I did a 5 night 6 day trek through the High Atlas with Omar, our guide and Mustafa, our chef. We stayed overnight at Berber villages every night, of which the 4th night we stayed with Rachid in his family home. Overall, it was a beautiful experience, which everything that I want in multi-day trek - nature, culture, food, and connection.
Nature: some of the most pristine and extraordinary terrain. Lots of variety in landscape. We were blessed with good weather for most of the time, and there were no other tourists in the paths we walked on, which for me was extra special.
Culture: we went during the first week of Ramadan, which was a really special experience. It was really humbling to trek with Mustafa and Omar, who were doing the same treks as us, but with no food and water. On the day Rachid invited us to his home, he also invited us to break fast with them for dinner, where he shared his family's dinner with us. It felt extremely precious because they welcomed us like family, and shared their beautiful traditions with us.
Food: Mustafa was an amazing chef. He cooked us a variety of Moroccan food every night. I was at first worried that I would get sick of the food but the total opposite! I was really happy with how much fresh produce, vegetables, and healthy food was available all the time. And the portions were super generous, but we didn't need to worry about food waste as our favourite mule finished our leftovers :). We even had a favourite egg dish that Mustafa made for us on the 3rd, day, and he took the effort to make it for our on our last day upon our request!!
Connection: Even though we didn't speak Berber or Arabic, there were so many beautiful moments with Omar, Mustafa, Rachid, and their family and community. We shared multiple meals together, watched football together, laughed together, goofed around together. It was so special to feel connected.
And finally, the most amazing hospitality in general. But particularly, how Rachid went out of his way to help me when I left my earrings at a village. While he was already on another hike, he contacted the guesthouse owner to see if they could find my earrings. After they found it, he arranged for a taxi driver to bring it all the way to Marrakech where I was and deliver it back to me! It was so generous and kind of him to do that.
Overall, can't recommend it enough. There was nothing bad that I could think of, but most of all the people running this are great :) :).