Why Not Morocco?: March 2020

The past couple of weeks in Morocco have been unbelievable and unpredictable! We've continued to explore new regions of the country with Marcia and Steve Murphy as we've followed the track of the Coronavirus here and throughout the world. But it's all good. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, "If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor." Disclaimer: this post will be longer than usual because there is a lot to write, and because I'm guessing that lots of readers have a little extra time on their hands this week. ;)

The city of Ifrane took us completely by surprise. Located not too far from Fez, this charming little mountain town looks like it belongs in the Swiss Alps. There was no snow when we visited but there is a ski resort nearby and the chalet-style architecture is completely unlike any other city in Morocco that we've visited.

In the forests outside Ifrane we met our first barbary apes (macaques actually). There are places along the side of the road where the apes hang out because they know the tourists will stop and feed them. They were very tame!

We saw more apes when we stoped at Azilal - Ait Taguelia to see the beautiful waterfalls. We kept them at a safe distance this time, though some teenagers opted to get more up close and personal.

Kids - don't try this at home! Yikes...

After a few days of downtime (and work for Rob) back in Marrakech, we set out to tour Ouarzazate (pronounced war-za-zat) in south central Morocco. Ouarzazate is known for kasbahs (ancient cities or communities built behind defensive walls), magnificient geological sites, and .... movie studios.

Let's start with the kasbahs.

This is a privately owned kasbah that has been partially restored. The walls are made only of mud and straw - including the restorations. It's absolutely incredible that these structures last as long as they do. Obviously there's not much rainfall but it's still pretty amazing.

Kasbah Ait-Ben-Haddou is probably the most famous one in the area. It has been used to to film a number of movies including "The Mummy", "Gladiator", "Prince of Persia" and at least one episode of "Game of Thrones."

I think my favourite kasbah was Telouet. Despite the fact that the don't receive any funding from UNESCO or the government, the site has been fairly well preserved by people from the nearby village who care deeply about the historical significance of the area. Our guide was a descendant of slaves that were brought to the area by a sultan in the mid 1800's.

Getting to Ouarzazate was quite an adventure. Driving over and through the Atlas mountains would be challenging any time, but a good portion of the road was under construction, theoretically limiting traffic to one lane in many places. Undaunted by narrow lanes and lack of visibility, we experienced many Moroccan drivers throwing caution to the wind and passing more prudent drivers (like us) in extremely hazardous situations. Sometimes I just had to close my eyes! This portion of the road was actually in good condition, but it will give you an idea of the type of switchbacks we were dealing with. There was a shocking lack of guardrails!

But the drive was worth it to see the amazing geology of the area. Of particular note is an area in the Dades gorge called Monkey Fingers.

We did some hiking in this area that was unforgettable!

Ouarzazate is home to two large movie studios. The location for filmmaking is ideal because it's quiet (one airplane a day flies over the area), dry (averaging ~4 inches of rain/year), and remote. We visited the Atlas studio and it was really fun to see all the sets, most of which are made of styrofoam!

On the way home we passed through the Moroccan "city of roses", Kalaat M'Gouna. We were a few weeks early for their annual rose festival, but we were impressed with their petit taxis. Petit taxis exist in most Moroccan cities and are only for trips within that city. Cities have different colors for their petit taxis (see list here) and much to our delight, the color for the "city of roses" was pink!

As I finish this post, I just want to let you know that the Coronavirus has already had a huge negative impact on Morocco, even though there are still very few cases of the disease reported. Many Moroccans depend on tourism to feed their families, and as of last week, tourism was already down about 75%. Now that the borders are closed it will be even worse than that. Wherever we go, we try to support the sweet humble artisans who still create authentic merchandise to sell to tourists. Necklaces by this gentleman who also makes beautiful knives!

Pottery by this delightful fellow who literally never stopped smiling!

Although many of our friends and acquaintances have made the decision to leave Morocco during this Coronavirus pandemic, we have decided to stick it out here for the time being. We were able to get Marcia and Steve on a flight to Cairo last night before they stopped all flights in and out of the country. Hopefully they will be in New York before the end of today. Rob will begin working from home tomorrow and I will happily start a new quilt to keep me occupied for a few weeks. We have a full pantry and the grocery stores here are NOT having a run on toilet paper so I think we should be fine! Sending virtual hugs and socially isolated kisses from Marrakech. Stay well and enjoy this unique time in the world's history. All is well!

Love,

Sue

As Rob has traveled the world, he's been asked many times about his nationality. Though his roots are primarily European, his olive skin and striking silver hair hint at more exotic origins.
For example, several years ago when he visited Jordan, one of his Jordanian colleagues passed him off as a visiting cousin in order to get him a good deal when he was bargaining for some pajamas! My suspicion that he enjoys being "ethnically mysterious" was confirmed when we visited Fez last week. When he tried on a fez (traditional Moroccan hat) and a djellaba (traditional Moroccan robe) the shop owner thought he was Moroccan! He was delighted, and I think he does look pretty authentic!

When we arrived in Fez, Moroccan flags lined the streets, and the police were on just about every corner. This was a clear signal that the king was in town.

The royal palace had an impressive security team.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a glimpse of the king, but that wasn't too surprising. He divides his time between palaces in all of the major cities in Morocco. But I digress...

Founded in 789, Fez is an ancient city, with the largest medina in the country - which incidentally is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In some parts of the medina, the passages are so narrow only one person (or donkey) can get through at a time.

Inside the medina is a tannery that dates back to the 11th century. Using the same processes developed anciently, they soften the leather hides (goat, camel, cow, and sheep) with a mixture of water and pigeon droppings (collected by and purchased from locals). Needless to say, visiting the tannery was an odorous experience, but definitely worth it. The softened hides are then colored using natural dyes made from saffron, indigo, poppy flowers, henna, and mint.

Also inside the medina is the University of Al Quaraouiyine, perhaps the oldest university in the world. Scholars here focus on Islamic religious and legal sciences. Part of the university is a huge mosque, which of course we were not allowed to enter. However, we did observe something I've never heard of before related to Islamic worship. The woman in light blue pictured below is petitioning a religious leader seated behind the colorful carpet for some kind of a special blessing. I'm not sure what this practice is called but I'm going to try to do some more research on it.

Fez is also known for Zeillige tilework. We visited a cooperative where they make the tiles and then create beautiful fountains, tables, etc. Everything is done by hand - including cutting/chipping intricately shaped tiles from larger pieces and hand setting them into gorgeous designs. Much of this work is done sitting on the floor. All day. Wow.