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.  Continue reading →

Our third day trekking in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco was one of the longest days, hiking from the remote village of Imgdal to the even more remote community, Tizi Oussem.

We rose early to the sound of the call to prayer echoing melodically through the valley and the sun was beginning to rise above the village. By day three, I was finally accustomed to sleeping in an unheated gite on a somewhat uncomfortable futon on the floor in a room with six others. It had been quite some time since I traveled this basic and while I would have preferred a warm, cozy bed and a hot shower, the camaraderie of it all made the trip the more memorable.

Setting off into the mountains

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The second day of trekking the Atlas Mountains ended up being one of my favorites for its sheer wow factor and beauty. Day two took us from the lovely village of Tiziane to the remote Imgdal, a lovely Berber village in the heart of the Atlas Mountains. The five-hour hike would take us up along the Assif n’ait Oussaden valley, passing through walnut groves, climbing up via switchbacks through the clouds until our descent into the village of Imgdal.

After an early morning breakfast, we packed our gear and set off to the rising sun and the echoes of the call to prayer.  As we left the village, school children were already up and ready for their walk to school while farmers were heading out to the fields for their day of work. Just like the day before, we did not see another tourist and had the entire trail to ourselves.

Heading out for our hike a little after seven am from the lovely village of Tiziane

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