Client Stories

Would you like to know what we really get up to?   Brian Walton and Carolyn Farren write about their very different holidays to Morocco. Brian shares his experience staying in a village in  the Atlas Mountains whilst Carolyn shares her photography experience whilst travelling  with Gail and friends to Marrakech and the South!

A Hidden Valley in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco ©Brian Walton 2009

In April I spent a week in Morocco staying in a remote valley hidden in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. It was a remarkable experience as the Berber people of this region live such different lives from our own. Their houses are built mainly with  mud-brick walls and roofs strengthened with branches and small stones.. Rooms are extremely simple with just mats and a few cushions on the floors, and the occasional small table.

As yet there is no mains electricity in the valley, though pylons and cables have now been installed. Similarly there is no mains water supply. Modernity is creeping in, however, as some houses have photo-electric panels which power tiny black and white televisions with reception from a satellite dish on the roof. There are still no phone connections, either landline or mobile, although the house we stayed in did have a satellite phone connection to the ambulance located at the bottom of the valley. 

Apart from our arrival and departure, essentially no other vehicle came up the valley while we were there. There are no shops but people travel to the weekly souk (market) four miles away, either walking, or on mules. Much of the time there is no employment for men in the valley so mainly they are working in towns far away, returning only occasionally.

Women stay behind to look after the children and old folk, as well as tending animals and working in the fields.There is a small primary school on each side of the valley across a fast-flowing river, with two teachers and about a hundred children in each. Although they speak Berber they are taught in Arabic and can write beautifully in this script which seems so strange to us. After school they play on the mountain side, swim in the river or help by fetching water or attending to the sheep, goats, chickens, mules or donkeys. Health and Safety or Child Protection doesn’t seem to apply here.


Obviously they have a hard life, but I was most impressed with their wonderfully friendly nature. They seemed to be genuinely happy. Gail Ward’s photographic visits include payments to the local Association, equivalent to our District Council, which arranges support to the villagers and particularly to the schools. Local people are recruited as guides, cooks etc

As a geologist I also found the spectacular scenery and colourful rock formations of this area quite inspiring.