day trip to Ourika Valley

Distance:  130km     Time on the road: 2h min 

Due to its numerous waterfalls and other features, the Ourika Valley is a particularly well-liked day trip destination from Marrakech. Berber people live in the area and follow a traditional way of life

Even though it is close to Marrakech, it is still regarded as being largely “unspoiled”. Berbers dwell in the High-Atlas Mountains and work in agriculture and pastoralism in the lowlands. The natives in the steppe region of the High Atlas developed a clever strategy to deal with the little precipitation and the fragile soil.

They transform the mostly semi-arid terrain into lush valleys known as Agdal locally (garden in Berber). Many Western agriculturalists were attracted by this method because they were astounded by the system’s high level of productivity. Each year, a large number of experts, notably French scientists, go on trips to investigate the locals and their ecological system.