The Todra Gorge

Most tourist itineraries include a stop at the Todra Gorge, and with good reason. At its deepest and narrowest point, only 15km from Tinerhir, this trench through the High Atlas presents an arresting spectacle, its gigantic rock walls changing colour to magical effect as the day unfolds. In high season, the combination of its easy accessibility (a surfaced road now runs all the way through it), and the confined space makes it a prime hunting ground for southern Morocco’s most persistent faux guides and touts, so choose wisely when hiring; recent positive feedback in guestbooks is in most cases the only available form of proof of a good-intentioned guide. The area has been increasingly recognized as a rock-climbing hot spot and now attracts a new clientele of independent climbers. Taxis up to the Todra Gorge are cheap and drop passengers off at a grouping of budget hotels just before the narrowing of the gorge. Flash flooding has damaged what was a newly surfaced road up the Todra to the village of Tamtatouche, 32km from Tinerhir (or 17km from the main part of the gorge). The road is still easily passable by car (though hotel owners in the gorge may tell you otherwise in order to extend your stay) and there is pressure on the government to repair the damage as soon as possible. A further 15km from Tamtatouche the village of Aït Hani is accessible by paved road. Minibuses run regularly throughout the day to these villages from the eastern end of the municipal gardens in Tinerhir, although arranging a ride in one of them just as far as the gorge (10dh) can be difficult. Returning to Tinerhir, you stand a better chance of a taxi if you walk back to the Zaouia Sidi Abdelâli, 3km south of the gorge, or hitch a lift with day visitors or other tourists.
 

Beyond Aït Hani, pistes continue over the Atlas via the village of Imilchil (famed for its annual wedding market), while another loops over to the Dadès Valley. You can arrange transport along the Imilchil route, either by chartering it at Tinerhir, or by paying for a place on a series of Berber lorries, which shuttle across for village souks. If you plan to drive the route, you will need a suitable (preferably 4x4) vehicle.

The climbing video by PeakPerformance about climbing in Morocco featuring Moroccan, 

Petzl sponsored climber 'Said Belhaj'.

Climbing and walking
 
Having only recently been recognized for its climbing potential, the Hotels and excursion agencies of the Todra Gorge have yet to cash in on equipment rental and professional climbing excursions, which makes the area ideal for the experienced independent climber and underequipped for the novice. There are now
more than 150 bolted routes, French Grade 5+ to 8, of between 25m and 300m, with new ones being added each year. The Hôtel el Mansour keeps an excellent French topo-guide for reference. Also worth consulting are hotel log books, which will alert you to any problems on the rock: over the past few years, kids have tampered with several access bolts, and even fixtures for top ropes. Whichever routes you follow, be warned that you’ll need all your own gear as rental opportunities are extremely limited and unreliable.Hassan Mouhajir
(t010 13 42 94), who is best contacted through any of the budget hotels at the mouth of the gorge, has been working on the most comprehensive topo guide to the bolted routes in the area and can be hired as a climbing guide for 500dh (per person per day).

Most of the guides hanging around the gorge try to lead visitors on walks, but for the following route, which takes around one and a half to two hours to complete, you won’t need help to find the way. It starts just beyond the narrowest section of the gorge. Once through the cliffs, look for a side valley leading quite steeply left (south) from the roadside to a pronounced saddle between two peaks – you’ll be able to make out the path climbing on the left flank of the hillside. An easy ascent takes you to the pass in 45 minutes to one hour. From there you could potter up peaks for some great views over the gorge, or follow the path dropping downhill to your left, keeping to a line of silvery-grey rocks that fringe a dry riverbed. After around thirty minutes, the path then climbs briefly to a second saddle, from which it then descends to the edge of the Todra palmery, near the Camping l’Auberge Atlas.

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Majorelle Garden The jewel glow of Marrakech

Montreal 13/12/10- A Canadian journalist seems fail to resist the charm of the imperial city Marrakesh and the "wonderful garden Majorelle" she describes it as "a mystical place with plants from all five continents " "And as to stay in Marrakesh, we'll have a look at the wonderful Majorelle garden, luxurious jewel of the city, with its almost mystical place plants from five continents, including 400 varieties of palm trees and 1800 varieties of cacti, eleven pools, chiseled kiosks Moorish, etc.,

"Odile Tremblay wrote in an article entitled" Caftans, Cinema and Garden, "published by the newspaper" Le Devoir "in its weekend edition. "We entered Majorelle by the street  newly renamed Yves Saint Laurent. cinders of giant's fashion  lie between banana and bamboo, in a memorial monument, topped by a Roman column, '"says the author who made the trip to the Red City to attend the tenth edition Festival International du Film de Marrakech (Marrakech International Film Festival). "The garden opens onto a small museum with the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent and Morocco. We see dresses inspired from the outfits of the country, some already Admired in 2008 at the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent Museum of Fine Arts Montreal, "says Canadian journalist.

