Walk time - 2.33 hours
Distance - 6 miles
Altitude - 5,900 feet
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We love Marrakech and this was our fourth visit to the city, on the second day we arranged (privately) for a trip into the High Atlas and for a walk, we left all the details up to our guide and good friend Charaf, giving him a free brief with the only request to have a walk in the mountains and visit a Kasbah.
Charaf picked us up at 7am from the main square in the heart of Marrakech (Jemaa el-Fna) in a really nice Dacia Duster, very comfortable and more than capable for the drive ahead, the plan was to take the N9 from Marrakech and then turn off once we have crested the High Atlas at the Tizi n'Tichka pass and aim to be in Telouet to visit the Kasbah and have a late lunch, stopping en-route for coffee and refreshments
We met the local guide a few miles outside Telouet, he was a Berber and descendant of the Glaoui tribe he grew up and still lives in Telouet, now working as a mountain guide in the High Atlas, his English was excellent and narration during the walk about the wildlife, villages, lifestyle and of course the history of the Glaoui tribe and the impact they had on the history of Morocco was truly fascinating.
We left the road and headed off towards a small Berber village, whilst the sky was a little over cast, it was still very hot and dry, the plain we were walking in although relatively flat was some 6,000 feet up in the mountains, the route mainly followed tracks although we did do a little light scrabbling over some looser ground.
The plan was to walk through a number of small villages with the Kasbah as our end point, Charaf drove on ahead and arranged lunch for us
This area of the High Atlas was one of a very few crossing points for the travelling caravans of traders coming from the Sahara and heading across to Marrakech and west of Morocco and of course Europe, they would stop at the Kasbah for safety, food and rest, then pay for guides through the mountains.In one village we met a lady carrying a stack of freshly baked bread, she had the village bread oven and was taking the bread to her neighbours. As is the custom, should she meet anyone during her delivery she has to offer them bread, so we enjoyed some very freshly made bread, our guide had also brought with him some fruit for us during a brief rest period.
By most of the rivers near the villages the women were washing their floor mats and clothes
We past through an area where all the local villages used to gather for a weekly market, now used as a makeshift football pitch and headed back towards Telouet and the Kasbah
Let me just run through our equipment for the walk, we both had small trekking packs (mine a Helium 17l, Liz a Helium 10l) from Decathlon and both had 3 litre hydration packs (which we did need) make sure, if you do take on a trek like this (even a short one) to have plenty of water, it was hot and dry. We both had wide brimmed sun hats, mine a Peter Storm River Ranger from Millets, we had sturdy Karrimor boots and I was trying out my new Helikon-Tex Shorts, which were excellent and I can highly recommend, cool with plenty of free movement. We did carry jackets and waterproofs, just in case.
The final stop was the Kasbah, the tribal home and palace of El Glaoui, The Lord of the Atlas and Pasha of Marrakech who was heavily involved in the French occupation and coup in the early 20th century, shortly after his death in 1956 all his property was seized, including this Kasbah which was only returned to the local tribe in 2010, so for 60 years this magnificent palace was left untouched (except for the elements), only a small part is now open to the public and the £2 entrance fee seemed such a small amount compared to other more mainstream sights.
Due to the remoteness of the Kasbah, it isn't on the main tourist route (unlike Ait Benhaddou) we shared our visit with a handful of other people and having visited Ait Benhaddou before, I would say this was far better.
A small area of the Kasbah had a tiled roof which protected the inside, the decoration was just as it would have been when the Pasha still lived here. We spent quite a long time walking round the areas we were able to access with our guide, who used to play in the ruins as a child.
A short walk back to the main road and to a restaurant for a late lunch (it was about 3pm now and we had breakfast at 6.30 so much needed). Charaf had ordered for us and again didn't disappoint, we were first brought out a large tray of hot roasted vegetables and pasta with a basket of bread, followed by a lovely tagine of slow cooked lamb with roasted figs and apricots then a dessert of fresh fruit.All this food plus water for less than £6 each
Then we got back into the car with Charaf and headed back to Marrakech stopping again en-route of a coffee (a very interesting tasting coffee at that)
If you ever feel the need to leave the hedonistic madness of Marrakech (why would you) but if you did, a trip to the mountains is highly recommended, you can book organised trips through most hotels or riads and travel with a small group. We are lucky to have our Moroccan friend in Charf we were able to arrange something a little more unique and a total mystery adventure as we left everything to Charaf to plan and arrange (if you would like Charaf's contact details, please let me know)
All I can say, is this was one of the most interesting and unique walks we have had the privilege to do in a country we love to visit, although I am sure more will follow......
We stayed at a small riad in Marrakech called Riad Maizie, managed by the wonderfully attentive Will and featured in the book Cinnamon City by the owner Miranda Innes
