Our tour guide arranged for a hike in the Atlas Mountains on Tuesday.  The driver picked us up and drove a little over an hour into the mountains so we could meet our guide for the hike.  It was a beautiful drive through the mountains but also very touristy. 

We also stopped at a typical Berber house that is still used by a family.  A guy from the house gave us a little tour to explain how the family lives and everything is really still done manually.  It was interesting to see each room and even a lady making bread.  By the way, they have amazing bread in Morocco and it is always fresh tasting.  The bedroom is shared by the parents and kids under the age of 5.  After the age of 5, the kids are split into separate rooms with girls and boys having separate lbedrooms.

From there we made it to our starting place for the hike.  The road pretty much comes to an end for motor vehicles.  After that, the only vehicles allowed are 4×4 and mules.  Our guide was a nice kid who is from the region.  He self taught himself English by watching different videos and movies online.  He said learning languages is way for him to connect himself to the world because he will never be able to travel.  Many people know 4 languages here (Berber, Arabic, French and English).  

The hike started by crossing a bridge over the river.  It isn’t that full right now because a lot of the snow has already melted but in the winter, people can kayak down the river.  The hike is mainly uphill to the waterfall.  It was a rocky hike but also plenty of shade on the way up.  There are also a lot of stands to buy souvenirs or things to drink on the way up.  They keep the beverages cool by utilizing the water from the river.  I did finally buy one thing at one of the stops because the guy sold me on the fact that it helps the local villages.  And I’m not good at bargaining so I really hope I did help the locals out.  There were a lot of tourists on the hike.  Most of the people do a day trip from Marrakech.  The waterfall was pretty and full of visitors.  Our guide took us a little up past the main part so we could take a different route down.  It was beautiful to see the mountains in the distance even if it was less shady.

One the hike was done, we had lunch along the river.  There are so many restaurants along the river.  It is very charming and the food is all so good.  You sit on pillows on the ground next to little tables along the river.  You take your shoes and socks off to eat but you can also cool your feet off in the river.   A very fun experience.  Some of the restaurants actually set the table and chairs up in the river so you just eat in the river.  It was a fun day and I’m always going to love a hike and exploring a new part of the world.