Sahara Desert

The dunes! We had made it to that dream image that most people have in mind when they think of Morocco. We were touching the Sahara!

Hicham had outdone himself in choosing an incredibly beautiful tent hotel in a small village called Zaid.

This is a village of former slaves who found freedom and set up their own community in the Sahara. We were treated to an amazing dinner and a shisha pipe first with apple tobacco before food and then followed by mint flavour for desert. Delicious! Ben got impromptu tam-tam lessons as a drum session got going after dinner in one of the comfy mud brick buildings.

The next morning we went over to the community music hall to watch the Pigeons de Sable group play traditional Ganawa music. An amazing sound and rhythm, very fun to dance to.

Ben tried his best to impress, but his guitar skills may have been lost in translation as he wailed away on the 2-stringed Hejuj.

Rissani itself is a beautiful town filled with over 200 different Kasbahs where people live in community within the walls. It had a historic place on the caravan trading route and the current king comes from the area. Hicham arranged a great guide for us along with entry to a huge Ksar (palace) belonging to a former sultan who’s family was restoring the structure. Amazing to learn the history of the area and to see what can be built with mud!

Of course no visit is complete without a stop at a carpet seller. Friendly Aziz impressed us with the quality of his wares even showing Patricia his famed flying carpet that took her up into the air after a few magic words! It turns out that flying carpets were over our budget. Who knew?

As our stomachs began to growl, Hicham arranged a special surprise for us: Berber pizza! A secret blend of spices with onions, olives, meat and eggs, the pizza is baked in the oven for more than an hour inside of a fresh bread shell. Moroccan food continues to surprise and delight.








That night, our real taste of the Sahara was about to begin. We took a short 4x4 ride into our hotel beside the enormous dunes and got suited up for a sunset camel ride. Our intrepid tour operator surprised us yet again with beautiful scarves used by the desert people for protection from sun and wind. They really completed the effect! Ben was atop the smiling Jimi Hendrix, while Patricia chilled out aboard Bob Marley.

The dunes around us lit up in shades of yellow and deep orange in the setting sun.

After watching the sunset from a seat in the dunes, we made our way to a tent encampment where we had a nice tagine dinner and sat around the fire at night to swap stories. Like many Moroccans we had met, the camel guides were very witty and intelligent with many of them speaking five or more languages. We now know three Moroccan camel jokes! We’ll leave you with one at the end of the post and look forward to hearing your guesses in the comment section.

Soon everyone was off to bed so the two of us took advantage to head out into the sand. As we lay on a blanket in the dunes contemplating life under a canopy of stars, we received a subtle sign in a photo Ben took. Our nervous laughter broke through the silent Sahara night…

After tenting in the dunes we returned by ever-smiling camel express to our beautiful dune hotel. There we spent the day relaxing in the sun, napping in the fantastic beds and couches and enjoying the company of our desert guides.

That night we joined an Arabic dance party around a bonfire under stars complete with a live band, where again Patricia was pulled in by a Moroccan girl to learn how to dance the Arabic way. Here she is shaking her hips with the best of them!

Our time in the desert was something truly amazing and really impossible to put into words. We will never forget the place and the people.

Moroccan Camel joke:
How do you get a camel into a refrigerator in three moves?

(Hint: You must think like a Moroccan)

Fez

We left Chefchaouen with big smiles on our faces and hopped on a bus to Fez with our new friend and trusted guide Hicham. His company (www.awesomemoroccotours.com) is perfect for people like us who are looking to do a customized trip with the natural feel of an adventure shared amongst friends. He helps arrange a trip wherever you are in Morocco with his specialty being the desert and the gorges and valleys leading up to Marrakesh.

In Fez we stayed in a low budget Riad (former home of a wealthy family with a central courtyard) on the edge of the famously laborynthian medina. As we were only spending one evening and part of the next day, Hicham arranged a guide for the medina so that we could be sure to see all main sights. Given more time, it would be really fun to get completely lost in the maze of winding alleys which has the feel of being transported back in time to a medieval city. Our guide expertly led the way.

