Marrakech is “warm and golden” in early October, its medina fragrant with cumin and charcoal even before the day has “properly begun”. It’s lovely to wander here, said Finn Beales in the Financial Times, letting the sights and sounds of the city “wash over” you – the souks, the hammams, the “rooftop mint teas”.
But it’s also very touristy these days, and anyone looking for a “less-rehearsed” version of Morocco will want to get out into the mountains nearby. That’s what I did last autumn with five friends and the help of Unicorn Trails, a British operator that offers some of the world’s finest riding holidays. We spent six days in the saddle, heading into the High Atlas from Terres D’Amanar, and crossing passes above 3,000 metres to discover the valleys on the other side.
Some of my friends had “minimal” riding experience – just four lessons before we arrived. But with riders carefully matched to horses to suit their skill level, everyone was fine. My own Arab-Berber stallion was “sure-footed” and “unhurried”, allowing me to take photographs from the saddle, and our two guides were superb local horsemen, always“watchful, measured” and“unfazed” by unexpected events.
We stayed in lodges on some nights, and camped (roll mats, sleeping bags) on others. Sometimes we carried picnic lunches in our saddlebags, but when the road allowed, our support vehicle was waiting for us at midday with hot tagines and “generous” salads laid out in the shade of thuya trees.
There were moments of sadness, such as when we passed through villages destroyed by the earthquake of September 2023. But there was a great deal that was heart-lifting too, such as the view across the High Atlas from the Tizi n’Addi pass, “ridge after ridge dissolving into haze”; and moments of deep peace, such as during our long lunches, and after setting up camp at dusk, when herds of goats spilled through the foothills below us, and the stars above burned brighter and brighter, until they made the surrounding peaks “glow”.
The trip costs from £1,025pp, excluding flights.