If you are looking for a single, most memorable “mountain day”, ATS can offer you the opportunity to discover the beauty and charm of the nearby High Atlas Mountains. At only just over an hour’s drive south from Marrakech, Amizmiz lies in the foothills of the High Atlas. The location offers stunning views out to snow capped peaks as well as having a surrounding rural landscape with much beauty, interest and intrigue. ATS can introduce you not only to these stunning landscapes (some entirely natural, others the result of human activities) but can also enable communication with the local habitants. Such encounters will allow you to know the cultural heritage, customs and the lifestyle of the Berbers, the “mountain people”.

The drive begins across the Marrakech Plain. Here can be seen the newly planted olive groves and their intricate drip irrigation systems designed to use the scarce water resource to maximum effect. The Canal du Rocade is crossed, a major irrigation canal bringing rainwater and snowmelt to the Marrakech Plain. But soon the road begins to ascend to Takerkoust (where a stop can be made at an enormous barrage and reservoir, soon to be one of three that store and distribute water for agricultural and urban use). The sight of such an expanse of water is impressive in the dry, arid landscape but it also offers most welcome fresh air (in contrast to the often stifling air of Marrakech).

On arrival in Amizmiz you may wish to take a guided stroll around the small, bustling Berber town. The activities are captivating and a walk through the market stalls is simply “live theatre”. Should it be Tuesday when you tour, then a visit to the settlement’s very active souk is not to be missed.

As this is a gentle day in the mountains (ATS has many other programmes for those who wish to expend a little - or a lot! – more energy), you can then be taken by car to the potter’s village. Here the skilled craftsman will show you how to make a pottery tagine and then, after a demonstration, it may be “over to you”, should you wish to try! It may well be “firing day” too when the pottery tagines are placed into the villages oven with much wood before the fire is ignited to bake them.

As lunchtime will by now be approaching, you will drive on to Toulquen, a Berber Village high in the High Atlas foothills. The scenery on the drive is breathtaking; now you are truly getting “into” Morocco. After lunch of traditional fare, locally produced, a short guided tour around the village is possible, including a look around a traditional Berber home; fascinating.

The tour then continues through splendid mountainous landscapes (with awesome views out to the Marrakech Plain) and returns to Amizmiz via a circular route. Here you may wish to have a demonstration of henna painting.

All too soon it is time to leave Amizmiz, it mountains and rural landscapes and return to Marrakech as the sun sets as a glowing red orb in the sky.

WHAT ATS OFFERS:

• Return transport from your accommodation in Marrakech to Amizmiz and environs;

• A local Moroccan guide throughout your day;

• A gentle walk around the settlement of Amizmiz( to include the souk on a Tuesday);

• A stop at the Potter’s Village (no charge but a donation to potter would be welcomed);

• Several superb mountain drives between destinations;

• Lunch in a delightful auberge in Toulquen;

• A guided stroll with a local person in the Berber village of Toulquen;

• Henna painting demonstration (with the option of having a henna application);