Blog

The concept of the Refuge du Toubkal dates back to an ill-fated expedition to the summit, illness affected the party during its descent, and it was decided that a return to Aroumd that day was not possible. Instead, a bivouac was left with a long and cold evening during which to reflect upon the lack...Read More

The hard drought years of 1980-1984 forced many livestock-breeding nomads of the south to give up their particular social and economic way of life. In drought, these nomads (descendants of the dynastic Berber people of Sanhadja and Beni Mri) raided the sedentary oasis farmers for grain. As the proud camel, sheep, and goats herders, they...Read More

Ships of the Desert: The body of the camel (or one-humped dromedary) perfectly adapted to the Sahara desert climate. Its air filter is perched on a long neck, keeping the nasal membranes about two meters above the desert surface, which can easily reach temperatures over 70°C. A glimpse at the condition of the hump permits a...Read More

Who are the Berbers? Perhaps it is easier to describe where they live. Nowadays, they settle in villages – just rarely in tents – in the mountains and oases of North Africa and Egypt, as far as Mauretania. The Sahara is also part of the Berbers’ country. The dignified Tuareg, the last of the desert...Read More

*Mount Toubkal is a mountain peak in Morocco and is the highest peak in the High Atlas Mountains. High Atlas is the highest mountain range in North Africa and runs diagonally across Morocco, from the Atlantic coast northeast of Agadir to northern Algeria. In Berber, it’s called Idraren Draren (Mountains of Mountains). There are several...Read More

The Central High Atlas, dominated by the Mgoun Massif, offers excellent scope for trekkers, arguably more so than the Toubkal as it is relatively unexploited as of yet. Mgoun Massif is more remote; the rock is sedimentary and forms dramatic ridges and mountains. Erosion has carved some tremendous gorges, with deep-red and orange walls. Some...Read More

The starkly beautiful Jebel Saghro range of mountains continues the line of the Anti Atlas, rising between the High Atlas and Dades Valley to the north, with the Sahara stretching away to the south. little-visited and entirely undeveloped for the tourist market, it offers a landscape of flat-topped mesas, deep gorges, and twisted volcanic pinnacles...Read More

This dramatic cleft cut in the High Atlas mountains is a beautiful Ourika valley (45 minutes by car). The valley sides tower precipitously above the mass of emerald green fields on the valley floor. In summer, when Marrakech swelters in the sun, this small Ourika valley is full of escaping Marrakshis, camping, picnicking, and having...Read More

Erg Chebbi Merzouga is one of Morocco’s two Saharan ergs, vast color seas of dunes formed by wind-blown sand. About 50km south of Arfoud is the tiny village of Merzouga and nearby the famous Erg Chebbi dunes. Morocco’sonly genuine Saharan erg-one of those vast, drifting expanses of dunes that typify much of the Algerian Sahara....Read More