Traverse of Jebel Sahro and Central Atlas (April-May 2014)

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During this two-week trek (itinerary in dotted red lines in the maps below) I did a tour of Jebel Sahro from nOuarg Valley to Qalaat Mgouna before crossing the central part of the High Atlas from Qalaat Mgouna to Zawyat Ahancal. Jebel Sahro is a relatively small, but extremely beautiful mountain range coined between the High Atlas and the Sahara Desert. It is inhabited by members of the Ait Atta Berber tribe. Many of them are nomad herders that move to the higher Central Atlas between April and September.

 

Maps showing the location of the trek (red boxes).

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Detailed maps. The trek itinerary is traced in red dotted lines. Big red dots labeled by numbers are night camps. Click on these maps to see them at better resolution.

 

- Jebel Sahro:

 

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Central Atlas (Part 1):

Central Atlas (Part 2):

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My friend Oumar Oulaїdi, a CFAMM certified guide, email: oumaroula@gmail.com, based in Marrakech and in Tabant (Aїt Bouguemez Valley), provided me a muleteer, Ichou el Ouardy, and a guide, Ahmed Boutala. Ichou lives in the nOuarg Valley in Jebel Sahro. Ahmed‛s family also comes from Jebel Sahro, but now lives in the village of Ifrane (Aїt Bouguemez valley). Ichou did the entire trip with me, while Ahmed joined us later in Achmrah at our camp #7.

 

From left to right: Ahmed, Ichou, and his mule.

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Ichou (left) and Ahmed (right) at one of our camps.

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Ichou in his home in nOuarg Valley.

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A typical lunch during the trek: tomato-carrot salad with sardines or mackerels, and bread made by Ichou. Simple, but very good!

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Click on the following links to see photos of the trip:

 

Jebel Sahro, Part 1: from n′Ouarg Valley to Tizi n′Tagourt

Jebel Sahro, Part 2: from Tizi n′Tagourt to Qalaat Mgouna

 

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Central Atlas, Part 1: from Qalaat Mgouna to Assif Imejdag

Central Atlas, Part 2: from Assif Imejdag to Zawyat Ahancal

 

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Return to my mountaineering/trekking/travel webpage