Marrakech Retreat – Day 6 – Hiking, Tagine & Feng Shui in Ourika Valley!
07 Friday Oct 2011
Written by Jayme Barrett in Feng Shui, Morocco, Personal Feng Shui, Retreats & Classes
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Hello my friends!
Our week in Marrakech continued to unfold in the most magical way! We’ve experienced so much including an historical tour of the old city, a day trip to the coastal town of Essaouira, a Moroccan cooking class, and on Day 5, our retreat participants had a marvelous day of shopping and spa’ing. Everyone is pinching themselves. They feel as if they are living a real Moroccan life here in Marrakech!
On Day 6, after yoga class and another scrumptious breakfast at Les Trois Palmeirs El Bacha Riad, we drove in a lovely, air-conditioned mini-bus up to the Atlas Mountains towards the beautiful Ourika Valley
The views and landscape were stunning, so different than in Marrakech. We stopped at another Argan Oil women’s cooperative to buy more face and body Argan creams, soaps, oils and masks. Each scent of Jasmine, Orange Flower, Verbena, Gardenia and Rose was more aromatic than the next. The argan nuts provide so much Omega 3 and Vitamin E. Argan oil is called “liquid gold” in Morocco.
In the Berber village of Ourika Valley, there are many restaurants along the river and they serve meals with water flowing beneath the patron’s feet.
Our group began our ascent up to the waterfalls stopping every so often at Berber stalls to admire their unique crafts and creative refrigeration techniques for soft drinks.
There were some challenging rock formations to navigate but everyone took their time and enjoyed the beautiful views. When we reached the top, some of us headed straight towards the waterfall to take pictures and others rested with refreshing drinks. It was a triumph!
Bob and Joan from California were the first to gallivant into the waterfalls! Here’s a video of Joan sharing about her experience on our Infuse Your Spirit retreat, hiking in Ourika and the delicious Moroccan food!
After we hiked back down, we enjoyed lunch at a Berber cafe surrounded by trees. We indulged in Chicken, Lamb and Vegetable Tagines with fresh bread. Tagines are the name of the dish as well as the pot that it’s cooked in. See the tagines cooking the traditional way below.
As usual, all the tagines topped with french fries were delicious. Our cafe overlooked the river and we had an incredible view of the village on the hill above us. We were even serenaded by Berber musicians!
After lunch, I taught an inner feng shui class. My retreat guests learned about sending pink light, pranic breathing and absorbing tree energy, which I discuss in my book “Feng Shui Your Life” in Chapter 2. It was a perfect place to have this class!
After the class, we all jumped back in our mini-bus, having bought chocolate and cookies for the road. The views coming back down through the Atlas mountains were glorious. We arrived back in Marrakech in the late afternoon with a glow on our faces. It’s rejuvenating to exchange the hustle and bustle of Marrakech for nature’s beauty so close-by.
In my next post, you’ll hear how our Marrakech retreat wrapped up on Day 7 and 8! Our group was very intimate and we experienced so many new things together. It was hard to say goodbye.
Sending positive energy your way,
P.S. To see the activities for each day of our Magical Marrakech Retreat, click below!
Day 1 & 2 – Yoga, Cultural Tour of Old Marrakech and Palaces
Day 3 – Day trip to the coastal town of Essaouira
Day 4 – Moroccan Cooking Class
Day 5 – Shopping and Spa’ing in the Souk
Day 6 – Hiking, Tagine & Feng Shui in a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains
Day 7 & 8 – Manifestation, Gratitude & Wrap-up!