"Caftans, djellabas, buntings are reinvested by the couturier, with wonderful colors of Morocco: saffron, ocher, plum, ruby, turquoise, etc..,transfigured on fabrics by a touch of genius, "she added,stating that "the most touching part of this exhibition consists of manuscripts of an album of Peter Berger's that he and Saint Laurent had with Marrakech and the country. " "Written words are mixed with photos, drawings of the designer, while snakes and arabesques (...)", continues the author.

Returning to the Festival of Marrakech, the author believes that "the press is in Marrakech  for film stars, who march every night on the red carpet " referring to "the international competition of feature films, good degree, composed of many earlier films."

"Funniest then that  festival of Marrakech, which celebrates this year its ten years. Stars on the fly: Scorsese, Coppola, John Malkovich, Harvey Keitel, Charlotte Rampling, Catherine Deneuve, Keenu Reeves the Dardenne brothers and all the elite of cinema, "writes the journalist.

Morocco's Climbing Goats

Goats on trees are found mostly only in Morocco. The goats climb them because they like to eat the fruit of the argan tree, which is similar to an olive. Farmers actually follow the herds of goats as they move from tree to tree. Not because it is so strange to see goats in trees and the farmers like to point and stare, but because the fruit of the tree has a nut inside, which the goats can't digest, so they spit it up or excrete it which the farmers collect. The nut contains 1-3 kernels, which can be ground to make argan oil used in cooking and cosmetics. This oil has been collected by the people of the region for hundreds of years, but like many wild and useful things these days, the argan tree is slowly disappearing due to over-harvesting for the tree's wood and overgrazing by goats.

As a result a group of people and organizations have banded together to try to save the tree. To do so one of the primary locations where the trees grow has been declared a biosphere preserve. It was also decided that by making the world aware of the oil, it's great taste and supposed anti-aging properties, would create a demand for it. However, the people who planned to market the oil could not envision people wanting to put an oil on their food or their face that was collected from goat excrement. As a result, a campaign is being led to ban grazing on the trees by goats during certain parts of the year to allow the fruit to ripen and fall off on its own. The fruit is then collected and turned into oil by oil cooperatives. So far, this arrangement seems to be working.

People wanted to convert an ecological problem into an economic opportunity

In southwestern Morocco, research to conserve and develop a valuable but threatened forest resource – argan trees – has helped to dramatically boost the income of Berber women. Organized into small cooperatives, the women produce and market argan oil using a mix of traditional and modern methods. At the same time they learn to read, write, and manage a business.

The Taitmatine Cooperative is one of about 50 such groups in southwestern Morocco that have been set up since 1996. The champion and catalyst for improving argan oil production techniques and launching many of these cooperatives is Zoubida Charrouf, a chemistry professor at Mohammed V University.

Charrouf’s initial interest in the argan tree was largely environmental: how to protect an endangered tree unique to her country, a species long considered a “green curtain” against the desert. “At the time, we were losing more than 600 hectares of argan forest each year. But,” she says, “we also wanted to convert this ecological problem into an economic opportunity.”

Goats on the argan tree

'Hope': An Argan Oil Cooperative is Changing Women's Lives

"My life has really changed. It used to be that I could never leave the house. Today, I am earning an income and can send my children to school." These are the words of a woman who has been given a new lease on life, thanks to a cooperative run exclusively by women in Tamanar, in the Essaouira region of Morocco. Here a group of 50 women has integrated itself into the economy by capitalizing on a piece of ancestral knowhow.

The key is the argan or Moroccan ironwood, a long-lived tree that grows nowhere but in Morocco. Today it is threatened: in less than a century, more than a third of the argan forest has disappeared. Yet, with 20 million trees covering 800,000 hectares, it is the second most important forest species in Morocco and, although neglected, is a very valuable resource. The argan holds great promise as an oil-producer and constitutes a veritable "green curtain" against the relentless onslaught of the desert. Above all, it represents a source of income for people on the margins of society who have few other means of livelihood: in fact, the forest can provide subsistence for as many as three million people.

