It’s 2013 and
instead of going to Morocco as originally planned, I went to West Africa for 3
months.
In 2015, I
planned another trip and after spending some time on Egypt’s mountains, I was
ready for Morocco. Unfortunately it was
not meant to be. At the airport in Cairo
I was informed that my visa has expired, a mistake made by the embassy. The Atlas Mountain had to wait again.
In July 2016
I started to make arrangements for my trip to the Atlas Mountain. Besides going
to Morocco, I was also going to Cape Verde and luckily, I discovered that I
have made a mistake with my flight dates before I arrived in Morocco and I was
able to change the dates.
25th
of December and whilst most of the people were celebrating Christmas, I was
celebrating my trip to Morocco. It was,
however my unlucky day. The plane was full and I got squashed in between an
overweight guy. I had to turn sideways
to eat and although he was very friendly, I made a conscious decision not to
drink too much since it would be a mission trying to get to the loo. 2 Minutes after he informed me that he had no
problem falling asleep, he started to snore. I got a distinct feeling that it
was going to be a very long flight.
In Doha, I
did quite a bit of running and made it just in time for my connecting flight to
Casablanca. This time, I was fairly
lucky. I got a window seat and there was
one open seat between me and an obese lady from Senegal. 20 Minutes after take-off, she decided to
move to the seat behind me. I was not sure if she was dreaming but after
kicking my seat for the umpteenth time, I slammed the middle seat’s hand rest
down and she got the message. My
headphones brought some relieve but after another passenger two rows behind me
started snoring, I had to change to another movie to cover the noise.
26th: Getting
a bit confused about the time difference is quite normal for me, and I was
pleasantly surprised to discover that I had two extra hours to faff before my
next connecting flight from Casablanca to Marrakesh. It was freezing and after putting on my
winter gear, I went for a nice relaxing cup of coffee. A German group with at
least 6 hyperactive boys arrived and when they started playing soccer inside
the small terminal, it took me 30 seconds to find a seat as far away as
possible from the noisy monsters. Suddenly there was a huge commotion. A lady and her two daughters were prevented
from boarding a flight because they were late and for the next 15 minutes I
waited in anticipation for a physical fight to break out. It was a very short
flight to Marrakesh and I could not wipe the grin off my face once I saw the
snow-capped Atlas Mountain.
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| I almost lost my own luggage |
I was
impatient to get to the mountain and rushed to get my backpack. It was not amongst the luggage on the conveyor belt. I rushed to the lost
luggage counter, then to a new terminal, back to the lost luggage counter and
just as I was about to give up, I got a senior staff member to search with me.
We went back to the first conveyor and there was my lonely backpack – about to
be taken to the lost luggage office.
Because of the connecting flights, I got a bit confused – and well, I
almost lost my own luggage. Luckily, my
pre-arranged taxi driver was still waiting outside – and I am positive after
two hours, his hand must have ached holding the paper with my name on.
I love
Morocco. Everything is clean, the people are friendly and there are fruit trees
on the pavements in Marrakesh. I took some pictures with my phone and the next
moment I got a message saying my sim card is locked. What next!
Mohamed, my taxi driver drove like a maniac because we were 2 hours late
of course. My guide came to my rescue when I handed him my phone. He switched
off a small button and voila, I could use my phone again. In Imi Ouglad, I was shown to my room in the
guest house where I claimed my space by repacking all my possessions before
joining an American couple and a Danish family in the lounge. Every group had
their own guide, cook and muleteer so all the cooks were steaming up the
kitchen before we were served our three different meals. Everyone had a great
time and when I crawled into bed by 21:00 freezing, I could still hear laughter.
27th of
December: After a great breakfast, Mohamed, the Danish family’s colourful
guide, showed us how to fold a 20m long scarf around one’s head. He also mentioned that he was
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| It was freezing |
passed crazy
since he runs 120 km marathons. After
only two hours of hiking, Ahmed said we have reached the picnic spot – but I said
we must keep on hiking.
Once in the
village of D’knt, I was served very tasty beans. It was freezing so I spend a
couple of hours in my sleeping bag reading before going on a walk around the
village where he handed out sweets to the children. And it was only after I
asked for some boiled water to wash in that the owner came to switch the geyser
on – so after a nice hot shower, I crawled into my -10° sleeping bag.
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| Manuska |
28th of
December: I must have gotten only two
hours sleep – and read Angela’s ashes.
My face was all swollen but I did feel a lot better after having some
coffee. I also announced that our nameless
mule was going to be called Manuska. It was a pleasant hike and Ahmed played
nice Berber music. After passing a village, we stopped for lunch – once again
very tasty beans.
