Trekking
With its four distinct mountain ranges – the Rif, the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas – Morocco offers outstanding opportunities for hiking and trekking. Various trekking tours can be organized through the Moroccan National Tourist Office. Specialist agents offer a variety of treks including guided horse trekking in the mountains, and camping trips. One of the most popular treks in the High Atlas is the ascent of Jebel Toubkal (4167m/6668ft), North Africa’s highest peak. The Toubkal area is about a one hour drive from Marrakech and the usual starting point for this trek is the picturesque village of Imlil. Official mountain guides with mules are recommended for trips lasting longer than one day; guides are widely available in Imlil. Accommodation is provided in refuges, gîtes (resting places) and small hotels along popular trails. Trekking is possible all year round, but the best time is from April to October. The canyons and gorges are best tackled from June to October (in summer, storms can make the gorges impassable).
Riding
There are horse riding clubs in all major Moroccan cities, notably Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech and Rabat. Several clubs organize pony treks in the Middle Atlas. The combination of travelling by mule and skiing (known as mule-skiing) is characteristic to the High Atlas and can be carried out from February to April. A useful brochure, The Great Trek through the Moroccan Atlas, is available from the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism or the Moroccan National Tourist Office. Camel riding (méharrées) is also available, both in the Atlas mountains and around the Sahara Desert area in the southwest.
Medina
On the Inezgane road heading south out of Agadir is builder-designer Coco Polizzi's La Médina d'Agadir. Polizzi, born in Rabat into an Italian family of architects, was involved in much of the construction that took place in Agadir through the 1980s and 1990s. In 1983, he built his own workshop in the city, partly to supply his booming building business but also to take the first step toward realizing a dream of building a new medina to replace the earthquake-devastated original. After receiving local government approval in 1992, a 4 1/2-hectare (11-acre) site was leased, and over the next 4 years, using his own capital, Polizzi's new medina took shape. The medina is built entirely of bricks, hewn stone, and wood, and the only concessions to modernity are the plumbing and some electricity; there are no reinforcing bars or metal beams.
A continuing work in progress there are plans for a museum, art gallery, hammam, artist studios, and a small lake with landscaped gardens. the site workshops produce nearly everything, from the mosaics that decorate the floors and walls of the buildings to the intricately carved doors and roshans (latticed windows). Much of the interior work inside many of the Agadir's resorts and restaurants (Sofitel, Riu Tikida Dunas, Le Mauresque Cafe) was produced in these workshops. Artisans work with only natural local products terra cotta from Marrakech, marble from Casablanca, slate from Tafraoute, and limestone, thuya, and eucalyptus from the surrounding area. Basically a craft and culture village, the medina is a maze of arches and alleyways, each housing a small workshop with a local craftsperson making and selling his or her wares. Most traditional Moroccan art and crafts are represented: textiles, jewellery, lantern making, weaving, woodwork, henna art, herboristes, and glassware. Crafts that produce larger items or ones that are integral to building the medina are located in the rambling workshops to the rear of the property.
An agreement with the government results in every craftsperson in the medina training at least two others, which is integral to Polizzi's ethos of perpetuating Morocco's artisan heritage. Each craftsperson (there are currently 64) is interviewed by Polizzi or his daughter Claudia, who lives within the medina, and must offer something innovative or different from that already being produced.
Although lacking the atmosphere of Morocco's ancient medinas, the craftsmanship and subsequent items on display and for sale are of an exceptional quality and some are really quite unique and perhaps more in tune with modern-day tastes. Although the prices are supposedly fixed, it is possible to haggle. Each shopkeeper/craftsperson is most willing to show you how each product is made without the pressure to buy that you find in the other city’s medinas. The larger workshops are only available for viewing with a guide (English speaking and included in the cost of admission). This is a great opportunity to see these skilled artisans at work in an unintimidating environment. True to medina working hours, most of the shops close for lunch between noon and 2pm. There is a small restaurant, Cafe Mauré, on-site serving traditional Moroccan cuisine, main dishes of tagine or couscous.
The medina is located at Ben Sergao, 4km (2 1/2 miles) south of Agadir on the Inezgane road (tel. 028/280253; www.medinapolizzi.com.
Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 8:30am to 6:30pm.
