I'll cut to the chase here. For those of you (poor, inexperienced souls) who have never spent 5 days in the High Atlas Mountains, here is a basic run-down of everything you need to know.
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| No matter how you use it, size matters. |
Day 1: we are enjoying a pleasant chartered bus ride up to the mountains, and are getting pretty close to our destination (a deserted ski resort, from where we will be starting our hike, into lands uncharted where no vehicles can venture) when the bus inexplicably stops. A preliminary investigation reveals the source of the traffic jam: a gigantic boulder that was dislodged from the heavens, plummeted to Earth, and is now blocking 97.25% of the winding mountain road. Fortunately, they have a CAT on the scene, which is working on excavating the boulder and the surrounding dirt. Unfortunately, at the pace that that's going, it would be just as fast for our bus to turn around and drive in a complete circle around the world, arriving at our destination from the exact opposite direction.
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| Cozy indeed. |
What we ended up doing was getting all our food and bags etc, hauling them to the other side of the boulder, and a local bus (which was stuck on the other side) very kindly gave us a lift to our destination.
2. Berber Travel
The village we were hiking to, called Tidili (pronounced: Tiddles) was a 3-hour hike from the nearest road you could drive a car on, and from there about a half-hour drive to the nearest town. This is just the way it is. At one point, we asked our awesome Berber guide, Aziz, what would happen if someone in Tiddles got hurt or sick and needed medical attention.
us: Is there a doctor in Tidili?
Aziz: no
us: what happens if someone gets seriously hurt?
Aziz: he needs to go to the hospital.
us: doesn't that take a really long time?
Aziz: on a donkey, he can get there in 2 hours.
After this conversation, I wore my bike helmet everywhere I went.
Hashak.
3. Chez Berber
Picture, in your minds eye, where we all thought Osama bin Laden was living (before they found him in a posh Pakistani suburb). Congratulations! You have just envisioned a home in Tiddles.
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| Couscous Friday in the Berber Hilton |
4. Berber Hilton
We were staying in a "ghit", which is basically a mountain hostel (the Atlas mountains are a very popular summer destination for European hiking enthusiasts). It had 3 rooms: one room for the boys, and two rooms for the girls. Except one of the girls' rooms also had to be used as everyone's dining room. I'm really glad I didn't have to sleep in that one. I'm a very messy couscous eater.
5. Berber Plumbing
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| That empty closet-looking thing was where everyone (except me) peed & pooed. Gross. |
6. Berber Bubble Bath
The "indoor plumbing" in Tiddles was a real punisher of the nostrils. As a result, I took alllll my business outside. And guess what? It was awesome. One day, Jess, Emily, Jenn & I went hiking up the river, looking for a place to wash ourselves. We walked wayyy far; at least a mile past any signs of civilization. The cliffs flanking the river got steeper and steeper until all of a sudden-- hello!-- 40 ft. waterfall up ahead.
The water pressure was significantly better than in West F.
Trip Summary:
Trip Summary:
20+ miles of extreme hiking
2 River Baths:
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1 Morning spent dragging this skinny cow about a mile up a steep rocky cliff
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1 Afternoon spent doing laundry in the river:
 1 School wall rebuilt: | ||
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4 new friends:
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| The End. |
so pleased that you are happy and well. Great pictures and descriptions.
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