The High Atlas Mountains, North Africa’s largest and most majestic mountain range, standing at heights of up to 4,167 meters (13,671 feet), stretch in a crisscross fashion eastward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Moroccan-Algerian border. The High Atlas range is home to Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa and the Arab World. These mountains are spectacular in all seasons. The contour of bone white snow-capped peaks backed by Morocco’s vibrant blue sky is captivating (typically observed October through May). New vistas rise around every turn, one more magnificent than the one before. Just when you’ve convinced yourself that you’ve finally laid eyes on the most breathtaking panorama in all your life, five minutes later you find another spread out before you, just as stunning, yet entirely distinct from the one a few minutes prior.

The Atlas Mountains and its valleys are inhabited by the Berbers, Morocco’s indigenous people group. The majority of these people are sustained by agriculture and pastoralism in the lush green valleys. Although their methods are not much more advanced than they were hundreds of years ago, the Berbers are highly skilled farmers. They are able to turn semi-arid land into fertile valleys, or gardens, as they call them in the Berber language.

As you travel through these areas don’t be surprised to see men plowing the fields with traditional plows pulled by mules. Flocks of goats and sheep roam the hillsides under the watchful eyes of Berber shepherds. In the mornings you’ll find women in the quiet gardens harvesting the various grasses and grains for their animals. By the afternoon, they’ll pass by on the road carrying massive mounds of plants on their backs, some of the mounds are so large it appears that piles of grass are approaching. It’s not until they pass by that you realize there is a person under the grass. Berber women work hard, cultivating the fields, feeding the animals, hauling sticks for baking bread in their clay ovens. I’m convinced that just two days without women, the country of Morocco would come to a standstill.