5 Days Trekking from Marrakech To The Atlas Berber Villages

early morning departure from Marrakech for a pleasante drive south winding our way up through the moulay brahim gorge and upper valleys to arrive at the higher foothills of the western high atlas mountains and our trailhead of imi oughlad (1450m) with the jbel toubkal , at 4167m the highest peak in north Africa , aglzim 3650m and aksoual 3847m ,looming before us . here we alight from our vehicle and meet up with Berber muleteer crew . We set off up in north-westerly direction for a 2hour acclimatisation hike up switchback mule tracks , passing by cornfields woods pine and juniper to the tiz n'tachete (2000m),where we shallstop to look back down on the imlikl and ait oussaden valleys before carrying on for another half hour to imi n'ifri and our field picnic .thence a slow hike for about 2 and half hours south-west down along a dirt track to assif n' ait oussaden and the red clay terraced village of tiziane ( 1750 m )for our accommodation in our bivouac or refuge.

After breakfast we now set off on our hike up along the assif n'ait oussaden valley , passing through the walnuts groves , up to tizi n'taghrhourte (1995m )and through to a rare almost flat stretch to arrive at assaka spring, where we will stop for our field picnic amidst and awesome silence after some 2 and half hours relatively easy walking .our afternoon's hike takes us down along the edges of the forest till we reach the Berber village of D'knt (1870m) or agouns n Assoul where we will have our dinner and spent the in a bivouac or refuge.

From here there are unrestricted views in every direction, from the Marrakech Plain to the High Atlas in the north and as far south as the Anti-Atlas and the Sahara. Pliny, the great Roman scholar, once described the High Atlas Mountains as "the most fabulous mountains in all of Africa" and from our vantage point high above the valley it is easy to understand why. Retracing our steps we then return down the mountain and head back towards Imlil and from then drive back to Marrakech.

We set off for our morning's 3 hours hike up through groves of walnut trees, fields of corn and barley to greet the many sheep and goat herders – and women and children bent over with 20kg loads of faggots and dried herbs. We traverse the tizi n'tagdalte to the descent amongst the juniper trees till we come to a small spring set amongst the trees , where we will stop for our picnic .once refreshed , we are off down winding tracks of upper slopes for some 3hours to come to a small river at the beginning of the valley of assif n'ait oussaden . From here we enter the village of tizi oussem (1850m) then up to the summer village Of Tamsoult for our camp or refuge.

Trek to a small waterfall at Azib Tamsoulte and return to cross the Tizi 'n Mzik pass (2,500m). We join the main Toubkal valley at Imlil (1,900m), where we have lunch before you get back to imlil for a night

After breakfast, depart back toward Marrakech. Drop off at your accommodation.