Berber's and Blisters

After several days in the big city, we decided to move on to something more peaceful and up our alley, hiking! The premier hiking destination is the Atlas Mountains, about 2 1/2 hours east of Marrakech. The highest Mountain in North Africa, and the second highest in all Africa only to Kilimanjaro, the Toubkal. We didn't know what to expect from the hike or the travel to get there, as all the travel so far has been very difficult since languages can range from Berber, Arabic, or French. After finding out where to catch a "Grand Taxi" (normally a 4 dorr Mercedes) we caught a "Petit Taxi" to that spot. As soon as we stepped out of the Petit an English speaking man said "You go to Imlil? I have English speaking driver, for 300 Dirham ($35)". We did not bargin at all, which is customary for everything in Morocco, and said OK. After our previous travel experiences in the country and the language barrier, you could say he had us at Hello. It would only be later that we found out a Brit we met had paid about $50 Dirham for the same ride, but hey $35 for a 2 hour cab ride works for us. In our cab with us was the nicest person we had met in Morocco yet. A 20 year old Berber (Berber's are the mountain village people that occupy the Atlas Mountains) named Ahmed who wouldn't you know it, his family ran a house and guide service out of Imlil. Coinceidence? I think not, but he was genuine, unlike the snake charmer and cabbies of Marrakech. So genuine that we stayed at his house and did the entire 7 days through his suggestion. His mother cooked us the best lunch and dinner we have had in Morrocco. A salad of onion, tomoatoe, cucumber, and spices followed by a huge Tagine of carrots, onions, potatos, cabbage, and chicken (likely killed that hour). Dessert was bannana pudding, grapes, and other fruit, and as with every meal, Mint tea. Dinner was along the same lines, and the best part...the room was $150 Dirham ($15) and the meals $50 Dirahm. Ahmed, Kristin, Ben and Hassan

The next day we started a six day hike of the high Atlas Mtns., and plan to summit the 4,247 meter peak of Toubkal (Tube-Cal). The next morning we met our guide, a 21 year old named Hassan, also from the same village as Ahmed. He speaks Arabic, Berber, English, Spanish, French, and is touching up on his German. Pretty good for quitting school at 15. Our other guide is also named Hassan, but doesn't speak English, and mainly stays with the mule. We have nicknamed him "Beastmaster". Hassan quickly took over the lead for "nicest Moroccan". He is a great guide, if only we could have gotten him to quit waiting on us hand and foot, or eat a meal with us. Hassan - the guide

The first day of the hike was about 5 miles, and besides being about 100 degrees, was not that hard. We talked a lot with Hassan about different things, especially America and Obama. It is interesting to hear their opinions on our country, and how much the President really does represent foreign view of Americans. Basically Bush changed the American people into bad, and now Obama has "changed" us to good people again. We tried to explain that they don't change us, and only about half of the people ever agree with an issue anyway. I don't think he understood this, as in Morocco you do not talk bad about the King whether you like him or not. He did tell us of the King's 3 going on 4 "Cheeky" wives, who have changed Morocco for the worse, in his opinion. They appear in public, go on vacation, and don't cover their faces....Crazy right? We also discussed Michael Jackson! Even at 9,000 ft, in rural Morocco, you can't get away from MJ. We let him listen to some MJ on our Ipod, as he needed some new tunes, since his only song was "she's a lady", by Tom Jones or Wayne Newton (we couldn't remember).

Day 2 of the hike was BRUTAL and I have the blisters to prove it. We hiked about 2500 meters in elevation, to a pass of 3550 meters in about 2 hours. The first night we slept in a hotel like Kasbah, that was gorgeous, the second night we slept in a mud hut used for sheep, and with in 30 yards of 2 cows, 4 donkeys, and some goats. We are still not sure what to expect.

Days 3/4 were fairly Easy, with about 5/6 miles a day. The blisters were very raw, and going into our hardest 2 days. Ben ceased wearing his boots, and wore his Teva's after day 2, even up the summit. On Day 4 we hiked to a lake, where we washed some clothes and camped. Many people were swimming at the lake, but not us as Hassan our guide, and Ahmed had told us that it was dangerous and people get sucked under. We came to the conclusion they couldn't swim and that it was just a local legend, but we were not going to test fate and stayed in the shallow end. Hassan could not help cracking a joke that Berber women were supposed to cook and do laundry for the men, but Kristin imformed him that was not the way in America. Naturally, Ben tried the "When in Rome" line without success.

Day 5, was about 3 miles straight up, and 3 straight down. I don't think the berbers are the best path designers, as they do not follow ridges like paths at home, but seem to go straight over peaks, and back down. We camped at a crowded refuge that night, and got good hot showers. Our night however was spoiled by the guy in the tent next to us who vomited every hour from 1 to 6. We weren't sure if it was the 3,200 meter altitude or the food....but it didn't sound good.

Day 6, We left for the Toubkal around 6, and it was steep the whole way up. We summited around 9:30 and got a couple of cloud filled pics of us at 4,167 (13,400 ft). It was a lot colder up at the summit but quickly warmed back up as we began our descent. After the climb back down we had lunch of vegatables and sardines (the same lunch for every day of the hike).

After this we headed back to Ahmeds house in Imlil valley, and on to Rabat the next day!