Sunday 29 December 2013

WHERE DID THE YEAR GO? ...............


How many times are we going to hear that over the next few weeks? But genuinely, from my part I am at a loss, where indeed did it go.

Desert Detours ran 10 Moroccan tours during 2013 that included the all new “Amazigh Eastern Morocco Tour”, plus a combination Andalusia-Moroccan tour and two separate Andalusia Tours [Andalusia Detours]. Perhaps then no surprise that the year swept by…………

As I write the second of the two December tours rolls over into the New Year, having spent an inspiring Christmas day on the dunes of Erg Chebbie and New Year in Marrakech. I almost wish I was on that tour!



I am struggling and juggling time but expect to update 2014 schedules on our website  www.desertdetours.com  but in the meantime for detailed information/tour schedule just contact us direct………. Noting:  Four “Classic” dates are already FULL. One of the Two December tours are already FULL. The announced “Amazigh Eastern Morocco Tour” is now FULL but we have added a second tour date [also in September].

I am genuinely not gloating or in any way delighted sitting here in our warm Spanish office with the sun streaming in through open windows. Yet again I just can’t believe the appalling UK weather. Whilst it has predictably prompted a burst in enquiries more to the point it has also caused postponements and delays for clients attempting to journey down for the imminent January “Classic” tour. If you are already “On The Road”, struggling down to meet us, or whatever…….do NOT worry, we are and can be flexible with no financial loss to clients and/or “Roll-Over” options. Just take care!

Finally, from all here in Spain at Desert Detours and from our Moroccan Staff we wish you a healthy, happy and safe 2014, wherever your travels may take you.
Ray.

 A DIFFERENT KIND OF NEW YEARS DAY………..




As Moroccan Muslims wound down from Ramadan 2013, Jews across the country celebrated another momentous holiday, the start of their New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, marking the beginning of year 5773 in the Jewish calendar. Fassi [Fez] Jews marked the occasion with a distinct air of solemnity and discreetness.

The ancient city of Fez is known as the home of the first Mellah [Jewish neighbourhood] in the Arab world. During World War II, when King Mohammed V refused to implement the anti-Semitic practices of the Vichy French government, approximately 300,000 Jews lived in Morocco. Today, after decades of emigration, only about 3,000 remain; in fact the last Jewish person left the Mellah in Fez this year.

Fez, Mellah then.

Jews in Fez now live in a newer neighbourhood and attend the Synagogue Ben Saadoun, built in 1920. Invisible to the community, the synagogue is unmarked, with no sign or doorbell for visitors. But the innocuous exterior hides a breathtaking house of worship with intricate Moroccan carvings and hundreds of Jewish holy books.

Fez, Mellah, Now.

The Jewish New Year started at sundown. Just before it began, about 10 men gathered, enough for the Minyan [quorum] required for communal prayer. A solitary woman and a child sat behind a curtain in the women's section, from where they generally watch and follow along in the services, but do not participate.

"Normally there are about twice as many of us, but many choose to go on holiday during Ramadan," said Robert Serero, whose family has been in Morocco for more than 500 years, since Jews and Muslims were expelled from Spain. "It's sad how much the community here is shrinking, with everyone leaving," he said. "But this is my home, and I will never leave. They say we have problems here, but there are problems everywhere, and why trade one for another?"

The men settled into a service, which alternated between personal prayer in Hebrew from the siddur [traditional prayer book] and group prayer led by Rabbi Albert Seddag. "We're offering blessings attesting to God's sovereignty, and giving thanks for the creation of the world," Sebbag said. Services early the next morning followed the same format.



As the prayers began, the men realised that they had non-Jewish Moroccans in the synagogue. In hushed tones, some called for the visitors to leave, while some said that they should be allowed to stay. Near the end of the hour-long services, the discussion became heated and voices were raised.

Outside the synagogue, one of the visitors, a student we will call “Mohammed”, said he was shaken by the experience. “Mohammed” said he often visits different religious communities in a personal search for truth. He said he is sometimes harassed by fellow Muslims, who call him a traitor, and for that reason did not want his real or last name published……..or any personal details.

It’s perhaps worth noting that earlier in 2009, King Mohammed VI marked a major moment in Muslim-Jewish relations when he became the first leader of a Muslim nation to stand against those who deny the existence of the Holocaust, such as the then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In a speech read in Paris in March, the king called the genocide "one of the most tragic chapters of modern history".

Sadly this decade has been marked by increased tension between Muslims and Jews in Morocco, most notably in the wake of the 2003 Casablanca bombings that targeted Jewish sites. But Mustapha Al Khalfi, a member of the council for the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party, said that the strong Moroccan history of inter-religious understanding still prevails………. let’s hope so.

"We should be careful about any intolerance or attacks that undermine this relationship, and fight anything that might lead to the reproduction of the Holocaust."

PICTURE THIS……….



Still on the Moroccan New Year theme…..This photo was taken way back on 31 December 2007 near Tafraout, with the writings aseggas ameggaz ["good year"] in Tifinagh and bonne année 2959 ["good year 2959"] in French. Note the 1-year mistake, as 2959 corresponds to the Gregorian year 2009………… But never mind, it was and is and interesting find ………

The Tifinagh alphabet ["Lybico-Berber"] has been used by Berber speaking people in North Africa and the Canary Islands at least from the third century B.C. up to the third century A.D. The only dated inscription is from 139 B.C. Its use disappeared, or had already disappeared, when the Arabs came. Among the Tuaregs, especially the Tuareg women, the use continued up to our time, but there are many regional variations. The name Tifinagh is said to mean "Phoenician".

After much pressure [a long story] a standardized version, sometimes called neo-tifinagh,  has been used in primary schools in Morocco since Sept 2003.


AN ARAB PROVERB FOR 2014?……….
“Examine what is said, not who speaks”.

A TASTE OF A MOROCCAN NEW YEAR……..




Did everyone have a nice Christmas holiday? There's still one big celebration underway as I write [That’s if I get this blog out on time!], and the question is how will you ring in the New Year? Will it be a glamorous bash streaming with glitter and bubbly champagne? Or will it be a quiet evening made special by the company of good food and friends?

For me it will be probably be the latter with this year’s menu being a simple but special duck confit, black eyed peas, collard greens and Moroccan-styled meatballs for appetizers. These meatballs are a combination of sweet warm cinnamon with domineering cumin spice, caramelized onions and mint and parsley herbs. Fresh, bold flavours that round each other out and together stand up well against the strong taste of lamb. 

Try them for yourself…….Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Hors d'Oeuvre, by Brigit L. Binns

Ingredients:
·         2 Tablespoons olive oil
·         1 red onion, very finely chopped
·         1 lb ground lamb
·         3 large garlic cloves, crushed through a press
·         2 eggs, lightly beaten
·         1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
·         1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, plus sprigs for garnish
·         2 Tablespoons fine dried bread crumbs
·         1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·         1 teaspoon salt, plus more, to taste
·         1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
·         Lemon wedges for squeezing and garnish
·         About 42 cocktail picks (optional)
Method
1.    Lightly oil a shallow-rimmed baking sheet.
2.   In a fry pan over medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.
3.   Add the lamb, garlic, eggs, parsley, chopped mint, bread crumbs, cumin, cinnamon, the 1 tsp. salt and the 1/2 tsp. pepper to the bowl with the onion. Combine the ingredients thoroughly with your hands (the only way to evenly distribute the ingredients). Fry a small pinch of the mixture, taste, and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut, rolling them very lightly in the palms of your hands. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
4.   Preheat a broiler. Place the meatballs about 4 inches from the heat source and broil, turning once with tongs, until brown and crispy on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Remove the baking sheet from the broiler and transfer the meatballs to a platter.
5.   Squeeze some lemon juice over the meatballs and arrange the remaining lemon wedges and mint sprigs on the platter. Using a cocktail pick, skewer each meatball. Serve immediately. Makes about 42 warm bites.


