This grassy plateau, on the south side of the High Atlas, at 2100 metres above sea level is one of our favourite places in Morocco. So much so that its exact location is to be kept a secret. It's a place that we visit frequently on our mountain biking tours and is just reward for the punishing climb that leads to the plateau. 7km of rough track, steep in places, takes many riders over an hour by bike and some have found it quicker to hike and leave their bike in the support vehicle! Grassy plateaux like this are not uncommon in Morocco's High Atlas, in areas where tiny streams run from natural springs, and their sudden appearance in an otherwise barren landscape comes as quite a surprise. Here, at over 2000m we pitch camp for the night and prepare a barbecue of steak ("cotes de beouf") and a camp fire. Wilderness camping is pretty much unrestricted in Morocco, one of the great joys of the place in comparison with many parts of Europe. When we bike through areas that are not on the tourist trail, camping and staying in village houses are the only accomodation options open to us, in the absence of any hotels. We have found from experience that not everyone likes the idea of camping (particularly mountain bikers!), but provided it's organised in a civilised manner in a beautiful location, with good food, reliable equipment and a camp fire, then everyone's happy, and it allows us to access untouched areas that other tourists never get to see. Fortunately the weather in Morocco is often just as you see in the picture.....a far cry from camping in the Elan Valley in Wales. On all our trips that involve camping we use good quality tents made by British manufacturer "Wild Country" and camping is normally organised on a twin share basis. However, if we have space to carry extra tents we try our best to give single travellers their own tents particularly on trips where multiple camping nights are involved. Our hiking tours usually incorporate camping (with the exception of "Marrakech-Toubkal Hikes" and "High Atlas Quick Escape", which use local gite or guest house accommodation), either staying in modern tents in the mountains or using Bedouin tents for an authentic flavour of the desert on trips in the south. For those who enjoy hiking from the comfort of a mountain base, rather than camping, Epic Morocco highly recommends the "Marrakech-Toubkal Hikes" tour where you are accompanied by a mountain guide for day walks in the Imlil area of the Toubkal National Park. It's a comfortable introduction to trekking in the High Atlas and the guest house that we use in Tamatert is one of the most appealing mountain bases in Morocco.
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