Morocco Highlands trekking Tour

Start your day traveling with your Morocco small group tour from Chefchaouen to Ouazzane, the jewel of the Rif Mountains and one of the best blue cities in the Mediterranean Bassin. Travel to Ourzagh in the Jbala mountains to reach the holy city of Ouazzane. After being the only lost village called Dchera Jbal Erihan (the village on the mountain of Myrtles), the distinguished Idrissid Sherif Moulay Abdullah Ben Brahim made it a center of Sufism and a place of spiritual retreats for Moroccans. Visit the historic sites with your local guide. The city's mountains and rugged streets are not only an ordinary walking tour but a hiking morning to discover Ouazzane. Return at the end of the day to Chefchaouen, one of the old Moorish white towns. Your riad is a boutique inn owned by a woman who will greet you with a traditional mint tea and cookies of her own making.

Travel from Chefchaouen on your exclusively women trekking tour across the beautiful road is the sprawling farming settlement from the Roman time of Fez el Bali. Then, experience the unique Berber and Moorish lifestyles in the Amergou Mountains. This route will be lined by picturesque villages with majestic evergreen forests providing a natural backdrop. Start your afternoon with an excursion to hike in the Tamesnit, in the heart of the Rif Mountains, the Belvedere of Lalla Outka, and the isolated shrine of Moulay Bouchta El Khammar (master of music). The shrine is also a pilgrimage destination for Berber musicians who come to pay their respects and seek blessings. The night will be hosted by a Berber family of mountaineers who will share their best natural cooking for a festive tribal dinner to welcome guests on a hiking tour to Morocco's unchartered highlands. You can enjoy encountering Moroccan fellow citizens in their homes. (Camping night).

Have a wonderful homemade breakfast prepared by the women's household. Afterward, we will gather for a travel day, debriefing our small group travel day, bid goodbye to our host Berber family, and take off overland to Taza. Drive to Taza in the morning, an ancient city that stands as the gateway of the Middle Atlas Mountains. We will cross the Rif Massif surrounded by pine, acacia, and cedar trees, as far as the eye can see. Monkeys and thousands of bird species can also be seen. Enjoy mild hiking in the Jebala Mountains with your mountain guide, who will lead you through your hiking trails. We will also visit a day market in a village to explore women trading in these traditional souks. Most of the crafts in this area are made by women. Dinner and overnight will be in the hotel.

We will meet for breakfast and travel debriefing in the morning. Our small group of adventure travelers will be introduced to the local guide, who will take you in the morning on a historic visit to Old Taza and then take you on a hiking afternoon to the Friouato Mountains, also visiting the taverns of Friouato. Our group of women travelers will enjoy the breathtaking sceneries and exquisite Berber villages that fill up the vistas of these areas unknown to mass tourists. Your exclusively women's expedition is absolutely in unchartered tourist areas. You will be pioneers of these ecotourism programs in Morocco, sustaining these rural communities in remote areas of Morocco. This is as exclusive as it gets, especially for women explorers. Dinner and overnight are in the hotel.

After breakfast, our Morocco adventure expedition will explore one of the steepest mountain terrains, starting at Tazekka National Park with cliff-hanging villages and neolithic-farmed terraces unique to this region. We will stop at The Chikara Caves to explore the natural sites and get an idea of the geological formation of these massive mountains. At the village of Bab Boudir, we will cross Mount Ahmar's dense cedar and cork pine forests. Stop for a picnic lunch in a natural setting at the pass of Bab Arba overlooking the valley of Maghraoua. Your small group trekking afternoon will take you to the Berber village of Ribat el Kheir, then Bir Tamtam, which continues to the Gorges of Sidi Harazem thermal springs near Fez. A festive dinner will be prepared for us to enjoy a comfortable night in a Beni Sadden Compound with local Berbers.

After breakfast in our Berber Guesthouse, we will travel to Fez to meet our local guide, who will introduce the magic of Fez to our group of travelers. We will discover the ancient walled Medina of Fez, only ten miles away. Our guide will meet us at the Gate of Bab Ftouh, taking you on a historic and walking tour of the Old Fez. The full day will be devoted to exploring the marvels of the medina, its monuments, mosques, fountains, Koranic Schools, and open guilds of crafts markets. Most importantly, there was a potency of skillful women guilds of Fez, especially in weaving, silk embroidery, and rugs. In the afternoon, we will do the outskirts of its ramparts, visit the traditional potters, and then retreat to our Berber compound for a festive night with Kansara drummers and Ahaidous rural dancing of the Beni Sadden Berber tribes. A Country Couscous is prepared especially for our small group visit, then a tribal local group of musicians will animate your dinner with traditional Moroccan music and dance. Dance till you drop. (Guesthouse lodging)

After breakfast, we will ride our overland 4x4 Land Cruisers towards Mount Zerhoune, leaving the Atlas Mountains behind and trekking up to the Rif Mountains Massifs. Mount Zerhoun will be our first stop at the holy city of Moulay Idriss. This is historically the first Islamic town built in the 8th century, still intact with its mountains refuge citadel to discover. Step back in time and walk the narrow streets of these mountains built totally on the steep slope of Mount Zarhoun. Your guide will take you on a walking tour of this ancient town. Be ready for a great hiking session in the city. Then, when you are done at the top of the mountain, we will take a Millenium footpath that will lead us down across ancient olive groves, following in the Roman footsteps cartwheel path by the village of Fertassa overlooking the valley of Volubilis. Lunch will be in nature, shaded under a biblical olive tree. Continue our trek down to the Volubilis Archeological Site, where we will visit the Roman site of Volubilis. After lunch in a local riad, our Morocco group tour will take off to Rabat. The overnight will be in Rabat. (hotel Accommodation)

After breakfast, we will finish visiting Rabat's historical and cultural sights, then travel overland to Tangier Port, where we will bid you goodbye and get you ready to catch your ferry back to Spain. We hope you have enjoyed our Morocco from Spain adventure overland tour. Come back and visit us again on another Morocco overland adventure tour or expedition. Have a safe and pleasant journey back home.