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| Lunch along the way |
I do not normally eat
beans so I was unsure about the amount of gas it will produce. It was a lovely hike and we ended up in a
guest house where the American couple were also staying. That evening, we were
entertained by all the guides/muleteers and cooks singing and beating on
anything resembling a drum. I was pretty
tired and slept like a log.
29th of
December. I felt neglected at breakfast
but maybe it is because I told the cook I don’t need all the food. I did not even have a plate and shared some
of Katherine and Alan (Americans) food. I noticed that Katherine’s eyes were
puffy and introduced her to the benefits of Pilex. It is quite normal for me to end up very
bloated and unattractive after a day or two in the mountains and the hemorrhoids
cream helps to reduce the puffiness.
In
2009 I did the grand traverse with 5 ladies from Cape Town and we all got a bit
bloated. One morning I woke up and I
could not see a thing. I gave one shout “YES!”, thinking that my eyes were
swollen shut but unfortunately it was just my beanie that crawled over my
head. We left at 8:30 and I could not
help laughing when Amid told me one of the other groups guide had no clue how
to get to Imlil. I said he must help him
– but we stopped for tea at a lady friend of his. Everyone had a great laugh when the smoke got
into my eyes but it is nice travelling on my own – I don’t get treated as a
tourist.
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| Picking up litter along the way |
I felt very
clumsy crossing scree/hard ice but trust I will get my confidence back. We were getting closer to a popular path and
unfortunately we started to encounter litter left by tourists. Hamid joined me
when I started picking up the litter and once on top I was introduced to Omar –
the head of the association who cleans the mountain. I informed Hamid to tell
me to calm down when I get too excited before I start shouting at any potential
litter bug. Once down in Mzik, I was very surprised to discover that he has
arranged a mule ride to my next accommodation.
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| My mule ride down to a village |
I felt lazy and sorry for my
mule, but Abrahim, the muleteer talked non-stop and it was no use trying to
tell him that except for ‘tranqual’, I did not understand one word during the
30 minute ride. It got freezing and I
was relieved when we finally arrived at the guest house where I had to settle
for a luke warm shower. Lhoucian, my cook/muleteer was waiting for me at the
guest house – and I ordered two coffees. I was, however told to first finish
the first one. It did not take long and he was pretty impressed.
30th
of December. I did not get too far
before I had a spectacular fall on the slippery ice. My hiking pole broke off
but luckily, Lhoucian was able to fix it in such a way that I could still use
it. I just loved all the colourful
displays of cold drink and fruit along the way. I was quite surprised to get to the refuge so
soon and spend some time with a dog and her 5 puppies before settling down in
my dormitory.
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| On my way to the refuge |
I also discovered that I had one extra day in Morocco and asked
Hamid to phone Rachid and arrange that my driver picks me up one day later and
that we stay another night on the mountain.
I was exhausted and stiff and after claiming my space in the dormitory
and a nice shower, I joined the rest of the tourists in the lounge. Mohammed, the colourful guide arrived with
his group – this time he had on an orange scarf and I tried to take a video but
the place was too busy.
I started
chatting to the tourists around me and when Hamid sat next to me, I shared my
thoughts that the guy with a beard that was staring at me for quite a while
must be a terrorist. But it turned out
that he was only doing his PhD in Chemistry and he was from Argentina. I convinced his girlfriend who was doing her
PhD in Physics to climb to the top as well – and till this day I was not sure
if it was good advice or not – and hope her experience did not put her off
mountains for life. I also chatted with Aziz – who stayed in Marrakech and
invited him to summit with me. I could see the relief on his face. I gave Hosen
€30 before he left. I shared the
dormitory with 19 other people.
31st
of December: At first, my neighbour in the dormitory battled to sleep – but
once he managed, his snore was impressive.
I have learned long ago that earplugs does not work. I was told that we would leave at 3:30, and
was ready by 3:00. But we only left at
4:00 and it felt as if we raced to the top.
I was huffing and puffing and as usual, it was freezing on top and the
wind was howling.
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| On top of the highest mountain in Morocco |
My camera’s batteries
were flat but besides the batteries freezing, I discovered later that the
camera was not working properly so it was not just me forgetting to bring extra
batteries. After watching the sun rise
whilst dancing to keep warm, we started the steep downhill.
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| My guide walking behind me to make sure I don't fall |
I was not comfortable with Hamid racing down
but he did look after me and at one stage, he walked behind me holding both my
hiking sticks to make sure I don’t have another spectacular fall.
It was only
later that he told me that he was petrified that I would slip since I had
normal rain pants on instead of ski pants and I would be unable to stop myself
from sliding. 20 Minutes away from the refuge, I felt something giving away in
my right boot. I could not find anything
wrong with my boot. Bummer, it must be
my extra-long big toe that went through my brand new fancy hiking socks.