The traditional tanneries, which have not changed in centuries, were a serious eye and nose opener. As proof that the process is all natural, the workers wade through vats of coloured liquids as the leather is transformed into goods starting from piles of furry pelts. After a determined bargaining session, Ben picked up a nice leather man bag and Patricia a pair of Moroccan style leather slippers. It was a great personal touch to work on the final adjustments with the local craftsmen.

Fez is not only known for its leather goods. It is a haven of traditional craftwork. The textiles are also really well done and we got to see the process of making a blanket on a horizontal loom.

Round the next bend we heard the clangs before we saw men lined up on stools banging copper into containers and cooking pots.

In the medina everything seemed to be worked by trained hands, including a street filled with elaborate wedding thrones, the likes of which we had seen at the wedding in Chefchaouen – very fancy!

We also stopped in at a Medersa (school for Islamic teaching) to take a look inside – one of the few to allow non-muslims inside for a peak.

Although brief, we felt we got a flavour of the medina and thus were excited to get on the road to begin our official 8 day tour with Hicham. First up was a road trip to Hisham’s home town, Rissani, located in an oasis on the edge of the desert. We knew our driver Ibrahim from our time in Chefchaouden so it was a comfortable fit for all in his smooth running VW. He was diligent to maintain this sweet machine along the way as Ben surveyed the local scene.

We passed the time listening to our front seat Berber DJ’s mix a variety of African music and chatting away in Spanish (our group’s most effective language). We also got to experience another typical occurrence for Moroccan’s traveling by car – being pulled over by the police at random checkpoints. When these local highway thugs found out that we were coming from Chefchaouen, an area of huge cannibis cultivation, they set to work on a full scale search of the car and baggage. Meanwhile we stood outside in a Moroccan snowstorm (seriously!) as we were crossing one of the many high mountain ranges. Luckily for us, Ibrahim had been through this routine before and even though there was no reason to detain us further, our resourceful driver provided some grease to ease our way back onto the road. We were finding out that local Moroccans can be similarly frustrated by their own countrymen making life difficult.

As Ibrahim is also following the nomad path, he had not seen his family for some time. We therefore decided that since we were passing near to their village, a stop for tea and snacks was a great idea. It was a really special visit with the family and kids who were all there to greet us. Patricia was even able to provide medical advice to Ibrahim’s parents who were both very grateful to receive professional attention that would cost them dearly to seek on their own. Ibrahim’s sisters painted some Henna on Patricia’s hand as a friendly and thankful gesture. Meanwhile, Ben was hard at work exchanging magic tricks with the kids…

As it was getting late, Ibrahim had the fantastic idea to fill the backseat with blankets and pillows to make a nest for his touring guests. As he valiantly drove on through the night, we slept comfortably until Rissani where we tumbled into Hisham’s family home to sleep away most of the morning. We awoke to a great breakfast provided by Hisham’s friendly brother Rashid and chatted away on the terrace. Soon we would touch the Sahara…

Chefchaouen & the Rif Mountains

We arrived in Chefchaouen by bus a little apprehensive given our recent experiences in Tangier. Chefchaouen is set at the foot of the Rif Mountains, where the main agriculture is cannabis, and the medina is supposed to be the prettiest in all of Morocco. By the end of our time there we definitely agreed – the towering mountains are a formidable backdrop for the blue-painted walls, winding alleyways, cute doors with overhanging tiles and gorgeous art of the ancient medina.

Chefchaoen is where we really started to hit our stride in Morocco. In the hotel we met Christina and Borja, an amazing young couple from northern Spain who were on vacation. Christina had been in Morocco quite a few times, and she had made friends and kept in touch with a Berber Nomad from the Sahara desert named Hicham. Hicham was born in the town of Rissani, close to the Algerian border and next to the desert of Erg Chebbi. Being a Nomad he has made all sorts of connections throughout Morocco. The Berbers are one of the original inhabitants of Morocco, a very hearty and formidable group who have survived waves of colonizing countries with much of their culture and traditions intact. Many, like Hicham, are Nomads and you can find them working in the cities or up in the high mountains with their goats to help support their families back in the local village. They are extremely resourceful, friendly and hospitable.

