Morocco

THE MARRAKECH EXPRESS

Morocco Expedition 2008

Introduction by Franz Opitz & Report by Jade Cawthorne

Leaders:

Main Leader  -            Franz Opitz

Assistant Leaders -    Joanne Morris and David Clough

Members:

Camilla Martin, Jack Soden, Helen Radley, Liz Wells, Jessica Benson, Gabriel Crossley, Sarah-Lindsay Jones, Sara Ann Barsley, Eloise Howells, Jade Cawthorne (all UK), Mohammed Mekouar and Mostapha El-Cadi (from Morocco)

Moroccan Staff:

Hassan (guide) and Hamid (cook) Ait-Chajaa plus all their families (4 generations in all) and assorted muleteers

Further Characters Starring:

Assorted scorpions and chameleons, lizards and Bosh, the limping dog, at Ait-Oudinar

Dates: 20 July to 10 August 2008

Aims & Objectives:

• To offer a challenging high altitude trek (8 days) as remote as possible from the usual tourist routes with a final ascent of Mt. Toubkal at night
• To provide an attractive cultural experience by living and working with a Berber family, using their house and facilities and exploring the Berber villages of Armed and Imlil
• To conduct a gorge trek (5 days) in the Dades region of the southern Atlas
• To visit the famous sites of Ait-Benhaddou and Marrakech city
• To introduce members to remote trekking, camp craft and personal care in a remote environment
• To meet the conditions of the achievement of the John Muir Award by an extensive litter clearing of the Toubkal plateau with associated briefings

The Report:

The adventure began on an early Sunday morning as we all gathered, bright eyed and bushy tailed, at Luton airport. We were introduced to the Ait-Chajaa family and Moroccan extensions of our team in the awesome heat of the Marrakech mid-morning sun and, after some welcome hugs, we had our first taste of sweet mint tea.

Adjusting to the high altitude, we stayed with the family at their Armed house for three days before embarking upon our challenging Toubkal trek, the highest of the Atlas Mountains. During this time we helped the family with tasks around their home, clearing spaces for them to plant walnut trees and peeling carrots ready for one of mamma’s traditional tagine suppers, yum!

Having packed the mules with our supplies for the next eight days (poor mules!), we left the comfort of the family home for the daunting mountain ranges. Singing classics from the nineties kept us climbing through the ache of our muscles as we moved towards the fierce midday sun, smothered in sun cream. The higher we got the more astounding the views became. Photo stops were essential and we marked our first 3,300 meter ascent with a team formation of the numbers after reaching Tizi Lekimt.

Each day we trekked both up and down; the steep descents were equally as challenging as we tried our best not to slide down, following the loose rocks over the mountain’s edge. A helping hand was always available, however, either from one of the amazing Brathay team or from Hassan, our trusted Moroccan guide.

Each day’s trekking came to end when we met up with our mules on a rocky clearing, ready to pull out the rug for lunch and erect our tents. As the heat reached human melting point, lunch was followed by a team wander down to a nearby stream to wash ourselves and clothes in the cool, refreshing waters. Card games held an important part in camp life and we put our French skills to very good use teaching the Moroccan boys how to play.

Reaching Toubkal base camp was a very exciting moment as we all hyped ourselves up for the night ascent. It was certainly tea, teeth and bed early that evening! We climbed Toubkal in the dark of the night, lighting the way with our head torches. It was, at first, terrifying and terribly hard work to adjust to the altitude changes and fight your body to stay awake. With good old Lucozade tablets at hand, however, we shot up the mountain in a record time of 2 hours 50 minutes, covering 1000 altitude meters in steep and poor terrain. After lots of hugging and screaming the sun rose and snow fell, ready for us to clear rubbish from the plateau for our John Muir award. A little scree running took place as we reluctantly made our way down the mountain for breakfast.