We set off from the hotel in Erfoud at 9am on the dot, and headed for a Fossil Factory! We were shown how they cut slices of rock and polish them so the fossils inside can be seen. They had gorgeous tables and basins etc made from this fossilised rock, but tables starting at $3000 were a little out of our price range.
We thought about picking up some presents for people back home, and asked for a shipping quote (this stuff is all rock – heavy! And we all know my penchant for bringing home rocks – almost as much as R’s love for anything dinosaur related, so he was enamoured with the trilobyte fossils!) but Fed Ex was closed, as it’s Sunday. They said if we popped back tomorrow we could find out and decided whether we could be expansive with presents and ship them all home, or just get a couple of pieces for hand luggage.
Our next stop was the Ziz Valley for a walking tour of the agricultural region with our guide, whose name we think is Teti, but neither of us can quite remember! Tutti Fruitti? Ah, Tattah. This was great, as we got to see the farming up close, with irrigation from the river flowing from the big dam. Each person will manipulate the channel to give water to his lot, then return it back to normal. While we could see tracks from tractors, we weren’t too sure how they got them down there!
The river is at high tide at the moment, as apparently people downstream need more water, so they’ve opened up the dam a little more.
Lunch with Tattah’s family was again, a wonderful experience. We were met walking up the street by Amal, Tattah’s three or four year old daughter, who greeted us by presenting a cheek to kiss. We walked through Tattah’s house, which his family shares with his brother’s family and his mother. It’s only a few rooms, bare concrete with electrical cords hooked up on the wall, and holes in the wall for windows. Tattah’s sister was in one room baking bread over an open fire.
We wandered out to the back, where they have a small food-producing garden with figs, grapes, date palms, pomegranates and prickly pear, with a kind of patio next to one of the irrigation channels. Quite a gorgeous spot! Tattah’s mother joined us briefly before disappearing back into the house (another person who was astounded to hear I couldn’t eat bread – but bread is a part of life in Morocco!) His two daughters joined the three of us and Abdul for another lovely family lunch, this time featuring tomato salad, sweet cucumber slices, chips (!) and a chicken and vegetable tagine. All followed by fresh fruit for dessert. I swear that the mandarins here in Morocco are the best I’ve ever tasted!
After lunch we visited Tattah’s menagerie of chickens, cows, sheep and the Moroccan 4×4 – the donkey. He also has a small shop in a room next to his house, selling dates. Abdul bought about four kilos from him, and I’m currently still kicking myself that I didn’t!
Next stop was the Mausoleum of Moulay someoneorother, which was a beautifully restored riad with gardens in the middle, and amazing tiling all around it. Over the road was an old Ksar (apparently a Kasbah was a large fortified house for one rich family, while a Ksar is for multiple families) which currently houses a lot of Berber families who produce silver goods for the co-operative, which we were duly shown into. This was an Ali Baba cave (strangely, R has been called Ali Baba by every person here, while I’m usually Fatima! We found out from Tattah that Moroccan people call anyone with a beard Ali Baba – R is sporting quite a bit of growth on his chin at the moment) of jewellery, Berber daggers (or letter openers) and other assorted pretties. After being plied with mint tea and hearing the spiel, I ended up buying a couple of Berber “compass” necklaces, and R departed with a beanie and a turban for each of us.
Then it was off to Merzouga to head for the hills (or the dunes, anyway). As we reached Kasbah Tombouctou, our starting point, it was very overcast, so we took saddle straight away in order to reach camp before sunset. Having ridden a camel a couple of times before, I kind of knew what to expect, but the lurching rise took me a little by surprise. R on the other hand was having an interesting time with his camel, Oday, who was convinced that by walking sideways at every opportunity, and trying to bite my camel, Anjoud, on the bum would get him sent home and he wouldn’t have to go on another walk. But no, R just had to deal with Oday trying to walk sideways down dunes…
The drop down took me a little by surprise again, and was almost overbalanced on the way down. Stupid backpack!
The dunes are amazingly lovely; a gorgeous salmon pink colour in the late afternoon. Our little camp is made up of about 8 tents joined together, made of Berber rugs sewn together and supported by tree branches, and the “restaurant” which is a double layer of the same. Then there’s a “toilet” tent, where there is a normal cistern loo sitting on a slab, with a 44 gallon drum of water next to it. Hmm.
Dinner was wonderful “home” cooking, as we’ve come to expect – salads to begin with, followed by a tagine with vegies and olives, and then more fruit to finish. Then the fun began – the two men who stay here brought out a drum and the Moroccan double zill things, and sang and played. They let us try the instruments and begged us to get up and dance, which we (briefly) did.
The stars are amazingly bright – not much light around to dim them.
Two Weeks Away 