Moroccan Odyssey Day 15

Morocco Day 15: Leaving the Sahara  to Ouazazate

In the middle of the night, we all heard what we thought was rain.  We awoke to anther beautiful desert sunrise but realized that the rain was actually-

Sahara Sunrise

Sahara Sunrise

25mph winds (for Toby-what would a Cohen trip be without wind?).

Jeri getting  blown away in the 25 mph winds

Another day in the desert would have  had our skin nice and smooth from the natural dermabrasion, but we had more of Morocco to visit.  We piled back into our 4x4's for the exciting, bumpy trip back out into civilization.  

Dates are a staple here in Morocco.  I met a Moroccan man at breakfast one morning who waxed poetic about the health benefits of dates and encouraged me to eat dates at every meal as he does. Might require more bathroom time than I would like, but the dates here are delicious. We stopped at a date producer to check out (and buy) the dates.

As we got closer to Erfoud, we saw loads of school kids on their way to class.  Given their cycling habits, no helmets, narrow roads, and lots of traffic in the morning, it's a wonder that any of them make it to school alive!

We met up with our bus and our driver, Abdullah, back at the fossil workshop in Erfoud where we had left him (I hope he didn't sleep there for two days), and continued on toward Ourzazate.

Along the road we stopped to view the Khetteras, ancient underground irrigation systems that made farming possible in the oases of the Sahara.  The khettara system was likely introduced to Morocco around the 11th–12th centuries, from Persian qanats that spread across the Islamic world. In Morocco, it was perfected by Amazigh (Berber) engineers adapting it to desert geography. These systems allowed permanent settlement and date cultivation in what would otherwise be uninhabitable desert zones.

What is visible from the road is a line of circular holes stretching across the desert — these are the vent shafts of a khettara. Each hole is about 6 feet in diameter, forming a long line ending at  the oasis.

The system consists of  a  source well dug into the water table near the base of a mountain; an underground tunnel sloping slightly downward toward the oasis; vertical shafts 30-60 feet deep for ventilation and for maintenance; and an outlet at the oasis for irrigation.

Each khettara is a collective project, built and maintained by local families or tribal groups, who share both the work and the water according to traditional rules.

Since the 2023 earthquake, OAT has not permitted groups to go into the underground system due to instability of the tunnels so we had to just see them from above.


We visited Ferkla El Oulia a small oasis village not far from Erfoud.  It is a ksar, a fortified village or castle that is found throughout southern Morocco  especially along old caravan routes in the Sahara and Atlas Mountains.

The ksar an essential part of Berber and pre-Saharan architecture, blending defense and community living.

Ksar

The nursery school was particularly poingnat.  One teacher (no aide) to about 30  three and four year-olds.

Nursery school in the ksar

A far cry from what are grandchildren are experiencing!

We also visited a Berber museum which had photos and artifacts relating to the Berbers in this region.

Before our final push to Ourzazate, we stopped for lunch at a local eatery.  Their specialty was goat tagine, and we decided if we were ever going to try it, now would be a good time.

Jeri and I both agreed that we probably wouldn't go out of our way to have it, but it was certainly edible.

The hours on the bus were broken up by some beautiful views, 

but we were very happy to finally reach our hotel in Ouarzazate as the sun was setting.  Another long day on a bus (and another nail in the coffin of future bus trips).

 

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.

Guembri- 3-stringed lute like instrument

We were treated to a lecture about Gnawa music and also learned to play a variety of rythms on traditional drums

Our Guembri player

Drummer Jeri

When we returned to camp, Jeri, Suzanne, Rich and I convinced Mo to take us on a hike to watch the sunset.  The rest of the group chose to relax.

We did some butt sliding to get down a couple of steeper dunes,

We experienced yet another beautiful African sunset.

After dinner, the camp crew entertained us and Dave couldn't resist joining in.  He actually wasn't half bad!

Tomorrow we leave the desert for Ouarzazate.