Marriage of tradition and progress

At the focal point of the struggle to preserve this tree, on which so many women condemned to poverty have pinned their hopes, stands a researcher from the Faculty of Sciences at Rabat, Zoubida Charrouf. She has focused her research efforts on the argan in the profound conviction that any attempt to conserve the tree will fail unless the local community can become involved in putting its products to economic use. At the heart of the campaign is a research project supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This project has two objectives: to preserve the argan forest by finding a sustainable economic use for its products, and to improve the social and economic status of rural women. Toward this end, the British Embassy has helped purchase equipment for the Amal cooperative.

Traditional knowledge in the form of a simple gesture repeated thousands of time is key to the project's success. Since time immemorial, the women who live in arid regions — particularly in southwestern Morocco — have depended on this almost mythical tree. Its wood is used as fuel, its leaves and seeds as feed for goats. The tree has medicinal properties and its oil both nourishes and beautifies. Indeed, argan oil is reputed for its almost magical powers, but extracting it is difficult and time-consuming. Then Dr Charrouf had a splendid idea: form a cooperative among the destitute and illiterate women who depend on the argan, help them mechanize the process, and sell their output so they can earn a decent living. Thus was born the argan oil cooperative, in Tamanar, 70 kilometres south of Essaouira. Today it employs nearly 50 women on a full-time basis, and another 100 part-time, and has the distinction of being the first female-run argan oil cooperative in Morocco.

Women take charge

The Tamanar cooperative is called Amal, the Arabic word for hope, and this is exactly what it has meant for its members: widowed or divorced for the most part, and all of them poor, they now have the chance to lead a life of dignity as full members of society. With monthly earnings of 600 dirhams , these women — the eldest of whom has proudly celebrated her 80th birthday — are now masters of their own destiny since they have accepted responsibility for running the cooperative, after being trained in extraction techniques, processing, management, organization, and marketing. "We want to earn respect and show that we can take care of ourselves. We don't want to depend on anyone," says one. And those who are most determined have immersed themselves in the literacy courses offered by the cooperative: for two hours a day they learn to read, write, and count, so that they will be ready to take decisions.

Life for women in Tamanar has changed, slowly but surely. They are convinced of it, that they carry considerable social weight, and that their cooperative is a force to reckon with. "Men used to forbid their wives to work here. Now they come and ask for jobs for their wives," says one member of the cooperative. And because mothers and wives have their own income, economic activity is starting to take off in Tamanar. So is business: grocers can sell their produce, turnover is lively in the souks, and a solid purchasing power is making itself felt. "We're not that big, we're no Constantinople, but things are a far cry from what they used to be," says Dr Charrouf.

Multitude of blessings

The argan and its products are an inexhaustible source of blessings, for women, for the region, and for the struggle against desertification since cooperative members are also helping to replant the argan forest: each has committed herself to planting 10 trees a year. Local tourism has also received a boost, and close to 100 people come every day to visit the cooperative.

Tamanar has become the capital of the argan industry, thanks to the mechanization of production. The Berber women no longer have to put in 20 hours of backbreaking work to extract a litre of oil. To see them crushing the nuts and roasting them while singing and dancing as their mothers and their grandmothers used to do, one might not suspect that they are fully plugged into electronic commerce. In fact, the Amal cooperative is well established on the Internet through its website and accepts orders from far-away countries. And all of this success is due strictly to the efforts of women.

Tours : Aït Benhaddou Kasbah Tour & Ouarzazate Tour

“See Ouarzazate and die” are feelings often expressed by Moroccans with regards to this magical city that is the door to the Sahara desert. Located just four hours from Marrakesh, Ouarzazate is the main Berber city in the south known for its spectacular sunsets and dramatic mountain and desert scenery. Surrounded by breathtaking valleys, Ouarzazate was once crossing point for African traders seeking to reach northern cities in Morocco and Europe. During the French period, Ouarzazate expanded considerably as a garrison town and became the administrative centre of the Zagora region.

Ouarzazate became famous when it’s nearby Kasbah; Aït Benhaddou appeared in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. This spellbinding quiet town is the perfect home base for exploring the southern region of Morocco which is comprised of ancient Kasbahs, the Oasis of Fint, the Dadès Valley, the Gorge of Todra, the Atlas Films Studios, Mount Mgoun, Skoura and El Kelaa Des Mgouna (TheValley of Roses), Merzouga and the Dunes of Tinfo in Zagora. 