Note: The meatballs can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours before cooking. Remove them from the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking. If desired, cook and cool the meatballs, refrigerate them for up to 4 hours, and then reheat in a 350°F oven until heated through, 10 to 20 minutes. These meatballs are delicious alone or could be served with a cool cucumber-dill yogurt sauce. This recipe also works well to create mini hamburgers on brioche mini buns.




Saturday 21 December 2013

CHRISTMAS WISHES............



From all the staff at Desert Detours ...............



The Full Time Tour Team ....... Steve Cooper [Tour Leader/Mechanic], John Hubbard [Tour Leader/Mechanic], A'Hammed [Tour Assistant], Hassan [Tour Assistant], Hammed [Tour Assistant], Pillar [Office Spain], Jane [Office Spain], Wayne Dawes [Admin/Link UK] and the valuable part timers ............. Benny ["Entertainment" and "Stuff" at Meski], Yoseff [Assistant at Meski], Mustaffa and Bros [Guardian/Shepherds at Volubillis], Amarwi [Mechanic at Tinerhir], and the many, many more who assist us on tour.

AND of course Debbie, Bex and Myself...........

Wherever you may be [not forgetting the early small December tour group and the current Christmas/New Year Tour Group] enjoy and be safe.

We wish you ALL a very Happy Christmas Holiday.

Ray. 

Saturday 23 November 2013

FLYING BACK ...........






The annual pre-Christmas family catch-up visit is done.  Now, having miss-calculated the M25/23 traffic I have arrived far too early at Gatwick Airport for my flight back home to Spain, I have more than a couple of hours to kill.

Calling the tour-team confirms that all is well on the current November Moroccan tour, strange feeling chatting to Steve [Tour Leader] who is presently at the sunny and warm Erg Chebbie Dunes.  A brief chat to the office is all that is needed to give orders and warn that I am on my way back!

Two hours to kill so dig out the Kindle and order a very expensive breakfast.

Hang on a moment.  I had prepared this current blog issue on a word document while away but did not get around to transferring and posting on-line.  Search for a Wi-Fi point and hope there is enough battery in the laptop ...... Now less than two hours to boarding, fire-up and log in......................

If it's a touch more messy than usual you know why!  But here is the November Blog Issue.

Traditionally this is the start of our busiest booking period and nothing has changed.  2014 is already looking good with a number of tour dates already FULL, with a number of others heading that way.

Pressing point for potential clients is that there is now just ONE available date left for each of the 2014 "Discovery" and "Amazigh-Eastern Morocco" Tours, as the previously advertised dates are now FULL ....... These are additional dates and will fill soon!

There are no problems yet with the remaining "Classic" tour dates.

We haven't had time to upwardly adjust the 2014 tour costs ..... so book asap for 2014 tours at promotional costs etc.

That's it .... Last call for the flight ......... press the send button ...........

PS....... Even at 8.50 pounds the breakfast was rubbish!



THERE IS A CONNECTION SOMEWHERE……… AND I’M WORKING ON IT!




It’s coming up to Thanksgiving [28th November], a celebration/feast day that is by far an American thing. So what’s the connection with Morocco you may well ask?  MMmm…….Its tenuous I will agree and I am working on it. It came to mind when I had the opportunity recently, and not for the first time, to enjoy Eid al-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice" with some family friends in Morocco. That feast is celebrated by Muslims to mark the occasion when Allah appeared to Ibrahim [Abraham] in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, to demonstrate his devotion to Allah [sounds familiar?]. I was also in the right place at the right time to be invited to Eid al-Fitr, otherwise known as the “Feast of Fast-Breaking” or the “Lesser Feast”, Eid al-Adha being the major festival. Then a few days ago on the 5th  November in Spain, I dined with a Muslim family celebrating their new year [1434]. The next day was another celebration meal, this time for the 1975 “Green March” ……phewwww…… Like I said it got me thinking….




Historically………..Thanksgiving was first celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrim who inhabited the Plymouth colony in what is now known as the State of Massachusetts……And?….. Puritan residents of North America observed religious teachings and strictly adhered to them. They also valued hard work and believed that “The devil has work for idle hands”. They, attributed success in earthly deeds to God’s favors and blessings. After they settled in the newly created colony in the eastern seaboard of what is now the US, they started tilling the land and working hard to grow their own crops after the great crossing of the Atlantic. They soon reaped the benefits of their efforts and succeeded to have a first good harvest. That could ensure the provision of the Pilgrims’ daily bread and sustain them for quite some time ahead.




As a sign of gratitude to the divine endowment bestowed on them, they celebrated this landmark event in their lives and invited members of the Massasoit Indians to attend the celebration. The Massasoits were the original inhabitants of this north eastern part of the US. These Indians whom the State of Massachusetts was named after, were peace-loving and friendly people. They were also good neighbours to the inhabitants of the Plymouth colony who equally were motivated by the sacred and wise statement “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.




As a token of recognition of the Massasoit Indian tribe’s help and assistance with the harvest, the Pilgrims invited members of the tribe to attend their celebration. It is said that the first thanksgiving feast the Pilgrims shared with their Indian friends was constituted of turkey and wild rice.

This particularly North American feast is an occasion in which family members gather and enjoy substantial meals that can go on for quite some time. Family gatherings do somewhat curb the frantic American pace of life and make it slow down to a more comfortable and enjoyable tempo……….

Thanksgiving is celebrated widely in Canada, where in French-speaking Canada it is known as Jour de Grace. In fact a good few years back I was back home visiting the family farm outside McLean, Saskatchewan, when I had a chance to attend Thanksgiving with an American/Canadian family. For the feast, we had the traditional oven roasted turkey with wild rice along with the customary pumpkin pie that most Americans serve on such occasion, plus of course so much more …… perhaps a story for another time.

Thanksgiving Day was not institutionalized as a feast and national holiday in the US until 1674. It is traditionally celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This year, it is going to be celebrated on Thursday, November 28th.

So…….Thanksgiving, in my opinion, generates solidarity between North American family members and in some reminds whoever is willing to take the lesson that no success is exclusively guaranteed through a hundred per cent planning, calculations and sustained inhuman hard work ……………it takes just that little bit more…………genuine understanding, tolerance friendship……… So, not a whole lot different to the Eid’s then!   


DID I MENTION THE GREEN MARCH……….





Visitors to Morocco who have not done their history homework might well be wondering why Moroccans have a national holiday on 6th November……..

On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, banners calling for the "return of the Moroccan Sahara," photographs of the King and the Qur'an; the colour green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border Spanish troops were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed.

