Tafraoute – Activities

The Ameln Villages are built on the lower slopes of the Djebel el Kest, between the “spring line” and the valley floor, allowing gravity to take the water through the village and on to the arable land below. Tracks link the vil­lages, following the contour lines – and frequently the irrigation canals – and most are accessible from the road only by crossing an intricate network of these irrigation canals, orchards and allotments. Many of the villages have basic shops where you can buy drinks, but little else.

Oumesnat to Anameur – and a loop back to Tafraoute

OUMESNAT, like most Ameln settlements, emerges out of a startling green and purple rockscape, crouched against the steep rock walls of the valley – on which locals point out the face of a lion. From a distance, its houses, perched on the rocks, seem to have a solidity to them – sensible blocks of stone, often three stories high, with parallel sets of windows. Close up, they reveal themselves as bizarre constructions, often built on top of older houses deserted when they had become too small or decrepit; a few of them, with roofs jut­ting out over the cliffs, are held up by enormous stilts and have raised door­ ways entered by short (and retractable) ladders.

Ameln Village

One of the houses, known as La Maison Traditionelle, is owned by a blind Berber and his family, who will show visitors around (tip expected). They give an interesting tour, explaining the domestic equipment – grindstones, water­ holders, cooking equipment – and the layout of the house with its guest room with separate entrance, animals’ quarters, and summer terrace for sleeping out. To get the most from a visit, you may need to engage an interpreter; guides from Tafraoute can interpret for you if you engage them. The owners of the Maison Traditionelle also run a small guesthouse, whose price includes breakfast.

From Oumesnat, you can walk through or above a series of villages to ANAMEUR, where there is a source bleue, or natural springwater pool, a meandering hike of around three hours. Along the way is Tazoulte, one of four local villages with Jewish cemeteries, remnants of a community now com­pletely departed, though Jewish symbols are still inscribed on the region’s sil­verware, which was traditionally made by Jews.

The Ameln’s highest village, TAGOUDICHE (Tagdichte on the road sign), where the trail up the Djebel el Kest (or Lekst) begins, is accessible by Land Rover along a rough piste. The Djebel el Kest is a rough and rocky scramble – there’s no actual climbing involved – over a mountain of amethyst quartzite. There is a black igneous dyke below the summit pyramid, and the summit, being a pilgrim­ age site, has shelters on the top, as well as hooped petticoat daffodils bloom­ing in spring. The easiest route is not obvious and a guide may be advisable.

Returning to Tafraoute from the Ameln Valley, you can walk over a pass back from the road near Ighalene in around three hours. The path isn’t particularly easy to find but it’s a lovely walk, taking you past flocks of sheep and goats tended by their child-shepherds. The route begins as a piste (east of the one to Tagoudiche), then you follow a dry riverbed off to the right, up a side-valley, where the zigzags of an old track can be seen. Cross to go up here – not straight on – and, once over the pass, keep circling left till you can see Tafraoute below.

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