For this exciting new holiday in Morocco's Atlas Mountains we flew from Gatwick to Marrakech with Easyjet.

Here we were met by Angela who runs Morroccan Trek, and taken by minibus to our hotel.

Saida, our local Berber guide, was just finishing a trip and would join us the next day.

There followed time to eat lunch then explore the souks of Marrakech. Some women also took a carriage ride through the city, stopping at an excellent spice shop.

Later we strolled through Djemaa el Fna, the central square which was close to the hotel.

At dusk in Djemaa el Fna you can buy all manner of food from stalls here.

There are also snake charmers, fortune tellers, acrobats, water and fresh orange juice sellers - the atmosphere was like from another world...

In fact we were warned not to eat here before the trek but rather at one of the many restaurants in the area where the food is likely to be safer.

No one wanted to get ill - so we heeded the warning and ate where there were musicians playing.

Another stroll through Djemaa el Fna before heading back to our hotel rooms - we'd had a very early start!

We ate breakfast at the hotel where we met up with Saida, our local french-speaking Berber guide - who also spoke some English.

Saida is the only qualified female mountain guide currently available in Morocco - we felt very lucky to have found her!

We were picked up by two minibuses with our camping equipment and supplies on the roof racks.

To this we added our personal trekking gear - pared down to essentials. We left unwanted gear with Angela for our return.

And off we set on a five hour drive to Agouti in Ait Bougamez - a valley deep in the Mogoun area of the Atlas Mountains.

After 3 hours we stopped for lunch of couscous and vegetables (most of the group were vegetarian).

The landscape became more dramatic and mountainous.

We passed Berber villages clinging to the hillsides, and contoured above deep river valleys...

In Agouti we were to stay in a gite d'etape - simple accommodation with dormitory rooms and matresses on the floor.

We went for a stroll - walking through the Berber houses and stopping to buy locally carved wooden spoons.

Mint tea and biscuits was later served on the terrace in front of the gite.

Later we were served a delicious meal of vegetable or lamb tagine. This was actually cooked by Mohamed, our trekking cook.

I couldn't resist sleeping on the roof terrace in sight of the stars...

Agouti (1815m) to campsite above Rougelt valley (2400m)
8 hours walking. Total ascent: 1300m. Total descent: 700m.

Early breakfast of pancakes, bread and jam, coffee, chocolate, or mint tea.

Our mules and muleteers arrived, and as we set off, our mules were being loaded with all our gear and food.

This High Alpine Mgoun trek would take us over high cols, camping progressively higher each night till we reached the foot of Jebel Mgoun.

Here we would stay for 2 nights with the opportunity to climb Jebel Mgoun at 4068m (only a few metres lower than Morocco's highest mountain, Toubkal; however Mgoun is the harder trek overall and is more remote and less frequented...)

Today's walk took us first through a Berber village in a side valley where we met our first Berber children.

One member of the group had brought balloons to distribute rather than sweets - Saida had to show them how to blow them up.

Then we started up the hillside to the Tafenfent Pass (ascent of 700m), slow and steady. The mules and muleteers passed us on the way.

At the top we rested to admire the view back over Ait Bougamez.

Saida shared out nutty trail mix, then we descended 400m to our lunch spot above a small stream in the next valley.

Here our cook and his helpers prepared a delicious cooked lunch which we ate on matresses in a shady spot, followed by a short siesta till the heat of the day had passed...

There were nomads with their flocks on the 'plateau', and semi-permanent nomad dwellings that are renewed each year.

After lunch, we walked up to the next ridge (ascent of 400m), then 'contoured around the hillside - which involved numerous ups and downs at each river valley we reached....

The day seemed long, and we were glad to round the final corner and see our tents pitched ready for us on a flat col over looking the stunning Rougelt ridge.

It was a breathtaking camping place near a small Berber hamlet tucked into the hillside.

We sat drinking mint tea gazing at the striking view. Later the ridge turned pink and the first stars appeared...

We were also delighted with our toilet tent - pitched over a hole dug in the ground, with a roll of loo paper hanging from the roof!

Later we were served another delicious dinner, followed by slices of orange sprinkled with cinnamon.

Rougelt camp (2400m), to camp beyond Col de Rougelt (2600m)
7 hours. Total ascent 1502m. Descent 1302m

Another long but stunning day lay ahead of us when we woke this morning.

