http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Morocco , Souss-Massa-Draâ , Imlil en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:07:42 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:07:42 +0000 Another long drive today took us into the High Atlas Mountains with some stunning scenery along the way. Our starting point was Imlil a village filled with guides hikers and equipment rental places. We had a 1 1.5 hr leisurely walk through some mountainous terrain flowing streams with fresh snow runoffs and fields of wild flowers Irises poppies etc to reach a village called Armed wher http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-398241.html read the title suckers. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-217702.html From the rocky desert outside the city our taxi pointed toward the vague outline of the High Atlas mountains eventually climbing through low red hills until the turns grew tighter and we were deposited in our smalltown mountain destination. Imlil is the sleepy Berber town that exists primarily as a startingpoint for trekkers who set out to hike the Toubkal region and summit Toubkal Africarsq http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-216361.html We had a brief sojourn of a couple of days at a wonderful lodge that sits on a hill under the face of Mt Toubkal in the High Atlas. The location of the ldquoKasbah du Toubkalrdquo cannot be beaten to sit in the clear mountain air on the terrace of the lodge surrounded by the stunning scenery of the Atlas is a liferestoring experience. The Kasbah itself offers simple but stylish accommodatio http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-171503.html When someone says that the highest mountain in North Africa is literally on your doorstep but it's not on the itinerary as it's a really hard trek what is one to do but take up the challenge With 3 other intrepid souls and dubbing ourselves Team Extreme we set off to scale Mount Toubkhal which reaches 4167 metres. First day we set off late in the afternoon after a tortuous 5 hour bus journe http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-84371.html We arrived in the little villiage of Imelil a quiet place nestled in the foothills of the Atlas mountains. It was a strange place with a lot of men sitting around doing nothing but it was clean quiet and far removed from the tourist and Lonely Planet trails.Our room was cheap but was also cold damp and slightly depressing with no one else staying around the rather large courtyard. We spent th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-68821.html Imlil and Kasbah ToubkalWe arranged a day tour through Kasbah Toubkal. This was a fantastic day not only for the sights but also because the tour was so well run. At the end of our tour Elaine dismounted awkwardly from her mule and badly strained the ligaments in her left knee. Even with that we thought that this was the best day of the tour for what we did and saw even if it was also the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Souss-Massa-Dra-/Imlil/blog-35705.html