Peaks And Valleys Of The Atlas

Our Clients’ Reviews

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It's the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you're interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers. Any feedback collected (Good or bad) from Exodus clients is posted straight onto our website - totally unedited. Read more...

Average Review Rating: from 33 reviews.

Andrew Fort

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written October 2012
Good walking through the rugged mountain scenery.
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What did you think of your group leader?
Hassan led the group well and provided insights into Berber life. If he had a fault it was to allow the group to become too spread out at times.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Ask about the tents. The ones used for this trip suffered non-working zips. We had rain early on leading to damp gear.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Food provided by our cook Mohammad was good (considering the conditions he had to prepare it under), if of limited variety. On meat days vegetarians were provided with a good alternative.
I felt the extra day in Marrakech was unnecessary (most people had 2 half days in the city anyway)

Exodus Response
It has been a very strange year for weather in Morocco and it is rare to have such heavy rain so late in the year. Please be assured we have purchased new tents for 2013 and these are more durable than previous sets used. It is unfortunate these did not arrive in time for our September departures.
Thank you for your valued comments.

- Exodus Staff
Celianne Crocker

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written October 2012
This was an excellent trip, spoilt mainly by the poor equipment. Tents that leak, zips that do not work and damp sleeping mats, as there were inadequate rain covers provided for them whilst in transit, all added up to unnecessary discomfort. Also, the anxiety of sometimes not having a back marker, and feeling rather vulnerable as a result. I understand that these points will be resolved by next year, in which case, this would be great trip, into remote mountains with breathtaking scenery.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Camping by beautiful Lac d'Ifni, watching the moon rise, and then the sun come up the following morning.
The fun of the Hamman - what an experience!
Just pausing, in the absolute silence, to look at the never-ending views. Magical.
What did you think of your group leader?
Hassan tried his best within what he understood to be the limit of his power of authority. Whilst walking, I feel he should have checked on the progress of the slower members of the group, especially as we did not have a back marker for some of the time, and those at the rear felt rather vulnerable. It was not his fault that the tents were inadequate, but I think that he should have shown a little more concern for those of us who had to sleep in them, and tried to help rectify some of the problems. Perhaps in future training for all leaders, and staff, it should be ensured that these types of problems (and the solutions) are dealt with in detail. Many of us had been to Nepal and agreed that training should be equal to that given there - where the staff are excellent!
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Make sure you have water purifying tablets, wet wipes, toilet rolls, anti bacterical gel & tasty snack bars. No battery charging available so look after your battery - or buy spares
Is there anything else you would like to add?
This should have been a great trip, but was partly spoiled by inadequate equipment that couldn't cope with the wet weather. Leaky tents, which appeared to be very old, broken zips, damp sleeping mats all added up to spoil our enjoyment. However, if these problems are rectified, and a back marker also employed, I would recommend the Peaks and Valleys of the Atlas as a great trip to go on. Just be sure you are fit; it is, as stated, 'challenging'. The food, incidently, was good and plentiful, both for the meat eaters and the vegetarians.
Exodus Response
It is unfortunate that the new tents we ordered for this year did not arrive in time this year for this trip. Please be assured that we have now rectified the issue and can confirm all new tents will be used on this tour in 2013.
Exodus provides the same leading course in Nepal and Morocco so we can ensure a similar service is offered around the world. I have passed these comments onto our local partner who offer regular refresher training for our leaders.

- Exodus Staff
lesley courtney

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written September 2012
This was an excellent trip, marred unfortunately by the last minute cancellation of the BA flighs, which were straight through to Marrakesh, to be replaced by Royal Moroc Airlines with a change in Casablanca, which entailed a 3 hour wait on the return journey. Added to this, our bags were lost overnight on the outward bound trip.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Climbing Mount Toubkal.
What did you think of your group leader?
Hassan was excellent. Very knowledgeable, sociable and with a great sense of humour.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Book your own flights !
craig lewis

