My first camping experience
In April 2021, I decided to go on a solo camping trip, thanks to a colleague at work who introduced me to the camping world and motivated me to do so, he used to go camping and talked to me about his experiences and seemed very interesting which consequently ignited my camping curiosity within me, and I said, I will do it sooner.
The first thing I did was buy the appropriate gear to allow me to go on this trip, so I bought a 65L backpack, a 2-person tent, a sleeping bag, a mattress, a headlamp, and camping utensils to cook…..etc. All my gear was second-hand because I was on a budget but it was in good condition for a good start camping experience.
After doing some research on my first destination and how to properly pack my gear, the big day came. I started from my city, Casablanca, and took a CTM bus to Beni Mellal, then a Taxi to Bin al Ouidane, where I camped one night. (I will talk about this one-night experience in another post.) The day after, I hitchhiked from Bin El Ouidane to a Village called Ouaouizeght.
When I arrived in Ouaouizaght, it was the weekly market. Once a week, people of Ouaouizaght head to this market to buy whatever they need, including clothes, vegetables, fruits, meat….. etc., and socialize. I did not miss the opportunity to go for a walk and explore the market. I am a fan of this kind of vivid weekly market.
After my tour in the market, I bought some fruits and nuts, then took the transportation (the famous Mercedes-Benz 207 ), directly to Imsfrane.
The driver pulled over, I got out of the car, took my backpack from the roof and here I was by the river ( Oued Ahansal ), next to Jbel La Cathédrale.
Jbel La Cathédrale
It was named by the French colonizer back then, during the protectorate era in Morocco, it was given the name La Cathédrale because when contemplating the mountain you will see that it looks like a cathedral. With 1868 m of Altitude, this mountain remains one of the best options for mountain lovers with a moderate-level hike, which makes it suitable for beginners.
I camped by the river for two nights, I climbed the mountain the second day with some guys I met, they are very nice guys from Beni Mellal and two local guys from Tilouguite who helped us to ascend the mountain since they are very knowledgeable of the area.
we had a nice lunch at the top of the mountain enjoying the view, and took this photo to chronicle that moment.
at night we were informed by local authorities to avoid camping by the river because a storm was coming, so we changed our campground, made a fire, and had beans for dinner, it rained, and I had a good sleep in my tent enjoying the pit-pat of the rain on the my tent.
To be continued….