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Last Summer, The Wanderlust Women founder and outdoor adventurer, Amira took a group of Muslim women to Morocco to climb Mount Toubkal. What started as a challenging climb up a mountain became so much more for each of the women involved as they shared their experiences and a Sisterhood was formed.
The Wanderlust Women – How did it come about, what did it set out to achieve and what has it achieved so far?
I created The Wanderlust Women in lockdown. It wasn’t something I planned and I had no idea of its potential. It was an idea I had a few years ago when I was going through a difficult time and wanted to go out and explore the outdoors with other likeminded women, but I only had my mum to go out with.
Around the time of lockdown I started to share my daily walks and hikes on Instagram and was really surprised at the interest it created. I spoke about things like wearing a niqab and it was clear from the comments that there were many other Muslim women out there who were keen to find a space they could belong and enjoy the outdoors.
My intention was just to get women into outdoors but it became clear that it was becoming more of a community. I was so inspired that I quit my day job and studied to become an expedition and mountain leader so that I could run this full time.
Now 2 years on, we are running expeditions and courses and helping women feel confident and comfortable in outdoor spaces. We’ve achieved more than I could ever have dreamt of and it’s been an emotional and heart-warming journey along the way.
Why Morocco, what drew you there?
Mount Toubkal was always on my bucket list of mountains to climb and I wanted to share that with our community and make it possible for them to experience it too.
Also Morocco is a Muslim country and the people are so hospitable. They live so simply in the mountains and they can’t do enough for you. The group really benefitted from being away from everything and able to connect with their faith.
Mount Toubkal – what were the challenges with this mountain? How did the group help each other to make it to the top and back?
There were many challenges that came with the whole trip – it was a beautiful journey of highs and lows.
Some of these women had never been away before, or booked a holiday themselves, or met new people, or slept in the same room as other women previously unknown to them. But everyone helped each other and it was so wonderful to see. A true Sisterhood.
When it came to the climb, only 2 of the 20 women who started, didn’t make it to the top. I was determined to get to the top, despite really suffering from altitude sickness, and only being out of hospital 3 weeks before setting off to Toubkal. I didn’t think I would make it, but I did.
Mentally, everyone was so strong and helped each other reach the summit. On that trip each woman came with a story or trauma and left it behind on that mountain.
The orphanage – what did you see, how did you help them and what lasting legacy have you left?
I remember arriving and seeing all the children playing and I had to try not to cry. I’ve always wanted children and all I wanted to do was play with them. They had nothing and yet they were all smiling.
We had gifts for them and we also wanted to help teach them English, so we spent time talking to them. But for me this wasn’t enough. I couldn’t just leave this trip and not return to the orphanage. So a week later I went back and shared the most beautiful Eid I’d ever had with the local community and visited the children again.
Now The Wanderlust Women has set up a small project to help give these children a better start in life. And every time we have a trip to Morocco, we visit the orphanage and bring them supplies. Every woman on the trips have benefited from visiting the children. We thought we were giving them something, but really it was them giving us something back.
What did you notice about the women living in the local communities – how they lived their lives?
The way of life for women in the mountains is that they stay at home and look after the children. They have to technically hike everywhere because of the terrain but you would see these women in slippers and not wearing many layers of clothing which amazed us.
When they saw us, a bunch of Muslim women hiking in the mountains, for fun, they went wild and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It has inspired them to go hiking too. One of our main guides, his wife now wants to start hiking with us when we are next there and she is spreading the word to her friends. We are getting them clothing and footwear from Craghoppers to help them be more prepared.
What’s next for The Wanderlust Women?
We have so much happening in 2023. We have Iceland at the end of February and then the International Women’s Festival in early March. We have Machu Pichu, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan all planned over the year and there is a lot of interest already.
Amina joined The Wanderlust Women from its outset and soon became a key volunteer and right hand woman with Amira.
How did you find the trip? Was it your first time on such a mountain? How has it affected you and what is your next big adventure?
This was my first expedition. I’d never really hiked much before I joined The Wanderlust Women so to go from local hikes to climbing Mount Toubkal was a huge achievement for me. Morocco felt like home to me and I returned with a new love and respect for the mountains. There have been many emotional moments along the way, I came to The Wanderlust Women at a difficult time in my life. Being with Amira and the rest of the women and getting involved with the events and hikes we have organised has definitely made me realise what I want to do with my life and what my goals and passions are.
What does being part of The Wanderlust Women mean to you?
To me, The Wanderlust Women is a Sisterhood. We have all found strength in each other, having gone through similar experiences. When I joined The Wanderlust Women 2 years ago, I never thought that one hike could change everything – but it did.
