In 2012, we planned a tour through Morocco’s High Atlas: walking through the mountains in a group, with aguide. But that trip was canceled by the tour-operator due to a lack of participants.
This year, we found a trip to Morocco with another operator, and no matter the number of travelers: that trip would be executed, with an English speaking local guide. He would lead us over the Saghro mountains – an area created and formed by volcanic activities, and into the Sahara, both rocky and sandy environments. Walks of about 6 hours from one location to the other, where the luggage was transported by mules of camels, we would stleep in tents – or, in the desert, in open air.
Normally, it is quite warm in May, but this year temperatures were modest, and due to the amount of wind, it was well bearable: temperatures around 30 degrees in the Saghro and about 35 in the desert – considered mild conditions.
In the Saghro we could walk 6 hours with some stops underway, but in the Sahara we walked for 4 hours to a place with lots of shadow, and we would take a siësta for a few hours, to avoid the hottest time of the day; after that, it would be a walk of 2 hours to the camp.
In between, we visited the Todra gorge, but that was somewhat disappointing: the original gravel riverbed, once suitable for four-wheel drives only, is now fitted with a concrete road to allow more traffic to the inland beyond the gorge; needed for the local economy, but it spoils the wildness of the area – and allows more and more ‘traders’ selling their stuff to tourists like us.
After all trekking, we spent the last four days in Marrakech – the first day in a large hotel outside the old city, as part of the trip itself, and the rest in an original old-city house – a riad – that has been restored and converted to a hotel.
Of course I tracked all walks, and some of the intermediate rides (by our own bus), and took a lot of pictures.
Month: May 2013
Rhein-Nahe Weinwanderweg (2012)
In fall 2012, we had a week of walking in Germany: we found the Rhein-Nahe Weinwanderweg, from Kirn to Bingen, along the Nahe river that runs South of the Hunsrück. Given the name, the route runs through vineyards on the slopes of the hills.
When we arrived, is was pouring with rain, and using a wooden cabin was just a little bit more expensive as setting up the tent – so we decided to go for the cabin. Just this first day was rainy, the remainder of the week the wather was fin – though the mronings would be chilly and therefore misty; But during the day, the fog would disappear and we would walk in bright sunlight.
The images and tracks can be found on this spot.