ITINERARY

DAY 1:

►Fill up on a savory breakfast of baguette, fresh fruit, jams and a café cassis (Moroccoan cappuccino) at a local pâtisserie and then begin your one-day excursion to Aït Benhaddou & the Atlas Film Studios.

► Located 32 km from Ouarzazate lies the picturesque village. Aït Benhaddou of Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated Kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the Kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river

►Make sure to bring along your camera and photograph this spectacular site and the stunning views that surround this Kasbah and its crenellated towers and dark red pise walls. By the river, you will find observe a collection of Kasbahs whose walls are decorated with blind arches and geometric designs. Make sure to take a walk behind the Kasbah and visit the series of ksars, individual plain earth houses still inhabited by Berber families. Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. Most of the town's inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar. Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou

and enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4x4 and head to the village. of Tamadaght

►Only six miles away, is the village, dominated by the canyon walls of a Glaoui Kasbah. The Kasbah is famous and you will find its towers inhabited by storks. Walk outside the Kasbah’s lush terraced gardens and witness the same desert scenery that used in Gladiatorand Alexander the Great of Tamdaght

►On the return to Ouarzazate- last stop- visit at the Atlas Film Studios. David Lean filmed Lawrence of Arabia at The Atlas Film Studios in the early 1960’s. Since then many famous directors have followed in his footsteps to exploit the magnificent scenery. International blockbusters shot here in recent years include: the French version of Cleopatra, Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, Scorsese’s Kundun, Gillies MacKannon’s Hideous Kinky, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Black Hawke Down, Oliver Stone’s Alexander The Great, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, and Penelope Cruz’s Sahara. 

►The tour ends with a short drive back to Ouarzazate, at sunset, with the reassuring feeling that you have seen spectacular scenery and experience a day rich in Berber history. 

 

____________________________________________________________________

Half Day Tour Aït Benhaddou & Kasbah Taouirit 

Duration: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Inclusion: Luxury Toyota 4x4

English, French Speaking Driver, Guide

Starting & Finishing Point: Your Hotel In Ouarzazate

ITINERARY

►Fill up on a savory breakfast of baguette, fresh fruit, jams and a café cassis (Moroccan cappuccino) at a local pâtisserie and then begin your one-day excursion to Aït Benhaddou & the Atlas Film Studios.

►Located 32 km from Ouarzazate lies the picturesque village of Aït Benhaddou. Aït Benhaddou is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ouarzazate River.Lawrence of Arabiawas filmed here and Orson Welles used it as a location for Sodome and Gomorrah; and for Jesus of Nazareth the whole lower part of the village was rebuilt. In recent years more controlled restoration has been carried out under UNESCO auspices. Aït Benhaddou is one of many locations in this region used for shooting Hollywood films.

►Your guide will lead you on a private tour through this Berber village of towered and crenulated Kasbahs that once guarded the lucrative caravan route through the Atlas Mountains. Explore the Kasbahs by foot with the option to ride a donkey across a river

►Make sure to bring along your camera and photograph this spectacular site and the stunning views that surround this Kasbah and its crenellated towers and dark red pise walls. By the river, you will find observe a collection of Kasbahs whose walls are decorated with blind arches and geometric designs. Make sure to take a walk behind the Kasbah and visit the series of ksars, individual plain earth houses still inhabited by Berber families.

►Your guide will share the fascinating history of Aït Benhaddou which once served as the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in present-day Morocco. Most of the town's inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; ten families however still live within the ksar. Aït Benhaddou was once a significant stop for traders carrying gold, salt and slaves along the famous Southern Caravan route moving through the Sahara.

►For lunch, relax on a terrace with clear views of Aït Benhaddou and enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal of mfouar (steamed wheat), Takila (a Berber tajine), couscous and fruit. After lunch, browse the village shops then climb back in the comfortable air-conditioned/heated 4x4 and head to the Kasbah Taouirit.  

►Kasbah Taorirt was built by the Glaoui. Its location was strategic for trading routes and in the 1930’s when the Glaoui ruled the South it was then one of Morocco’s largest Kasbahs. Explore its nooks and crannies and discover some local female painters who sell their art inside as well as the many quality silver shops just steps outside the Kasbah. 

