The main reason why I set my base in Marrakech was the distance of the snow peaked Atlas Mountains. Wanted to explore different areas of this beautiful area so I did some research and settled in 3 destination. My choice was Imlil, Ourika Valley and the Ozoud Waterfall.
As I booked my stay on Airbnb I was sure I’m not going to stay in Marrakech all long, with the confirmation email got some tip from about the local experiences as well. When I started to scroll over on the feedbacks and descriptions a day trip to the mountains sounded like an idial and tried to find something for more day but all of them looked like mentioning the same place so I just ended up booking Imlil with a local guide. I definitely find one of the best and I can just recommend this experience.
Imlil
The pick up has been scheduled to 9 at the Café de France. I arrived earlier and grabbed a fresh orange juice from the closest stand. Few minutes later jumped into the minibus to leave Marrakech behind and experience the Berber culture and hospitality.
The first stop was camel riding and tea, I skipped the actual riding part when I realized we are coming back to the same place, haven’t seen any sense just to circle around. At least I was able to grab some extra cookie and tea while was taking some photos from the baby dromedars.
Filled with Berber “whiskey” we soon arrived to the next stop to learn about the Agave oil. You can find these associations many places around the mountains and elsewhere, to be honest I had mixed feeling after this, it rather felt like a shop than an authentic place where the oil was really made. But the product was really good and tasty with the fresh-made flat bred. Luckily another day seen a similar one with so here are some photo from the process.I still have a feeling there is a mass production in the background or the stock in the shops were made through decades.
After this short stop we hit the twisted roads again to reach one of our main destination. Imlil is located in a valley in a High Atlas on 1800 meter. The Village is a well know starting point for those who are planning to climb the Jebel Toubkal (4160 m), Morocco’s and the North Africa’s highest mountain.
Maybe next time when I return to Morocco I will try this challenge but for the first visit I was happy to just walk around the valley and embracing the distant view of the snow peaked mountains. We had dinner in the village and after 30 minutes walking we get to the first of the 3 waterfall that I visited in the mountains. It wasn’t a big one, but had a fresh orange juice bar and as nobody else came around that time. It felt pretty private.
While we descended back to the Valley our guide filled us in with different stories about famous travellers who have visited this place. He mentioned Lady Gaga and was showing a place with a sign, haven’t really listened on the details to be honest. Stayed a bit behind to enjoy the walk in the nature and was thinking about that who is buying those heavy looked like carpets? And some other thoughts on those tourist who are coming with wheeled luggage to the mountains.
On the way back to Marrakech our last stop was at the Agafay desert. I was so amused all day by the snow peaked mountains but this spectacular view made the experience full.
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