Doors 333 – Doors and views of Sti Fadma in the High Atlas Mountains, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part XIII)
We managed to escape from the busy bustle of Marrakesh on a day excursion south to the High Atlas mountains. Our driver, who was half Arab and half Berber, explained to us that we would be heading into the mountains which is mostly populated by Berbers, often called Imazighen (“free people”).
The drive only took a couple of hours, transporting us to a stunning high valley along the course of the Ourika River Valley. Here we stopped to take a hike up into the mountains to reach the lowest of several waterfalls cascading down into the valley below. The small town of Sti Fadma, with its restaurants lining the river banks, was the starting point for the walk and to which we returned for a well-earned lunch.
Because we were visiting Morocco during the low season, the mountains weren’t all that busy and there was no traffic on our journey. Our driver said that from March onwards, the temperatures in Marrakesh become unbearable, and people flood out of the city and head to the mountains, which are a bit of a honey-pot and attract enormous crowds of people seeking a cooler climate. I’m glad that we chose a quieter time, and for us Brits, anything over 24 degrees is considered warm/hot, so there were no complaints from us at all.
Not so many doors this week, but some lovely views of the mountains and Berber settlements. I hope you enjoy them.
This is probably one of the least doorsy Thursday Doors posts that I have uploaded ever, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Next time, we visit a garden on our way back to Marrakesh from the mountains. Until then, have a great weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s weekly Thursday Doors post.
Natural adventures 