The kindness of strangers

4 March 2014 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged extraordinaryplaces, hospitality, Morocco, picnic

“It’s weird, he keeps coming along and giving us food” – a Canadian backpacker we had met anxiously and suspiciously complained to us one day about the generosity of Moroccans.

She and her boyfriend had been wild camping in the desert and a local man had dropped by with meat and fruit every other day.We tried to explain that he wasn’t expecting money or anything even more sinister, it is simply Moroccan hospitality at its finest.

We have seen the level of generosity first hand as well. In N’kob we stayed at the wonderful Auberge Ouadjou campsite – our favorite so far, partly because it was the first time we have camped on grass in months but mainly because of Mohammed, Idhir and Danielle.

Danielle is French and a regular visitor to Morocco and the Ouadjou campsite. As a thank you for Geoff giving her a lift to the nearest ATM (70km away), we were invited to dinner with Idhir – part owner of the camp and a fine cook, Mohammed, who works at the camp and Danielle. It was delicious.

The next day, at Mohammed’s invitation we went for a picnic, weaving through the back street maze of N’kob, along the water channels of the palmerie and out to the shade of an acacia tree in a dry riverbed.

Guiding us through the back streets on the way to the picnic

Walking through the palmerie

Our acacia tree picnic spot

Mohammed magicked a huge rug from his backpack, teapot, glasses, kebab skewers and turkey to stick on them; bread and olives, complete with acacia thorn toothpicks, plucked fresh from the tree. Hefty flat stones made tables and kitchen tops.

Olives with acacia tree thorns as toothpicks

Our picnic under the trees

Moroccan salad was sliced and diced on the stone and turkey brochettes and a teapot were soon sizzling and bubbling on the fire.

Freshly made salad and this morning’s baked bread

Just as we finish eating, the recycling arrives!

The big shaggy Moroccan goats liked Mohammed’s cooking too!

Just because he was a fine looking goat

It was a lovely afternoon, topped off with an invitation to have tea at Mohammed’s mum’s house.

We heard another story of a German couple who are walking across Morocco with just day bags. Each evening they stop at a village and ask if anyone will feed and house them for the night for a few dirhams payment – they have not gone hungry or sleepless yet.

Much is said of how you might be endlessly hassled and possibly ripped off in Morocco. Not enough is said about how ready people are to greet you, chat, share what they have and to welcome you into their home.

“Ten merte and shokran”, Morocco! (Berber and Arabic for “Thank you” – sorry about the spelling!)

Two go wild (camping) in Morocco

13 February 2014 by Geoff Nimmo Posted in Blog, Slide Show Tagged extraordinaryplaces, Jean Veran, Les Rochers Peint, Morocco, Painted Rocks, Tafraoute, wild camping 2 Comments

Our own camp fire, a night or two under the stars wild camping and then throw in some modern art as well – it was an irresistible combination!

We posted one photo to Facebook a few days ago via our Instagram account, but it was such a lovely location and couple of days, we wanted to share some more of our experience.

The view from our terrace!

Wild camping, or free camping, is not as easy to find in Europe and Morocco as it is in Australia, especially when you have a tent as obvious as Chubby Coleman!

One tent, one rock, one mountain

But we found a spot in the valley of Les Roches Peints – the Painted Rocks – near Tafraoute and made camp.

The setting sun over some of the Painted Rocks

The rocks were painted in 1984 by Belgian artist Jean Veran and apparently a team of Moroccan firemen…. They are dedicated to the woman he loved – she must have been bould(ered) over!

Pink, blue and black – not sure what that says about the artist’s feelings!

She got painted rocks, we got sunset, stars, the moon and sunrise surrounded by the drama of the naturally red rocks. We think we got the better end of the deal – but check out the rest of the photos below and we will leave you all to be the judges – what do you think?

Around and about near Agadir

10 February 2014 by Geoff Nimmo Posted in Blog Tagged Agadir, Atlas, extraordinaryplaces, Imouzzer, Morocco, Paradise Valley, Tifnit

Our journey south brought us to Agadir and a few days rest in a Berber tent at the Paradis Nomade campsite, a few kilometers north- east of the city.

Everyone seems to like this particular watering hole,

Birds on the edge of the swimming pool at Paradis Nomade

and even the heavens were smiling down on us.