So on the 5th Moroccan people celebrate the anniversary of the Green March that helped the country peacefully retrieve its southern provinces from Spain under the Madrid accords signed in 1975 by Morocco, Spain and Mauritania.

Agree or not……..The march was devised in a philosophy of peace to liberate and reunite the provinces of Morocco and has been a reference point in the peaceful struggle of the people for their rights on their land.

The move was designed by the late King Hassan II and was successful thanks to selflessness of the people, which spontaneously took part in the liberation process.

The liberation of the provinces, known as the Sahara, was made in the wake of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on October 16, 1975, that confirmed that the Sahara was not a "Terra nullius" and that there have been legal and allegiance between the Kingdom of Morocco and the territory.

The late King Hassan II wrote in the foreword of the book "La Marche Verte":  "I sought inspiration and hope in the tenets of the Holy Koran, in my past as a patriot and militant for the independence of my country, and my attachment to peace ".

350.000 volunteers, 10% of whom were women, armed only with the Holy Koran and faith, coming from all the regions of the Kingdom, converged on Tarfaya (southwest), waited for the signal of the late King, who in a speech to the nation, on November 5, 1975, okayed the starting of the march.





On Thursday, November 6, 1975, the Moroccan flag was hoisted on the Sahara. Marchers turned to the direction of Mecca and thanked the Almighty for the retrieval of the territory, which was an important stage in the completion of Moroccan territorial integrity.

Another important date, November 18, 1955, the day the late king Mohammed V of Morocco announced to the people the end of the period of the French protectorate.

After the royal family returned to Morocco from exile in Madagascar on November 18, 1955, the late king Mohammed V announced the end of the French protectorate and the advent of the era of freedom and independence.

Moroccans have paid an expensive price for their independence that was gained after enormous sacrifices and a long struggle that left scores of martyrs. They managed to foil France's attempt in 1930 to impose the "Berber Dahir," that aimed to sow division between Arabs and Berbers, as well as the Spanish occupiers endeavour in 1946 to impose on inhabitants of Ait-Baamrane and the neighbouring tribes the Spanish nationality to reinforce its colonizing power.

Like I say, agree or not…………….


THE MULE-WOMEN………………….





I posted a feature some months ago…….at least, without looking, I think I did, about the “Mule-Women” at the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta but have now spotted this similar article here……  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24706863  rather than me paste ‘n post take a look yourself. 

I MAY HAVE CHANGED MY MIND…………



I have never made a secret of my dislike of Casablanca. Indeed, it could be said that I actively discourage clients from visiting the city at the end of our tours…….not that it makes much difference, many visit anyway. For many it’s one of those “must visit” destination, and why not. here is no denying that the spectacular  Grand Mosque Hassan 11 is, well, spectacular!  But as always I digress….. I have of course visited many times, both on business and “pleasure” but the fact is I struggle to come to terms with the place…….perhaps for my liking it is too much “in the face”, perhaps it’s the ever decreasing line between ancient and modern, perhaps it the perpetual drone …….. Whatever…….  But there’s no denying that I have had my moments there and fascination is not the same as antipathy.
  
Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, struggles with a growing divide between the “authentic” upper class and hundreds of thousands of migrant Bedouins who populate the city’s slums.
Here they sell sheep … here is the "sheep hotel" … here is straw, coal, onions, knives and other tools meant for grilling. Between each market and "hotel" is an overflowing skip, and near each skip are warnings posted on the walls: "Cleanliness is a part of faith," "Place rubbish here" and "Please do not urinate here."


In almost all of the city's districts, especially in the suburbs, sheep owners set up shops in makeshift tents where they sell their goods. It is also here that he vendors raise their sheep until the morning of the feast. Thus, the scrawled signs posted on grubby tents: "Five star sheep hotel." It’s a 24/7 hustle and bustle and convincing evidence of the importance of meat in this society. During Eid al-Fitr relatives merely exchange phone calls…… However, during Eid al-Adha, it is necessary to visit other people's homes and share meals.

Fatty sheep are of course particularly prized. To entertain the sheep and calves and to attract patrons the "hotel guard" takes them out of the tent in the early morning for a short stroll. A contrast to later when you can only imagine the scene after the slaughter. At this time, the "civilized face" of the city disappears, and it is dominated by the "Bedouin lifestyle."





King Mohammed VI was angry when he spoke in parliament in Casablanca at the opening of the new legislative session in October. The king said he had been carrying out tours of the city's various neighbourhoods since 1999, to access the conditions and concluded:

"Casablanca is a city of glaring social inequalities, where the rich live alongside the poor. It is a city of both high-rise towers and slums. It is a financial and business center as well as a center of misery, unemployment and so on. Furthermore, there is waste and dirt that pollutes the city and distorts its reputation." The king closed with a rhetorical question: "Yet, why has this city, which is one of the wealthiest in Morocco, not realized the tangible progress that its male and female residents aspire for, like that realized by a number of other cities?"





Casablanca's residents rejoiced, because the best solutions are those that always arise from the
king's anger. The city's mayor immediately announced a war on garbage. While waiting for the results, we must ask: How did Casablanca reach this miserable situation?



In terms of local management, the mayor's office has never been characterized by partisan agreement. Rather, the city's path has been marked by coalitions whose members fight with one another and accuse the other of what they are all guilty of. Partisan quotas have led to an excess of public employees in the city. The city employs 17,400 public servants, while in fact only one-third of this number is needed. This has depleted the city's budget, as Casablanca rapidly expands. Newcomers have settled in the plains surrounding the city, which received intensive waves of migration. The population has increased from 20,000 in 1900 to more than 5 million in 2012.

Politically, the city witnessed violent uprisings in the era of King Hassan II, in 1965, 1981 and 1984. Thus, the security forces have been cautious when dealing with Casablancans. The late king had experienced difficulties when it came to controlling uprisings in major cities, and he realized that Casablanca was a bellwether for all of Morocco. Thus, it was divided into five, and later six, prefectures. This deprived its leaders of a comprehensive vision for the future, and division overcame "administration." Residents were left to fend for themselves, after the state withdrew from the field of development and paved the way for the police administration in this field.

The city is located in a fertile agricultural region in the heart of "productive Morocco," the area that was first occupied by the French in 1907. The arid mountain regions of the country were not occupied until 1930. Hubert Lyautey, a French army general, had described these areas as "non-productive Morocco." He meant that these regions were not useful for the French, of course. Thanks to Casablanca's prime location, it receives food from all directions — from the land and the sea. Thus, food prices are reasonable, despite the high cost of housing. Everywhere in the city there are donkey-drawn carts carrying fresh fruits and vegetables, harvested just hours prior.

In Casablanca, food does not sit in supermarket freezers for hundreds of hours. It is a city that monopolizes a third of Morocco's industry. This has made it a "metropolis," attracting a huge number of migrants, particularly from Morocco's southern and eastern regions. Thus, those who [complain] that Casablanca's budget is double that of Fez, neglect to mention that the former's population is many times that of the latter. This is despite the fact that when Fez was established, Casablanca did not even exist. Casablanca appeared for political reasons, when the colonizers established coastal cities to weaken
the influence of the conservative cities in the interior. These new cities included the elite that would rule independent Morocco.

