weeks ago.

After we spent some time in the rainforest the last years, we're all excited about herping in the desert.
The first part of our tour was along the cost from Marrakech south...
So we arrived at the airport in Marrakech, got our car and drove down, a little south of the Sous-Massa national park.


near Sous-Massa National Park by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Buthus tunetanus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


the first lizards

Acanthodactylus erythrurus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and the reason for our stop (for those bird-lovers ), the bald ibis, pretty cool though

Geronticus eremita by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Geronticus eremita by markusOulehla, on Flickr


short stop on the way back from the ibis

in the Sous-Massa National Park by markusOulehla, on Flickr

and another nice find

Androctonus sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


further on near Tiznit

surroundings by markusOulehla, on Flickr

near Sidi Ifni some spiders

Latrodectus sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Lycosidae by markusOulehla, on Flickr

aaaand...

near Sidi Ifni, Bitis arietans by markusOulehla, on Flickr


with a nicer background

Bitis arietans by markusOulehla, on Flickr


on the way to Fort Bou Jerif

looong road by markusOulehla, on Flickr


road to Fort Bou Jerif by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Fort Bou Jerif campsite by markusOulehla, on Flickr


at the actual Fort

Fort Bou Jerif by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Tarentula mauritanica by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Argiope lobata by markusOulehla, on Flickr


it seemed as we've been to slow to get some colubrids... so...

Fort Bou Jerif surroundings by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Bitis arietans by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Bitis arietans by markusOulehla, on Flickr


The road to Tarfaya, our next stop in the very south west of morocco...

road to Tarfaya by markusOulehla, on Flickr



mantis by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Chamaeleo chamaeleon by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Chalcides sphenopsiformis by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Chalcides sphenopsiformis by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and then...

Chamaeleo chamaeleon by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Chamaeleo chamaeleon by markusOulehla, on Flickr


night herping...

Cebrennus rechenbergi by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Tarentola chazaliae by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Stenodactylus mauritanicus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Stenodactylus sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


North again and our first steps away from the coast, at Guelmim...

on the way to Guelmim by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Saurodactylus brosseti by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Saurodactylus brosseti by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Agama impalearis by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Scorpio sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


the only non venomous snake we got in front of our cameras...

Hemorrhois hippocrepis by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Hemorrhois hippocrepis by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and a nice donkey we've met

curious donkey by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Pictures of the second part of our trip will follow the next days, we went further inland to Assa and Tata, with some nice finds aswell!
a little preview...

near Assa by markusOulehla, on Flickr


regards
Markus

Awesome Markus!!!

Outstanding pictures as always, Markus! Thank you for sharing!
regards
Peter

Thank you

Part 2, from Gulemim further inland to Assa, quite a lost place, damn hot during the day, but what a beautiful landscape!

near Assa by markusOulehla, on Flickr



near Assa by markusOulehla, on Flickr



and a really really nice find

Varanus griseus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


we found him in a dried up water pit, so he was a bit thin but still quite fast when we released him...

Varanus griseus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Varanus griseus by markusOulehla, on Flickr


After this great experience we went on to Tata....

near Tata by markusOulehla, on Flickr


night herping in a Palm plantation...

Tarentola boehmei by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Stenodactylus sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Tropiocolotes sp. by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and then weird things happend

Solifugae by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Solifugae by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Solifugae by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Solifugae by markusOulehla, on Flickr


the next day....

near Tata by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Ptyodactylus oudrii by markusOulehla, on Flickr


gecko foot by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr


jackpot

Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr

damn fast...

Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and one last picture and one of my favourites of our trip

Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Next time some pictures from the oasis Fint and a short stop in the atlas mountains on our way back to Marrakech...


regards
Markus

Hello Markus,
one picture better than the other. Great doku. Thank you.

best regards Manni

Awesome ! Thanks for sharing this nice Pictures !

Absolutely super !

I really enjoyed wachting your photo's thank you for sharing this

SUPER COOL

Hope to see more , regards Dylan

Hello Markus,

great again, thank you for sharing.

Rainer

Outstanding shots! The gecko foot would make a good frame in any living-room.

Thanks for sharing.

great herptrip!!

Thanks

Thank you!

Part 3: From Tata north to Marrakech, via Ouarzazate


on the road to Ouarzarzate by markusOulehla, on Flickr



thorny bush by markusOulehla, on Flickr



near Ouarzarzate by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Pelophylax saharicus by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Mauremys leprosa by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Mauremys leprosa by markusOulehla, on Flickr


then we went to this beautiful place

oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr


oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr

On our way back to the car, we've met this guy. He asked the usual things, where we come from and what we're doing and he was extremely suprised when we told him that we are looking for cobras. He turned out to be the local snake catcher/charmer, to proof that he showed us the cobra he caught that day and he agreed to meet us again the next day to look for snakes together...
At his place, he proudly presented us the fangs of "his" snakes and refused to show a snake because he fed it the day before and didn't want to stress it (before we were able to tell him to leave the snake in its bag for the same reason). He also cursed on the marrkech snakecharmers and their cruel methods, so it seems that he likes his snakes and care about them...
We spent the day walking through the area, a really great place...


oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr


oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr


oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr


oasis Fint by markusOulehla, on Flickr

We saw some lizards, turtles and a damn fast colubrid, but no cobra...
Finally he posed "his" cobra so we could to take some pictures.


Naja haje "legionis" by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Naja haje "legionis" by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Naja haje "legionis" by markusOulehla, on Flickr

It was a great experience to be in the field with a professional and to see a (almost wild) cobra was a highlight too



Further on the way to Marrakech we came through the atlas mountains...

atlas mountains by markusOulehla, on Flickr


atlas mountains by markusOulehla, on Flickr


no time for Vipera monticola, but a short stop with some cool and surprising finds

atlas mountains by markusOulehla, on Flickr



Testudo graeca by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Hyalosaurus koellikeri by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Tetudo graeca by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Myriapoda by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Tetudo graeca by markusOulehla, on Flickr


Tetudo graeca by markusOulehla, on Flickr


It was an awesome trip and herping in the desert was a really great experience!

Enjoy the pictures, I still have a little more
regards
Markus

Thanks again, Markus!

Rainer

Incredible photo's as always. What a landscape! Highlight for me the legionis-WOW. Cheers

This is a good example why I keep on visiting Venomland.
Absolutely superb quality!

Stefan Olsson Jr wrote:

This is a good example why I keep on visiting Venomland.
Absolutely superb quality!

Indeed a good reason

Thank you all!!!

So here are some additional pictures...

one more in situ picture of the first puff adder

someone gives a shit on puff adders!? by markusOulehla, on Flickr


and of the second puff adder

Bitis arietans by markusOulehla, on Flickr



as you all like the Cerastes, here's a little more of this beauty

Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr

Cerastes cerastes by markusOulehla, on Flickr


The desert monitor was sooo cool! After he wasn't succesfull with his defensive position and tailwhipping, he tried the evil eye...

evil eye by markusOulehla, on Flickr

check out his scales

scales by markusOulehla, on Flickr


aaaand one last picture of the cobra, of course

Naja haje "legionis" by markusOulehla, on Flickr




Cheers,
Markus

Markus

Thank you for taking the time to post all of these photographs and insights. Your photography is outstanding, and I agree with others that the cerastes is magnificent.

Simon

Very nice pictures indeed, Mr. Marcus. And I'm gladd you're herptrip to Morocco paid off so well. It was also a trip for me as well, down memory lane, I've kept snakes from Morocco for many years. The Naja haje legionis and the Bitis arietans I miss the most from my collection...

Many thanks, and kind regards