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DofE Gold success in the Atlas Mountains

At the end of the Michaelmas term most people had returned home for a well deserved rest. For eight of us we still had a hard week ahead of us before our holiday started, we were heading to the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco to undertake our Duke of Edinburgh Gold Qualifying Expedition.

Enjoy the gallery

We set off from Bristol Airport on the morning of Saturday 11th December, the four hour flight passed quickly, and none of us had ever been to Morocco before. On arriving at Marrakech Menara Airport we were met by our guides Mohammed and Aziz who took us to our Riad (a traditional Moroccan guest house), right in the centre of the city. I was immediately amazed by the aesthetics of the city; we were led down a narrow dusty street lined with tall dusty pink buildings. It was early evening and the city was beginning to wake up, shopkeepers tried to entice us into their shops as we passed with promises of the cheapest Saffron in the city.

After settling in to our rooms we were led to a typical Moroccan restaurant for supper and between us we sampled various traditional meals, including our first Tagine of many! Wandering back through Djemaa el Fna, the biggest square in Marrakech and the site of the busy night time market known as a ‘souk’, was an unforgettable experience as stall-holders bantered and bartered with us to try to entice us into sampling their food and men tried to get us to pay them a few dirham to hold their monkeys as we tried our hardest not to get separated in the busy centre.

The next morning was an early start as we travelled by bus for five hours with Aziz, higher and higher up into the Atlas Mountains. On our way he very generously invited us to lunch at his parents’ house. We sampled home cooked chicken tagine and were treated to Moroccan tea, a mixture of mint leaves and green tea, which was served in ornate cut glasses decorated with gold leaf.

The roads became narrower and more precarious as we ascended into Happy Valley, the area we would be walking in for the next four days, eventually we stopped in the middle of a village called Imelghas where we would acclimatise and camp overnight before setting off on our expedition in the morning.

Waking up early the next morning was tough, but we all managed to be out of the campsite by 9am. All the maps in Morocco are controlled by the military so our expedition route cards were very different compared to what we were used to from our practice expeditions in the Elan Valley and Snowdonia. The scale on our map was too large for us to use it for navigation, instead we adapted to use written instructions and in parts, follow our noses.

The first landmark we came to was Sidi Moussa, a single building on top of a huge hill on the otherwise flat valley. We climbed up to find out that the man who lives there is said to be 100 years old and the building used to be used as a granary, we were all amazed that someone could live there as there was no running water, no electricity or lights of any type it appeared, and a small hole in the wall led to a shelf of rock that the old man used as a bed. We then set off following irrigation channels weaving through the fields being tended by Berbers.

We walked through a busy village called Rbat, compared to Imelghas and the other villages we would visit in the mountains it was surprisingly developed. After lunch we came to a village called Ibaqalliwn where we were immediately greeted by a group of about 10 children who immediately knew where we wanted to go. We were taken up around the back of the village to a rock plateau and shown the dinosaur footprints – two of a large meat-eater and the daintier claw print of a herbivore. It was an entirely unique experience and we were amazed the footprints were still clear after all the millions of years since dinosaurs walked the earth.

Before the day was out we were invited to the local school in the small village of Rbat. Mike, Claire and I taught the children numbers in French and then English. All the local children who weren’t in school had their noses pressed up against the window eager to catch a glimpse of the strange people who had come to their village! We were then invited to the house of a local man; he entertained us with tea, teaching us the proper pouring technique to ensure there were enough bubbles at the top of the glass, and he gave us dates and homemade almond biscuits. After a busy day we were in bed ready to sleep by about 8pm and we definitely weren’t expecting our night to be as cold as it was... The next morning we woke up to a layer of frost and Mr Walker informed us it had been about -5 degrees Celsius inside the tents overnight.

The second day of walking was deceptive on the route card. We were excited for a day where we only had 5km to walk. Although we knew it was going to be a long slog uphill, we found it hard going but managed to keep each others' spirits up and the sense of achievement when we reached the top of the valley and could look all the way back to Sidi Moussa in the far distance was indescribable. That night, after a frugal meal of Dairylea triangles and beef flavoured noodles, the local guides and the cooks from the support team decided that as it was so cold they would make a fire. We were also freezing and so jumped on the idea, little did we know their idea of building a fire was to set alight the various scrubby bushes that peppered the campsite! It made for a fun evening as one bush after another was torched!

The next day we were looking forward to our descent down to Ifrane, the village at which we would camp that night. However as we started walking we found the steep downhill was almost as tough as the uphill had been the day before. Stunning scenery and the sun shining picked us up and after a long lunch admiring the views we wove our way through old juniper trees and across local farmland to find our way to our new campsite.

We set off on our last day with mixed feelings, firstly hints of sadness that our trip was coming to an end and we would have to leave the mountains and the friendly Berber villagers, and secondly excitement that we would soon be back in Imelghas able to rest our tired legs. The fourth day was a really interesting walk, our route took us along the floor of the valley and we had to pick our way through the fields and plantations, a task that required turning back and retracing our steps a few times as we managed to hit a dead end or the river.

As we arrived into the village that night we were expecting to return to the place we first camped. In our group we were discussing the excitement of putting up the tent one last time, one more night on the cold and stony terrain. We were in for the best surprise when we were led to a gîte, a rural guesthouse, we were shown to the bathroom, with real loos and a hot shower, and for me the greatest treat; a cold, refreshing bottle of Fanta and a Mars bar; after four days hard walking it was the nicest surprise anyone could have given us. After our luxury night in the gîte we set off early again the next morning to give us time to visit magnificent waterfalls on the journey back to Marrakech.

Returning to the bustling city was a big change from the quiet, peaceful rural life we had experienced over the past five days. We jumped right in and set off ready to haggle with locals for intricately patterned teapots and exciting spices and tea to take home to our friends and family. The market was quite an experience, there was no end to the jumbled maze of shops, I was just glad the others in my group have a better sense of direction than me as I probably would never have found my way out!

That evening we met up with Aziz, he took us to a first floor restaurant that overlooked the souk, the chicken we had was marinated in spices that encompassed everything the country is about that we had experienced. It is amazing that taste can bring back so many exciting memories of the things I had discovered over my week in Morocco.

The next morning we had time for a couple of hours of last minute bargain hunting before we heading back to the airport. Waving goodbye to Aziz, Mohammed and the city was tough as the week had been so successful and enjoyable. Coming back home to a snow-covered Bristol made me homesick for a country I had only just encountered!

Duke of Edinburgh Gold is a feat I would encourage anyone to undertake: the skills, volunteering and physical sections have taught me things about myself I never knew, as well as shaping me into a well-rounded motivated individual. The expedition emphasised teamwork and taught us to fend for ourselves, leaving behind the phone signal, tv, and family, venturing off into places we had never been before was a brilliant opportunity that I would recommend to anyone who has a desire to show commitment and perseverance, undertaking the challenging qualifier in a different country is another opportunity altogether that will remain as one of my most valuable life-experiences for years to come.

Lucinda Pigott, U6th Worcester House

31 January 2011

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