Date: 16-21.2.2026
Team: Tomáš Dino Holer, Jan Machek, Jan Doněk, Antonín Fiala
The author of the photos is Tomáš Dino Holer or the author’s initials are listed in the description of each photo.
Originally I had planned to travel to Morocco later in the season, mainly because of reptiles. But when fairly cheap flights to Fez appeared, the decision for a spring expedition was made. At this time of year the main target species are amphibians—especially salamanders for us. In addition, the weather forecast predicted heavy rains, which was in our favor. Unfortunately, the rains were a bit too heavy and caused floods and landslides in several parts of Morocco. However, the places we planned to visit were not significantly affected, so we set off according to plan. On Monday morning we met at the airport in Prague. Since our tickets were bought without a guaranteed transfer and the return journey left little time between connections, we traveled light with only carry-on luggage. As usual, I had to pay extra for a cabin bag due to the amount of equipment I carry. Unfortunately, this time I had to leave my drone at home, because drones are strictly prohibited in Morocco. In the morning it snowed a little, so we waited for a while until the snow was cleared from the runway and our plane was sprayed with de-icing fluid. The flight to Bergamo in Italy was quick and trouble-free, and after landing we could go straight to the departure gates without another baggage check. At the airport we enjoyed breakfast and refreshments in the VIP lounge thanks to Honza M. Then our flight to Fez in Morocco followed. We landed around 2 p.m., exchanged a few euros for Moroccan dirhams, and headed to the nearby parking lot to find our reserved car. Before leaving the airport we had to put our luggage through a scanner again, and when they saw my equipment they asked whether I was carrying a drone. At the parking lot a man was already waiting for us with our rented Seat Arona, which proved to be a fairly reliable expedition vehicle with low fuel consumption.
Soon we were on the road heading north toward the town of Chefchaouen. First we had to fight our way through the whirl of the large city of Fez, avoiding young men on scooters, people crossing the street anytime and anywhere, and occasionally sheep and goats. Moroccans drive in a rather distinctive way, but Honza, trained in a completely different league, namely the drivers in Georgia, handled all traffic situations calmly, though he occasionally muttered a few curses. At a small roadside shop we bought water supplies and finally escaped the city. We chose a route outside the highways, because it was not only toll-free but paradoxically faster, as both Google and the rental-car employee advised. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that Google navigation cannot be fully trusted in Morocco, when it led us onto an unpaved road heading somewhere into the wilderness. Turning back to the last junction no longer made sense, so we decided to simply continue, passing puzzled villagers, sheep, cows, and chickens. Eventually the gravel became concrete once again and the road led us into a small village. Just then groups of children were returning from school on foot to their homes. We couldn’t resist trying coffee in the local bar, which was surprisingly good. Everyone watched us out of the corner of their eyes but seemed mostly friendly; besides coffee they also offered us hashish. The local “shaman” smoked from a long wooden pipe without any hesitation, scooping cannabis resin from a plastic bag. We drooled over the grilled skewers at a stall outside the bar, but in the end reason prevailed – we decided not to risk upsetting our stomachs on the very first day.
From there the journey continued without problems, though we occasionally held our breath while overtaking trucks heavily loaded with huge bales of straw. We reached the outskirts of Chefchaouen after dark and easily found our reserved accommodation from Booking.com using the GPS coordinates provided. At House Naim we were welcomed with a comfortable apartment and very kind hosts. Young boys who spoke a little English showed us to our rooms. Electric heaters were running at full power, yet the apartment was still quite cold. Fortunately there were plenty of blankets, which reassured us that we would not freeze at night. There was no time to waste. We changed into field clothes, packed our gear, and jumped back into the car. The nearest locality of the North African fire salamander subspecies Salamandra algira splendens was only a few kilometers from our strategically chosen accommodation.
When we arrived at the site, we were greeted by a chorus of Sahara frogs (Pelophylax saharicus). Before we reached the edge of the pine forest, someone from the other side of the wetland called out to us and waved a flashlight. The only words we understood were “Hola amigos.” The man was just curious about what we were doing there, so we showed him a picture of a salamander. We laughed, he laughed too, and after a short unsuccessful conversation we gestured that we had little time and continued on. In a small pool of a spring flowing from the slope we spotted several salamander larvae, confirming we were in the right place. The spring was surrounded by shrubs. We pushed a little further through the vegetation and suddenly I saw the first salamander. It was a juvenile, not yet showing any red coloration. After a while Tonda found a beautiful Moroccan painted frog (Discoglossus scovazzi). We had no further success along the stream, so we moved into the nearby pine forest, which proved to be the right decision. The forest floor was covered with pine needles, scattered stones, and very sparse herbaceous vegetation. An adult North Arfican fire salamander (Salamandra algira splendens) literally glowed with its yellow and red spots against the light brown background of the pine needles.
