BEFORE YOU GO: JEBEL SARHRO CHECKLIST
» » Maps The 1:100,000 Boumalne and Tazzarine maps cover the region, but a more detailed trekking map with history and
information on the back is 1:100,000 Randonnée culturelle dans le Djebel Sarhro by Mohamed Aït Hamza and Herbert Popp,
published in Germany, written in French and available in Morocco, including hotels in Boumalne and N’Kob (Dh150).
» » Guide Several foreign tour operators (including Explore, Exodus and Walks Worldwide) run good-value trips here, but
many of them subcontract to local guides. You can find a licensed local guide directly through a bureau des guides (
Kelaâ 0661 79 61 01, 0662 13 21 92, Boumalne 0667 59 32 92, N’Kob 0667 48 75 09) in any of the three Sarhro trekking
centres. Expect to pay Dh300 a day for a guide and Dh100 for a mule.
» » Water Dehydration is common any time of the year, so pack extra water.
» » Food Stock up in Ouarzazate or Marrakesh. There’s tea, tinned fish, biscuits and bread in the three Sarhro departure
towns, and you may find eggs, dates, almonds, bread and tinned fish in some villages.
» » Mule Given the amount of water you must carry in this arid environment, mules are a worthwhile investment. Your guide
can organise mules and muleteers.
» » Gear Bring a sleeping bag. You won’t need a tent, unless you’d rather camp than stay at refuges .The path drops steeply down ahead, but our track veers right (southwest) across the valley’s
shoulder and over another ridge, with views south to the palms and kasbahs of N’Kob . Igli is
due south over a series of slopes, with the famous Tête de Chameau (Camel’s Head) cliffs
appearing as you walk down towards the settlement. Three low buildings form a gîte (per
person Dh30) with a toilet and wood-fired hot showers (Dh10). There’s no electricity or
sleeping mats here, but the friendly gardien runs a shop selling trekkers’ necessities, including
mule shoes, and if you bring flour he’ll have it baked into bread.
For breathtaking mountain sunsets, you’ve come to the right place. You might add a round
trip to Bab n’Ali , one of the most spectacular rock formations in the Sarhro, returning to Igli for
another night or continuing to the Irhazzoun n’Imlas gîte (per person Dh30) .
Day 3: Igli to Tajalajt
7-7½ HR/24KM/350M ASCENT/400M DESCENT
Looming on the right-hand side as you walk is the peak of Jebel Amlal , sacred to the Aït Atta
and the site of August pilgrimages. The morning’s walk is gentler than the previous day’s,
leading through wide, rocky valleys. After 1½ hours, beneath the village of Taouginte , the path
curves around an Aït Atta cemetery , where graves are marked with piles of stone. The path
leads then below the Needles of Sarhro , a long, dramatic cliff that slopes down after another
1½ hours to the Amguis River. Several valleys meet at a beautiful camping spot, amid palms
and oleander. Half an hour southwards down the valley is Ighazoun , a village above well-
tended fields with a riverside lunch spot.
At Ighazoun the path joins a piste that runs left to N’Kob and right towards the Dadès. Take
the right track (northwest) towards a sheer cliff on the left, with the rocky path leading beneath
it and up to a broadening valley. The piste loops around the north side of Jebel Tassigdelt Si
el-Haj (1722m) and then south again towards Tiguiza , where there is a basic gîte ( 0671
72 80 06; Dh 30) . Before Tiguiza, another piste leads right (west) to Akerkour village , into a
narrowing valley dotted with palms, and up an incline to Tajalajt , where you can stay chez
l’habitant (per person Dh30) and maybe obtain basic meals.