Decided to do a winter ascent of Mount Toubkal (4167 m) in Morocco together with a friend a few years ago at the end of February. Turned out to be a great idea and we ended up really enjoying it.
We set off from London with an EasyJet flight to Marrakech which was surprisingly cheap at around £80 return for each of us with a shared suitcase for our gear.
Upon arriving in Marrakech we had our first taste of the flourishing bargaining culture they have there, when we had to negotiate our cab fare outside the airport. A good tip there is to walk towards the main road at the end of the car park and stop a cab on the street on the main road. Can be as much as 8 times cheaper than from just outside the terminal.
We got to the Riad we were staying in (traditional Moroccan house with a inner courtyard/garden). The one we stayed in is called Riad Atlas Guest House and it was really nice and great value for money.
Next day we took a taxi towards Imlil (1800 m), the start of the trail towards Mount Toubkal. We got the taxi from a place near Bab Agnor in Marrakech. After some quite long negotiations, the driver agreed to take us and our luggage the 64 km to Imlil, on the back seat of his 40 year old Mercedes car with more than 1 million km on the clock, and it turned out that a local couple would be sharing the front seat next to the driver. It was an interesting ride on the tight mountain road that goes up to the village of Imlil.
On our first day we hiked up the valley from Imlil (1800 m) to Refuge Les Mouflons (3200 m). Here are some of the images I took on our first day in the High Atlas mountains going up to this place.
I took most of the images with a Nikon D40 and a kit 18-55 mm lens, and a few with my old Iphone 4S.
Guy chilling at Kasbah du Toubkal. The sound of the call to prayer could be heard through the valley coming out of pole mountain speakers from the neighboring villages.
My friend Yeh Yeau at Kasbah du Toubkal.
Yeh Yeau
And me... :)
To be continued in part 2...