Travel in Tacheddirt
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Tacheddirt (also Tachdirt) is a small village high up (2314m) in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It is the highest settlement in the Rhirhaia valley, about 2.5 miles further up than Ikkiss.
The village is populated by about 200 or 300 people. It has no road or track, but rather a winding footpath.
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Get in
From Ikkiss (see Ikkiss page for how to get there), it is necessary to walk to Tacheddirt, as there is no road or track more than the winding footpath. The footpath is in some places slippery and dangerous for the mules and donkeys that are used.
From Ikkiss it is quite difficult to find the path to Tacheddirt. The path is the one which winds up behind a small concrete water duct (by the school) on the right of the path as you walk down the slope towards the town.
The route is only about 1.5 miles as the crow flies, but is probably 2 or 3 on foot.
Get around
The only way is by foot, no roads exist. The village isn't very big anyway.
See
The village is clustered on the steep slopes of the mountain. The houses are all mud brick except for the French Refuge that was built here in the 90s(?). There are only about 100 homes in the village, most are in a clump on the East side of the village by the stream, a line of others extends outwards to the west along the top of a steep slope of scree. There is a small reservoir in at the top of this slope to the North West of the village. Speaking to a volunteer who was working in the village, he told us that they were able to produce electricity from this water source for an hour each day. We never saw any sign of this in the houses around. The only electric light we saw was that of the French Refuge, which had a solar panel.
Do
The main reason for being here, for a traveller, is to hike in the surrounding mountains. In all directions rise mighty snow capped ridges. Many people just stay in the village one night, before moving on. However it is often easier to set up a base camp in the village and do day hikes. On the other hand the mountains are so huge, it is hard to get anywhere.
Two day hikes that are available are:
- Hike Eastward, up the valley further to Tizi n' Tacheddirt (3230m). This way you'll see locals from the village collecting small bushes for firewood. At the top of the pass you can look over into the next valley, and either continue onwards to the next village, or (if you have time) climb the mountain to the left (called ?), before returning to Tacheddirt.
- Hike northwards to the Tizi n'ou Addi pass. From here there is a (horribly ugly) road for the ski centre in Oukaimedene. From the pass it is an exciting unpathed scramble up the ridge to Obel Oukaimedene's peak (3262m ish).
Note: All of this will be covered in snow in winter!!! Weather, in the summer or winter can change very rapidly. A thunder and hail storm can move in on a sunny cloudless day in minutes.
Buy
The French Refuge provides:
- Food (the carer makes a really yummy Tagine, just ignore all the ants crawling all over his kitchen!!!)
- Bottled Water (Pretty vital up here, unless you've brought a load with you, or have water purification tablets). Note: the water here is far more expensive than you might be expecting. The water has to get all the way from Marrakech to this village across dodgy tracks and up paths on a donkey's back.
Eat
Either bring your own food or buy some at the French Refuge. He makes yummy tagine and can get you bread from the bakery in tacheddirt.
Drink
There was a little shop on the way over the pass from Imlil which sold cocacola...
Sleep
Either in a tent (on a very hard surface remember your mat) by the Refuge, or in the refuge.
Cope
This village has no roads, no electricity and no running water. Even though there is a French Refuge, you should be prepared to survive on your own, should they run out of bottled water, etc. Some water purification tablets, matches, something to boil water in, etc are all probably a good idea. Also a day or twos worth of emergency food incase you can't get any here.
Get out
Walk back to Ikkiss or walk over the passes to other villages.