The high Atlas Mountains are the oldest mountain range in Africa, 3.5 billion years old. The highest point is Mt. Toubkal which is the 3rd highest mountain in Africa behind Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mt. Kenya in Kenya.
Fun fact of the day is regarding the naming regarding the Atlas mountains. The following mythology lesson is courtesy of Matthew, family Greek mythology expert: The Atlas Mountains in North Africa are named after the titan Atlas. In the stories Atlas is the general for the titan army. After the titans lose to the gods, Atlas is banished to the edge of the world and forced to hold up the sky. In ancient times the edge of the known world was the Strait of Gibraltar. Both the Greeks and the Romans thought that there was nothing beyond. The mirroring mountain ranges on either side of the strait were believed to host the pillars of Hercules. The Romans believed that the pillars marked where Hercules pushed the two continents apart. In the myths the pillars were inscribed with the saying “non plus ultra” or “nothing further beyond”. You may recognize the pillars of Hercules from the Spanish coat of arms, where the saying has been revised to “plus ultra” or “to what is further beyond” to represent the expansion of European influence to the rest of the world.
The first half of the drive from Marrakech was flat, with the mountains growing ever nearer. Then we began the winding assent into the mountains to the village of Imlil where we would leave the minibus and continue on foot.
Aroumd is small Berber village in the Ait Mizane Valley. Its population is around 1,900, and the altitude is 6.200 feet (1900 m) above sea level. Aroumd is the highest village in the Ait Mizane Valley and so forms a good base for summiting Mount Toubkal. When we arrived in Imlil we left our main luggage in the town and took with us just what we needed for the night. A few of our group who didn't' want to try the steep hike ride donkeys up the mountain. A donkey also took the luggage that we wanted for the night.
The village of Aroumd is perched on a hillside, and it was a steep hike to reach the village with many switchbacks. We crossed a small stream on the way up, and the valley floor was fairly lush, with many apple trees in full bloom, and some terraced areas where they were growing rice.
After about an hour we reached our destination. We spent the night in a family-run mountain home (gite). Other than a living room that had a wood stove the building was unheated. I am sure it is wonderfully cool in the summer but it was chilly in springtime. The gite had a wonderful rooftop terrace, and when we arrived we had tea with nuts, followed by a fabulous lunch outside on the terrace. Lunch was a wonderful salad plate with various cut up vegetables, chicken on skewers, rice, lentils, Moroccan omelet dish, and fresh orange wedges for dessert.
After lunch we were shown to our rooms to prepare for the afternoon activity. I elected to do a hike up into the mountains along with Kate, Ben, Rob, Thomas, Lucy, and Mafalda. Karen elected to go with the others on a guided tour of the village led my someone from the gite.
Our hike into the mountains was led by our tour leader, Nabil. Our destination was the the Sidi Chamharouch Shrine. The shrine us closed to non-Muslims but is said to be the residence of the king of the jennies. Despite Islam being focused on worshiping a single God, Muslims in some areas still worship idols based on historical items that predate the introduction of Islam. Our hike started out winding our our way down the steps and alleyways of Aroumd, then a gentle uphill alongside the stream in the valley, passing the local football (soccer) pitch, before turning into a steep path winding its way up the mountain. From Aroumd it is a 2 day hike/climb to the summit of Mount Toubkal. Our destination was the shrine, which was about 6 miles (10 km) round trip with an elevation gain of about 1600 feet (500 m). The shrine was disappointing, a rock painted white with a small building next to it, but overall the hike was worth it. After a short break we headed back down.
While we were on our hike, the rest of the group got a tour of the village, met many of the locals, and had tea at the oldest Berber house in Aroumd and learned about Berber weaving. After everyone was back we had tea and fry bread with jam and honey on the rooftop terrace. It was nice and warm on the terrace, except when the sun finally went behind the mountain ridge and then the temperature dropped significantly.
I spent time on the terrace working on the blog, sitting on some comfortable cushions with a pillow between my back and the wall. First photo is me working on the blog, and the second photo is my view from where I was sitting. Not a bad place to work from.
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