Rainbow over the Atlas mountains

We took time to unload Charlie and then go exploring. Paradise Valley was strongly recommended by our friends Szabina Mozes and Rino Koop so of course we had to go.

Turning inland about 20kms north of Agadir, you take the road up to Imouzzer, through the Anti Atlas mountains, high canyons, river flats and palm trees.

The hills and valley above Agadir, doted with Argan trees

Switchbacks along Paradise Valley

The deep canyon road twists and turns

The scale is huge

The rocks are different colours at every turn and across the millenia

The rocks are different colours at every turn and across the millennia

Looking back from the head of the valley at Imouzzer

Doing business Paradise Valley style

Charlie Charleston has been breaking altitude records daily!

Almond blossom and lavendar make delicous honey in this region

Almond blossom and lavender make delicious honey in this region

Agadir in the far distance

Higher than the clouds in the Anti Atlas mountains

Back down the to coast and more of the increasingly common Moroccan driving experiences

If they aren’t up trees, they’re on the road!

The rider looks to be working harder than the donkey!

Although we had been warned that driving in Morocco is a hair-raising venture, we haven’t found it to be so … yet!

Warning!

The roads can be narrow, uneven and potholed in places, the traffic (human and animal) can be challenging and reluctant to give ground, but it is far from the motoring terror that we had been anticipating… watch this space and of course we concede the bit about getting stuck in the sand!

South of the dunes that sucked Charlie into their grasp is the seaside town of Tifnit, and it is about as seaside as you can get.

Tifnit is perched on a crumbling spit of sand jutting into the ocean

From a distance Tifnit looks idyllic, but it is slowly sinking into the sea

Walking through the village means walking through a sand dune

The village is losing its battle with the sand

Tifnit - a village gradually being engulfed by the sand

They put a colourful face on it!

Even the boats are landlocked now

A ship of the desert and a beached boat at Tifnit

Agadir itself is a very modern affair – built almost entirely from scratch after an earthquake destroyed the original city in 1960. The new town has wide boulevards and a retro vibe from its 60s re-birth, but its still the same Morocco underneath.

The main road into Agadir – still full of sheep

Everyone loves Charlie Charleston

It is a cosmopolitan place, where Saturday night promenading takes place under the dramatically illuminated hillside declaration “God, Country, King”

God, Country, King – inscribed on the hillside in Agadir

Come days end the beach is only good for one thing in Morocco – football is not a national sport it is a national obsession! Even high in the rocky mountains space will be cleared for a pitch!

Moroccans LOVE football!

But the countryside and magnificent long views are never far away

: Carrying herbs to market

: Working hard

: Kasbahs dot the hillsides

: More modern Moroccan hillside homes and succulent cacti

: Just one of the long and winding roads

: The road less travelled!

: People still live here!

As you can imagine, every turn is a delight or fascination for the eye and the camera. If you want to see more of anything in particular, post a comment and we will be happy to oblige.

Our travels are now taking us inland from Agadir, further south and to the desert, there is plenty more to come!

A nomad’s life

10 February 2014 by Geoff Nimmo Posted in Blog Tagged Berber, extraordinaryplaces, Morocco, nomad, tent

What does it mean to be a nomad? We have lived for months with no home, so it seemed fitting to try a real nomad tent for a few days..

The hillside view from our Berber tent

The Berber tent we stayed in, at the Paradis Nomade campsite north east of Agadir, has a low mud wall on three sides, over which is draped the inner and outer skins of the shelter.

The inner skin – a white cotton cover called a haiti – is overlaid with a heavy woven drape, which comes down the the ground on all sides and is thrown back over the top of the frame during the day, to give access to the tent.

Tassles decorate the down straps of the tent

Tassels decorate the down straps of the tent

The down straps are what the front drape lies across when the “door” is down and also help to give tension to the tent. Often they are decorated with coloured tassels and embroidery.

The bowed span, held up with two struts, keeps the classic Berber shape to the tent

Rose in front of our Berber tent

Close up of the woven cover of the berber tent

A main bed and plenty of day beds means one tent can sleep up to eight people

Of course true nomads don’t settle for long and even though it was a pure indulgence for us to sleep in a bed and not have to raise our own tent each night, it is nothing like the real thing – which we have seen, shielding families from the sun and wind in the most barren of places.

