From 1st-9th July this year, I visited Morocco with a group of friends. It was one of the most enjoyable trips I have been on and the activities we did ranged from climbing the tallest mountain in North Africa to camel rides along the beach. The weather of course was amazing and it was an overall wonderful trip.
Day 1
We set off from Gatwick and after a 3 hour flight, we arrived at Marrakesh airport at about 10pm. From here we drove in mini buses to the town of Imlil which took about 1.5 hours. In the small town of Imlil, we stayed in a refuge where we ate so much for supper! The meal started with soup and bread, then a tangine and melon to finish. Five of us shared a room which was right on the terrace and as you can see from the photo above, the view from the terrace was amazing in the morning. We were surrounded by mountains, the town below and blue skies and the sun from above.
Day 2
On day 2, we woke up at 7am and packed our day bags, making sure we’d sterilised our water. Breakfast consisted of bread with jam and cheese as well as hot chocolate. We set off shortly after that, led by our guide called Lersan, who would lead us for most of our walking. By now we were already quite high up but nowhere near to Mt. Toubkal, the tallest mountain in North Africa at 4,167 m. We climbed a little until we reached a beautiful waterfall which we swam in. It was super freezing but it was nice to cool off from the sun. After trekking a bit further, we got to the Berber of Armed which has a population of 2,000 people. At the refuge, we had lunch of salad, sardines and pasta before heading outside to explore the town and surrounding forest. Once we had arrived back to the refuge, we took in the amazing views of our destination from the terrace. That night we could hear the prayer calls coming from the nearby Mosque, something I wasn’t expecting.
Day 3
After having breakfast, we set off from Armed at about 8am, passing waterfalls and small shops along the way. We walked for 5 hours and climbed approx. 1200m which was incredibly tiring, especially in the heat. Once at Refugio de Toubkal, we ate lunch and set up our tents before visiting a nearby waterfall which was equally beautiful to the views of the mountains. This waterfall was also freezing but we were thankful to be able to sunbathe on the rocks afterwards. After supper of spaghetti bolognese, we headed to our tents. By this time, it was dark and the wind was picking up quite heavily, making it very cold.
Day 4
After waking up early once again, we set off on our climatisation walk to the ‘saddle’ between Mt. Toubkal and another mountain. It was very rocky and the steep, winding paths were deceivingly long, however we sang Mammia Mia and Disney songs to keep us going! Surprisingly, there was even some snow along the way, which was funny to see because it was so hot. The view from the saddle was pretty incredible and we sat there for a bit, taking photos and reloading on snacks. Going down was probably a bit harder, because it was so easy to slip on loose rocks, which I did do a few times. We arrived back in time for lunch and a trip to the waterfall again, before supper of lamb and veggies. I was nervous for the next day – summiting Mt. Toubkal!
Day 5
We woke up at 2.30am and ate a bit of breakfast before setting off for Toubkal! It was obviously pitch black and so we had to wear head torches, which was a bit weird because we couldn’t see much apart from what was straight in front of us. Along the way we had to walk over a stretch of snow which was quite nerve wracking as it was pretty slippy. After a lot of climbing the end was in sight, we just had a very steep section left, but at 7.14am we reached the summit of Mt. Toubkal! It was freezing, especially with the wind but we ate snacks and took photos before heading back down the mountain which was just as tricky as the day before. Lots of people had nose bleeds because of the change in pressure or threw up because of the altitudes. We arrived back at the campsite and lunchtime and packed up tents before heading further down to the town of Armed again. A few of us travelled on mules down the mountain which looked quite frightening. Once at the Refugio, we scoffed chip butties, tagine and watermelon, we were absolutely starving! Were very thankful to have a nice refreshing shower before falling into a well-deserved sleep.
Day 6
Woke up and packed bags before walking back down to Imlil, where we caught a bus to Essaouira! We stopped along the 5 hour long journey for food before arriving at our hostel which was really beautiful and even had hot showers yay! After settling in, we went exploring in the nearby markets and got used to bartering for everything we bought. We had pizza and crepes for supper which were delicious and nice and filling.
Day 7
Had a delicious breakfast of pancakes and pain au chocolat and then headed down to the beach. Although it was sunny, it was still quite chilly and the sea was very cold! We went for lunch and souvenir shopping in the markets. I had a shawarma wrap and delicious ice cream for lunch. We went back to the beach in the afternoon to play football with some locals and go in the still-freezing sea. After showering back at the hostel, our whole group had supper ate a really nice restaurant, and then quickly went to buy crepes and ice cream at the stalls in the market.
Day 8
After waking up and having breakfast, we travelled to a nearby ranch where about 20 camels were lying around. We clambered onto a camel each, quite awkwardly, and set off in a long line. I was near the back of the line on a camel called Leonardo who was very well behaved. There was also a baby camel called Humphrey at the back who didn’t have anyone on him but was so adorable and fluffy! Along the way, we stopped on the beach to take some photos with camels. After our camel rides, we travelled back to the hotel to pack up our bags and do a quick last shop in the markets before driving back to Marrakesh airport. We boarded the plane in the evening at arrived at Gatwick at about 2.30am. We finally got home after 15 hours of travelling which we were relieved was over!
Juliette Louise 
This looks amazing.
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Thanks! It was pretty amazing and I’m so grateful that I got the chance to go to different areas of the country, from the mountain ranges to the coast – Morocco has such a diverse landscape!
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How about safety issues?
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We were travelling in a large group and it was all prepared for us by an organisation who knew the areas and the tour guides well. We knew we were in good hands! 🙂
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Comforting.
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