When your jellaba freezes solid overnight and your goats steal your tagine — welcome to life in Morocco’s High Atlas.
If you think you know Morocco — the bustling souks of Marrakech, the blue streets of Chefchaouen, the golden dunes of Merzouga — I want you to pause for a moment. Because there’s a side of this country that rarely makes it onto travel brochures or Instagram explore pages. A side that’s raw, isolated, breathtakingly beautiful, and unbelievably tough.
And right now, one young man from a tiny village near Midelt is bringing it straight to your phone screen.
Who Is Rachid Ouabbass?
Rachid Ouabbass is a young farmer and shepherd living in a remote village perched in the mountains where the High and Middle Atlas meet, in the province of Midelt. He’s not your typical content creator. There are no ring lights, no fancy studios, no scripted moments. Just Rachid, his phone camera, his beloved goats Kharbouch and Kharboucha (and the newest addition, little Khribich), and the vast, snow-covered landscape that is both his home and his daily challenge.
What started as a simple way to share his everyday life has turned into something much bigger. Rachid now has over 1.4 million followers on Instagram and more than 1 million on TikTok, and his videos consistently rack up millions of views. But here’s what makes him different from virtually every other creator out there: he isn’t performing. He’s just living.
A Day in Rachid’s World
Imagine waking up to temperatures so brutal that your traditional wool jellaba — the one you left hanging on a nail — has frozen completely stiff overnight. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s literally one of Rachid’s most viral videos, and it tells you everything you need to know about winter in the High Atlas without a single word.
In his videos, you’ll see Rachid using snow instead of water to prepare his meals because, well, that’s what’s available. You’ll watch him bake bread in an earthen oven, collect eggs from his chicken coop while trudging through knee-deep snow, and haul firewood to keep his small house warm. You’ll see him wake up in the middle of the freezing night to feed baby Khribich by the fire because the little one can’t nurse from his mother in the bitter cold.
And then, of course, there are the goats.
Kharbouch and Kharboucha: Morocco’s Most Famous Goats
If Rachid is the heart of this story, Kharbouch and Kharboucha are undeniably the comic relief — and the soul. These two goats, who Rachid dresses in little jackets and hats during winter (yes, really), have become absolute internet sensations.
The running joke among Rachid’s followers? Kharboucha’s complete lack of respect for personal space and meal boundaries. Picture this: Rachid carefully prepares a tagine after a long, cold day. He sits down to eat. And there’s Kharboucha, pushing her way in, determined to finish the dish before he does. It happens again and again, in the same setting, with the same characters, and yet every single time it generates millions of views and waves of comments from people who can’t get enough of it.
But beneath the humor lies something deeper. Rachid doesn’t see his animals as just livestock. In his isolation, they’re his companions — creatures who share his daily struggle against the elements. As someone who’s lived in Morocco for over a decade, I can tell you that this bond between a shepherd and his animals is one of the most genuine things you’ll ever witness in rural Morocco.
Why Rachid’s Content Matters
Here’s what I find truly powerful about Rachid’s videos: he doesn’t romanticize his life, and he doesn’t dramatize it either. He simply shows it as it is.
Rachid himself has said that sharing his daily life isn’t about chasing fame. It’s about giving people a real picture of what life in the Moroccan countryside looks like — winter and summer — with all its hardships and all its simplicity. And that honesty is exactly why his content has resonated so deeply.
Behind the stunning images of snow-capped Atlas peaks that tourists admire from a distance, there are communities living in extreme isolation. Villages where the nearest neighbor might be farther than the nearest cloud. Where infrastructure is limited, heating is a luxury, and a harsh winter can mean genuine danger.
Rachid’s videos have actually helped amplify calls from Moroccan civil society organizations and human rights groups urging the government to provide temporary electricity bill relief for mountain communities and to equip homes and schools with adequate heating. His content has shone a light on a reality that many Moroccans in the cities — let alone international visitors — rarely think about.
The Khalid Al Olayan Connection
Rachid’s story took an even more unexpected turn recently when Saudi influencer Khalid Al Olayan, who was in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN 2025), decided to venture beyond the typical tourist trail. After visiting Ifrane’s snowy landscapes, Khalid pushed further into the Atlas and made the journey to Rachid’s village — four hours by car and another hour on foot through the snow.
What happened next was pure magic. Two content creators from completely different worlds — one a Saudi mega-influencer with over 13 million TikTok followers, the other a mountain shepherd with his goats — became instant friends. The language barrier alone (Khalid speaking Saudi dialect, Rachid mixing Darija with Amazigh expressions) produced hilarious misunderstandings that became memes in their own right.
Khalid ended up staying for over a week. He was so charmed by the experience that he invited his entire family — parents, brother, nephews — to cancel their five-star hotel plans abroad and come stay with Rachid instead. The two even attended the Morocco vs. Nigeria semi-final together in Rabat, marking Rachid’s very first time watching a football match in a stadium.
It was a beautiful example of how genuine human connection transcends backgrounds, and honestly, it gave me all the feels.
What Rachid Teaches Us About Morocco
Living in Morocco since 2013, I’ve learned that this country has layers upon layers that keep revealing themselves the longer you stay. Rachid’s story is a reminder of something I think about often: the Morocco we see as expats and visitors is just one slice of an incredibly diverse, complex country.
The mountain communities of the Atlas have their own rhythms, their own traditions, their own challenges. And they deserve to be seen — not as curiosities or poverty stories, but as people living with dignity, resilience, and a connection to the land that most of us have lost.
Rachid isn’t asking for pity. He’s opening a window. And through that window, we see something real and human — moments of struggle, yes, but also warmth, humor, companionship, and an unshakeable bond with the natural world.
Where to Follow Rachid
If you want to follow Rachid’s journey (and trust me, once you watch one video, you’ll be hooked):
Instagram: @ouabbassrachid
TikTok: @ouabbassrachid
Prepare yourself for frozen jellebas, mischievous goats, stunning mountain panoramas, and a whole lot of heart.
Have you come across Rachid’s videos on your feed? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. And if you know of other Moroccan content creators who are sharing authentic stories from parts of the country we don’t usually see, please share — I’m always looking for new perspectives on this endlessly fascinating country.