►After visiting Kasbah Tourirt, return to your hotel in Ouarzazate for a relaxing afternoon by the pool or ask your guide about an extending your tour to the souk. At the souk you will have the opportunity to take in the smells of local spices such as Cumin, Saffron and cinnamon as well as Berber amber and musk while visiting small caftan and Moroccan Baboosh (shoe) shops.

source 

When to go

As far as the climate goes, it is better to visit the south – or at least the desert routes – outside midsummer, when for most of the day it’s far too hot for casual exploration, especially if you’re dependent on public transport. But July and August, the hottest months, can be wonderful on the coast, while in the mountains there are no set rules.

click to enlarge a picture

Spring, which comes late by European standards (around April to May), is perhaps the best overall time, with a summer climate in the south and in the mountains, as well as on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Winter can be perfect by day in the south, though desert nights can get very cold – a major consideration if you’re staying in the cheaper hotels, which rarely have heating. If you’re planning to hike in the mountains, it’s best to keep to the months from April to October unless you have some experience of snow conditions.

Islamic religious calendar and its related festivals will have the most seasonal effect on your travel. The most important factor is Ramadan, the month of daytime fasting; this can be a problem for transport, and especially hiking, though the festive evenings do much to compensate. 

Morocco’s climate

click to enlarge a picture

Maroccan traveller Who Walked Across the World

Series of documentary travelogues in which Tim Mackintosh Smith follows in the footsteps of 14th Century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battutah, who covered 75,000 miles, 40 countries and three continents in a 30-year odyssey. Beginning in north Africa, Tim visits Battutah’s birthplace of Tangier in Morocco, and stumbles on a performance of medieval trance music. In Egypt, he goes to a remote village where Battutah had an astonishing prophetic dream and visits the world’s oldest university in Cairo.

In Turkey, Tim watches an illegal whirling dervish ceremony, and in the Taurus mountains he meets the last of the Turkoman nomads. He chats to Tatars in Crimea, while in Delhi he watches a Muslim magician performing the Indian rope trick.

He explores the place of Islam in Hindu-dominated India and communist China, and tells the story of the Islamic trade empire of the 14th century. In China, he meets a clan who trace their ancestry back to Arabs, and witnesses an illegal Arabic lesson.

Watch the full documentary now

Wanderlust

Magicians and Mystics

Trade Winds

Where to go

Geographically, the country divides into four basic zones: the coast,Mediterranean and Atlantic; the great cities of the plains; the Rif and Atlas Mountains; and the oases and desert of the pre- and fully fledged Sahara. With two or three weeks – even two or three  months – you can’t expect to cover all of this, though it’s easy enough (and highly recommended) to take in something of each aspect.

You are unlikely to miss the mountains, in any case. The three ranges of the Atlas, with the Rif a kind of extension in the north, cut right across the interior – physical and historical barriers, and inhabited for the most part by the indigenous Moroccan Berbers. Contrary to general preconceptions, it is actually the Berbers who make up most of the population (only around ten percent of Moroccans are “pure” Arabs) although with the shift to the industrialized cities, such distinctions are becoming less and less significant.

A more current distinction, perhaps, is the legacy of Morocco’s colonial occupation over the fifty-odd years before it reasserted its independence in 1956. The colonized country was divided into Spanish and French zones – the former contained Tetouan and the Rif, the Mediterranean.

Amazigh community                                                                                                                                

The Berbers were Morocco’s original inhabitants. The Arabs arrived at the end of the seventh century, after sweeping across North Africa  and the Middle East in the name of their new revolutionary ideology, Islam. Eventually, nearly all the Berbers converted to the new religion and were immediately accepted as fellow Muslims by the Arabs. When Muslim armies invaded the Iberian peninsula from Morocco, the bulk of the troops were Berbers, and the two ethnic groups pretty much assimilated. Today, most Moroccans can claim both Arab and Berber ancestors, though a few (especially Shereefs, who trace their ancestry back to the Prophet Mohammed, and have the title “Moulay”) claim to be pure Arabs. But in the Rif and Atlas mountains, and in the Souss Valley, groups of pure Berbers remain, and retain their ancient languages (Tarfi t, spoken by about 1.5m people in the Rif; Tamazight, spoken by over m people in the Atlas; and Teshalhit, spoken by –4m people in the Souss Valley region). Recently, there has been a resurgence in Berber pride (often symbolized by the Berber letter  ) TV programmes are now broadcast in Berber languages, and they are even taught in schools, but the country’s majority language remains Arabic

"Fes and Marrakesh are almost unique
in the Arab world for city life which 

remains in large part medieval"

Broadly speaking,  the coast is best enjoyed in the north at Tangier, beautiful and still shaped by its old “interna-tional” port status, Asilah and Larache, and in the south at El Jadida, at Essaouira, perhaps the most easy-going resort, or at remote Sidi Ifni. Agadir, the main package tour resort, is less worthwhile – but a functional enough base for exploration.