In the high-end neighbourhoods, where the "original" Casablancans live, the residents are nostalgic for the city as it was at the beginning of independence. This was before it was assaulted by "Arabism", or Bedouin Arabs who occupy the public domain and engage in unstructured economic activity. The "city folk" scoff at the Bedouins and say that these slums have become the norm.

Where do outsiders stand? This is the opinion of those who benefit from a structured economic system; they live in modern neighbourhoods and ignore the fact that modernity is costly. It is hard for one with full pockets to understand the brutality of need.

The slums, in the other's point of view, are a blessing for those who do not have a degree, a job or the resources to live. These slums are opening and welcoming, and appropriate for those uprooted from other regions, particularly women. This is because the big city liberates the women from social constraints and gives them the chance to redefine themselves, away from tribal customs and their "non-forgiving" approach.





Hundreds of thousands of people come to the city, where free trade is widely available. They start small projects, sometimes without capital, or borrow whatever goods they may need. Some merely set up a small tent and call it a restaurant or "a factory for repairing pressure cookers." … These "Arab" migrants depend on their muscles to earn a living. They work long hours and have no time or energy to think. This repetitive work strengthens their muscles, yet weakens their minds. This physical exhaustion prevents them from engaging in any cultural efforts. Given their situation, they demand nothing, thus granting the state total peace. Even when their carts are confiscated, they do not set themselves on fire in protest.

However, these migrants still do not achieve peace. Theatrical performances, television shows and films have dedicated a lot of time to making fun of the figure of the "Bedouin in Casablanca." Moreover, many Moroccan comedians ridicule the Bedouins, contributing to discrimination and targeting. In these comedic sketches, the Bedouins speak in a funny accent, using a lexicon that is becoming extinct. They are naive, lost in the big city and easy to take advantage of, since they are not as intelligent as the "city folk." This is vulgar and foul comedy, which garners few laughs. It insults the dignity of the spectator and goes beyond reality. It is a type of superficial humour that fails to capture the spirit of Casablanca.

SEX…………..THAT MADE YOU LOOK……….





Sex education has always been taboo in Muslim societies. Whether within the family or at school, the sexual act is never addressed from an educational perspective, or any other for that matter. In fact, a total ignorance seems to have settled on what is allowed in Islam and what is not in the life of a couple. For married couples, some Muslim scholars say that the famous “Qiwama” begins in bed.

A “Qiwama ”that is based on total and mutual satisfaction of both spouses. Let us say it openly then, any action that may promote sexual fulfillment in a couple is even a duty. Everything, really everything? Yes, when the relationship is legal, with only two obvious exceptions.

What is prohibited then? The sexual act in Islam is regulated. First, a well-known law: “everything is permitted except what is forbidden.” This means that as long as there is no text that clearly notifies the prohibition of an act, the act is tolerated.

Regarding the sexual act in a couple, Ulemas [Muslim scholars] agree that there are two clear-cut prohibitions: sodomy and vaginal intercourse during the period of menstruation. The first prohibition is framed by several texts. Al Boukharis, Muslims, Jabirs and many others, relate the same hadith: “The Jews said: if the man penetrates the vagina of his wife from behind, the child will be born with strabismus.” So Allah revealed: “Your women are for you a soil to cultivate. So, come unto your soil from where you will.” In one version of Tirmidi, Ibn Abbas added: ” [if he desires] from the front or from behind, and stay away from the anus and menses.”

The prohibition of sodomy is even clearer in the following hadith narrated by Ibn Dawud: “Omar explains the verse saying: “from the front, from behind, lying on the side, that means [penetration should] always [be] in the vagina.”

“The second prohibition, namely vaginal penetration, is strictly prohibited in the same verse: ”And they ask you about menstruation. Say: “It is an impurity. So, keep away from the women during menstruation; and do not have intimacy with them until they are cleansed. But when they are cleansed, then go unto them from where Allah has commanded you. Surely Allah loves those who are most repenting, and loves those who keep themselves pure” Al Baqara verse 222.




The hadiths also widely mention this question: “Whoever takes a menstruating woman or a woman from behind, or goes to a soothsayer and believes what he says, has certainly misunderstood what was revealed to Muhammad.” ”Do everything except penetration.”
It should be noted in this case that the Ulemas [Muslim scholars] agree that it is permitted to penetrate a woman with breakthrough bleeding [blood loss more or less of uterine origin occurring outside the menstrual period], because it is not considered an impurity 
.
Fellatio and cunnilingus? No ban has been verbally expressed in this regard. It’s true, some Scholars say that this practice refers to bestiality and man must rise from such practices. But in Islam, prohibitions do not work that way. The rule quoted above is clear: everything is permitted except what was prohibited, in the text of course.

God says in Surat Al Baqara, verse 187: “They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them.”

This verse expresses metaphorically and very strongly the degree of the relationship, including physical, that must exist between a woman and her husband. The degree of intimacy is total. God also said, “Your women are for you a soil to cultivate. So, come unto your soil from where you will.” [Al Baqara , verse 223].

He also said: “Those who strictly guard their private parts save from their wives, or those whom their right hands possess; for with regard to them they are free from blame.” [ -Mu’min?n , verses 5-6]. These three verses clearly express that fellatio and cunnilingus are not prohibited at all.

Proponents of the ban have several arguments, the most famous is the hadith of Aisha: “I have not seen that from him as he did not see from me [that is to say, the private parts].”
However, according to the majority of Ulemas who do not see fellatio and cunnilingus as prohibited, this hadith is in total contradiction with several other hadiths of Aisha, in which she says she did her complete ablutions with the Prophet. This implies that it is possible to see the other one’s genitals. Better yet, in another hadith, the Prophet is believed to have said: “Make sure that nobody except your wife can see your Awra [private parts].”
That is to say spouses have full rights to enjoy their partners’ bodies. Fellatio and cunnilingus fit into this framework, on the sole condition that the practice is mutually agreed. In other words, if both partners agree, they can do whatever they want.

WHAT A HOOT……





Who would have thought that Moroccan sheep’s horns had an international value! Well they didn’t, that is was the case until recently!

According to the Moroccan daily Al Massae, the Israeli army hasacquired a large amount of sheep and gazelle horns from Morocco to be used during both Roch Hachana and Yom Kippour celebrations.

I spotted this in Daily Al Masaa after it was first appeared in Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot where is reported that the Israeli Secretary of Defence expressed his intention to acquire a considerable amount of sheep corns from Morocco for both Jewish celebrations.
He also reportedly stated that there would be no need for intermediates during the acquisition, and that army representatives would get the needed amount of horns themselves. Getting the horns from Moroccan traditional souks would allow the Israeli army a decrease of 50 % compared to the prices suggested by international intermediates.

The Israeli Secretary of Defence also reportedly stated that he was particularly interested in gazelle horns coming from the Middle Atlas. That is why Eid El Adha celebration in Morocco represents an excellent opportunity to get enough supply of horns for the upcoming Jewish celebrations.




Sheep’s horns constitute one of the sacred, Jewish objects called “shofar.” During Jewish, religious rituals, the horn symbolizes the trumpet whose sound reunites Israeli tribes during the exodus. Since antiquity, the horn has been used as a symbolic, Jewish instrument of music played during religious rituals.

There you go…………. 

Friday 11 October 2013

DESERT DETOURS GOES FURTHER & DEEPER INTO MOROCCO ..........