The first night the four of us were invited by Hicham to his friend’s store to meet Youssef, another Berber Nomad. After gratefully accepting our mint tea (the traditional gesture of hospitality throughout the country) Patricia expressed interest in learning how to cook Moroccan food and was treated to a lesson in making a delicious Kefta Tagine.

Later that night Youssef and his friend entertained us with the atmospheric sounds of traditional music played on the tam-tam (double drum) and the Hejuj (a big two stringed guitar). The music is called Ganowa music, which is the music of the nomads of the desert in Morocco originating from the black tribes that were taken as slaves from their home countries (ie: Sudan, Mali) to be sold in Morocco. The beautiful, happy, hand-clapping music is a testament to their resilience. We also had a demonstration on how to put on the long winding scarf used by the desert people for protection against the sun and wind.

On the walk home that night, Ben captured the old Kasbah in the light of the moon.

Our main reason for going to Chefchaouen was to do a trek through the Rif Mountains. Given that good maps of the region are non-existent, and we wanted the experience to include visiting the local villages, Youssef recommended a wonderful guide named Abdul Wahid. He took us walking from Chefchaouen into the mountains filled with wild oregano, thyme, lavender, chamomile, mint, and carob, olive and almond trees. Goats and sheep are abundant, with fresh snow-fed rivers winding their way downhill.

The villages sit on the mountainside amidst terraces for agriculture, and the square mosques with their colourful minarets are incredibly picturesque. On the first day we arrived at the guest house and were astounded – the blue house was so beautiful, decorated in Berber style, with balconies and terraces overlooking the valley.

Upon arriving we were treated to the typical afternoon snack of mint tea from the garden, fresh hobz bread and locally grown olives. We felt like sultans, and Abdul's family working in the guesthouse were very hospitable.

Afterwards we visited the village with Abdul, and made friends with the local children who loved to yell “Ola!” or “Bounjour!” and then run away giggling.

Every night on the trek we were treated to amazing Tangine and fresh bread, and our culinary knowledge of Moroccon food has grown by leaps and bounds. Stay tuned for a post on how to make an authentic nomad-style Tagine ;) During the days we climbed the lush Rif Mountains, and took the opportunity to learn some more Arabic with Abdul. It was a wonderful experience, and unforgettable.

One night was spent in an Auberge in a small village, owned by an eccentric, kind man also by the name of Abdul. He treated us to some home-grown saffron tea, and the cozy hostel with a view of the mountains was a great place to hang out at night with other travelers from Morocco and even from Quebec!

By the end of the trek we had befriended our tour guide Abdul and we had the greatest honour of being invited to attend his sister’s wedding on the night we got back to town. We accepted with delight, and after buying a headscarf for Patricia we put together our nicest outfits - which at best could be described as “shabby-chic” when compared to the elaborate outfits at the wedding. The family and guests were incredibly hospitable. Patricia was even pulled out of her chair by the ladies to learn to dance Arabic style, which she thoroughly enjoyed. In formal Muslim weddings men and women are traditionally assigned separate rooms so that the ladies can dance to music with abandon and the men are free to sit, chat and drink mint tea. The couple to marry enter in very elaborate dress and in a choreographed, slow procession in front of the audience to take their places on thrones, making stylized poses for long stretches without moving. It was a completely unique and personal experience which we were honoured and amazed to attend.

We enjoyed our last day in Chechaouen just strolling the streets and enjoying some fresh corn bread with “cacahouetes” in the plaza.

Then we took the bus with our new Moroccan friend, Hicham, to Fes. The plan was for him to provide us with a tour from Fes to the desert and then to Marrakesh over the course of eight days. As he has worked with a travel agency before and is originally from the desert with nomad connections to boot, he is starting his own travel agency, www.awesomemoroccotours.com. We thought it would be a good opportunity to get off the beaten track. This next journey certainly exceeded our wildest expectations…