 Inland, where the real interest of Morocco lies, the outstanding cities are Fes and Marrakesh. The great imperial capitals of the country’s various dynasties, they are almost unique in the Arab world for the chance they offer to witness some city life which, in patterns and appearance, remains in large part medieval. For monuments, Fes is the highlight, though Marrakesh, the “beginning of the south”, is for most visitors the more enjoyable and exciting.

Tajines Like paella or casserole, the word tajine strictly refers to a vessel rather than to the food cooked in it. A tajine is a heavy ceramic plate covered with a conical lid of the same material. The prettiest tajines, decorated in all sorts of colours and designs, come from Safi (see p.404), but the best tajines for actual use are plain reddish-brown in colour, and come from Salé . The food in a tajine is arranged with the meat in the middle and the vegetables piled up around it. Then the lid is put on, and the tajine is left to cook slowly over a low light, or better still, over a charcoal stove (kanoun), usually one made specifically for the tajine and sold with it. The classic tajines combine meat with fruit and spices. Chicken is traditionally cooked in a tajine with green olives and lemons preserved in brine. Lamb or beef are often cooked with prunes and almonds. When eating a tajine, you start on the outside with the vegetables, and work your way to the meat at the heart of the dish, scooping up the food with bread.

Beyond a line drawn between Casablanca and Meknes – is, on the whole, easier and more relaxing than in the sometimes frenetic north. This is certainly true of the mountain ranges, where the Rif can feel disturbingly anarchic, while the southerly Atlas ranges (Middle, High and Anti) are beau-tiful and accessible. Hiking in the High Atlas, especially around North Africa’s highest peak, Djebel Toubkal, is in fact something of a growth industry. Even if you are no more than a casual walker, it’s worth considering, with summer treks possible at all levels of experience and altitude. And, despite inroads made by commercialization, it remains essentially “undiscovered” – like the Alps must have been in the nineteenth century.

Equally exploratory in mood are the great southern routes beyond – and across – the Atlas, amid the oases of the pre-Sahara. Major routes here can be travelled by bus, minor ones by rented car or local taxi, the really remote ones by four-wheel-drive vehicles or by getting lifts on local camions (lorries), sharing space with the market produce and livestock.

The oases, around Tinerhir, Zagora and Erfoud, or (for the committed) Tata or Figuig, are classic images of the Arab world, vast palmeries stretching into desert horizons. Equally memorable is the architecture that they share with the Atlas – bizarre and fabulous pisé (mud) kasbahs and ksour, with Gothic-looking turrets and multi-patterned walls.

Further south, you can follow a route through the Western Sahara all the way down to Dakhla, just 20km short of the Tropic of Cancer, where the weather is scorching even in midwinter.

 memorable is the architecture that they share with the Atlas – bizarre and fabulous pisé (mud) kasbahs and ksour, with Gothic-looking turrets and multi-patterned walls.

Further south, you can follow a route through the Western Sahara all the way down to Dakhla, just 20km short of the Tropic of Cancer, where the weather is scorching even in midwinter.

When rain falls in the winter in the Anti-Atlas Mountains of south-western Morocco,

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold
                – W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming” (1921)

When rain falls in the winter in the Anti-Atlas Mountains of south-western Morocco, almond and wild pistachio trees bloom in the spring, their foliage dusted with dirt as the heat increases in summer. Juniper bushes dot the mountainside. In the summer the heat obscures the height of Adrar Tisfane (Mount Tisfane) to the west and Adrar Toubqal to the north. In the dead of winter, the peaks punctuate the bright blue sky, and the late afternoon light tinges the walls and earth a deep salmon.

Most years, in both the Anti-Atlas Mountains and the Souss Valley, rain is scarce or absent altogether, heat is dense, and dust covers everything.