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written September 2012
A great trek. Although much tougher than anyone on the trip thought. Great scenery and lovely to visit Berber villages.And you will learn a lot about Mules!
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Sumitting Mt Toubkal was an emotional moment. And also Sumitting Adrar N Dern. Also reaching Lake D Ifni and sitting quietly beside the shore as the sun set.
What did you think of your group leader?
Hussan was a good man with a great sense of humour and had great knowledge of the High Atlas. Only one complaint from me was that he had one pace, and if you were a slow walker you could easily fall behind by 10 mins. Sometimes on tricky terrain he went out of sight of the back markers which was a bit worrying.But on the summit days there was a second guide at the back.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Do not under estimate this trek. Everyone on the trek said it was the hardest thing they have ever done. Most people were very experienced walkers. It might not be the highest altitude, BUT it is the everyday ascents and descents that are tough. The Ascent of Adrar N Dern was very tough on the group. 6 hours straight up without a track and over boulders. And the climb out of the Lake valley is punishing. In books it says its the toughest ascent in the Atlas.No Kidding!.But do not be put off, its very rewarding to do. And the final Gite is very nice to stay at. Dont forget to look up at night and see the wonders of the stars and even see the milky way!!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Many people like to know the "toilet" situation. well.. it aint very good. You get a canvas toilet tent (teepee) and there is a very shallow hole dug in the ground and some stones around it.Most of the group refused to use it and just found a rock to go behind. But its amazing how easily you will be able to talk about toilet habits with total strangers in no time. Food was ok, lots of veg, cous cous, and great bread and lots of fruit. we even had chips and omlette one night. tasted great (even though it was stone cold).
Anna-Marie Huckvale

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written September 2012
A tough trek, but spectacular rugged scenery. Don't underestimate how challenging this trip is, as I thought I was a fairly strong walker, but really struggled. I thought I would be able to manage all three peaks, but only managed to climb Mount Toubkal. Of a group of 16, 13 made it up Toubkal (after 7 hour walk), 11 to Jebel Adrar n'Dern (after an 11 hour walk), and only 4 to Jebel Ouanakrim (after 9 hour walk). However, I would definately recommend this trip over a trip to purely Mount Toubkal, as it was lovely to walk through the villages and get a feel for Berber life, and to camp at the lake (Lac d'Ifni). A trip to climb only Mount Toubkal would be fairly dull, as it's just a long boring walk up to base camp, then 7 hour climb up and down Toubkal, and then back down the same long boring path to the village. Toubkal base camp is also busy and dirty so you don't want to spend too long there either.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Climbing Mount Toubkal.
Experiencing a hammam (Moroccan steam bath) with other naked female members of the group!
What did you think of your group leader?
Hassan was ok, although favoured the faster members of the group.
A group of 16 walkers of mixed abilities was too large for only one guide, and we had no back-marker for much of the trip, and in my view sometimes this was dangerous on snowy and icy paths. The group did not stick together, and there were too many gaps between the group, so on occasion people took the wrong path and got lost.
We joked that Moroccan guides and muleteers need lessons from Nepalese sherpas. They didn't go out of their way to be helpful! For example, they didn't bring tea to tents in the morning, there were no wake-up call, and they didn't boil water for drinking water or for hot water bottles, as they usually do in Nepal or any other country where I have camped before.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Definately bring a thermorest, as the sleeping mats provided by Exodus are useless and made of foam covered in fabric material, so when wet, are very unpleasant to sleep on. They are also transported on top of the equipment carried by the mules, so I dread to think of the ingrained dirty!
Bring water purification tablets (tablets are better than drops). You can't always buy bottled water, so have to drink water from the rivers and streams. I would also recommend bringing orange tang or vitamin C tablets to make the water taste better.
The food that Mohammed managed to cook while camping was great, although after a while vegetables and cous cous got a bit boring. There wasn't much meat! Perhaps bring things like nice tea bags, dried fruit to put on porridge, marmite, peanut butter, bovril drink etc to make things more exciting.
Obviously bring plenty of wet wipes, alcohol hand gel, lots of chocolate and energy bars, travel pillow, and walking poles.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The tents were not fit for purpose and were very old. The zips on ALL the tents kept breaking and jamming, and had to be constantly repaired by the muleteers. A couple of nights we had to sleep with both the tent doors open (as zips broke) in high winds and downpours. We experienced lots of rain, and the tents leaked and both the inner and outside tent was saturated with water, and sleeping bags and kit bags got wet and damp, which was miserable.
For other travellers, I would not book this holiday until you can get a guarantee from Exodus that new tents and sleeping mats have been purchased.
Exodus Response
We have recently been made aware of the problems on this particular tour regarding tent equipment and the backmarker. Please be assured that we are treating these matters with utmost importance and I am confident all matters will be resolved before the new Toubkal season starts in 2013.
Our local partner confirmed that the new tents we ordered unfortunately did not arrive in Morocco in time for our September departures. Once we were made aware, Exodus tried to find alternatives locally that we could hire yet we were unable to replace those few tents with broken zips etc with better quality equipment. We are confident that our new and more durable tents will be used in 2013.
Exodus always ensures there is a backmarker on our Toubkal tours and I am currently in discussion with our local partner to understand why they were not provided on this particular tou. I have passed on the vital feedback to Hassan and he will be going through extra training at the end of this season to ensure this situation does not reoccur on future trips.
Thank you for your valued comments and please be assured that we are looking into alternative arrangements for next year.

