Three nights, two days in which to find it. I was sure it existed, but what if it didn’t? Just forty-eight hours to identify the painting places – or, in this case, to make sure there were plenty. But most importantly, I had to find the perfect place to stay.
Hamid (our driver and trusted companion/fount of all knowledge in Morocco) and I had been talking about an exploratory visit to the Tafraoute area for a long time, but the years went by and one or both of us were always too busy to make the trip. This October, though, we found ourselves driving the five hours from Marrakech after this year’s Discover Morocco trip ended.
I knew there was potential in this area; it wasn’t my first visit, just my first for several years. I was, and still am, considering a Sketchbook Journey route from Agadir, in addition to the ever-popular itineraries from Marrakech and Fez. More pressing, though, was to find a new location for the artists’ retreat formally known as Far Horizons, after it became clear its previous ‘home’ was just too far away, the journey to reach it just too long, for this kind of holiday. In addition, holding the retreat in a different area might be of interest to those who have previously visited the other parts of Morocco. The mountains and gorges around Tafraoute are simply stunning for landscape painters and, being further south, they enjoy a good deal of warm winter sunshine.
Aside from subject matter, where we sleep, eat, hang out and paint for a whole week is hugely important. While there are all the obvious boxes to tick – cleanliness, friendliness, attractiveness, good food, tranquillity, warmth – there’s something else I seek when choosing a place to stay. It’s the same as when house-hunting. Yes, you need a certain number of bedrooms, a sound structure, a good location – but what usually sells a house is the way it feels.
I checked out five or six hotels and guest houses, even a kasbah, in the vicinity during this visit and at least half of them would have been okay, if not very exciting. One, in particular, was the place – job done, all sorted – until I found it. Factor X.
‘You know he’s the right one if he makes your tummy flip,’ a friend once advised.
So it is with houses; so it is with home-from-homes. As we walked down the stony path, ducking under low-hanging branches, scattering chickens and leaving the traffic behind us; as we pushed through the battered door into a small courtyard filled with gaily painted plant pots, I knew. Because I could feel it in my gut.
‘Please, please let the rooms be okay,’ I said to myself as waited for someone to come and show us.
They were more than okay. I wanted to move in there and then and stay for ever. On the roof terrace a ginger cat yawned and stretched in the morning sun. I imagined a small group around one of the tables, looking out across the valley, drinking mint tea. Discussing the day’s painting.
The guest house has a rural, timeless feel, yet we don’t have to suffer for our art. This place is comfortable, cosy and quiet, the most perfect of spaces for complete immersion and relaxed concentration during a week-long stay. What’s more, it’s the real Morocco.
Far Horizons has been renamed Argans and Almonds for the trees that grow in and define the region, and I hope to bring the first group to this magical place in October 2026.