We packed up our tents ready to be loaded onto the mules, then had breakfast with a superb view of the ridge clear of cloud.

First we descended into the Rougelt valley where people were cutting wheat on terraced hillsides and leaving it to dry.

We reached Rougelt village (1898m) where we met many more children.

Saida shared out more of the balloons, then we turned up the Mita river gorge.

Many children followed us for a while, and Nadya got some superb photos.

This gorge is not steep, but we steadily gained in height as we zigzagged up it, crossing and re-crossing the shallow Mita river.

The rock formations along the gorge sides were extraordinary.

Here we also encountered another trekking group for the first time. Two women started to suffer from the sun as the day got hotter.

One woman completed the last stretch to lunch on our 'rescue mule' who accompanied us each day in case of injury or other need.

We were glad to reach our shady lunch spot where the cook and his assistants waited with another superb lunch.

In the afternoon we turned more steeply up a side valley, climbing a further 800m to Col de Rougelt at 3400m.

The air got noticeably thinner the higher we went.

Then it was down down down to our camping place high above the Wandras river (2600m) with the most stunning scenery all around us.

A strong wind made it hard to pitch the tents so we all helped, then the wind dropped suddenly as the sun set.

The mules wandered hobbled between the tents. We were starting to know their names and the names of our Berber muleteers.

The stars were incredible that night with shooting stars.

I slept out again but I couldn't persuade anyone to join me!

Camp below Col de Rougelt (2600m) to Refuge de Terkedit (2919m)
7 hours. Total ascent: 900m. Descent: 503m.

Along the ridge from the Col de Rougelt - but inaccessible except from our camping place - lay the Col de Tarkedit at 3400m. This was our early morning goal once we'd breakfasted.

We zigzagged up the hillside ahead of the sun, passing through stunning high crags to reach our final zigzags to the pass.

Needless to say, at the top we took a good break, eating trail mix in the sun.

From here our way was easier as we walked across the Tassaut plateau, passing through several nomad encampments.

The nomads are related to the Beduin. Children herded goats and sheep, and one woman was making butter in a large sheepskin container of milk. These were the poorest communties we encountered.

We lunched in a side valley then continued on past incredible karstic rock features, descending 503m to the Tassault river where it enters into the Wandras Gorge.

This wide valley is extensively used by nomads and their flocks.

On one side lay the mighty Mgoun range, and as we walked up the valley in the afternoon sun, Jebel Mgoun came into view with a ribbon of snow along its ridge.

Our muleteers had set up camp near the Refuge de Terkedit at 2919m, and almost everyone indulged in the hot showers at the refuge for 20 dirhams each (just over £1). Total luxury after days of wetwipes!

Ref. de Terkedit (2919m) to Jebel Mgoun (4068m)
8 hours. Total ascent: 1200m. Descent: 1200m

The big day started early! It had been cold at night, no sleeping out, and there was ice on our tents when we rose at 4.30am.

3 women opted for a rest day, but the rest of us set off up Jebel Mgoun.

Slowly slowly, or "imik imik" in Berber, we climbed the lower slopes, feeling the thinness of the air more and more the higher we went.

We passed patches of stunning alpine flowers, a slope of snow where my survival bag turned into a sledge, then we were into a luna landscape of scree and crags where very little grew.

We split into two groups so that the slowest walkers didn't hold the faster walkers back - making sure that the greatest number would have time to reach the summit.

3 of us were aiming only for the 'crete' - the ridge (4000m) - where vertigo might prove a problem for some.

Each time the faster group rested, the slower group caught up ready to keep going! Real hare and tortoise stuff!

4 muleteers had come with us - no rescue mule today. One older muleteer was particularly appreciated for adapting his pace to ours.

The views as we climbed were extraordinary.

Jebel Mgoun is reached by a ridge your can't see from the valley, edged in snow, and encircling a huge deep bowl.

North, back the way we had come there were fingers of ridges heading down into the valley.

South was an extraordiary view of pink and green mountains heading out towards the distant Sahara.

The walk along the ridge proved less difficult than anticipated, but involved quite an up and down slog until the final shorter ascent to the summit was reached (4065m).

What an achievement and celebration - 7 women made it all the way to the summit!

Lunch was taken just back from the summit out of the wind - a veritable feast!

