A Day in the Atlas Mountains

Jenny, Karien and I took a day to go explore a valley in the Atlas Mountains just outside Marrakesh. It was an awesome day. Started on the rooftop of the apartment I rented..

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Then Jenny, Karien and I met in the Medina square (Jemaa el-Fnaa) for breakfast and hit the road… Jenny had organised a local guide for the trip.

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First stop was to look at the mountains and we stopped at a Berber co-op to look at locally made crafts. I bought a tagine and hooded cloak (Djellaba). Will take pics and post later.

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Next to the craft shop was a small building where they put metal bands around the outside of tagines. They let me snoop around as they wielded the bands to the tagine.

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Then we drove for a bit and stopped at the base of the Atlas Mountains. There were a lot of cafes along the roiver bank and we stopped here for some food and just to hang out. Jenny went for a walk while Karien and I hung out.

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We then drove back down the valley, taking a few photos of other cafes, as well as some villages, as we went.

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Then the guide took us to a Berber family home for tea… they were lovely people and gave us permission to take some photos of their house. Inside they had a cow, a heap of tagines and the coal cooking pots for tagine, a millstone for making flour, a bread oven … it was super fascinating. Our hosts were wonderful and the team and assorted nuts and biscuits were delicious.

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We returned to the square at night and had dinner together before going our separate ways… each off for our own Moroccan adventures over the next days…. it was a perfect day.

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