Firstly just a note from myself ....... Who in future shall be known as Ray "MARMITE" Monteith-Smith. [Thanks Chris, I love it!!!!]





We have had a huge amount of interest in recent weeks regarding the "AMAZIGH EASTERN MOROCCO TOUR".  [For a few pictures and short notes see the previous, 29 September, blog entry].

This tour is unlike either the "Classic" or the "Discovery" tours in so many respects so can I just take a moment and get those interested to read the following, taken from our "on-line Brochure" that is of course available on request.......


During September 2013 DESERT DETOURS added an exciting, unique and ALL NEW TOUR to our already busy schedule ..... The "AMAZIGH - EASTERN MOROCCO TOUR".


However, there will be just ONE tour date only for the AMAZIGH EASTERN MOROCCO TOUR during 2014 ....... YES, JUST ONE TOUR DATE.


This is a tour that needs some consideration.  It would be fair to say that this tour is more for the "Traveller" and not the "Tourist".  The majority of overnight locations, whilst being stunning, will be remote and without facilities, such as shown in the following photographs...... It is not without good reason that it is the Moroccans themselves who refer to the region as "Forgotten Morocco".


Whilst I would stress that the region, like the rest of Morocco, is totally safe and extremely welcoming to their new visitors it is lacking in the trappings and facilities the more "Euro Tourist" may well have come to expect ......... A point essentially wasted on a couple of earlier Desert Detours clients, who in no way could be described as "Visitors and Travellers".






Before joining the AMAZIGH - EASTERN MOROCCO TOUR careful consideration should be given to the ability of both yourself and vehicle being able to manage extended periods without "Hook-ups", Chemical Deposits, and Taps etc".  Simple personal management will ensure that the aforementioned presents little or no problems, whilst modern motorhomes are more than capable.  The few formal campsites used during this tour are more than adequate, perhaps even more so than the more usual "Moroccan Style" sites.

If beach camping in an isolated cove or at a parking area overlooking a small working fishing harbour appeals, if overnight in an isolated national protected forest, or camping overlooking a rare valley on a stunning hill top attracts, if visiting awesome natural locations like North Africa's largest cave complex appeal, if staying as welcome guests on the simplest of Berber farm tempts, if the stark reality of a closed [Algerian] border contrasts with the infinite horizon of a desert road beckons, if the alleyways and byways of a remote but still living Kasbah stimulate the senses ............. Then perhaps the AMAZIGH EASTERN MOROCCO TOUR may be for you.






Although NOT a condition of joining the tour an earlier visit to Morocco, either on our "Classic" or "Discovery" trip may be advisable........... However, if you have any doubts or wish for clarification, please call in the first instance for details.

DESERT DETOURS ARE THE ONLY COMPANY OPERATING IN THIS AREA, KNOWN AS "FORGOTTEN MOROCCO".


"We have now travelled with Desert Detours on 5 tours.  This one, the Amazigh, was by far the best.  VAL and DAVE - September 2013.




SUPER DONKEY…….

Probably a concept way beyond the comprehension of many Moroccans [or indeed is Europeans] is the latest pride of Moroccan creativity and ingenuity, the Laraki Epitome. This $2 million head-turning, mind-blowing supercar with a futuristic design is the creation of Moroccan yacht builder Abdesslam Laraki.





Lovers of exotic cars can totally relate to the Laraki Epitome. The car, which costs a mere $2million is even more expensive than the Bugatti Veyron. Imagine how many donkeys, camels or old Renault's, the more common mode of transport in rural Morocco, $2million would buy.

It is a true beast with a C6 Corvette V8 engine plus twin turbochargers which can produce up to 1,200 horsepower when fueled by 91-octane gasoline.
The Epitome has not only one gas tank but actually two tanks. When fueled with the 110-octane it is capable of generating 1750 horsepower.

Crafted entirely with a carbon fiber body with bold curves and aggressive body panels, the car is both elegant and aerodynamic with reference to Abdesslam Laraki’s nautical designs. Weighing barely 2,800 lbs with an out-of–this-world capabilities and performance, Laraki Epitome is a true masterpiece.

The company is planning to make of the Epitome a real success in the near future by building only nine examples of the super-car.

When will it be on Top Gear I wonder?



ALL FUELLED AND FIRED UP ........ ON THE ALGERIAN BORDER.





Since my earlier visit, last May, there have been notable changes along the Moroccan border with Algeria.  Sadly these changes are not on the political [opening the border] front, but wholly local domestic affecting in nature.

Largely gone were the dozens of "roadside fuel stations", with only a few remaining.  [Take a look at the picture a few blog entrees back, while on the Amazigh recce].  "Since the Algerians shut the border my car hasn't budged", one Moroccan resident told us.


The unofficial cross-border movement of people and goods has long been a feature of daily life in this region, with members of the same families living either side of the divide and much money to be made from contraband.


Until three months ago, petrol smuggling literally drove Morocco's neglected eastern region, where the subsidized liquid smuggled in from Algeria fuelled the local economy.  But in June, Algiers took drastic measures to curtail the illegal trade, clamping down on traffic across its border with Morocco, which has officially been closed since 1994.


Algiers beefed up its border controls in a bid to stem the haemorrhaging of cheap Algerian fuel, through which the state was losing 1.3 billion dollars a year, according to energy ministry figures.  Before the clampdown, some 600,00 cars were estimated to be running on Algerian fuel smuggled into neighbouring countries, notably Morocco.






It remains unclear what prompted the move by Algiers, although it coincided with an out burst of particularly hostile rhetoric from senior officials in both countries.  In energy-rich Algeria, petrol and diesel cost as little as 23 dinars [0.23 euros] and 13.4 dinars [0.13 euros] a litre respectively.  By contrast, its western neighbour and regional arch-rival imports virtually all its energy needs, with motorists paying more than one euro for a litre of petrol. So the Algiers move had serious implications for the Oriental region of Morocco, as it is known, with its population of more than two million.

"My car carried up to one tonne of diesel two or three times a week.  Today it's good for nothing", the same resident complained, sipping tea near the Zouj-Bghal border post.


Since acceding to the throne in 1999, King Mohamed VI has sought to promote development in the remote region, launching projects from factories to infrastructure, including a motorway connecting Oujda to the capital Rabat, 520 kilometers [320 miles] away.  But decades of neglect and its remote location, far from Morocco's commercial centers on the Atlantic coast, have made the region heavily dependent on covert trade - - and remittances from Moroccans living abroad.


The first painful consequence of Algeria's new policy was a jump in contraband fuel prices, 30 litre cans of diesel nearly tripling in price and fares charged by the ubiquitous white Mercedes taxis rising with it, by 20 percent.


Because of the reinforced border controls, and ditches that smugglers say have been dug by the Algerian authorities since June, the only viable way to haul goods across the border now is by donkey.  Loaded with jerrycans, the pack animals travel after dusk in their hundreds, through olive groves and along steep winding paths that they follow instinctively, transporting their precious cargo.  But it can be a dangerous journey.  The Algerian army recently fired at some donkeys, killing them.  Fortunately they were unaccompanied.






In towns along the closed border between Morocco and Algeria, the smuggling of fuel, goods and people is often a family business. Yet despite its implications for both countries' security, illegal trade is proving a tough problem to fix. It was claimed that around a quarter of Algerian fuel ended up in smugglers hands for sale across the border. The proceeds helped fund networks of drug traffickers and terrorists.

