Text and photos by Mary L. Peachin
August/September, 2011
Vol. 15, No. 10
Tentatively reaching for my offer of a navel orange, she realized that her head was uncovered. Quickly she grasped her brother’s hand as she pulled a veil across her youthful face. Curious about us, the two teenage Berbers had wandered from their goat herd to peer into our Land Rover.
As we would discover, today’s Berbers are not fictionalized nomadic people pictured crossing the Desert in camel caravans. Most of them are sedentary farmers or herders who tend flocks of sheep and goats. We may call them Berbers, but they refer to themselves as Amazigh, a generic name that includes many ethnic groups sharing a similar culture.
Departing from Marrakech, our eight hour drive would climb over Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains before descending from Tichka Pass into Ouarzazate’s Province of Draa Valley to our destination in the Sahara Desert. Thousands of years ago, this trade route traversing the iconic Desert was used to transport slaves from sub-Sahara Africa to Timbuktu, Mali.
Lined with prickly pair cactus and olive trees, the steep two lane road passed numerous red clay hillside Berber villages. Fertile valleys provided an oasis of date palms and bamboo trees. Olive groves were highlighted by clusters of red poppies. Women washed clothes in gently flowing rivers, men tended to their flocks.
After a long day on the road, we spent the night in a basic, but comfortable kasbah in the Draa Valley village of Zagora. Originally named Tazagourt, Berber for “twin peaks,” the city was named for its surrounding mountains. Ruins of an Almoravid (a 12th century Berber Dynasty) fortress could be seen on one of the peaks. Approximately 60,000 Berbers inhabit the area. The wealthier built many of the areas’ prominent kasbahs or castles.
Not far from Zagora, the village of Tamegroute, noted for its green pottery, houses a 15th century library. More than 4,000 of its manuscript collection dates back between the 11th and 17th centuries. Scripted in indigo, gold leaf, and natural dyes, the collection includes copies of the Koran, mathematic and astronomy documents, a Turkish dictionary, and the history of Fez, a city founded by Fatima.
A second Berber village, located a short distance from Tamegroute’s antiquities library, features maze-like passages that wind between thick walls of clay and straw. A series of dark windowless rooms, lined with carpets, sleep as many as twenty five residents.
Finally, the road to M’Hamid village, gateway to the Sahara, narrows to a single lane. It was obvious that we were literally coming to the end of Morocco’s road system.
Little did we know that we were headed into a whirling sand storm, one that would ground even the camels. As the dunes became higher, sand blew across the disappearing road.
Suddenly our four wheel cruiser glissaded over the slippery sand. We slalomed between date palms as we crossed the road less Sahara Desert. The sand storm, making visibility minimal, had been raging for days. My lips were caked with sand. We were grateful that our driver Hassan, born in the nearby village of Tagounet, knew the area well.
The Sahara is considered the world’s largest non-arctic desert. Covering most of North Africa, its size is comparable to that of the United States. It spans the Red Sea and areas of the Mediterranean almost to the Atlantic Ocean. Its history dates back more than three million years.
Riparian areas, green with pockets of rocket or arugula grass, indicate an occasional oasis with a perennial source of water. An oasis usually leads to Ait Atta Berber nomads sightings. The ground well creating the oasis provides food and water for livestock. Children support their families by looking for a handout.
Erg Chigaga’s famous red dunes, thirty six miles or a two hour drive or four day camel ride from M’hamid village, rose in the Desert wilderness. The only accommodation is a bivouac or permanent nomadic camp consisting of twenty goat and camel hair tents, and a shared bathroom facility. Staying in a bivouac camp is basic at best. Sand still managed to seep inside the tent coating the mattresses. The raging dust storm obscured the magnificent red colored sand dunes. Blowing sand canceled the sunset camel ride into the dunes, a visit to Morocco highlight. Being without visibility we made the decision to pass on spending this night at the camp an easier one. We drove another eighty miles to spend the night in a hotel.
Driving through the iconic Sahara is a unique experience. Initially, swirling winds over hilly terrain created continually changing dunes which demand challenging steering, similar to that of driving on ice. As the desert levels, navigation becomes easier.
After a night at Bab Rimal Hôtel de Charme in Foum Zuid, we continued on to visit the UNESCO fortified village or ksar of Ait Benhaddou. Nearby, a Berber women’s’ cooperative welcomes visitors to observe their painstaking, finger-numbing weaving, knotting, and embroidering of carpets. There is, of course, the opportunity to buy a wide selection of finished carpets for “a very good price.” Watching the women working tirelessly making rugs that sold in the thousands of dollars begged the question of how much they were paid to spend a year or so weaving them.
After a night at Kasbah Ellouse outside Tazaknt village, we picked up the camel route through Qunila Valley. Along the road, women were ladened with heavy loads of grain on their backs. The turn off to Telout’s salt mine is unmarked. Inside the cave, salt dripped from the ceiling forming stalactites. Men used dynamite to blast salt crystals from the hard rock.
In the Berber village of Telout, Kasbah Glaoui, built by a Berber War Lord in the 1800s, was used as a Senegal and Mali slave trading post, a military outpost, and served for a time as the home for the Pasha or King of Morocco. Slaves were exchanged for salt and gold. As one of Morocco’s largest castle, it is in the process of being restored. Upstairs mosaics blend with beautiful tile. Its ornately designed plaster is being salvaged.
Heading back to Marrakech, we reflected on a journey into history in a unique place that is basically off the tourist path. We had visited two vastly different places, the hustling city of Marrakech, which hosts much of Morocco’s charm, and the emptiness of the arid Sahara Desert and its shy Berber people.
Authentic Morocco, www.authentic-morocco.com