Morocco: up up and away… to the Atlas Mountains (for the day)

Marrakech is flat and crazy, so it was a refreshing change to get out of the city and into the Atlas Mountains for the day. We hired a guide who was a good sport about speaking French with us all day. (He gave us 5/5 stars for our French, btw!)

The tour took us to 5 valleys, each with a different landscape and features. The first stop was an Argan Oil production collective (#touristtrap). We bought some magic crystals (#berbervicks) and some Argan honey that was delicious and subsequently leaked in my bag.

The second stop was more what we’d imagined, with a moderate hike up to a series of waterfalls. The way down included a cascade of monkeys playing in the trees.

We were driving along a river in and out of the area and all along it were restaurants with riverside tables. We stopped at one and put our feet in the water. It was clearly the thing to do, and a very popular activity during the school holiday.

From there, we were headed to lunch. We were winding up the mountains and the views were spectacular. As we got further up into the mountains, goats were everywhere.

Just past the goats, We arrived at the Berber Village for lunch. We had expected it to be a heavy-handed tourist trap, but it was only mildly so, and mostly a really pleasant and tasty stop.

From lunch we bag an our descent back through the mountains and along a new road to return to Marrakech. the views were beautiful, and there were many distinct changes in the landscape.

It had been a long day by the time we were dropped off at the Medina walls, ready to fight the chaos again on our way back in.