Traverse of Jebel Sahro and Central
Atlas (April-May 2014)
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During this two-week trek (itinerary in dotted red lines in the maps
below) I did a tour of Jebel Sahro from n′Ouarg Valley to Qalaat
Mgouna before crossing the central part of the High
Atlas from Qalaat Mgouna to
Zawyat Ahancal. Jebel Sahro is a relatively small, but extremely beautiful
mountain range coined between the High Atlas and the Sahara Desert. It is
inhabited by members of the Ait Atta Berber tribe. Many of them are nomad
herders that move to the higher Central Atlas between April and September.
Maps showing the location of the trek (red boxes).
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Detailed
maps. The trek
itinerary is traced in red dotted lines. Big red dots labeled by numbers are
night camps. Click on these maps to see them at better resolution.
- Jebel Sahro: |
Central Atlas (Part 1): |
Central Atlas (Part 2): |
My friend Oumar
Oulaїdi, a CFAMM certified guide, email: oumaroula@gmail.com, based in Marrakech and in Tabant
(Aїt Bouguemez
Valley), provided me a muleteer, Ichou el Ouardy, and a guide, Ahmed Boutala.
Ichou lives in the n′Ouarg
Valley in Jebel Sahro. Ahmed‛s family also
comes from Jebel Sahro, but now lives in the village
of Ifrane (Aїt Bouguemez valley). Ichou did the
entire trip with me, while Ahmed joined us later in Achmrah
at our camp #7.
From left to right: Ahmed, Ichou, and his mule.
Ichou (left) and Ahmed (right) at one of our
camps.
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Ichou in his home
in n′Ouarg Valley.
A typical lunch during the trek: tomato-carrot salad with sardines or
mackerels, and bread made by Ichou. Simple, but very
good!
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Click on the following links to see
photos of the trip:
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