TREKKINGHISTORIC SITEL’Association des Amis du Zat
( 0670 21 92 51) For groups of six or more, this local NGO can arrange mule treks and
stays at gîtes built by Zat villagers with donations from the many trekkers besotted with this
valley.
Telouet
Before 1928, anyone passing through Tizi n’Tichka paid tolls to local warlords for the privilege.
But Telouet’s privileged position ended in 1953, when native son and French collaborator Pasha
Glaoui was ousted by the Moroccan independence movement. Legend has it that when the
imposing doors of Telouet’s Glaoui kasbah were thrown open at last, locals who had
mysteriously disappeared from their villages years before stumbled dazed onto Telouet streets,
after years locked in the pasha’s basement.
Telouet also once had a thriving Jewish community, entrusted by the Glaoui with managing
the all-important salt trade. Salt mines are still active in the area, and prized pink salt found
along the nearby Oued Mellah (Salt River) was once accepted as currency. Near the Glaoui
Kasbah is what remains of an ancient slave village , another important piece of local and
global trade history in need of preservation. But Morocco’s government remains ambivalent
about the Glaoui clan’s home town, and with little outside investment and a highway bypassing
the town entirely, Telouet seems arrested in time half a century ago.
Narrow river valley oases beyond Telouet are lined with crumbling Glaoui kasbahs, gorges
riddled with caves, and ancient fortified villages such as Anmiter (11km from Telouet), which
has two well-preserved red kasbahs and a historic mellah . Walking tours, spelunking, salt-
mine visits and teas in the Anmiter kasbah can be arranged through Homestays Morocco ( Click
here ).
OFF-ROAD IN OUNILLA VALLEY
Travellers equipped with 4WD, mountain bikes or good walking shoes and a guide from Homestays Morocco can follow the
ancient desert caravan routes from Telouet to Aït Benhaddou through the splendid Ounilla Valley . With a freshly graded piste,
this off-road route follows the course of the Oued Mellah and passes Anmiter, Assaka, Tizgui and other picturesque villages
dotting the Gorge Assaka . For a pit stop and gorge photo-ops in Tizgui village, Chez Abdellah Nbarda ( 0676 52 73 42;
Tizgui; meals Dh90-120) offers tea on the sunny terrace (Dh10), a traditional hammam (Dh20) and home-style cooking.
Exiting the Ounilla Valley to the south, you’ll spot limestone threshing terraces notched into an east-facing hillside. In harvest
season, you’ll see villagers threshing grain on these stone platforms, just as they’ve done for centuries.Sights & Activities
Glaoui Kasbah
(suggested donation Dh20) The once-glorious stronghold has been left to crumble, and
the best indication of Telouet’s former position as the centre of a trans-Saharan trading empire