Jebel El Kest

21 October 2022

Today was another highlight on this trip. The weather was spectacular and climbing the mountain was incredible.

I was driven to the highest village in the Ameln Valley, Tagoudiche by an amazing driver, called Bachir. He runs his taxi service from Tafraoute central rank. His reputation is well founded. Bachir is always cheerful and drives with ease and skill around the hair pin bends with their treacherous overhangs to the deep valleys below. He is also know for keeping everyone connected and looked after. He knows all the families in the valley and reaches out to them to help within the community. One guy called him the unofficial Community Liaison Officer.

The drive up to the village is spectacular and you get a fantastic view across the Amelyn valley from the top road bend. Bachir dropped he off and promised to drive back up to the village to collect me when I got back down from the mountain hike.

Getting started on the hike took some doing as I missed the trial starting point. Once on the main track though you can follow the white arrows on the rocks and the cairns placed sporadically along the way. I placed my own markers in some locations to help on the way back down too. The climb was great - up gullies and over rocky escarpments to the summit at 2359m. I found the rock dwelling that I was told was once inhabited by a hermit and another one where you could easily sleep over night if needed. I was pleasantly surprised to find a group of four Moroccan hikers sat inside one of these dwellings about to pour out tea that they had just made. A very special way to celebrate getting to the top of this mountain, though they were concerned that I had done this alone and warned me to be extra careful on the descent.

Back down at the village, I was collected by Bachir and safely dropped off back at the hotel. A brilliant day's walking and certainly something I would love to do more of in this region of Morocco in the future.

I walked round the corner to another hotel called L'Argannier d'Ammeine, significantly cheaper than where I'm staying and a gathering point for travellers coming from and going to other African countries. I sat in the courtyard and gathered travelling tips and experiences from a number of guests; one guy who had been living in Gabon and was motorcycling up through the West African countries, another guy who was holidaying with his family in Morocco and then going alone in the same direction as me and a couple who had just come from Mauritania. It was good to start connecting with the band of happy travellers and know others were doing similar things to me.

I also met Mohamed Ladous, know in the area as a credible organiser and guide for trips in the mountains which involve adventure, camping and a real connection with nature. He's locally born and bred and is determined to build a successful business that keeps him in this area rather than needing to move to the city to work as most of his friends have had to do.

I spent the evening with the owner of the Chez Amaliya hotel and her friends, hearing her inspirational story of how the hotel came to be. Lizebeth van Woerden is originally from Delft and left the NL to fulfil her dream of building a hotel. The hotel opened in 2008; a collective endeavour involving many people from the village. Lizebeth, now lives in the village and has been told by the elders that she is now one of them, one of the tribe. An inspiring story and one which proves that anything is possible - you just have to get out there and do it...