Berber Country

It has been a fun few days exploring Berber Country and experiencing unbelievable hospitality.  Everywhere we visit we encounter smiles, welcomes and openness.  When you say Canada - first question is are you from  Montreal but they do also know about Toronto and Vancouver.

The landscape continues to be varied and interesting from the flat dirt to the red rugged cliffs of the High Atlas. We are staying at the low end of the high Atlas in a Palm Grove, which means it is planted and certainly a lot drier than the lush green oasis we saw a few days ago.

After seeing one of the valleys we stopped for lunch in another family home and once again enjoyed delicious food.  Interesting new experiences at this home was washing our hands in true Berber fashion and watching our host pour tea from two pots at great heights and at the same time.

Washing hands over the Berber sink

Yes both tea streams landed in the same small glass

We then had a chance to walk the Todra Gorge with its towering rock faces, stream and of course sellers.  The rocks do make a pretty back drop for the brightly coloured scarves, dresses and anything else you want.

Our hotel for the next 3 nights is a simple place just outside Skoura, called Maison D’hote Amridil.  It is very peaceful here and we are enjoying the lovely pool and laundry time - drying time is very fast as it continues to be quite hot. This is where our itinerary has changed because of the earthquake as originally we were 2 nights here and then in another village which did suffer damage. So it was cancelled and we have an extra night  here and 1 night in Ait Benhaddou.  It is great having some down time.

Oven for making the delicious bread

A whole goat would be cooked in this oven

Local garden

Eucalyptus tree

Would you believe it - rosemary

Because of the extra day in the area we did an excursion yesterday for a hike in the Rose Valley. This was so interesting as we saw many locals.  They each have a section of the land but we have no idea how they know which is whose.  A great way to understand more about their day to day life and how they live off the land. Watch the video until the end as the cutest part is then!

The women do not want their pictures taken but our local guide didn’t mind.  The blue is traditional Berber color

Time to cool off the feet in the clear water

Pomegranates 

This would be used for storage

We then moved on to visit a guesthouse for lunch in the McGoun Valley which is higher up in the Atlas Mountains.  For those wondering, this area was not impacted by the earthquake.  The High Atlas Mountains cover a huge area and not all were impacted.  This visit was especially fun for me as it is the same location we have stayed during the past two trips.  It was fun to see how they have developed and improved since my first visit in 2018.

Lunch in the cave

Berber alphabet Z - represents Free Man 

Community Association for water

We went shopping at the local market in the morning to buy our food to prepare our tagines for lunch.  Let’s say the chicken was very fresh! Expect a chicken dinner in the future with rosemary and lemon infused water! Simply delicious.

Sorry buddy….

Although the third night was an earthquake change, Skoura did not disappoint.  Our last evening was great.  Some of us went for a walk around the Palmery and learned a lot about it including the fact that it covers 25 sq kilometres.  We walked on the dry river bed, witnessed a beautiful sunset, an almost full moon, the irrigation system and great lighting for some fantastic pictures.

Thinking we had finished the evening we were surprised when the hotel brought in a group to sing for us.  What a great end to the day and our time here.

I may not have the whole world in my hand but I tried holding the moon tonight.