- Exodus Staff
Marie Nøkling

PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS

Written September 2012
I had a great trip. We had rain, warm sun, snow and strong cold wind ; all 4 seasons on this trip. Unfortunately the tents were not longer waterproof and zips were bad. But I was happy to have a very warm sleepingbag, so I had good nights anyway. Beatiful mountains, great berban people. Incredible how they survive with their animals ( sheep, goats and cattle) high up in the mountains with so little vegetation around. I loved the wallnuts, the bread and the tea they were serving us in of of the villages. The 3 peaks were great and we could "ski" down on loose rocks and on snow. But on Mt. Toubkai the wind was very cold and strong. We really had to wear all our warmest gear. For me that was wool, fleece and goretex. Glovs and hat. It was many degrees minus at that day in the windchill. On the warm sunny days you could were t-shirt and shorts. To take a bath in the rivers, in the lake Dafni and in the waterfall by the Mt. Toubkal refuge, was very refreshing after a long day walk, and I can recommend it for everyone. And try to climb all the 3 peaks. It is really worth the effort. Great guide and porters. But the mules have a hard life. The most are are in good conditions and cope very well, but some shouldnt even have started on the trip because they were in too poor conditions. Since I am a vet I treated one of the mules for a wound-injury he already had got on the transporting lorry to the starting point of the trekking. The mule was too thin and therefor he also got wounds from all the backpack and then finally he got a little lame on one frontfoot one of the last days.. Poor animal. I hope it got a long vaccation and got fed up after the trip.
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
At lake Difni camp we sat outside in the evening and watched all the stars. We were surounded by high mountains all around us and the moon was shining in the lake. The temperature was especially warm in this crater. We were also surronded by goats and sheep having their night shelter here. It was a very spesial place to stay.
What did you think of your group leader?
The group leader was a real mountaneerer who was very proud to be a berber and live in the mountains. He was a very good ambassador for his people the berbans and his country Marocco. He learned us a lot of the history of Marocco and how berbans and arabs are living peacefully together in one country. He also learned us a lot about the geograficin the area and how the berbans are living in the mountains.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Bring clothes and sleepingbag for 4 seasons.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Waterproof tents and sleepingmats that want be soaked up with water when it is raining is something that should be under better controll.
Approve the welfare for the working mules. For example to require a veterinary check of the animals before each trip.
Andrew Martin

Brilliant Trip

Written August 2012
A fantastic, well-organised trip over rugged mountains with incredible views!
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What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?
Completing three summits over 4000m!
Mount Toubkal summit was iconic and although it was hazy, the views were still incredible.
Swimming in the lake.
What did you think of your group leader?
Mohommad was a brilliant guide, who went above and beyond what was expected (and made incredible tea with lots of sugar).
Considering it was Ramadan, our guide and muleteers were incredible, and at times appeared to have more energy than us. The food was brilliant and varied, and much better than we were expecting - you won't go hungry.
Do you have any advice for potential travellers?
Be prepared to get dusty (white is not a good colour to wear), wash in cold rivers regularly and endure some early morning starts. Don't forget a good book or two for the days of early afternoon finishes and purification tablets are a must.
Go with an open mind and enjoy everything you see, it's a great trip.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The swimming pool at the hotel on your return will feel like luxury and the last day or so in Marrakesh is a lovely way to wind down, relax and end the trip.