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Morocco: Kasbahs and Camels

February - March 2024
A 17-day adventure by Diane Read more
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  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 11

    17th century village comes back to life

    February 24 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Another long driving day, but with interesting stops along the way, as we’ve come to expect from Mohamed.

    We visited an irrigation tunnel built sometime between the 12th & 14th centuries to show us how communities managed to get water to their villages and date palm groves in the desert before mechanization. The underground canal was probably five miles long, all hand-dug, from the water source in the High Atlas Mountains to its destination. The lengthy canal had a series of deep holes dug from the surface to allow maintenance of the canal if it got plugged up at any point along the line. A guy had to be lowered down into the canal to clear the mud wile another stayed on the surface to raise the baskets of mud and eventually raise the unfortunate person underground once the work was completed. Nowadays, the water is all dried up and it’s a bit of a tourist attraction to go down into the tunnel (large enough to stand up in).

    We passed by a village in the middle of nowhere with large fancy homes that are mostly vacant. At the end of WWII, the French recruited Moroccan men to help rebuild France, since sadly, there weren’t as many men left in France at the time. The workers thought they would go over and work for a couple of years, then come back to the nice homes they had recently built. But they ended up staying (for the money, we suppose), and bringing their wives over, and having children. Three generations later, the families of those original workers feel that France is their home, and they only come back to these nice homes for a month or a few weeks each year.

    Next up was a 17th century ‘ksar,’ the fortified village of El Khorbat. The village had died out, but a foundation was established to restore the ksar and create a reason for people to come back to live there. They built a preschool and kindergarten, a museum of Berber culture and a restaurant. We were able to visit the 3- and 4-year-olds’ classroom, which was a very special experience! We were asked not to photograph the children, but I wish you could have seen and heard them. They are native Berber speakers, but since primary school and up is taught in Arabic, this school is preparing the kids for a future of education. In Mohamed’s (Berber) generation, many kids did not complete school beyond 6th grade or earlier because of the language gap. He said Arabic and Berber are as different as Spanish and Chinese, including having different alphabets. The kids sang songs to us in French and in Arabic, and we sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” to them!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    1
    Day 12

    Road of a Thousand Kasbahs

    February 25 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Today was another long drive day to Marrakech from the Sahara, but again Mohamed kept us entertained with true stories of bad kings and disappeared kings and how Morocco became a French protectorate (long story), and many other interesting topics, hence the long write-up!

    One of the things we talked about (and saw evidence of) was the Green Morocco Plan, a program the government started in 2008 as a way of increasing agriculture production, encouraging investment in the country and supporting farmers. The government is covering 60-80% of the cost of farm development. They used to give the money up front until an Italian guy came in and built one wall and then disappeared with the money. So now farmers have to start the work and supply receipts to get reimbursed. Crops include olive, almond and carob trees, and roses. Over 50% of the rose products go to France for perfume.

    We passed by the Noor Solar Power Station (Arabic for light), currently the world's largest concentrated solar power plant. Inaugurated in 2016, the plant uses a range of technologies: parabolic mirrors and a tower for concentrated solar, tracking PV panels, and also various methods of solar storage. They are working on a cable to export solar electricity to the UK. Morocco gets over 300 days of sun per year.

    Our route to Marrakech, which traveled between the High Atlas and Low Atlas Mountains, took us through
    Ourzazate, affectionately known as “Mollywood.” The area’s scenery has provided atmospheric filming locations for films like The Jewel of the Nile, American Sniper, Indiana Jones and many more. Morocco’s movie industry dates back to 1930, and the annual Marrakesh International Film Festival draws big names.

    Our main stop today was to the fortified city (ksar) of Ait ben Haddou, an 11th century caravan stop listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. None of the current buildings are believed to date from before the 17th century, but the city maintains its historic appearance thanks to Hollywood-funded cosmetic restoration. A number of years ago, Mohamed ran across Nicole Kidman dismounting a horse as they were filming “Queen of the Desert” here.

    The old ksar suffered a fair amount of damage in the September 2023 earthquake. The outer walls were quickly patched up to keep the film industry and tourists coming, but the interiors are still structurally unsound. That didn’t keep many tourists away, as you can see in our photos, but Mohamed refused to take us in there, and we were happy to comply.

    Just across the river from the historic site, a new city was built many decades ago, and it was in the new city that we got to visit a women’s rug collective and have a delicious $4 lunch in the owner’s home nextdoor.

    Before we could get to Marrakech, we had to cross over the High Atlas Mountains once again, this time at the Tichka pass. This is the highest major mountain pass of North Africa, at nearly 7,500 feet above sea level. Fortunately, the roads are in great shape and we have an excellent bus driver!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 13

    Marrakech: Palace, Spices & Markets

    February 26 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Marrakech is a bustling tourist city, and the fourth largest in Morocco. With its fortress walls and buildings constructed of red sandstone, the city has been given the nickname of the "Red City" or "Ochre City." The walls surround a large market square, with many shop stalls and eateries.

    Our first visit of the day was to the Bahia palace. This was not built for royalty, but for a vizier (like prime minister) and his four wives. It was built over 12 years in the late 1880s. With its colorful mosaic tile floors and walls, and decorative painted ceilings, some call it the Alhambra in miniature. At one time carpets would have covered the floors in a pattern woven to match the painted ceiling (or the other way around).

    Next, we were told we would visit a spice market. Well, this place called itself an herbal pharmacy and was licensed by the ministry of health. I guess that’s what you want for your cooking ingredients, but it didn’t have the exotic appeal of the spice markets you see in the old movies. Still, we learned a lot and came away with some tagine spices, saffron and other aromatics (coming your way, Ryan and Erin!).