Once at the
refuge, my legs were shaky and I took of my boots. Thank goodness, my expensive
socks were intact. It was my toenail
that took a severe knock. My first aid kit consists out of diaree, stomach
cramp, anti-inflammatory and panado tablets, mole skin and plasters came in
handy. At least a plaster would keep the
toenail in place.
I wanted to
spend another day on the mountain. The refuge was overbooked so it was decided
that we would hike to another hut where we would spend old year’s eve. Whilst
we waited for another porter/cook that was send up to accompany me and Hamid to
the hut, I enjoyed some coffee (and their food) with other tourists. My legs
were still feeling shaky, my toe was throbbing and I was getting gatvol of
waiting, so I mentioned to Hamid that we could go down to Imlil if it was so
much trouble.
But a Russian tourist convinced me that the hut was just around
the corner and offered me more coffee to calm down.
Finally we
set off, shaky legs and all. I have developed my own technique of climbing
mountains. As soon as the going got
tough, I would start counting till a pre-determined number before I took a
break and look back to encourage me. The number I counted to depend totally on
my tired level. I was semi positive and
started counting till 30. It was not all that successful – as soon as I got
into a rhythm, I would fall through the snow.
I tried the ‘kick with my crampons method’, but sometimes the snow just
gave way and later my legs felt like lead.
1, 2, 3, 4 fall. 1,2,3,4,5 … fall.
When Hamid
said he was going to walk behind me because we were going to go through a
dangerous section I just thought to myself:
‘No ways! I would rather stick to
landmines, deserts, snakes etc. but no more scary slopes for me. I was becoming a granny and I guess it was
time to start acting sensibly. It turned
out to be an ambitious hike – and the hut was definitely not ‘around the
corner’. When Hamid told me that it was
about 5 minutes to the hut, I told myself ‘yeah right! I am from Africa and
don’t believe this 5 minute or around the corner stories.
I’ve never
been so happy to see a hut before. My
new ‘cook’ had to help me remove my frozen crampons and boots. I asked Hamid if I could close the door and
use the ‘entrance’ to change into dry clothes – but he must have misunderstood
me because he showed me the sleeping place above the lounge. I was freezing and got undressed in my
sleeping bag and they must have thought I have gone nuts with all the moves I
made in my bag.
Two Spanish guys have
pitched their tent because they refused to pay $100 for the hut, but they used
the kitchen and I guess the amount of alcohol they consumed helped against the
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| Our frozen boots outside the hut |
cold. After visiting the loo, which was
just about covered in snow, I decided that I was definitely not going to step
out in the dark and that I was going to keep a bottle handy. Of course, the
fact that the water was kept running in order for the pipes not to freeze did
not help. My toe was throbbing and I covered my foot with layers of clothes
just to prevent me bumping it against anything. It was old year’s eve and
although freezing, I was extremely happy.
1st
of January 2017. After being woken by the Spanish guys who got ready to explore
the mountain for some nice skiing slopes, I sneaked around the corner to empty
my bladder. It was freezing and was
definitely not going to go to the snow filled loo further down. Besides having
a phobia of being stuck in local transport for hours with a full bladder, I
also have a fear of falling to my death whilst going to the loo on a mountain.
I made sure I was packed before having a nice omelette but then I was informed
that we are going to stay another night.
It might have been the original plan or it might have something to do
with the fact that our boots were still frozen.
I could just picture myself trying to squash my throbbing foot inside
the frozen boot and definitely did not complain. Instead, I unpacked and got back into my
sleeping bag.
Around 12:00,
I joined the rest of the team in the sun.
Our boots were out defreezing in the sun, the three Moroccans were
listening to music and I was reading Alan Paton’s cry the beloved country. After
some time in the sun, I went back to bed and started reading the book from the
start again. The Spanish guys got back
extremely late and I can only say I take my hat off to them. It was freezing.
2nd
Of January 2017. Day 7 in the mountain –
and I decided to have some chocolate spread on my bread for breakfast. When we
set of at 9:00, the wind was howling.
And we set of an avalanche.
3nd of January 2017. After pancakes and very sweet tea for breakfast, we hiked down to the village where I bought some crystals before driving back to the airport in Marrakesh. Morocco is truly a beautiful clean country and my faith in people has been restored. I was already missing the Atlas mountain.
After my trip to Cape Verde, I was eager to get back to South Africa. My newly grandson was waiting – but it was two days before my flight back and I stayed in Marrakesh. The market is one big maize – and I am terrible with direction. I did venture out a bit – but not too far and the store owners realised soon that I was not going to buy anything.
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| My toe-nail did not make it all the way |