Brushing off the dust – from floors, tea glasses, clothes – is constant and instinctual, like waving at a fl y on your lip, but just as futile. Some areas of the mountains are blessed with scattered almond or Argan trees, and when it rains, fields of barley sprout bright green in the spring. Most years, however, drought prevents even a modest harvest, and everything in sight is the color of parched earth. Resident women curse global warming, believing what they have heard on the radio about the earth getting hotter as evidence of their wretched lot and fuel for their desire to leave for the city.

You scan the dry landscape for flora, and notice the telephone and electricity poles that pass through the countryside without servicing it, en route to the towns. You notice the pink and yellow-painted cinder block houses, the half-constructed villas that encircle the stone villages. Then you wonder where the men are. Boys leave for the cities by the time they reach adolescence, joining the men who did the same in their youth. Women are alone with each other, their daughters, their young sons, and their daughters-in-law in these dry mountains. In the mornings, they collect fodder and wood, dressed in ankle-length navy wraps (tamlh.aft-s) over layers of colorful dresses, skirts, and pants, their heads wrapped in more color or in the traditional black. In the late afternoon sun, they perch like multicolored birds on the door stoops, chatting in the long shadows of their stone houses. Children scamper about or cling to their mothers’ backs if they are too young to play.

The omnipresent mountain woman at the end of the twentieth century was iconic of the Ashelhi Berber ethno-linguistic group, an entity for whom both language and land have become contested terrain in this post nationalist phase of the post-Independence period following the French Protectorate (1912–56). For both emigrant men in the cities and the broader Moroccan citizenry, the Berber woman came to personify the rugged, stoic, yet vulnerable homeland and its inseparable twin: the persistent, ancient, hearty, yet threatened language. In this set of associations, women effectively acted not only for themselves and their families, but also for the whole of the ethno-linguistic group. Women bore both the material and symbolic responsibilities for maintaining the land and the Tashelhit Berber language so closely associated with it. Emigrant men leaving the mountains for the cities, in particular, demonstrated to me that they considered the Tashelhit language as key to a moral universe whose values were expressed in talk, song, and non-verbal behavior, attesting to men’s continued relevance despite their infrequent presence in the tamazirt (homeland, countryside or rural place; pl. timizar). Through their native language, emigrant men maintained authority over family and community affairs, marked group boundaries, and delimited a geographical space in which the social and linguistic hierarchies favored them, a sharp contrast with the cities where Arabic held symbolic capital. This order of things entailed both responsibilities and privileges for women, as it became apparent to me during three and a half years of residence in Morocco (1995–9), three of them based in the market town of Taroudant from which I moved into the Anti-Atlas mountains and Sous plains for research and participated in national and religious rituals, agricultural cycles, school years, and life-cycle events such as engagements, weddings, circumcisions, and funerals.

Sahara Desert - The World's Largest Desert

The Sahara is the world's largest desert. Only a small part of the Sahara is fertile and it is here that corn, dates and other fruits grow. These parts are fed by underground rivers and oases. The Sahara can be an inspirational experience at night, with the air being crisp, clean and clear and the stars being so close you can almost touch them.

The Sahara desert stretches across much of North Africa covering over 9,000,000 square kilometers (roughly the size of the United States). In fact, the Sahara covers some 30% of the entire African continent. It is the hottest place in the world with summer temperatures that often exceeds 57 degrees Celsius. It has an annual rainfall of 0 - 25 millimeters and is very windy with windstorms sweeping the sand up to heights of 1000 meters and moving the sand dunes constantly.

The Sahara consists of one quarter volcanic mountains, one quarter sand, rocks and gravel-covered plains and small areas of vast permanent vegetation. The vegetation includes shrubs, grasses, and trees in the highland and in the oases along the river beds. Some of the plants are well adjusted to the climate since they sprout within three days of rain and sow their seeds within two weeks after that.

Animals in the Sahara are mainly Gerbils, Cape Hare, Deer, Weasels, Baboons, Jackals, Sand Foxes, Mongooses, Desert Hedgehogs and over 300 bird species.

The following towns and villages are located in the Sahara of Morocco:

Tata: Located where the desert meets the mountains, this small desert town has the reputation for being the hottest town in Morocco.

Tleta Tagmout: A desert oasis

Foum Zguid: Located where the Jebel Bani range meets the desert, this charming desert town boasts one of the largest palm groves in Morocco.

