High Atlas Mountain Village Trekking
& Cultural Adventure Trips

Fitness / experience required
Easy terrain usually on tracks & trails. Ascents of cols whilst reasonably energetic will be non-technical and always on clearly defined tracks / paths. Average daily walking generally no more than 5 hours excluding lunch and rest stops. Would suit most "weekend walkers" and even those without any / much walking experience.

This trek will be supported by local guides, cooks, mules (to carry your gear and food) and their drivers - so you will only need to carry a light daypack at the very most.

Accommodation
Accommodation is an integral part of the trip - we will be staying in traditional Berber village houses in an attempt to provide you with an insight into their lifestyle and culture. We start and finish these trips from the ancient and traditional walled town of Taroudant (50 minutes east of Agadir airport) where we stay in a comfortable hotel from which you can explore the ancient "souks". Whilst staying in Berber village houses, sharing rooms with others in the group is the norm.  If you are coming on your own, then single accommodation in the hotel is arranged for you at no additional cost. Berber villages and their houses are traditional and quite simple in terms of creature comforts - however the opportunity to participate in village life more than compensates for this!

Food on the trip
Morocco is said to have one of the finest cuisines in the world - our cooks pride themselves in their cooking, and ensure that all the food on the trek is freshly prepared using local ingredients and that there is plenty for everyone. A typical menu on this trip would be:
Breakfast: Fresh bread with cheese, apricot jam, margarine, fried eggs, tea, coffee and hot milk.
Lunch: A light lunch consisting of mixed salad, tinned cold fish or meat, bread and cheese, followed by fresh local fruit.
Dinner: The evening meal is always a hot meal and is different every night - traditional Moroccan cuisine of Tajine or couscous with meat and vegetables or the occasional pasta meal. This is followed by fresh fruit and the famous mint tea.!

Trip itinerary / Average trekking day
Day 1 - arrive Taroudant and overnight in hotel. Meet trek guide and introduction to the week etc.
Day 2 - after breakfast, transfer in our 4x4 to high village in the mountains. Lunch en-route. Short trek in the afternoon, mint tea, dinner and relax!
Days 3-6 A typical days trek would be something like this - after sorting out our overnight gear, we have breakfast before beginning our days trek at around 9 am. We generally walk for around 5 - 6 hours a day, depending on the destination, with a good break of at least 1 hour for lunch. We continue for a couple of hours in the afternoon, finishing for the day mid to late afternoon to allow time to relax, chat, take photographs or do some reading or writing.
Day 7 - morning trek and then meet our transport to bring us back to our hotel in Taroudant. Showers and civilisation! Evening meal in style.
Day 8 - breakfast and depart.

We begin and end our trips in Taroudant (east of Agadir) which is an old Berber town with magnificent fortified walls around the city and great Berber and Arab souks. Our local Berber guides know the surrounding Western High Atlas villages like the back of their hands!

Off all the trekking areas in the Atlas Mountains, the Western part (north of Taroudant) is the least spoilt tourist-wise and you can virtually guarantee that you will meet no other westerners once you are in the mountains! This is genuine Berber country!

Kit List / Clothes / Weather etc
As per list supplied - normal walking gear. (We supply all the stoves / cooking implements etc). Items are specified in the kit list which is sent to you on receipt of booking fee.
The weather should be warm (but not too hot) during the day & cool evenings / mornings should be the pattern. Walkers should realise however that weather in the high mountains is unpredictable and should be prepared for this. Shorts / T-shirt etc lower down, whilst you may need some light fleece / windproof on the tops.

Environmental / Health
All our guides are qualified in remote and wilderness first aid and always carry a fully equipped first aid kit for serious medical emergencies. However this is not a general dispensary (!) - walkers should bring their own supplies of plaster, blister prevention pads, paracetmol etc. and any medication they are on.
There are no compulsory vaccinations for Morocco but, as always, you should keep Hep A, Tetanus, Polio, Typhoid and possibly rabies up to date. Consult your GP or a vaccine specialist for professional advice. The most common complaint can be diarrhea which can be caused simply by a change of diet or more likely your poor hygiene standards. Non spring bottled water should never be drunk without first sterilising with iodine tablets or by boiling.

Money Matters / Currency / Visas / Language
Our price for this week-long trip includes 2 nights B&B hotel accommodation in our base town of Taroudant, all food throughout (except meals whilst in Taroudant either end of the trip - but breakfast is included), all transport costs associated with the official trip itinerary (e.g. buses, jeeps, hire of mules etc), professional guiding services and hire of trek equipment (as required - e.g. stoves, cooking equipment etc) for the duration of the trek. The additional costs for you therefore would be flights, shared taxi transfers to / from our starting town, insurance, personal spending, drinks etc.
Visas for entry into Morocco are not required by nationals of Ireland, the U.K, U.S.A, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most E.U countries.
The currency in Morocco is the dirham (dh). There are about 10.5 dh to the €. Impossible to get dirham outside of Morocco - therefore take € Euros (preferably) or US$ and exchange over there.
Language is Arabic / Berber but French is also understood / spoken widely. Little or no English spoken / understood.
Time difference = GMT all year.

Insurance
We ask you to effect individual holiday insurance against travel delays, loss of baggage and money, mountain rescue & medical expenses, personal accident and any cancellation costs. You should note that there are no official mountain rescue services in Morocco and that any evacuation in the event of a serious medical emergency to the nearest hospital will be by land as opposed to helicopter.  
We will require documentary evidence of your insurance prior to departure.  

Trip Ethos
A small group (8 persons maximum), personally led by one of our guides whose job it is to ensure that you have a quality trekking and cultural experience in the Atlas Mountains in good company - it’s that simple! 

Travel
We do not generally include the cost of the return travel to/from the starting point of the trip in our prices. This is to allow for greater individual flexibility and potential economy in travel arrangements. We always however recommend and suggest the various alternatives for travelling to your chosen destination and can of course provide you with train / bus / plane timetables to suit as required.

The most realistic airport in Morocco for these trips is Agadir. There is a charter flight from Dublin to Agadir direct every Saturday through Sunway Travel. Generally seat only tickets are available without much trouble.  (Late availability deals seldom apply to peak holiday breaks such as Christmas / New Year and Easter)
Scheduled flights are best had with Atlas-Blue.Com, RoyalAirMaroc.Com, Easyjet.Com, Ryanair.Com or British Airways (BA.Com) who offer a good service from Gatwick, Heathrow and most major cities in Europe to Agadir and Marrakech daily.
For those with time on their hands, another very attractive way of seeing the country is to get a cheap flight to Malaga in southern Spain, get the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar and overland it (train mainly) to Marrakech and then onto Taroudant.

www.nomadicmorocco.com