Tag Archives: High Atlas

We were starting out early: my Berber guide Mohammed was worried about the impact of the hot autumn sun on our steep climb from the trekking lodge (Azzaden Trekking Lodge) near Tizi Oussem in the Toubkal National Park in Morocco, to the mountain pass we needed to cross. I was worried too! I had found […]

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Back in September of 2023, Morocco was rocked by an earthquake – with devastating consequences. More than 2,900 people were killed and a further 5,500 injured (see: The Centre for Disaster Recovery). Over two million dwellings were damaged – displacing at least 500,000 people. Although the effects of the 6.8-magnitude quake were felt in the […]

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Any visitor to these pages knows I love hiking. But, if the truth be told, I don’t always love it while I’m doing it! I discovered very quickly that there is nothing easy about hiking in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The ground is steep, covered in rubble, strewn in rubbish, and dotted with […]

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The High Atlas Mountains in central Morocco rise from the Atlantic coast and stretch east to the Moroccan-Algerian border. This is a rugged landscape, inhabited by hardy Berbers – more properly called by their endonym Amazigh or Imazighen, meaning ‘Free Person’ or ‘Free People’. They live in small villages with narrow lanes lined with traditional […]

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