We had been lucky, however, that the strong wind of the previous 2 days hadn't prevented the ascent.

We all descended the way we had come - the most straight forward descent that took us back to our tents in the valley.

Mgoun is a serious mountain and we were glad for Saida's skill and experience to keep us safe.

Down down down - lots of steep scree paths even on this straightforward route.

Exhausted summit women reached camp in the mid afternoon to collapse on matresses in the sun and down sweet mint tea and donuts!

We all caught up with each other, including hearing about the nomads and their huge flocks who had wandered through the valley all day - an extraordinary sight.

More indulging in the nearby refuge showers took place, then supper and an early night.

Not even Maurice, the female mule, could keep us awake this night - unhappy that she could not join the nomad donkeys!

Ref de Terkedit (2919m) to Ait Bougamez (1815m)
7 hours. Total ascent: 481m. Descent: 1585m

This was our big descending day - involving an initial up of nearly 500m to the Oumskiyk Pass at 3400m, then a long zigzag down via the valley of Ikkis n Aross back to Ait Bougamez.

This day might have proved an anti-climax after the previous day's high, but that was not to be the case.

We saw nomad women making bread and had stunning views back to the valley as we climbed...

The views that greeted us as we topped the Oumskiyk Pass were, however, incredible - and stayed with us all day.

The 'down' was full of flowers - yellow and blue flowered thorn bushes initially, then lower down, meadows full of wheat and bordered by poppies, orchids and many other flowers.

It was a long down. We stopped at a saddle for trail mix, then again when our path reached a spring gushing out of the rocks.

We passed more nomad communities with their flocks, and reached the high wheat fields of lower Berber communities.

At one point, one woman's aching feet were resolved by a ride on the rescue mule.

We passed into a gorge - the day became hotter.

We were glad to reach our lunch spot under walnut trees in Ait Said village.

We collapsed in the cool and ate a wonderful spread of fresh salads and rice, followed by oranges and cinnamon.

The local children played beside a nearby aqueduct that brought water from the river to the village.

Our route had returned us to the Agouti end of the valley - but our preferred overnight stop lay a few kilometres further up the valley.

The solution after such a long hot day was a mule ride - courtesy of our muleteers - a total delight and a fabulous way to end the trip.

We arrived at Agnent n Azlou to stay at the Casbar on the hill in the centre of the village - only to find a Moroccan film company making a Berber film in the village.

Camera men hastily pulled cables out of the way as our mules clattered up the hill!

The Casbar proved to be all that was promised - a wonderful converted traditional Berber building with lots of original features remaining.

Our muleteers returned spruced up for the evening's festivities, and after dinner they treated us by singing Berber songs accompanied by drums.

Electric and totally energy raising! We joined in clapping to the beat, and they continued drumming when we reciprocated with English songs.

Return to Marrakech

We had opted for a lazy start with breakfast on the terrace of the Casbar, rather than leaving early to fit in a visit to a waterfall.

We were fascinated by a family preparing their threshing floor in the village below us.

It was hard to leave the mountains and say a final goodbye to our muleteers after the last breakfast they prepared for us.

They had treated us so well, and had found us an easy group, apparently. In return we had found then endlessly helpful and patient, gentle, funny, and totally non-intrusive.

2 mules were brought to take our luggage to the road outside the village, and it was good to finish with a final walk through the village and orchards.

The drive back took us out through the mountains again with frequent views back to snow clad ridges.

We broke our drive with a cooked lunch of omelette and salad, and arrived back to Marrakech in the afternoon. It was very hot in the city.

Saida rejoined us in the early evening to take us to her preferred spice shop deep in the souks - and also to a women's cooperative she is involved with.

The cooperative brings carpets that village and mountain women have made into the city to be sold - with a government control being set on the cut the carpet shop takes.

One member of the group bought a carpet - with much haggling taking place, of course!

Later we ate out with Saida at a fabulous roof top restaurant and enjoyed traditional dishes that hadn't been possible on the trek.

We bade a sad farewell to Saida who had been an absolutely superb guide and had become a good friend.

Despite being competely stuffed with good food, some of us still had the energy to wander through Djemaa el Fna square one last time for a final experience of evening life in Marrakech.

The next morning our minibuses came to take us to the airport for our flight home. Lots of hugs around the carousel in Gatwick - it had been a wonderful group and a huge experience shared...