Water Sports
Sandy beaches offer safe swimming, although the Atlantic can be cold even in summer. Mohammedia, Agadir, El Jadida, Oualidia, Safi and Essaouira are all good bathing resorts. The Mediterranean coast in the north, opposite Spain, is being developed, and resorts such as Cabonegro (14km/23 miles from Tetouan) offer superb swimming and diving. Other dive sites can be found at Agadir and Essaouira. The rivers in the High and Middle Atlas ranges, particularly the Oum-er-Rbia, offer white-water rafting throughout the year (visitors are strongly advised to use experienced guides). Fishing permits are necessary for trout streams, lakes and pike lakes, and are issued by the Waters and Forests Department or local clubs. Deep sea fishing is available and Agadir is full of travel agents catering to tourists and they can organise all types of water sports for you.
Camel riding
Camel riding (méharrées) is also widely available, both in the Atlas mountains and around the Sahara Desert area in the southwest and in Agadir.
Caving
Explore the numerous caves and grottoes
The area around Agadir boasts a multitude of attractive grottos for speleology buffs. They are located in the wilds of the surrounding mountains. Getting there is part of the experience, but routes aren’t especially well-signposted and it’s probably best to hire one of the many competent guides.
Wintamdouine, the most beautiful grotto of Africa
Wintamdouine is considered to be one of Africa's most beautiful grottos. The site includes an underground river 7.5 km long, and offers ideal exploration conditions for speleologists.
There are no particular technical difficulties and although there is a risk of flooding there are several shelters. Underground lakes, capitals, balconies, curtains, stalactites and stalagmites will astonish and amaze you. Prior authorization is required for a visit.
Other fascinating sites
Imi-Ougoug, Ifri-N'Tiayaline, Ifri Ifoulki, and El-Kander close to Immouzer, all offer interesting discoveries for those fascinated by geology.
Hammam
In the same street as Maison Anarjis (almost opposite the house) is the local baths, or Hammam. The paragraph below was written by a guest who stayed at Maison Anarjis and wanted to make the most of her Moroccan experience by including a visit to the Hammam.
“When I learnt that I was going to Morocco with my family, I thought at once ‘Well, we’ll be going to the Hammam, it will be great!” And it was great! But be careful because we Europeans don’t have the same conception of Hammam as Moroccans do. Indeed, my sister and I told Aicha, the resident housekeeper, that we intended to go to the Hammam one day. She began to smile smoothly. She explained to us that we had no idea of what a Hammam was like there and offered to come with us. My sister and I thought we would be able to go on our own (not to disturb her), but she insisted and we nodded. We were quite astonished when Aicha advised us to go to the local souk to buy an exfoliating mitt. That was what my sister and I did in the morning. We bought the mitts for a few dirhams. When we happily came back with our mitts, Aicha told us to get ready and prepare a bag with the things needed when going to a swimming pool. I remember my sister and I preparing a bag with a swimming costume, a towel, shampoo and shower gel. We didn’t forget our exfoliating mitt! In the evening, before having dinner, Aicha took us to the Hammam; it was really easy since the Hammam was just across the street! We paid an entrance fee of 10 dirhams and 5 dirhams for black soap. At once, I saw there was an entrance for males on the left-hand side and an entrance for females on the right-hand side. We entered a changing room and then the Hammam itself. Surprisingly, we found women in every corner, half-naked, scrubbing and washing themselves. That’s when my sister and I understood that Hammams were not the same as in Belgium. In Belgium we are used to Hammams where we relax in a cloud of steam with both males and females. In Morocco, it’s quite hot in Hammams but you’re not really in a cloud of steam. We didn’t say a word and Aicha told us to fill several buckets with warm water. Then she told us to spread black soap on our skin. And she began to scrub my skin with the mitt and we started chatting about our lives and the ice was broken. That evening was an astonishing insight into real Moroccan life. It was not so embarrassing to be half-naked since it was the usual habit there. But you would never find such a thing in Belgium. Then, we poured water on top of our heads to rinse the soap after scrubbing and we washed with normal soap. It took quite a while to carry all this out but all in all, it was quite a unique experience in Morocco. It’s something that tourists should try. This is part of the advantages of the guest accommodation. You do things you would never do if you were accommodated in a beach resort”.
Birding
Morocco is becoming a favourite destination for birders in search of endangered or rare species such as Bald Ibis (now the only population in the world); Dark Chanting Goshawk, Tawny Eagle, Eleonora`s Falcon, and African Marsh Owl, as well as other species such as Dupont`s Lark, Moussier`s Redstart, Desert Warbler, Black-crowned Tchagra, and Desert Sparrow.