The clampdown has proved near catastrophic for the kingdom's border zone. Transportation prices have skyrocketed, while Moroccan villages that relied on cheap Algerian fuel to run their generators and water pumps found themselves in the dark.

"The interruption of fuel trafficking from Algeria to Morocco led to serious discontent, stress and social tension," our chatty chap said "Everyone here used smuggled fuel, with the exception of some government departments” he added.

Petrol is not the only thing travelling across the border. Also in high demand are prepared food products and medicine from Algeria, and fresh fruit, vegetables, clothing and shoes from Morocco. Buyers and sellers from both sides of the border were not about to let an impassable route slow them down.

During our visit in the area during the September tour the absence of illicit fuel was very evident, with just 5 and 1 litre containers for sale by the roadside, with 25ltrs costing around 200dhm, hardly worth the effort is you were so inclined to fill-up.


A NOT SO CLEVER VISITOR…………[A JOKE].




A farmer named Hammed was overseeing his herd in a remote hill-pasture in High Atlas when suddenly a brand-new Motorhome advanced toward him from along the track.

The driver [lets call him Flash-Chris], a newly retired type  in a Brioni® tracksuit, Gucci® shoes, RayBan® sunglasses and YSL® scarf, leaned out the window and asked the farmer, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?" Hammed looks at the man, who obviously is a trying to impress his clammed-up wife, then glanced at his peacefully grazing animals and calmly answers, "Sure, why not?"

Flash-Chris parks his motorhome, whips out his iPad® computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3® cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. Flash then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop® and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany ...

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot® that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL® database through an ODBC connected Excel® spread-sheet with email on his Blackberry® and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet® printer, turns to the Farmer and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. I guess you can take one of my calves," says Hammed.

Hammed looks on amused as Flash-Chris selects one of the best animals and stuffs it into the spacious garage facility of his new motorhome. 

Then Hammed says to Flash-Chris, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business was before you retired, will you give me back my calf?"

Flash thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?" 
“You’re an ex-corporate/commodity banker” says Hammed. 

"Wow! That's correct," says the Flash-Chris, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered Hammed. "You showed up here even though nobody called you;  you are arrogant and rude, you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of pounds worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about real life, how working people like me make a living, or anything about cows, for that matter…….. This is a herd of sheep”.

“Now give me back my dog”.

UP FOR A DATE…….NO, NOT THAT SORT!............





The oases of the great river valleys in Southern Morocco, the Draa, Dades and Ziz, stretch for miles and are the main livelihood of the local inhabitants.  The succulent Medjool Date  (Medjhoul in Moroccan Arabic) originated in Morocco and is also now widely cultivated in California and the Jordan Valley and is our main source of this delectable fruit.

Dates are native to the Middle East and were spread by the Arabs to North Africa and Spain. They are mentioned in the Bible and constituted one of the seven species so important to human survival and ritual, alongside wheat, barley, the olive, pomegranate, fig and grape. “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and [grape] vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and (date) honey” [Deuteronomy 8:7-8]

In 2005 seeds of the Judean Date, a cultivar extinct for almost 2000 years, were found by Israeli archaeologists on the site of Herod’s palace on the fortress of Masada. Scientists at the Arava Institute in the Negev managed to germinate one of the seeds and the resulting plant, named Methusaleh after the oldest man mentioned in the Bible, is now about two meters tall. Remarkable or what!

Following an ancient Arab Tradition, La Maison Bleu in Fes offers arriving guests  dates  filled with roasted almonds together with a bowl of orange blossom scented milk.  This sets the scene for the peaceful, fragrant stay in this haven of luxury in the ancient Medina of Fes [but there lies another story].

Dates are the first food consumed to break the fast each evening during the month of Ramadan and are the traditional accompaniment to Harira soup, served at the traditional Ramadan Ftour or breakfast.

In the heart of the Moroccan oasis and palm grove of Skoura [we pass through on the Classic Tour], west of Marrakesh, yellow bunches hang from tall palms ..... Look careful and you can see a man amongst the high branches.

The man, holding a tamskart, a hooked knife anchored to a short wooden handle used for trimming these heavily laden branches, had just shimmied down from one of a dozen palm trees.  He was paid 20 dirham, or just over 1 pound sterling per tree by the family that owns them.  It's a dangerous and labor-intensive job.

Whole sprays of yellow dates, as well as mounds of riper, sticky brown ones that had shaken loose from the trees were splayed across blue tarps.  They were Bouskri, a favorite variety around here that is dried and best when the brittle skin shutters as you bite into it.  Eaten fresh, they tend to be a touch woody in taste and texture.


Last year I had gone to Skoura in early October to catch the beginning of the date harvest. Wandering around the palm grove, everyone told me the same thing:  This harvest would be better than average and much better than the previous year .... We hoped so.

It took two months to bring in Skoura's dates.  Now that the harvest is over, how did it turn out?  Those I met in Skoura were right.  According to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation report, the country's harvest was expected to be 10 percent above the average of the past five years.

That's good news for the family farmers in Skoura, who keep the dates they'll use throughout the year and sell the excess from the harvest in the town's Monday souk.

Dates hold pride of place on the Moroccan table.  Hosts traditionally offer the fruits to guests with a glass of milk, especially during the year's important holidays.  The fruits are eaten out of hand, used in desserts and for topping sweet couscous, but also find their way into the country's famed lamb and poultry tagine stews.  The average Moroccan eats about 6 1/2 pounds of dates each year, though in date-producing areas, that figure reaches some 33 pounds. 

As mentioned they are also the first item eaten with the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan, and controversies have erupted over where the dates were imported from to meet holiday demands.  About half of all dates in Morocco are eaten during this holiday.  Anyway, after decades of decline from disease, Bayoud Disease is a fungus widespread in Morocco, that quickly kills the tree, things seem to be improving. 




"It is the will of Allah," the man cutting trees with a tamskart told me.

With that, he looked up at the heavy clusters of dates awaiting his knife and began to nimbly scale the trunk of another palm tree.



You could use some date in the very simple dish…………..
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 500g diced boneless lean lamb, preferably from the leg
  • 300g sweet potatoes, cut into small chunks
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 50g pitted dates
  • 2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped


Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and lamb, then quickly fry until the lamb is lightly browned.

Add the sweet potatoes and spices, then mix well. Pour in 425ml boiling water and the tomato purée, then bring to the boil.

Cover and simmer for 15 mins until sweet potatoes and lamb are tender, adding the dates for the final 10 mins. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with couscous.

Follow with some REAL Moroccan coffee thus…………….


MOROCCAN ARABIC COFFEE TRADITIONS………





Morocco has a coffee culture reminiscent to that of the Europe. Friends [mostly male] sit outside for hours sipping their Arabic coffee as they exchange stories and engage in a friendly batter over games of charades or tric-trac [backgammon]. 

Similar to tea
, Arabic coffee is often made with the purpose of conducting a business deal, bargaining or welcoming someone into their home. Since Moroccan mint tea is consumed so regularly, coffee is a nice switch.

With the exception of Moroccan mint tea, Arabic coffee is the national drink of Morocco. Alike mint tea, there is a certain process that one must follow to obtain the perfect cup of coffee. 

