Day 1 : Arrival and welcome in Fez
Accommodation : 3 star hotel in Fez
Reception at the airport of Fez and transfer to the city center a few steps from the Medina. According to your arrival you will be able to discover this twelve centuries old imperial city with its medina of 9000 lanes, the largest in the Maghreb.
Day 2 : Fez – Transfer from hiking – Boumzil : 3 ½ hours riding
Accommodation : Mountain Camp
In the morning, transportation by minibus from Fez to Khenifra, crossing an agricultural region where arboriculture is highly developed, with a short stop in Ifrane, the Moroccan Switzerland.
After joining the logistics team and having lunch, the horses are assigned. This half-stage of 3h1/2 winds through cultivated hills, up to the bivouac set up near the hamlets of Boumzil, where there is electricity and internet relay, but no running water. Yet water runs from everywhere in the Middle Atlas,nicknamed the “water tower” of Morocco.
Day 3 : From crops to the magnificent cedar forests : 7 hours riding
Accommodation : Mountain Camp
Approximately 7 hours of riding during the day, equally divided between morning and afternoon. A series of agricultural valleys are first crossed, before approaching the forest and being amazed by the centuries-old cedars. Lunch is taken at the edge of the three enchanting lakes of Tiguelmamine, whose waters are so clear that swimming is a must.
Afterwards, we will cross very serene agricultural areas, with a scattered habitat full of sheep, cows, donkeys and mules, and sometimes hobbled mares that put our stallions in turmoil. We then have to tackle a tough climb to cross the mountain and open out into a magnificent forest of cedars, holm oaks and junipers, before reaching the sublime Ajdir plateau, the place of the bivouac. A paradisiacal place with vast flat grassy areas, ideal for the last gallops of the day.
Day 4 : Ajdir – Aït Atmane : 5 hours riding
Accommodation : Mountain Camp
The morning is spent entirely in a majestic cedar forest, some of which may be 600 years old, up to 70m high, but unfortunately many of them are mutilated. The Berbers have indeed taken the habit of lighting fires at their base to collect honey. This short stage of 2h1/2 brings us to the edge of the great lake Aguelmame Azigza, where we are welcomed by a colony of monkeys, not at all shy, who come to get food and let themselves be photographed. Nice place again for lunch.
The long afternoon stage, 4 hours, takes place essentially in a huge agricultural basin where the population is busy maintaining and cultivating by hand plots too small and too sloping to allow access to any machinery. The crossing of small villages, where storks are numerous, makes us appreciate – there as elsewhere – the kindness of the Moroccans.
The bivouac is set up near the hamlets of Aït Atmane, along a river that the horses appreciate.
Day 5 : Aït Atmane – Plateau d’Ounane : 5 hours riding
Accommodation : Mountain Camp
In the morning, a 3-hour stopover, mainly in a beautiful forest where cedars predominate, with pleasant clearings and on a wide, not very stony trail. Lunch is taken as usual towards a lake, that of Aguelmame Wiwane, where a long pleasant moment can be spent, as long as the afternoon stage is only about ten kilometers long. We then ride mostly on flat high plateaus bordered by sheepfolds, which allows us to gallop, while crossing countless flocks of black-headed sheep and poultry of all kinds around Lake N’Ifaghrioune.
The plateau of Ounane, the place of our bivouac, even has a small pond in the middle to water the herds. Another superb place, ideal to gallop and spend a great evening.
Day 6 : Ounane Plateau – Azaghar : 5 ½ hours riding
Accommodation : Mountain Camp
After crossing the plateau of Ounane, we start a long descent in a forest of holm oaks, by a wide track, being able to cross vultures. Three hours are necessary to reach a beautiful valley where water flows everywhere and where oleanders abound. We have lunch on the edge of a river, near the beautiful village of Zaouit Ifrane which is installed in a remarkable site.
The afternoon stage takes us up through a pleasant forest on a high plateau, as far as the eye can see, where brilliant gallops take us to Azaghar, the place of the bivouac. The hike ends in apotheosis, so much the place is splendid, in edge of forest, with beautiful lawns without pebbles and a very green grass which pleases the horses.
Day 7 : Azaghar – Fez : 3 ½ hours riding
Accommodation : 3 star hotel in Fez
For the last half day, we ride on the crest of this long plateau of Azaghar, in vast areas of grassland where sheep abound; and maybe we have the chance to witness the shearing of the sheep by crossing sheepfold hamlets.
Little by little we approach the big lake Aguelmame Afenourir where the logistics are waiting for us for the last lunch in the middle of nature. This natural lake at an altitude of 1800 m is part of the Ifrane National Park, an important stopover for migratory birds.
Return to Fez by minibus in the afternoon, by an itinerary different from the outward journey through sumptuous cedar forests. And free evening before departure the next day.
Day 8 : Fez – Airport
Breakfast and transfer to the airport according to your flight schedule.
CAVALERY
Bearded stallion horses and bearded Arabs, selected and trained by our team, enduring, lively and docile. They are admirably adapted to the paths of the High Atlas: small sure-footed and big-hearted, their gaits are raised. Height at the withers: 1.45 m to 1.55 m.
They will amaze you on this hike by their resistance on sometimes the most difficult paths… You will come back for them!
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