The Country is divided into a number of geo-physical regions, and this influences the birds that are found there.
Maison Anarjis is situated in the Souss valley which has a wealth of bird life and is famous for Dark Chanting Goshawk and Tawny Eagle as well as the endangered Bald Headed Ibis. It is also ideal to use as a base to explore other regions in the south of Morocco with their own special bird populations.
The Birds
454 species have been recorded in Morocco – (you can find a complete list on http://www.ifrance.com/Go-South), and 209 regularly breed there.
Every year, millions of West European migrants go to and pass through Morocco, mainly from late July to early November in the autumn, and from March to May in the spring.
120 species are regular winter visitors, including 34 that are at the southern limit of their wintering range.
Birding hotspots
Several wetlands spread along the Atlantic coast that are rightly famous for their migrant and wintering waders and gulls. These include Merja Zerga, Lac de Sidi Bou-Rhaba, Sidi-Moussa-Oualidia lagoons, and the Souss and Massa estuaries along the North coast, Khnifiss lagoon and Dakhla and Cintra Bays along the Saharan coast. The islets off Essaouira shelter a colony of Eleonora`s Falcons. The Mediterranean coast includes two major wetlands: Sebkha Bou-Areg and the Moulouya estuary.
Many desert-living species, including larks, wheatears and sand grouses, are widespread in desert Morocco; others are more restricted in range, and birding hotspots include the temporary lake of Merzouga near Erfoud (waders and ducks in the desert!) bordered by the only large Moroccan sand dunes, the so-called Erg Chebbi (Desert Warbler, Brown-necked Raven, Desert Sparrow et al); and the Barrage Mansour-Eddahbi near Ouarzazate.
There are, of course, hundreds of other sites worth exploring for Ruddy Shelduck, Marbled Teal, Black-winged Kite, Booted and Bonelli`s Eagles, Lanner and Barbary Falcons, Double-spurred Francolin, Purple Gallinule, Houbara and Great Bustards, Cream-coloured Courser, Desert Eagle Owl, Plain Swift, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Scrub and Tristram`s Warblers, Fulvous Babbler or Black-crowned Tchagra.
Visit the following for more information:
African Bird Club
http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/Morocco/introduction.html
With friendly people, great scenery, a good tourist infrastructure and excellent birding, Morocco is one of the favourite destinations for birders in North Africa and perhaps the best location to search for a number of rare and endangered species.
Groupe d`Ornithologie du Maroc
Le GOMAC (Groupe d`Ornithologie du Maroc) est une association scientifique sans but lucratif, dont l`objectif principal est de contribuer a tout effort visant a protéger notre patrimoine naturel, en particulier les oiseaux sauvages et notamment les especes menacées d`extinction.
Moroccan Rare Birds Committee
http://www.go-south.org
The Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC); or Commission d`Homologation Marocaine (CHM); was formed in 1995, and currently consists of 10 members (Patrick Bergier, Mostafa Fareh, Ahmed El Ghazi, Jacques Franchimont, Christian Pouteau, Ahmed Sayad, Valéry Schollaert, Michel Thévenot, Rae Vernon and G. Willem). It aims to gather data on rare or little known birds in Morocco, and thus to increase current knowledge of the Moroccan avifauna.
Massa Lagoon (about an hours’ drive from Maison Anarjis). This is arguably Morocco’s best bird reserve.
http://www.lexicorient.com/morocco/massa_l01.htm
Wetlands of International Importance
http://www.ramsar.org/profiles_morocco.htm
The Convention on Wetlands came into force for Morocco on 20 October 1980. Morocco presently has 4 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 14,350 hectares.
Bird finders
http://www.birdfinders.co.uk/tours/morocco.htm
Morocco is a land of great contrasts, from wide sandy Atlantic beaches to snow-capped mountains over 13,000 feet high, to sand and stone deserts. The birds are equally diverse, from rare and highly-endangered species like Northern Bald Ibis to enigmatic and difficult species like Desert Sparrow.
Birding Pal
http://www.birdingpal.org/Morroco.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area.
Josele J. Saiz
http://www.boletas.org/
Better known for his wonderful birder's guesthouse in the Pyrenees [Boletas]; Josele guides throughout Spain and Morocco.
Moroccan Gateway
http://www.al-bab.com/maroc/env/env.htm#FLORA
Background info and links to trip reports etc.