Zagora: Located in the magnificent Drâa Valley, this town is a popular starting for camel and 4x4 excursions into the desert. A sign proclaiming that it is 52 days to Timbuktu is one of the most photographed features of the town.

Tinfou: This small town is located along the Draa Valley route where the stony ground gives way to the sand-dunes of the desert.

Erg Chebbi: This settlement in the dunes of the Sahara offers basic tourist facilities for visitors exploring the enormous sand dunes.

Ouarzazate: Catering for the tourist trade, Ouarzazate has a number of hotels and visitors enjoy the typical Moroccan market in the city center. The Kasbah is beautifully preserved and gives in interesting glimpse into the lives of the people who live there.

Rissani: Also known as Tafilalt, a cluster of small villages around the town of Rissani, is located along the last stretch of the Ziz valley. The region has a long and fascinating history and was a kingdom separate from Morocco between the 8th and 14th centuries.

Merzouga: Located at the start of the oasis zone, inhabitants tap the underground water sources for drinking and irrigation purposes, and the area around the town is well cultivated.

Erfoud: This small oasis town is used by many travelers as a base for exploring the beautiful Ziz valley.

Popular activities in the Sahara include sunrise and sunset camel rides over the dunes, sleeping out under the desert skies, ATV/4X4 trips, visiting traditional Berber villages,

Music and Dance for War in Morocco

Berbers have been known for their impressive and heroic achievements in battles, and traditional Moroccan music and dance include some genres that were originally performed in times of war. Examples include the ahidni, ghiayta, and taskioine dances. With the emergence of the modern state in Africa, such war songs and dances only exist as cultural remnants. Participants may include both the educated and uneducated, the religious and nonreligious, the rural and urban dwellers, and so on. In some communities, both men and women participate; in others, war dances are only for men. Traditionally, the men wore or carried such war paraphernalia as swords, knives, rifles, arrows, sharpened sticks, and amulets as they danced to a particular war song. Of the different types of this genre, the ahidni dance is the most celebrated. Dancers stand close to one another in a circle, and as they sing, they rhythmically clap their hands and stomp their feet in an aggressive and belligerent manner.

Similarly, the ghiaytas war dance serves to provide soldiers with courage in preparation for a war and embodies a form of victory celebration. During the dance, the warriors, holding their rifles, move their bodies in response to the tune of pipes and the beat of drums. The performers shout rather than sing.

They carry their rifles on their heads, mimic the movements of soldiers in real combat situations, and then pretend to shoot at enemies. Dancing in a circle, the performers aim their rifles to the ground, and at the command of their leader fire blank shots. Among the Haha people of the High Atlas region, a simple reed flute with seven-holes takes the melody, and the rhythm is made by clapping and stomping to give a commanding and enchanting effect. The male performers dance in an aggressive manner that shows masculine passion.

The taskioine is another traditional warriors' dance exclusively for men. Wearing white tunics and turbans, with powder horns on their shoulders, the dancers respond to the beat of earthenware tambourines covered with skins. They make well-rehearsed sudden stops with aggressive stamping of the feet. Although the taskioine dance is more of a physical activity than an artistic performance, the aesthetic values are nevertheless present.

Another traditional war dance involves acrobatic displays from the brotherhood of Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa (or Hmaid ou Moussa, the saint of Tazeroualt, from the Anti-Atlas Mountains), who established a training center for acrobats at the village of Amizmiz near Marrakech. Originally, the young people of the area performed these exercises in preparation for their role as sharpshooters and archers. As traditional warfare gradually declined with the emergence of the modern nation-state in Africa, the young acrobats ofTazeroualt turned the skills associated with this traditional dance into a moneymaking circus. Some of the dancers have taken their talents overseas as entertainers in Europe and the United States. In the diaspora, the traditional elegant costumes with colorful embroidery have been largely retained.

NOTES

1. See W. Komla Amoaku, "Towards a Definition of Traditional African Music: A Look at the Ewe of Ghana," in Irene V. Jackson, ed., More Than Drumming (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1985), 32.

2. Andalusia is the Arabic word for Spain; hence, the term Andalusian denotes the era of Arab conquest and control of parts of Spanish land.

3. See, for instance, Harold D. Nelson, ed., Morocco: A Country Study, 4th ed. (Washington, D.C.: American University Press, 1978), 140-141. See also Eugene Fodor and William Curtis, Fodor s Morocco 1973 (New York: David McKay, 1973),110-113.