After a hot Moroccan breakfast with sweet Berber tea, we set off on our last day of hiking in the Atlas Mountains. Today, we would complete our hike from Tizi Oussem to the beautiful village of Imlil, a village easily reachable from Marrakesh making it a popular day trip for those who want to experience the Atlas Mountains and Berber hospitably.
As we left Tizi Oussem, our guide Mohamed showed us some of the leftover destruction from the earthquake a few years back. It had hit this community really hard and they were still trying to rebuild years later. Many Berber homes were built the traditional way using stone to keep the heat in during the winter and hot sun during the summer. Since Berbers are mostly farmers and goat herders, livestock would often live on the bottom floor of the home using their feces to heat the house in the winter months. While a practical style of home, many did not survive a major earthquake so the new homes built by the government and NGOs were made of concrete to last the weather and survive future earthquakes.
Older homes on the left and a newer concrete home pictured on the right.
Leaving the village, the sun was rising above the horizon and the mountains changed colors from shades of deep purples to pinks and reds. It was more beautiful than I had imagined and on that last day, I realized how glad I was for deciding on a whim to do this hike. Not only was it beautiful, it brought me into a culture I knew nothing about and connected me to a different way of life. For me, that is often the most powerful part of travel. The connections we make and the understanding that results.
Our local Guides, Mustafa and Mohamed
Me and my friend Sara who I met on the hike. We enjoyed a lot of laughs together!
Our five-hour hike took us up along the Assif n’ait Oussaden valley, passing through the walnut groves, until we finally reached Tizi n’taghrhourte at 1995m.
There we had an unexpected surprise: A lone, entrepreneurial Berber man who set up shop to sell us freshly-squeezed orange juice. It felt like an oasis in the desert! It was the best orange juice I have ever had.
He was clever in choosing his location as it is a popular day hike from Imlil and tourists travel to the village for an easy day trip from Marrakesh. This was the first time in four days that we had seen other travelers on our hike. That is what was wonderful about traveling during shoulder season in November. We had the entire hike to ourselves!
After our break, the scenery continued to get even more beautiful with stunning views of the valley leading to Imlil, one of the gateways to the Atlas Mountains. We stopped to take a photo of our favorite guide, Mustafa, who is from this village, and continued on to enjoy a delightful picnic lunch.
Our incredible guide, Mustafa, posing for a photo with his home village, Imlil, in the backdrop
The scenery felt like it was out of a fairytale. I have never seen anything quite like Imlil. I wish we would have had more time to spend here but it was the end of our tour. At least we ended with the best part for last!
We ended our trip with a visit to the Ighouliden waterfalls, one final picnic lunch with a breathtaking view, and some shopping.
Our group of hikers for one last farewell photo
It was another hike to remember. What I loved the most was that we were the only group hiking for the first three days and did not see another traveler. The hot Moroccan meals were incredible, the hospitality of the Berber people was magical, and the cultural experience being in such a beautiful, vastly different place than my home, was top-notch.
Our four-day route:
To read the other posts in the series, here is the hike on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.
Who to go with
As a general rule of thumb, I always try to hire a locally-owned travel outfitter. But this proved to be more challenging. After much research, I found UK-based Much Better Adventures , which runs adventure trips around the world and offers group travel for solo adventurers like myself. Thankfully, Much Better Adventures acts as a go-between with local outfitters, and once you sign on to join the trip, the local company handles the rest. This means that the local community benefits from tourism through income generation and employment. Furthermore, the travelers win because of the incredible cultural experience and knowledge they gain from the local guides and community.
Our local outfitter, Aztat Treks is a locally owned Berber tour operator based in the heart of the Atlas Mountains, Imlil, and run by Mohamed Aztat. His entire crew (two guides, one chef, and a muleteer to transport our food) is from the surrounding villages. Our group stayed at locally owned gites (traditional refugios with dormitory-style rooms). All in all, there were 12 hikers on the trip, and I was the only American along with 11 other Brits and Irish hikers.