Berber tent in the desert region

Like the Berbers, we too have already moved on. Check out the story and pictures from our travels in and around Agadir.

Flying goats and magic nuts

9 February 2014 by Geoff Nimmo Posted in Feature Tagged Argan oil, Argan tree, extraordinaryplaces, goats, Morocco

“Goats up trees!”- the shout that brought Charlie Charleston to a rumbling stop on the mountain road, as a shaggy white billy hopped onto a branch in the valley below.

They climb for the tender leaves

Their shaggy coats manage to avoid getting tangled in the spikey branches

We had been on a mission to find goats up trees since we were told that our hoofed and horned friends were the only creatures allowed by law to climb the fabled Argan trees. Not humans – just kids!

Sure-footed on the smallest branch

They are happy to share a good tree!

Argan trees are protected in Morocco because of the immense value of the oil that is produced from its nuts. The oil can be used for cooking, medicine and cosmetics for nails, hair and skin – anything really, it is magic stuff.

The much-prized Argan nut

But it is the collection of the nuts and the relationship with the goats that we found most interesting and entertaining.

Save some for me

This was a popular tree

Originally the nuts were harvested as a “post-goat” production, if you get our meaning – much like civet coffee. It fell to the women of the villages to sift through the goat droppings to retrieve the partially digested nuts.

Argan trees grow wild, even if they looked cultivated and organised

They say only goats are allowed to climb the Argan trees

No kidding – we climb trees

Thankfully for the women, times have changed and not only do they no longer use that particular method of softening the fruit, but there is now a high chance that the enterprise selling the oil, soap, powder and other much-prized Argan nut by-products, is a women’s co-operative and not a corporation. Apparently the old Yorkshire saying “where there’s muck, there’s brass” is very true in this case.

Lunch

Argan trees only grow in a small area of Morocco, in the Anti Atlas region and among the many things we were told about this fabled tree, was that only the nuts that had fallen from the tree can be taken – to maintain the trees protected status and in order to avoid them being over-exploited.

These trees only grow in a small area of Morocco

The thorns on the Argan tree are a good deterrent for most creatures

They manage to pick off the leaves and avoid the thorns

Eyes on the prize

The women collect them from around the base of the tree, pack them up and take them off to be processed. We have passed many patient donkeys shading under the Argan trees, waiting for their panniers to be filled.

The donkeys shade under the Argan trees between carting the nuts to be processed

Obviously if a herd of goats has just been tap-dancing through the branches, there’s a good chance they won’t have to wait too long.

So, next time you see Argan oil on the shelves – you have the flying goats of Morocco to thank for it!

We love goats up trees

How many goats can you get into an Argan tree?

They can get down as elegantly as they got up

First impressions of Morocco

26 January 2014 by Geoff Nimmo Posted in Feature Tagged Casablanca, donkey, Essaouira, extraordinaryplaces, kasbah, medina, Morocco, mosque, Moulay Bouselham, Rabat 4 Comments

We have never been to Morocco – we had lots of ideas of what it might be like, had read many stories, but we didn’t expect what we got…

We had been looking forward to breaking out the tent again after many weeks in the casita and house sitting and had imagined warm winter sun gently caressing Chubby Coleman, our big old tent left long under wraps.

This was the picture in our heads:

The sun sets and seagulls swarm over the Essaouira media

The sun sets and seagulls swarm over the Essaouira medina

What we got was torrential rain, lightening and thunder. We stayed two nights at our first camp, thinking it would blow over, then packed up between rain clouds and headed south – to the sun, right? Nope. More days of torrential rain, damp tent and to top it all – two punctured airbeds and a dead computer. Nothing exciting or exotic about any of that! Moulay Bousleham is next to a lagoon, which fills with migrating flamingoes in the spring, unfortunately the lagoon seemed more intent on filling the campsite during our flying visit!

Camp breakfast after it had dried out in Moulay Bouselham

Moulay Bouselham lagoon, with the Atlantic surf on the horizon

The gaint strawberry mosque at Moulay Bouselham

Admittedly, the inexplicable giant strawberry outside the mosque did make us laugh, but even the sheep that were herded past our tent for morning and evening feeds – which we also did not expect to see – seemed unimpressed by the relentless rain.

