Travels with Craig and Jeri: Moroccan Odyssey Day 14

Morocco Day 14: The Sahara

We hiked out this morning to dunes behind our camp for sunrise. Pretty spectacular colors.

After breakfast, we got turbaned (I can now do it myself!) and prepped for our camel experience.

We were all a bit concerned about biting and spitting camels, but we found out that this is an issue only in rutting season (not now), and with male camels (not females which we are riding). Some of us had other issues, camelophobia (Suzanne), and dehydration (Molly) and elected to stay behind.

Florence of Arabia

Our Fearless Leader

After an hour or so of legs dangling, some of us fared better

than others. Hip replacements and camel riding don't go well together.

With the camels in the rear view mirror, we stopped in a small town to hit a grocery store to purchase some food for a local nomadic family that we were going to next visit. We filled two boxes with supplies like cous cous, rice, sardines (a staple here), fruits and vegetables and even some chocolate milk for the kids.

We drove back into the desert to find our nomadic (actually, semi-nomadic) family.

The family that we met was headed by a widowed grandfather. They are Berbers or Amazigh, These families traditionally lived by herding goats, sheep, and camels, moving with the seasons across the Tafilalet region — between Merzouga, Taouz, Rissani, and Erfoud. This family we met has given up moving primarily due to the present 8year long drought that all of Morocco has been experiencing. They continue to herd goats and they rent their camels to hotels that offer camel treks to guests. They also are lucky to have partnered with OAT to allow travellers into their home to experience their lives. OAT compensated them which helps immensely.

They live in black tents (khayma) made from woven goat or camel hair — durable, weather-resistant, and easy to pack when moving.

Our host greeting u

The granddaughter introducing herself

We drank the ubiquitous mint tea with them, and were sreved freshly baked bread and olive oil. Altho`ugh education is compulsory for children through junior high, nomads do their own thing. The 11-yo grandson has no interest in school and just wants to be a sheperd whereas his 8 yo sister is in school and loves it. The youngest child is about 4 and his education is still up for grabs.

After the daughter-in-law demonstrated carding and spinning camel hair (used for making tents), I tried (and failed at) spinning, and Jeri and Caroline (one of our fellow travellers) tried (and failed at) carding.

Hennaed palms

Rug loom for weaving carpets

We left the nomads and the next stop was a nearby oasis. Just outside there was a communal well where some boys were filling about 30 gallon jugs with water

after filtering it through a cloth.

The oasis had channels for irrigation running through it, with a canopy of date palms.

The oasis was divided into plots, think communal gardens, with each plot owned by a different family. The plots are passed from one generation to the next.

The guembri is a traditional three-stringed lute widely used in Gnawa music, the spiritual and rhythmic music of Morocco’s Gnawa people — descendants of West Africans who were brought to North Africa centuries ago through the trans-Saharan trade.