Day 2
Depart Demnate; lunch at Ibnou Ziad Restaurant in Azilal. Visit the Cooperative Feminin des Tissages Aït Bououli carpet
cooperative to admire Berber carpets made of local wool dyed with mountain plants, and meet the women mâalems (master
artisans) who made them.
Watch wood-carvers at work at Association Ighrem Atelier du Sculpture , where free-form spoons and bowls are whittled
from fallen wood, and sales support valley reforestation.
Sample cows-milk cheese, walnut butters and mountain honey made by an enterprising local women’s cooperative:
Cooperative Tikniouine .
Experience authentic Berber hospitality over dinner or overnight in a historic family home at High Atlas Home , where a
generous portion of proceeds support a village women’s association focusing on organic farming and local crafts.
Day 3
In the morning, hike to Zawiya Sidi Moussa , for Happy Valley views and good baraka (blessings) from the local patron saint.
Lunch at Café des Amis in Tabant.
Drop off English- or French-language books for beginners at Tabant girls’ boarding school , or by prior arrangement,
teach an after-school English class.
Off-road to Zaouiat Ahansal ; visit the women’s weaving collective and training program at Atelier du Tissages de
l’Association du Zaouiat Ahsal .
Eat dinner and spend the night at gîte Sidi Ahmed Amahdar , where rates include a Dh10 donation to support the local
medical dispensary.
Day 4
Drive to Reserve Naturelle de Tamga for wildflower hikes, birdwatching, and rock-climbing around Le Cathédrale du
Rocher . Lunch at Gîte le Cathédrale .
Drive around lake Ben Ouidane to Azilal and onward to Cascades d’Ouzoud , where you can dine on the terrace and nod
off to the sound of the rushing waterfall at ecofriendly Riad Cascades d’Ouzoud .
Day 5
Follow the rainbows and Cascades’ well-trodden paths to the base of the waterfall and onward to Berber villages along the
river, and support local environmental organisations’ efforts by picking up any stray plastic water bottles you spot along the
way.
Return to Marrakesh in time for a pre-arranged afternoon visit to Atfalouna , a shelter meeting the needs of 320 homeless
kids in Marrakesh.
Reward yourself for a holiday well spent with a dinner of local delicacies and a luxurious stay in Riad al-Massarah , a green-
certified riad that also supports Atfalouna.Aït Bougomez Valley
The best-kept secret in Morocco is the region known as the ‘happy valley’, which until 2001 was
snowbound four months a year and was largely inaccessible except on foot. Though some
roads are still accessible only by mule or 4WD, paved roads have given unprecedented entry to
High Atlas foothills faceted with mudbrick towers and reddish ighremt (stone-reinforced houses)
with windows outlined in white stone. Here you can escape the reach of mobile phones, bosses
and the other minor irritants of modern living, and spend days happily absorbed by orchards in
bloom, mysterious petroglyphs and golden eagles soaring up toward snowcapped M’Goun
Massif.
Beyond natural beauty, Aït Bougomez has a remarkable resourcefulness that never ceases
to impress. Cliffsides are dotted with tiny plots of wheat inside stone-walled terraces. Villages
are built from rock and clay quarried on the spot, blending mimetically with their spectacular
backdrops. High in the hills, you’ll spot villagers collecting mountain plants to make wild-crafted