Arabic coffee is similar to espresso in strength and has a unique flavor as the spices used to make it vary. Adding anywhere from ten to twenty-six spices is the norm. Traditionally, Arabic coffee beans are roasted on a charcoal fire and ground in a mortar. One of the secrets of making Arabic coffee is to roast the coffee and within minutes, brew it. Doing so will enhance the flavor of the coffee.

 Making Arabic coffee is a timely yet leisurely activity. While some Moroccans enjoy making it as their Aunts did just a decade ago, most modern Moroccan homes have replaced the mortar for an electric coffee grinder to reduce brewing time and many even instead use Nescafe. 




By roasting and then grinding the beans yourself the result will be a more aromatic cup of coffee that guarantees intensity of flavor  The purest coffee drinkers never add milk or sugar to their coffee. This is especially true because sugar is mixed into the coffee as it is being brewed. Sometimes a few seeds of cardamom are also added.

 Adding sugar to the coffee is a little more complicated than one might expect. Out of courtesy, the coffee maker must always ask his guests, in advance, how much sugar they prefer. Choices include no sugar (murrah), medium (mazboutah), sweet (hilweh). However, certain events dictate set amounts of sugar. After dinner, coffee is usually only slightly sweetened. At weddings, betrothals, christenings or birthdays, sweet coffee is always prepared. At the time of death or other sorrow, it is always bitter.

 For one teaspoon of ground coffee used, one teaspoon of sugar and one cup of water is boiled together until the sugar dissolves. When the water is clear, the ground Arabic coffee is added to the water and stirred. When foam rises to the top of the pot, the pot is removed from the fire and set aside until the foaming stops. While many people might stop here, experienced Arabic coffee makers know to return the coffee back to the fire and allow it to boil at least two more times. After the final time, a few drops of cold water are added to the coffee to settle it.

 The ritual of serving the coffee is also another pertinent part of making Arabic coffee. Some people find it comparable to the disciplined, yet highly hospitable tea ceremony. If a guest is chosen to serve the coffee, this is an indication that the person has been welcomed into the house.

Holding a stack of cups in his right hand and the coffee pot in his left, the host pours a small amount of coffee to taste himself, to ensure [and show his guests] that it is suitable. After determining so, he pours coffee for the primary guest then serves the other guests. After each guest is served, he pours a cup for himself and joins them.

As mentioned the hostess holds a stack of cups in the right hand and the Delah (an aluminum, brass, or enamelware pot) in their left. It is necessary for the host to pour themselves a glass to determine if it is suitable to serve. Upon doing so, the host [sometimes assisted by someone holding a tray] directly hands each person a small cup, or a tiny sized Finjal. Due to its high concentrated nature the coffee is served in small amounts until it is two-thirds full. Only in the case that men are present will the male act as a hostess and serve his company. Culture, age, rank, or sometimes sex takes preference with regards to who is first served.  On a table next to the guests should be a small pitcher of orange blossom water. Guests may choose to add a few drops to enhance the flavor  Milk is usually not offered. Also, dates or something sweet will be present.

 A few things to keep in mind are, as a guest, milk and more sugar are generally not asked for. Also, the cup should be held in your right hand and allow a moment for the grains to settle to the bottom of your cup. Only the thinner liquid on top is drunk and the coffee is never stirred. Upon finishing a cup of coffee, you can show appreciation to your host by saying, "fi sehtuk" (“to your health", said to a male, or "fi sehtik" to a female); "Fil afrahh", meaning "to your happiness,” is also used. Keep in mind that if you hold up your cup, your host will immediately re-fill it. This pattern continues until you shake the cup before returning it to the pourer. This is the only way to break the cycle.

So, lets make some Moroccan coffee……….It’s so easy.





If you are in Fes on one of our tours Bouhlal’s small shop is located in the R’Cif souk in the Fes Medina is the place to start for your fresh coffee beans. If you can’t make it all the way to Fes, you can experiment with your own blend at home. Bouhlal does not measure by instruments, but by intuition. Here is what I saw him add: just experiment .……….. Sesame seeds, Black Pepper, Whole nutmeg, Cinnamon, Anise Seed, Ginger.

Combine these spices with quality coffee beans and grind. Brew in espresso maker or percolator of your choice. Cream and sugar transform this spicy delight into a dessert. 

Prepare to be addicted.

Prepare to get addicted…………….


IT WAS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN……


The Souk Aamor Agdoud N’Oulmghenni, or the renowned Imilchil Moussem; the “Fête des Fiancés” or “Marriage Market”, is perhaps the most impressive of all the Berber mountain souks. Held at the end of summer, over three days late in September, it represents the annual meeting of the great family tribes. the Aït Haddidou,  Aït Morghad,  Aït Izdeg and  Aït Yahia. It a gathering of the Berber people of remote villages of the Middle and High Atlas mountain valleys and nomadic herders of the southern slopes leading to the fringes of the Sahara desert. John Horniblow reports……

Crossing from Middle Atlas into the High Atlas and up to Imilchil the Atlas Mountains presents formidable natural barrier that has maintained the autonomy of the Berber tribes of the mountains and the desert directly at their southern slopes for millennia. Wild sweeping vistas of stark mountain peaks and deep ravines are traversed by thin ribbons of bitumen that wind in narrow neck turns over the passes to reach the high plateau. 

In this week in September you jostle for space on the thin roads with steady stream of ancient red Bedford trucks (Berber taxis) either laden with goods, livestock and people heading to the moussem or brimming with wooden crates carrying the apple harvest out of the mountain valleys.

While named after Imilchil the moussem actually takes place in a small valley between Bouzmouz and Agoudal on the high plateau. From what might appear at first to be an informal souk and camp around the tomb of Sidi Ahmed Oulmghenni, a small temporary town of tents and stalls swells across two small hillsides with alleys of eateries, clothes markets, shoes stalls, grain markets, carpet traders and village weavers, Berber jewelers and desert traders. 

On one hillside of a lively trade of animals occurs on the first day. From the other side overlooked by nomadic families camped under the rock ledges high on the hill, the souk bustles with people keen to trade handicrafts, tools, buy and sell provisions, or simply amble watching and catching up with distant friends and family members. Then at night they celebrate with lively music, singing and dancing before the onset of winter snowfalls cuts them off from the rest of the world.

There are two main competing versions of stories that lay claim for the inception of the festival. They are both pragmatic and probably the real truth lies somewhere in between the romantic fact and fiction the two of them. As far as Berber legend goes two young people from different feuding tribes fell in love but, in a Moroccan triste akin to Romeo and Juliet, they were forbidden to see each other by their families. The grief of unrequited love led them to their deaths. One ending of legend tells that they cried themselves to death, creating the neighbouring deep alpine lakes of Isli (his) and Tislit (hers), near Imilchil. 





The second ending, equally dramatic, is that the lovers drowned themselves in the separate lakes. Accordingly the Imilchil Marriage Festival was founded as an anniversary to those lover’s death, and in a tribal tradition, as an opportunity for unmarried Berbers, particularly women trapped at altitude for most of the year, to survey and mingle with prospective spouses. For some it’s the opportunity to commit to the vow of marriage and commence the tying of the marital knot with their chosen love.

