Your guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to the hotel/riad. Depending on the time of arrival, there may be time for a sightseeing tour where your guide will be happy to give you tips. Dinner will be in a local restaurant and stay overnight at a local Riad.
Breakfast is followed by departure for the happy valley of Ait Bougumez. The vast plains that surround Marrakech pull away as you make your way to Azilal. The road meanders through the beautiful Atlas Mountains and goes from valley to valley in the heart of M’Goun Geopark.
Visit the Ouzoud Waterfalls and the natural lake of Imi N’Ifri, which belongs to the M’goun Geopark, then continue by the mountain roads before arriving at the valley of Aït Bougmez. Check-in at your local guesthouse, where you will be greeted with a welcome tea, a symbol of the hospitality of the Berbers of the High Atlas. Following this, you will depart on foot for your first immersion into the Berber world, to discover the villages with adobe walls and irrigated terrasses.
Over three days, you will stay with a local family in the remote village of R’bat at the heart of the happy valley of Ait Bougumez. In this region of great cultural and architectural wealth, daily life is spent in the fields with well-kept plots and accompanied by the sounds of peasants and women gathering alfalfa for cattle
In the village of R'bat, you will be invited by the locals to enjoy a tea ceremony and delicious traditional meals, share family-like moments with the inhabitants of the region and learn about their customs and way of life. You can also learn how to cook Morocco’s famous Tagine and Couscous together with your local hosts during a cooking workshop.
You will spend two days volunteering with a local NGO Tawaya and help build an education center, teach languages, help local farmers and women in the fields and play games with the youth of the village.
You will visit the famous dinosaur footprints in the nearby village of Ibakliouen, a paleontological site of M’Goun Geopark, then off to the market town of Tabant to climb the hill where the sacred sanctuary of the panoramic views of the Happy Valley and the mountains surrounding the M’goun Geopark. On the last day you will enjoy a Henna ceremony, traditional music and dancing with the locals.
Your first day of hiking begins with a pleasant walk through green fields, adobe Berber villages and irrigated terraces. You will then follow the track that leads to Assif N’Arouss valley, passing by the Ait Said hamlet from where we see the M’goun Peak. You then continue on to Azib Arouss for overnight camping.
You will leave the outskirts of the village to reach the Aghouri pass and descend to Tarkeddit Plateau, a vast summer pasture of the nomadic tribes of Ait Atta. Here you will spend the night at base camp and prepare for ascension early the next morning.
You will depart early in the morning and it takes approximately four hours to get to the ridge of M’Goun, plus another two hours to reach the summit. The summit of M’Goun is Morocco’s
second highest peak after Toubkal. From the summit you will enjoy views over the great south and the Roses Valley. The ascent remains optional, with an alternative easy trail for those who wish to stay on site with the
muleteers team or stroll on the large plateau to meet the shepherds, and walk through the mule track towards the next campsite. You will then descend through the valley of Oulilimit to stay overnight.
Today is an easy day to recover from the M’Goun ascent. After breakfast, you will walk down along valley of Oulilimt and enjoy its beautiful & unique geologic forms where you may meet some nomadic Berber people with their animals. You will then continue to the camp near the water springs of Aflafal. Stay overnight at the camp.
You will leave the valley to cross the pass of Tizi N'Aît Immi for a last look at the imposing peaks forming the M'Goun massif and the valleys which stretch towards the South. You will then descend into the valley of Aît Bougmez, known as the happy valley. Spend the night in a lodge in the village Rbat with ample time to explore the village and meet with the local Berbers, an evening Henna ceremony and an optional Hammam.
Drive back to Marrakech via Ait Bououlli valley with an afternoon, guided guided tour of Marrakech. Start with the most beautiful palaces and monuments in Marrakech, the Bahia Palace. Built at the end of the 19th century, the name literally means "brilliance". You will also visit the Koutoubia Mosque (exterior) with its remarkable minaret, a major attraction for visitors to Marrakech.
Enter one of the historic gates of the old Medina and walk to discover the medieval way of life of its inhabitants and their daily occupations. Discover the hidden quarters and the historic caravanserai called Fondouks, once used as hotels for caravanners. Visit the souks and Jamaâ El Fna Square, a veritable open-air theater, which always amazes its visitors. Free evening for dinner
In the morning you will visit the Koutoubia Mosque from the outside. The "mosque of the booksellers" from the 12th century is the oldest mosque in Marrakech and one of the oldest in Morocco. You will also visit the Saadian graves from the 16th century. Seven sultans and over 60 other Saadite members were buried in this necropolis. The Saadian family ruled Morocco from 1549 to 1664. The mausoleums are richly decorated with filigree stucco work, fine mosaics and artistic carvings made of cedar wood. The Hall of the Twelve Pillars is one of the most magnificent buildings in the Maghreb. In the Dar Si Said Museum we
are introduced to the handicrafts of the Berber culture: jewelry, musical instruments, textiles, carpets and ceramics tell of old traditions of the indigenous people of Morocco. Not far from the museum is the Bahia Palace on an area of 8,000 m2, which the Grand Vizier Si Moussa had built in 1867 and which his son Bou Ahmed added a garden, a hammam and a mosque. In the shady, planted inner courtyard of the palace, the combination of pomp and structural lightness is particularly impressive. After lunch you will venture into the labyrinth of souks in the medina and let our senses bewitched by smells, colours and sounds. The long stroll through the winding and busy alleys ends at the Djemaa el Fna square. At this pulsating meeting point for traders, jugglers, monkey dressmakers, musicians, dancers and storytellers, you can once again immerse ourselves in a world of 1001 nights. The medina of Marrakech with the Djemaa el Fna square and the Menara and Agdal Gardens has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
In the morning, say goodbye to the red city and travel to Morocco's west coast, following a route that takes you over vast rolling plains. Along the way, pass through an argan tree forest, endemic to this part of the
world. You may even see goats dining on the argan fruit, up in the tree branches. Arrive in the port city of laid-back Essaouira, a nice contrast to frenetic Marrakech, and spend the rest of the day as you choose. Walk the Skala de la Kasbah (the 18th-century seafront ramparts) along the coast. Designed by European engineers, old brass cannons line the walls and offer viewing access over the Atlantic. Explore the UNESCO-listed medina before making your way to the windswept beach.
Essaouira is located on the coast Atlantic Ocean and since antiquity, Essaouira is inhabited by indigenous Berbers, Phoenicians and Romans. It is only since the fifteenth century that the site was really occupied by the Portuguese, who in 1506 built a fortress and ramparts quickly abandoned before the fierce resistance of the local population. Its ancient medina extends over thirty hectares, built on a rocky peninsula in the ocean in a succession of islets scattered on the coast. It is the Sultan Mohammed ben Abdellah who ordered its construction from 1760 and several famous architects participated, such as Theodore Cornut, who drew the plan of the city. It is also renowned for windsurfing and kitesurfing, thanks to the powerful winds that blow almost constantly in the bay, as well as the annual Kitesurf World Cup. Its craftsmanship skills are also prized, such as the work with cedar wood and the fish market and spices are just as important.
Keep your eyes out for goats in the nearby Argan trees as you travel back to Marrakech, through the rolling plains. Depending on your flight time you may have more time to explore a little more.
