Hiking in the forests around Azrou

At 8am, a guide (350 dirhams per day) came for us as we're going hiking in the forests around Azrou today. There are hikes that start right inside the city and there are hikes that start a bit further away - but they require a car as a taxi is too expensive to get there and back. Good hiking spots outside the city are Ain Leuh and Sources de l'Oum-er-Rbia with a beautiful waterfall that you can swim in. Our trip started directly from the hotel and up into the mountains around the city. We walked 20 km in about 5 hours. Azrou is located in an area that is very lush. For a long time we have been used to seeing only barren mountains and desert. Suddenly it's incredibly green. Azrou looks like an area in Switzerland close to the Alps. We walked through oak and cedar forests. We climbed up the hillsides to get a great view of the area. Wolves live in the forests. In several places they had dug in the soil. People who live in the mountains have dogs to guard the animals at night so the wolves don't get too close. We saw Barbary apes that were very eager to get some bread. We met many sheep and goat herders out with their flocks to graze - yes there is plenty for the animals to eat in this area. At this time of year, everything is starting to bud. The snow up in the mountains is melting and running down hillsides like rivers or just all over the place :o) We had bought bread and cheese down in Azrou, which we ate up in the forests. Down in the town there is the best little bakery that makes freshly baked bread, the most delicious pastries and cookies. A loaf of bread costs only 1.20 dirham. If we approached areas where people have easier access by car, there was unfortunately a lot of garbage, which the guide apologized for. He was angry that people didn't know better. We highly recommend our guide, who speaks both English and French. His name is Mohamed Ben Kasmi, kassemazrou@hotmail.com. His company is called "Yallah Marcher". We often heard people shouting "Yallah". But what does it actually mean... It means "let's go".