Mountain trekking has become a favorite vacation for adventure travelers, with some jetting off to South America to tackle the Andes, others hopping a plane to Europe for a tour of the Alps, while yet another group will head to Northern Africa to experience the Atlas Mountains. That’s exactly where travel writer Amanda Jones went when she wrote this piece for the LA TImes.
Jones discovered that the Atlases, which stretch for more than 1500 miles across Morocco, into Algeria, and continuing on to Tunisia, are separated into three distinct parts, beginning with the Middle Atlas that run along the north. The High Atlas are located in the central south, while the Anti-Atlas run into the foothills before tapering off into the Sahara Desert in the deep south.
An Atlas trek can be quite an adventure, with trails winding into some remote regions, including up Jebel Toubkal, the tallest mountain in North Africa at 13,671 feet. The scenery is stunning, and hikers frequently pass through Berber villages along their routes. Jones gives excellent details on her own trek, which was six days in length and consisted of 6-9 hours of trekking per day. Nights were spent in a variety of guest houses found in the different villages along the route.
To top off their Moroccon adventure, Amanda and her traveling companion treated themselves to a stay at the Kasbah Tamadot, a luxury resort owned by Richard Branson that includes a spa, two pools, restaurants, and 18 specially designed suites, along with six authenic Berber tents.
No one said you couldn’t spoil yourself a bit after the adventure is over.