    Our last stop of the day was to the garden of French painter Jacques Majorelle, who built a villa and established a kind of experimental garden of cacti and succulent, along with date palms (and we saw a Buddha’s Hand plant in fruit, too!). By the 1950s the site had fallen into disrepair, and in the 1980s, designers Yves-St. Laurent and his business partner took it over and expanded the garden. There is an excellent Berber museum on the site of what used to be the workshop of Yves St. Laurent.

    Dinner tonight was at a French restaurant called La Paillote, which means a thatched house in French, and it really did feel like one of the African lodges we’d visited.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 14

    Learning to Make Tajine

    February 27 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Today’s visit in Marrakech was really inspiring. We visited the Amad (‘Hope’) Center, a nonprofit women’s training center. Women who come from disadvantaged backgrounds or abusive situations are given the opportunity to learn cooking-related job skills and some foreign languages to help them succeed in the tourist industry.

    After a 9 month program, the women graduate as chefs or cooks in hotels, riads or restaurants. They have a 90% success rate of placing graduates in good jobs, or setting up their own business. Amad gives women scholarships for living expenses and stipends for their children, if they have them. The center has had 325 graduates so far and supports itself with offering catering, cooking classes (like ours) and selling cookbooks, totes, etc. A foundation called Global Pearls matches their earnings 50-50.

    Currently, the center is providing earthquake relief in the form of sandwiches for the villages affected; building wooden shelters to replace the tents people are living in; and packaging and selling the walnuts and almonds harvested by the village farmers now that their access to market is more limited.

    Now on to our experience! The chef (a graduate), along with a couple of assistants, instructed us on making 3 kinds of tagines—chicken, lamb and fish. Each had its own combination of spices and accompanying vegetables or fruits. They have a well-tended garden adjacent to their instructional kitchen. The staff were particular about making an attractive presentation as we built our layers of ingredients. Once everything was just so, the lids were placed on the tagines and the whole vessel was set over a charcoal wood fire. Normally , this meal would cook half a day or so, but we shortened that up so we could sit down to lunch and enjoy our efforts. Having eaten several tagines already in our Morocco travels, we felt we’d been taught well—very tasty!

    A traditional tea ceremony followed, with green tea, mint, lemongrass and lemon geranium leaves. The tea is poured out high above the glasses (no mugs) to help cool it and oxygenate it, and not filled too full so you can pick it up at the top and not burn your fingers. We were told (as a joke?) that if you don’t want someone to return to your home, you pour their tea glass all the way full!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 14

    Marrakech at Night

    February 27 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Mohamed still had more in store for us on our Marrakech cooking class day. The plan was to see how the market square transforms after dark, by visiting before and after dinner at a nearby restaurant. Before dark, “snake charmers” (yes, real cobra snakes), and guys with small apes (like we saw on our little hike in the cedar forest) pose for photos—for a price. We decided not to find out the price. The snake charmers aren’t allowed in the square after dark because one got away and caused a panic in the square. There were also some “ring the bottle” games set up for families to vie for a prize.

    Our nearby restaurant served a wonderful selection of cold plates like spiced eggplant, mild green chilies and onions, carrots with parsley, etc. and warm bread, phyllo-wrapped tasty bites, and beef and chicken skewers. Musicians accompanied much of dinner, making table conversation a little difficult, but they were enthusiastic and colorful.

    Leaving the restaurant after dark, we could see how the square had really come alive—music groups were set up, ringed by locals on stools clapping and enjoying the music; the food stalls were in full swing, and street hawkers exhibited their light-up toys.

    Capping off the day was a ride back to our hotel in a horse carriage. These carriages used to be a typical mode of transportation in Marrakech, but now they are mainly for tourists.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 15

    Casablanca: Mosque of Hassan II

    February 28 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    This morning we said farewell to Marrakech and boarded our bus for a final distance drive — to Casablanca. After about three hours of travel, we stopped for lunch at the food court of the largest shopping mall in Morocco. Mohamed thought we might enjoy the juxtaposition between the old market of last night and the “new market.” We will say that shopping malls are probably still in their heyday in Morocco, if this one is anything to judge by. The storefronts were all occupied with upscale vendors (American, European and Moroccan), and the place was kept immaculately clean by an army of workers. A large cylindrical aquarium was featured at the center. Interesting stop after all!

    Then it was on to a visit the enormous mosque of King Hassan II, completed in 1993 after just 7 years. The project is estimated to have cost as much as $700 million, funds that were remarkably raised mostly from public donations (questionable about how voluntary those donations were). But Moroccans seem to be genuinely proud of their monument.

    The tile, wood and plaster work inside and out is exquisite, and the mosque has some interesting features, including a retractable roof. The purpose is to provide spiritual contemplation (and ventilation?) for the up to 25,000 worshippers who can fit inside. On special holy days up to another 80,000 can fit in the plaza outside.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylMorocco: Kasbahs and Camels
    Day 17

    A Bit More Casablanca

    March 1 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    The Collette tour has ended, but we took one last look around Casablanca on our own. We followed a self-guided walking tour that took us through a beautiful city park (Arab League Park) with a fun playground, the Hall of Justice (complete with black gown-and-white ascot-wearing barristers, we suppose); a beautiful art deco post office and other sights.

    Now we head on to our next trip (and separate blog). Morocco has been a welcoming country, and we really enjoyed seeing and learning about the craftsmanship in their building details and rug designs. We learned a lot from Mohamed about the culture of the country and its people.
    The cities were pretty clean (so many workers out picking up trash and sweeping), and the food is just outstanding!    Read more

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