The night was cold, so we used all the blankets provided by our hosts. Heating inside the water-soaked masonry from the recent heavy rains caused the paint on the ceiling to peel, and we woke up lightly “snowed on.” In the morning we had an excellent local breakfast: pancakes with Moroccan “Nutella” (almond paste), cheese, olives, Moroccan mint tea, and other delicacies. The hostess spoke only Arabic, so we communicated using Google Translate, but she was very kind and also gave us a bowl of homemade Ramadan sweets and delicious dried figs sprinkled with mint.
After breakfast we returned to the salamander site, where besides salamanders we found several Mediterranean tree frogs (Hyla meridionalis) and Iberian pond turtles (Mauremys leprosa). On a rocky slope we also spotted one Andalusian wall lizard (Podarcis vaucheri), though unfortunately we did not manage to photograph it. We also found several small scorpions, probably of the genus Buthus, and the expedition nearly ended before it had properly begun when one of them accidentally stung Honza M. in the hand. Moroccan scorpions generally possess fairly strong toxins. Fortunately it was a very young individual with a small stinger and probably little venom, and the sting did not penetrate deeply. Honza only felt tingling at the site for a while, but the pain neither intensified nor spread, so after a few tense minutes we could breathe a sigh of relief.
Normally on expeditions we spend almost all our time searching for animals, but we couldn’t resist visiting the historic center of the “Blue City” of Chefchaouen. We parked the car at a paid parking lot by the main road and climbed upward through narrow alleys between blue-painted houses. Along the way we encountered guides offering their services, but when we politely declined they did not insist and kindly pointed us toward Uta el-Hammam Square. The alleys soon became even narrower, lined with merchants selling clothes, ceramics, and textiles. A local carpet seller named Mohamed asked me to film him and tell the world that he sells beautiful hand-woven carpets made by his wife. If a tourist comes with a guide, he said, the carpet costs 2000 MAD, but without a guide only 1000 MAD—apparently guides take a hefty commission. Several locals who met me called me “Ali Baba”, probably because of my beard, and kept offering me hashish. At a restaurant on the square we had meat tagines, salad, and dessert for only 80 MAD.
It was already quite warm, so on the way to another salamander subspecies locality we tried our luck searching for reptiles. To our surprise we saw none—not even a lizard—only a Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica), which quickly disappeared into its hiding place. But eventually luck smiled on us: at sunset we encountered a large Spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca marokkensis).
After sunset we continued northwest. Once we left the main road, the road conditions gradually worsened. In some places parts of the roadside had been “bitten away,” and holes were marked only by stones on the asphalt. Recent torrential rains had clearly taken their toll on the erosion of the mountain road. We first stopped at a large wetland and listened to the orchestra of Mediterranean tree frogs (Hyla meridionalis), which were migrating across the road toward the water. Although traffic was not heavy, many frogs had already been run over, and we also saw one huge spiny toad (Bufo spinosus) unfortunately already flattened into a “2D format.” For about half an hour we simply carried dozens and dozens of tree frogs across the road, saving them from being crushed by passing cars. But time was pressing, so we continued. Soon every inner curve of the mountain road had water flowing across it, causing erosion at the outer edge of the pavement. We had to negotiate increasingly “interesting sections” and narrower passages. When we were about 2 km from our destination, the road ended completely: a massive landslide of soil and rocks blocked the way, including two enormous boulders the size of four shipping containers. There was nothing left but to continue on foot. We parked the car and carefully continued past the landslide along the road. After about twenty meters, asphalt reappeared beneath the layer of soil, rocks, trees, and branches.
We decided to shorten the route between the switchbacks by cutting directly across the slope, and in a small stream we found several of the first larvae of the North Arfican fire salamander subspecies Salamandra algira tingitana. We also found a dead juvenile Southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica). From a distance, near a stone wall, I noticed the shiny eye of a frog. When I got closer, I was delighted to see a beautifully colored Berber toad (Sclerophrys mauritanica). Our lights and cameras probably didn’t please her very much, which was easy to tell from her expression.
Finally, we reached a concrete water reservoir full of salamander larvae. There were no adults in the surrounding area; it was quite dry and a weak cold wind was blowing. After all the effort we had already put in—and knowing we would most likely not make the trek here again—we were not willing to give up. As usual, persistence paid off. Before long Tonda found the first adult North Arfican fire salamander (Salamandra algira tingitana). This subspecies usually lacks red coloration, and it is characterized by small pointed protrusions on the skin.
We all agreed that we wanted to see monkeys in the wild, so we headed to the Akchour Waterfalls, where they are said to be relatively easy to observe. We parked in an almost empty parking lot and set out toward the waterfalls. The floods had destroyed several bridges, making the path along the river more complicated. We managed to find one Andalusian wall lizard (Podarcis vaucheri). We had planned to visit the natural rock bridge over the gorge known as God’s Bridge, but the route there was long and demanding, and we would have lost too much time. So we slowly began heading back to the car when suddenly a shriek came from the slope above us, and we spotted the first Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Soon there was an entire troop around us, feeding on berries from trees and juicy herb leaves. The macaques were used to people but still fairly shy and kept their distance.