Sheep are herded through the campsite twice a day

Even the sheep thought the camp at Moulay Bouselham was too muddy

Eventually we managed to catch a break in the rain, packed a soggy Chubby into the car and headed south again.

By the time we got to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, the rain was becoming just a memory and the ancient stones of the Rabat kasbah and necropolis glowed in the sunshine. The blue and white walls and doors of the kasbah are beautiful and worth a visit to the city for that alone.

White, blue and a touch of red, Rabat kasbah

Tiles and pots in Rabat kasbah

The multi-coloured Rabat medina

The kasbah at Rabat

Painted doorway, Rabat kasbah

Cats have it easy in the Rabat kasbah

Hitching a ride

Entrance to a mosque in Rabat kasbah – the sign says Mulims only

Hand made door decor in Rabat kasbah

Silver and blue doorway, Rabat kasbah

Rabat kasbah from across the river

Studded door in Rabat kasbah

The ancient necropolis – once a Roman settlement – on the edge of the city is a fascinating place and home to countless clacking storks, but Geoff got a stalk of a different kind – a double dose!

The necropolis at Rabat, complete with storks nest

The remains of beautiful mosiacs can still be seen at the Rabat necropolis

Stalking Geoff – how not to get hired as a guide

Stalking Geoff – it’s okay if you are a cat

Stalking Geoff – The necropolis cat wins!

Green door at the necropolis

The Hassan Tower in the centre of the city is also a sight to see, set as it is amongst more ancient Roman ruins and guarded by elegant horsemen.

The Hassan Tower among the Roman coloumns in Rabat

The Hassan Tower among the Roman columns in Rabat

Guarding Hassan Tower, Rabat

From Rabat, again we have pushed south, toward Casablanca. Is there any other city that so immediately evokes thoughts of Hollywood glamour and excitement? We turned to fellow travellers on the internet for some insider wisdom on the best places to visit. “Do Not Go To Casablanca” was the overwhelming message from almost every review we read. The only thing worth visiting is the Hassan II mosque. Built only a couple of decades ago, in just six years, to honour the dying King, it is one of the largest mosques in the world. Twenty-five thousand devotees can be housed inside and a further 75,000 outside.

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca in the pouring rain

$Just a fraction of the massive Hassan II mosque, Casablanca$

Just a fraction of the massive Hassan II mosque, Casablanca

Massive windows in the distance at the Hassan II mosque, Casablanca

Looking across the width of the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, with the women’s balcony above

Geoff at the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca. King Hassan decreed non-Muslims should be allowed inside

Ceiling decoration and crystal chandeliers in the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Titanium doors on the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Wooden roof and Venetian crystal chandelier at the Hassan II mosque, Casablanca

The columns are made partly of eggshells to absorb the damp from the hamman below the Hassan II mosque, Casablanca

The yet-to-be used public baths below Hassan II mosque, Casablanca

It is perhaps true that the only thing worth seeing in Casablanca is the Hassan II mosque, if you are a tourist. Its sheer scale is very impressive, but we have seen more beauty in other buildings. Casablanca itself it simply a very large city – not geared for tourism or visuals feasts. Suckered by Hollywood again!

So onward and further south we have pressed, driving for most of the afternoon past donkey carts, sheep and cattle herders, shepherds, farmers and all points in between.

Hard to decide which one looks more composed

Brightly coloured baskets for sale along the road

A splash of colour in the mud

A roadside chat

Lady donkey driver

Leading the way, even though he’s being ignored!

Morocco is marred by endless garbage

Ploughing the unforgiving landscape

Shepherdess

Striding out with purpose (and bucket)

Tangine top hat

The long day’s journey

The look in his eye says it all… the horse’s eye, that it is!

The sheep herder

Three ladies by the roadside

Two children and a wheelbarrow

Woman in red buggy

A well-earned rest

We landed in Essaouira – a fishing town beloved by surfers in the summer season and a rather chilled and easy place out of season. Those surf-making winds can be rough this time of year though and we had to hang on to Chubby the tent as it was buffeted every which way as we put it up. A tour around town found a wonderful local metal fabricator who, after we had stumbled through our basic French and waved our one remaining tent peg in the air, stopped what he was doing to bend and bang out twelve new heavy-duty pegs on the spot. Chubby is now tight as a drum.