Magic in the mountains.

The first thing I did in Chefchaouen was to get out. I’d walked around a bit on the day I arrived, but the first full day I had, my friend took me to the nearby waterfalls. Well, that was the plan anyway… It was Friday and we thought it would be better to go before the busy weekend. But of course that also meant that there would be less people to share a taxi with.

When we arrived at the shared taxi spot, we were the first ones. Soon a couple came, so we needed only two more people. A family of three showed up, but that was too much. So the seven of us were all waiting. After an hour and a half or so, the couple decided to go elsewhere and try again later. So together with the family we agreed we’d all pay a bit more and at least we’d get there.

The drive to Akchour was gorgeous. We drove through the mountains, passed a few houses and then arrived at a big parking lot. There were some holiday houses and restaurants. From here you can walk to God’s bridge or to the waterfall. Not knowing if there would be any water left in the falls, we still decided to walk there, since this was the longer hike. It takes about two hours to get there.

My friend had done this hike many times and seemed to fly over the tracks. The path went sneakily uphill. On the way there I was surprised with how much effort it took me, especially with my friend always sprinting ahead of me. It didn’t seem that steep at all. But this was one of those deceiving paths, much steeper than it seems. On the way back I seemed to fly as well, thinking ‘surely we didn’t go up all this’.

Along the way we saw many little cafés where you could take a rest. Most were closed, with not a sign of life, but occasionally we saw some visitors sipping a mint tea or waiting for a tagine. We kept walking though, hopping back and forth over big concrete blocks in the river. We walked up and down along the water. Then we heard something. “Uhhhmmm what was that?” I say hesitantly. Some monkeys were jumping through the trees. I ran over the path to leave them behind me.

We went through a field and back into the forest and soon after we suddenly hit the waterfall. There was even some water left! It was the tiniest waterfall, but it left most of the rock and the moss exposed. It looked like it came straight out of a fairytale. I could easily image little creatures making this their paradise home, jumping into the water… you get it. It was a spectacular sight! It was a bit too chilly for me to go for a swim, so instead we finally had our mint tea here! We sat in the best spot, looking at the ducks that were playing in the waterfall. What a perfect moment. Now, all that was left was the same way back…