Maroc N Roll

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Our 2 week Moroccan holiday started with a challenge; to climb North Africa’s highest peak, Mount Toubkal at 4,167m elevation.  It was a fantastic 3 day trek which we did with our own guide, mule and muleteer who cooked for us along the way cooking up delicious feasts of tagines, couscous and Berber whisky (mint tea!).  We left left Imlil, which is at 1,740m already to Lipeney Mountain Refuge at 3,000m. Day 2 was described quite righthly as a fairly stiff climb through the Aguelzim Mountain pass at 3,560m to spend the night at the Toubkal base camp (Niltner Hut).  An early start of 4am on day 3 saw us be the first climbers to reach the summit, apart from Oscar Perez an ultra marathon runner we met on-route who had spent the night up there cosied up in his sleeping bag!  Was a glorious climb to reach the summit, starting with head torches in the dark, to watching the sun come up over the Atlas mountains, it was a sight to behold.  After taking in the sights on what felt like the top of the world, we had a 2,500m descent all the way back to Imlil for the night.  How we wish we had brought walking sticks, that was hard going on the knees and quads that’s for sure!

The next few days saw us doing a tiki tour through stunning gorges of Dades and Todra, a massive fault in the Atlas mountains, visiting tiny berber villages and Kasbahs along the way.  Passing through Ouarzazate, where the Atlas film studios (The Mummy, Sex and the City2) are located and visiting Ait Ben Haddou, an ancient fortified city Unesco World Heritage site.  Ait Ben Haddou is stunning with crumbling earthen buildings making up the Kasbah where movies such as The Mummy, Gladiator & Lawrence of Arabia were filmed, they were busy filming an African movie when we were there.  We did a great run there running through landscape that looked like something from Mars!

Overnight in the Sahara dessert after a camel safari from Merzouga was spectacular, complete quiet and darkness, soaking up the stars in the night sky.  Though we can remember why we haven’t ridden a camel since our Rajasthan, India trip in 2007 – ouch!

With a one night stop over in Marrakesh we made the most of  Djeema El Fna and ate at the nightly food markets, enjoying the traditional sheeps head.  We took the bus to Essaouira, spotting goats in the Argan trees along the way which is a funny sight.  We relaxed in the coastal town of Essaouira for 3 days, relaxing along the beach, bartering with the local fisherman for fresh tasty sardines and the Berbers for some local art & craft pieces.  We got to enjoy some Moroccan beers, Flag & Casablanaca, as well as some tasty wines from Meknes to rejuvinate before catching a train via Casablanca heading over to the hustle and bustle of Fes where we explored its crazy medina and leather tanneries.

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