Ait Seghrouchen, Amalou Valley

Our gîte host Racheed has a vision for sustaining Amazigh ways through "through responsible and supportive tourism". The guest house is "built from rammed earth according to the traditions of the Berber douars (small villages) of the Skoura region. Our cottage uses traditional methods for cooking. Water comes from a spring captured in the nearby mountains."

Known widely as Berbers, we learned that the Indigenous people of Morocco dislike this name as it has pejorative associations including "barbarian" or "berbering / babbling". Instead, they prefer to be known as Imazighen, meaning "free people" in the Amazigh language.

Amazigh uses the Tifinagh alphabet, a language we had never seen before arriving to Morroco. Imazighen is written as ⵣⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ. Amazigh was constitutionally recognized by the King as an official language in 2011. In Morocco, there are three main dialects of Amazigh: Tashelhit, Tamazight, and Tarifit.

We were in the Amalou Valley during poppy blossom time. Unbelievably gorgeous.

Aaron arranged for us to hike with a local guide and his mule. It was perfect having the extra support for Susanna's injured ankle and Mathai's hesitancy about long walks. The guide was very kind. We could only communicate in gestures, and even then we often had different meanings! Still, it was wonderful.

In buying some food for the hike, we thought we were buying peanut butter. Instead, we discovered Amlou, a traditional Moroccan dip/spread made with roasted almonds, argan oil, and honey. Delicious.Read more