While you won’t be bored in the Marrakech Medina, there is so much beauty to see if you venture outside the city area. I read about hiking the Ourika Valley Waterfalls, situated in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains. I wasn’t prepared for the inspiring day I was about to have.
Ourika Valley is about a 3 hour drive from the medina. Most people do this trip with a tour guide who arranges for transportation to and from hotel. We decided to be more adventurous and go it alone. We had read about taking the local buses which are white mini vans located right near the main square, Jemaa el-Fna. It is hard to explain how to find them as they are parked in a street a few blocks from the square. If you ask locals for the white buses to Setti Fatma, you will find them. After wandering for about 20 minutes in search of them and almost giving up we finally found them! You will see a lot of men milling outside the buses shuffling people from one bus to the next. We told one we were going to Ourika Valley/Setti Fatma and he directed us to the correct vehicle. The trip cost us each $3! If you decide to take the local bus, which I highly recommend for an authentic experience, make sure you sit in the front. They cram everyone else into the back of the bus! About half way through the ride we switched to another bus to make it to Setti Fatma ( we again got the front seat!) We were confused at first and a few times we thought we missed the stop. We learned to trust the people working the buses. They know where you are going and are not going to put you on the wrong bus! We finally arrived in Setti Fatma and felt transported to another world. The area is home to many Berber villages. The Berber people originated from North Africa and now are scattered among Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Niger etc. Today, many of them practice Islam.
We were a bit lost when we got off the bus, not knowing where to start hiking. We originally didn’t want to pay for a guide since we had read its fairly easy to do the hike alone. However, a nice Berber man named Mohammad who was an official guide took us through the hike. It only cost $10! Most tourists only make it to the 3rd waterfall which is easy to do alone, but Mohammad took us all the way to the 7th! Worth every single penny to see all the waterfalls, which only get better as you proceed. We would not have been able to do it without him. He was about 70 years old and was hiking better than us while smoking a cigarette! It was amazing to watch. After the hike, he took us to get food and then showed us an argon oil shop where the women were making it by hand right in front of us! We ended up taking a shared taxi cab back to town with a few other people instead of the bus and the cost was only $6. Completely worth the quicker ride home after a long day.
The beauty and the quiet was delightful. Once we made it to the last waterfall, we were the only people around! We sat down on the rocks near the water and just closed our eyes taking in this moment, listening to the water rushing down and trying to hold onto this fleeting moment that is forever etched in my soul.
It is days like these you realize how big this world is and what a privilege it is to be able to explore even a tiny portion of it.
If you are planning a trip to Marrakech and want to do this day trip, let me know! I am happy to help 🙂
XO,
Sarah
Wandering Publicist 