MONUMENT & NATURAL SCENERYTREKKINGINNGÎTEfrom local mountain villages, broadening the horizons and prospects of their entire families.
Postcards written in English or French are awarded to students for outstanding effort, and
travellers are invited to participate: postcards in simple English can be written to ‘Dear Student’
and sent to the school, care of the English teacher, Merzouk Farami, at Al Hay Al Idari, Tabant,
Aït Bougomez, Morocco.
Travellers who wish to donate beginner-level books for students learning English can arrange
visits to the school Thursday to Sunday afternoons (one or two weeks’ advance notice required)
with Mr Farami ( 0672 18 09 37; [email protected]; 3-6pm Thu-Sun) . Visitors
with previous teaching experience may also volunteer to teach an after-school English lesson to
the students, who are eager to practise with native speakers. Lesson plans must be sent to Mr
Farami two weeks in advance for approval by the school; bring any printed materials.
Sights & Activities
Sidi Moussa
For a spectacular sunset, take the road west out of Tabant, and you’ll find the trailhead
leading up a cone-shaped hill to the zawiya of local marabout (saint) Sidi Moussa. It’s a
straightforward 20-minute uphill hike (15 minutes downhill), and you won’t need a guide. The
round structure served as a collective granary and has been restored through a community
effort, with fitted-stone walls and weather-beaten wooden doors making a worthy photo
backdrop. The zawiya may or may not help women get pregnant as promised, but it certainly
delivers stirring, romantic views over the valley.
Maroc Profond
( 0523 45 93 46; [email protected]) Hikes through the valley and into the
mountains can be arranged with officially licenced mountain guides at this Tabant-based
agency. Suggested treks range from two- to three-hour valley strolls to geological formations,
to four-day trans-mountain treks following ancient nomad routes.
Sleeping & Eating
Ecolodge Dar Itrane $$
( 010 086930; www.origins-lodge.com; Imelghas; per person incl half-board Dh500)
Just outside Tabant in Imelghas village, seemingly opposing ideas happily coexist at this inn:
ecological and comfortable, rural and hip, internationally owned and locally engaged. Eighteen
whitewashed guest rooms are kitted out with handmade Berber-style furnishings, plus en-suite
bathrooms in tadelakt and hammered brass with solar-powered hot showers. The open organic
kitchen invites the curious, a hydroelectric-powered hammam soothes the weary, and downtime
is whiled away in the library of books and videos on Berber culture or browsing the boutique of
locally made goods.
Tisami N’Ouayour $
( 0523 45 93 27; dm incl half-board Dh120) Of the three gîtes in the nearby village of Ikhf-n-
Ighir, this has the sunniest disposition, with light streaming into the salon through picture
windows, clean rooms strewn with locally made rugs, and views of geological formations from