The second and more unromantic version of the story is that the marriage tradition purportedly derives from the French colonial times of the last century, when the foreign officials used to insist that the Berbers assembling for their yearly souk, registered their births, deaths and marriages. Most probably it is that act that instituted the official contract signing and noting of the exchange of vows we know them today. While its not apparent it is said that most marriage matches are arranged in advance and merely formalized at the moussem with the contract signing.

Needless to say, whatever version of the story you want to believe, the souk and moussem is a delightfully unique and colourful event. Small groups of young Berber women dressed in traditional finery and roughly, woven woollen robes distinctive to each family tribe, some with berber fibules (amulets), eyes rimmed with heavy black kohl, and intricately hennaed hands, amble through the commerce of the souk talking, flirting with or being approached by the potential bachelors trying to strike up meaningful conversation. The wary eyes of elder relatives, looking on, following them protectively at a furtive distance.

On the second day of this year’s moussem, under the white and black appliqué of the official Moroccan tent, 29 young couples apprehensively waited to make their vows at the public ceremony. A large crowd of onlookers sparsely sprinkled with few tourist eyes, Moroccan media and a few film documentary crews looked on from a short distance. 





For all the sense of frivolity surrounding the evident flirting, courtship and mingling in the souk the young nuptial couples sat in nervous congregation before approaching the officials together and solemnly signing their betrothal contract with the stamp of their inked thumbs. Then each couple, striding from the official’s tents, amidst the celebratory rhythmic tambourines  singing and shrill tongue warbles, successively broke through the parted circle of the crowd. Stepping over the threshold of tradition and through the open door of their married lives ahead of them.

PART TWO…….. AN EARLIER VISIT…….

If Morocco is a land of romance, then its heart is surely the remote Berber village of Imilchil, without doubt the most romantic place I have ever been…..really remote back in the days of Trailmasters, our earlier 4x4 expedition company.

Nestled in the Atlas, it lies beyond the Gorge of Ziz, in a wild and unforgiving frontier of narrow passes and sweeping mountain vistas. Once each year, in September, a festival is held in which the young are permitted to choose a spouse for themselves. In a realm usually confined by tribal tradition, the would-be brides and grooms are free to pick whoever they wish to marry. Dressed in roughly woven black robes, jangling silver amulets and amber beads heavy around their necks, the girls stream down from their villages. There's a sense of frivolity, but one tempered with solemn apprehension as they approach the doorway to a new life.

Reaching the village square, they catch first sight of the grooms. All of them are dressed in white woollen robes, their heads bound tight with woven red turbans, their eyes darkened with antimony.

The betrothal festival owes its existence to a legend, itself a blend of love and tragedy – a kind of Moroccan Romeo and Juliet. The story goes that, forbidden to marry, a couple who hailed from feuding tribes drowned themselves in a pair of crystal-clear lakes called Isli and Tislit. [One version of the tale says the lakes in which they drowned were made from their tears.] So horrified were the local people at the loss that they commenced the annual festival. No one is quite sure when the tradition began, but everyone will tell you that the marriages which follow betrothal there are blessed in an almost magical way.





The first time I visited Imilchil, almost 30 years ago, I met a young couple, Hicham and Hasna. They had met, fallen in love and been betrothed all on the same morning. They were glowing, their cheeks flushed with expectation and new love. Many years later, when I visited Imilchil again on a one of Desert Detours “Discovery” Tours, I tracked down the pair.
They look much older. Hicham's hair had thinned and his face was lined from a life outdoors tending his goats; and Hasna looked fatigued. But then she has since given birth to six children, four of them boys. As we sat in the darkness of their home, a wooden shack clinging like a limpet to the mountainside, I asked them how the years had been.

Hicham looked across at Hasna, and smiled. "On that day all those years ago," he said, "I became the happiest man in all the world. And each day since has been conjured from sheer joy." He glanced at the floor. "Do you want to know our secret?" he asked me bashfully. I nodded. Hicham touched a hand to his heart. "To always remember the love of the first moment, the tingling feeling, the first time it touches you, and the first moment your hands touched."

A few weeks after leaving Hicham and Hasna at their home in Imilchil I reached my own home, now in a not too dissimilar location on a high Sierra in Spain. As I stepped in the door Debbie ran up and threw her arms around my neck and asked where and how it had been.
I told her about the winding mountain roads, the Berber villages, the Gorge of Ziz and who I had met.

"And what did you bring back?” she asked.
"I brought you a secret," I said.
"What is it?" she asked "
“Always to remember the first feeling of tingling love," I said.

IF IT WASN'T SO VERY TRAGIC…………





They are called “Zouhri children,” victims of medieval beliefs that still unfortunately persist in the minds of some unenlightened Moroccans. They are thought to bring fortune and prosperity because of some physical characteristics that differentiate them from “ordinary” children.

In the world of Moroccan Witchcraft and Black Magic, a Zouhri child’s blood is gold, said to guarantee the success of some rituals that necessitates the sacrifice of a Zouhri child.
It starts with abduction and ends up with corpses of innocent children, whose only crime is being born with distinctive physical marks, thrown dead in nature.

One might recognize a Zouhri child by their array of physical marks that distinguish him or her from other children: blonde hair and dis symmetrical eyes, a continuous line that crosses their hand pal, and distinctive marks in the hair or on the iris. When a child matches some or all of these characteristics, he or she is likely to be the victim of Morocco’s darkest minds.
 Why are Zouhri children abducted, murdered or severely wounded?  Some believe it is to serve as a sacrifice to be offered to the “djinn” or invisible spirits believed to watch over ancient treasures. The idea is that only a Zouhri child’s blood would unveil the location of an immeasurable fortune and chase away the spirits guarding it.

Long ago, early families who lived on the Moroccan land used to bury their most invaluable possessions in cemeteries, pits, and forests. According to what some believe, after these families vanish, these possessions become the property of “djinns,” and only a Zouhri child’s blood can unveil these locations.

Those who call themselves “treasure hunters” in Morocco deploy all means to get their hands on the so-called immeasurable treasures. This might even go to committing most hideous crimes. No one has ever heard of a lucky treasure hunter getting his grip on a great treasure. Yet, those individuals persist on continuing their never-ending quest for wealth, whilst heartlessly taking the lives of those children to prove myths right.

In the stage that Morocco starts to make significant steps towards development one recognizes that the most encumbering social phenomena surges again. Recently, a child was allegedly abducted in Kenitra for sorcery purposes. The child, Houssam Riwi, was said to match the characteristics of Zouhri children, which is suspected to be the reason behind his probable abduction by treasure hunters.





“Our society is still conservative despite the profound mutation that Morocco is experiencing,” Moroccan sociologist Fouad Benmir was quoted as saying. “There are still traditions based on mystical beliefs that are a far cry from realism,” he added, referring to phenomena such as sorcery.

Benmir’s observation hits the point. Those medieval beliefs that still roam in some corners of the Kingdom are among the impediments to Morocco’s full development. The impingement's of such practices as the abduction and sacrifice of a child for witchcraft rituals are severe on a society that aspires for progress, development and betterment.

AN APOLOGY ……………..

I should apologies for this extraordinary long blog entry. Obviously I have too much spare time on my hand and I really need to get out more.

Out more!!!!!! Blimey I have only just arrived back home………….!