Moroccan excursion

One place we wanted to make sure to visit during this sabbatical was Morocco.  We managed to arrange for travel and tour on relatively short notice, and spent a week visiting souks, kasbahs, and the Saraha desert, and eating wonderful food.

We started in Marrakech in southern Morocco, spending the night in a beautiful renovated riad down a long, narrow alley in the old medina.  But early the next morning we drove east, passing through the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2260m)  across the High Atlas mountains to Ouarzazate, stopping at the Aït Benhaddou kasbah on the way.  They have had an unusually dry year, so rivers that should be running wildly were dry or trickles.


Still, the dry, rocky landscape was interspersed with  have lush agricultural production, with crops planted in sunken sections that could be flooded for irrigation.  Brassicas, wheat, vegetables, alfalfa, olives, citrus, and everywhere date palms.



Fresh produce was impressively available in the souks, with abundant legumes, grains, spices, and vegetables.

Goats were equally abundant, still herded by rapidly vanishing populations of nomads.  We spent the night in a lovely French riad in the oasis of Skoura, but saw little of the oasis because we arrived and left in the dark.


On 31 December, we drove south-east from Skoura for a long day through the Dades Valley, through Berber Villages, and the impressive Todra Gorge, stopping for stuffed Berber pizza in Rissani (medfouna tafilalt) and to buy indigo-dyed desert scarves, until arriving at Merzouga just before sunset.  There we  hustled to get our warm clothes, scarves, cameras, and us to where camels waited to take us out to a Tuareg Berber camp in the Erg Chebbi, the vast sea of shifting sand dunes.

The colors and shadows are impossible to describe.  The abundance of animal tracks in the sand contrasted with what seemed so empty.
We were surprised to find some cucurbits that had grown in basins that collect water from the rains, and occasional clumps of grasses.  But overall it was quiet; even the camels made little noise as they walked through the sand.  

Riding the camels was easier than expected - more motion than a horse, but smoother.  We only rode a little over an hour, and a very long day of riding might have been tough, but we arrived happy and with no complaints.    There we spent a lovely New Year's Eve in nomadic tents, the Mali-derived drum circle around a small campfire. 

We rode out of the dunes during the sunrise the next day, then began a very long drive north to the cultural capital of Fes.   Here we wandered, sometimes with guide, sometimes without, through the 9000 narrow alley ways that make up the city.

We browsed the shops and artisan stands, with their arrays of meats, spices, copper, ceramics, weavings, and leather, and dodged the donkeys, mules, carts, and motorcycles that speed down passages just wide enough to walk.


Many of the artisans produced goods for every day use, although some produced primarily for tourists.  The quality of the handcrafts was spectacular.  Elias and I watched the silk (from Agave) and wool weaving on the loom for a long time. 
We spent two nights in Fes, and could easily have spent more time wandering about. But this was also a place where a guide was needed.


We also saw lots of storks on minarets and roofs, and had that difficult talk with Elias about how babies are really delivered by storks.
The foods in the shops were not for tourists.  Interestingly, this camel shop sold only meat of the camels;  a separate shop sold the entrails.  We asked about the brains on display in one shop, and where it was served, but were told "We only eat brain for breakfast."

 Our last day we drove back south with a stop in Casablanca for a visit to the Hassan II Mosque, the 3rd largest in the world, and one of only two in Morocco that permits non-Muslims to visit.  A spectacular work of engineering, capable of holding 20,000 worshipers inside and another 80,000 outside.  The giant titanium doors (from Russia) made me think of what the environmental impact of the construction must have been.  But the space felt very special and sacred, and more so because it was built specifically to be open to visitors to help increase understanding of Islam among visitors. 



We shared a great meal of fried fish, squid, and shrimp with our guide and driver, and then headed back for our last evening in Marrakech.  We were so full from the fish lunch that we just wandered the Jemaa el Fna square (with the sister mosque to Sevilla's Giralda!), enjoyed the street performers and eating interesting foods from the stands.  The snails - served in a bowl with broth and toothpicks to each them - were amazingly delicious. Elias loved a sausage sandwich, and the fruit juices and pastries were great.



It was hard to say goodbye to our driver Hassan and our extremely talented guide Aziz from Moroccan Sun Tours (TripAdvisor  or directly at http://moroccosuntours.com/).  I can't recommend Aziz highly enough - for trekking or visiting cities and for a special talent in making Moroccan culture accessible to outsiders.  I hope we can return some day for more serious trekking with Aziz!