In the afternoon we tried searching for reptiles at several randomly selected locations. Unfortunately, a cold wind was still blowing, and although the rocks were fairly warm, reptile activity remained low. We saw only a single juvenile Red-tailed spiny-footed lizard (Acanthodactylus erythrurus) and several Moorish geckos (Tarentola mauritanica).
We still had a free evening before the long journey south. However, we didn’t want to just sit around at the accommodation, so we returned to the site we had visited on the first evening. Although the weather was worse due to the wind than on the first night, we managed to find three more individuals of North Arfican fire salamander (Salamandra algira splendens). In addition, we observed several spiny toads (Bufo spinosus), although they were sitting in the middle of the wetland and we didn’t feel like wading through the cold water to reach them. Still, we could reliably identify them by their size and vocalizations.
In the morning, after breakfast, we said goodbye to our hosts. They gave us gifts in the form of figs and homemade sweets, and we left them a few extra dirhams in gratitude for their hospitality. Google showed the drive to our next accommodation would take about six hours. Although Ramadan had already begun, we had no problem ordering coffee or buying food during our regular stops at gas stations. Occasionally we even noticed locals drinking tea during the day. It seems that some traditions and customs are no longer followed quite so strictly by everyone in Morocco. The same seemed true regarding women covering their hair. Although most women still wore headscarves, some more progressive ones walked around comfortably without them. A few kilometers before our destination we encountered something we would not have expected in Africa: snow. Although daytime temperatures reached around 15 °C in the shade, a thin layer of snow still remained on north-facing slopes that stayed shaded all day.
We arrived at Tazekka Parc Hotel, where we were welcomed by a friendly host named Hicham. Normally the hotel is closed during Ramadan, but he opened it just for us. The rooms were clean and cozy, and pleasantly warm. Mr. Hicham had no problem with us returning late at night. After a short dinner bought in a nearby shop, we got back into the car and went searching for salamanders. We parked beside a roadside spring and had barely taken a few steps when the first salamander of the subspecies Salamandra algira atlantica was waiting for us on a bare slope right next to the road. In the surrounding area we found four more individuals and many larvae.
There was still plenty of time, so we decided to drive to another place where our Swiss friend Rayane had found a very red salamander a few weeks earlier. However, we searched in vain for salamanders there. We only found another Berber toad (Sclerophrys mauritanica). Just as we were returning to the car, I accidentally encountered one of the most endangered amphibians in Morocco—the Moroccan midwife toad (Alytes maurus).
On the last day, right after another delicious breakfast, we returned to the first salamander site to take a few photographs in daylight. We also found several Andalusian wall lizards (Podarcis vaucheri). We were surprised that local farmers still used wooden ploughs and even cultivated tiny fields on rocky slopes.
The weather was the sunniest and warmest since the beginning of our expedition, and finally there was a good chance of encountering interesting reptiles. The first to appear was the beautiful endemic Moroccan rock lizard (Scelarcis perspicillata)—one adult and several juveniles. In dense shrubs we found Algerian psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus). On the edge of bushes bordering a grassy pasture a Red-tailed spiny-footed lizard (Acanthodactylus erythrurus)was basking. Finally, we were delighted by the discovery of a large horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis).
After an excellent dinner at the hotel we treated ourselves to one last salamander search. This time we visited a different site near our accommodation. On the way we stopped at a small pond where we found several Moroccan painted frogs (Discoglossus scovazzi) and, to our surprise, under a stone several sleeping juveniles of the Moroccan eyed lizard (Timon tangitanus). We then reached a small ravine with a stream and many small waterfalls and began walking upstream along the watercourse. In less than an hour we found a total of ten North Arfican fire salamanders (Salamandra algira atlantica) on both sides of the stream.
Our expedition therefore had a dignified and successful conclusion. Given the weather conditions, it did not make sense to search for the final subspecies of the North Arfican fire salamander in Morocco – Salamandra algira spelea. It is very difficult to find due to the limited number of known localities and its low population density, and the sites where it occurs were several hours away by car. At least we now have one significant reason to return to northern Morocco sometime in the coming years.
For herpetology.cz,
Dino
List of taxa (total 19):
Amphibians (9 taxa)
Anura (6 species)
Alytes maurus
Bufo spinosus
Hyla meridionalis
Discoglossus scovazzi
Pelophylax saharicus
Sclerophrys mauritanica
Caudata (3 taxa)
Salamandra algira atlantica
Salamandrs algira splendens
Salamandra algira tingitana
Reptiles (10 species)
Lizards (6 species)
Acanthodactylus erythrurus
Podarcis vaucheri
Psammodromus algirus
Scelaris perspicillata
Tarentola mauritanica
Timon tingitanus
Snakes (2 species)
Coronella girondica (dead)
Hemorrhois hippocrepis
Turtles and tortoises (2 species)
Mauremys leprosa
Testudo graeca marokensis
