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[dybdahltravels]

Back to Casablanca

April 9, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam

We are in Casablanca where we started our Moroccan trip nearly 4 weeks ago.   We have visited every single city listed on the map below and can honestly say that we thoroughly enjoyed each and every place.  

Casablanca is a huge city and the business hub of Morocco.  Casablanca like many major cities is EXPENSIVE to live in.  People who work in the city and those who get paid very little money for their work - for example restaurant or hotel workers -  cannot afford to live in the city and must live outside the city and make a long commute daily.  Sadly, this condition exists in most cities - sometimes relatively small cities.  Shortly before the trip, I heard an expose’ about this exact problem in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

We are tired.  We are all fretting about the trip home and our bags are packed. I am always amazed that we reach a moment in time on each of our adventures when it is time to go.  When we cross that line - IT IS TIME TO GO!  Feel free to drop us off at the airport NOW, please.  The day before we leave is an exercise in pleasant participation but our heads and our hearts are already gone.

We took a few hours today to see some of the sights of Casablanca beginning with the famous Hassan II Mosque.  This place is magnificent.  We have been to many mosques in Turkey, Bosnia, Spain, Portugal and other places BUT in Morocco it is illegal for a non-Muslim to enter a mosque.  The only exception to this law is  the Hassan II Mosque.

The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan is the largest mosque in Africa, and the 5th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest minaret at 210 meters or 689 feet tall. It was completed in 1993.  It is exquisite!!

The mosque sits on the ocean with an entire wall of doors facing the sea. The ceiling ( pic below) opens and weather permitting, the doors and ceiling opens to enablel the people that come here to pray to pray in touch with the  elements of nature.  

Below is a pic from the Internet - we did not see the ceiling open but I’m sure it must be very lovely.  It takes 10 minutes for the ceiling to open - FYI.

The craftsmanship is breath-taking. 

The women’s prayer area is also beautiful - BUT the women and men do not pray together.  The best area is designated for the men and women pray upstairs - if there is an upstairs  - or behind the men if no upstairs exists.  I believe it is well established that “Separate but Equal” only enhances “unequal.”  Most maddening is the fact that this concept is sold as a way to honor and protect women.  GRRRRRRR!  But back to the building itself.

Beautiful!!!!

Above is the the qibla.  The qibla designates the direction in which to pray - toward Mecca. Of course this qibla is MUCH fancier than you might see in a village mosque.  We were told that every single citizen made a donation for the building of this mosque.  Now I’m calling BS on that - BUT there are “reward points” (my words) for donating to the building of a mosque - so maybe the majority did contribute - but everyone?  Doubtful.  I’m saying, too bad nothing goes on your heavenly score card for building a school.  :(

It is necessary for all worshippers to wash - or preform ablution  - before praying.  Below are the fountains in the basement of the Mosque for this process.  The process is well defined and involved washing your hands and arms, face and feet.  Each area is done in a particular way beginning on the right side and a certain number of times.  Here is it done with water - but in regions where water is scarce , the ablution can be done with sand or a rock.

This cleansing reminds me of a Hammam - which is also called a Turkish bath.  We were told that most Muslims in Morocco - if they can afford it - go to the Hammam once a a week.  So, I decided to do it.  I don’t have pictures but I can tell you what we did.  You are given a robe and a small envelop with a pair of disposable panties - on size fits all and they cover almost nothing.  You are led - especially if you are not wearing your glasses -  into a small very hot room made of marble. The place where we had the Hammam was in a big hotel - but most communities have a Hamman for everyone to use.   In the communities, they have a men’s and a women’s Hammam and large groups enter at one time.  In the hotel everyone has a private room. The room has a bench and a large sink full of hot water - the bench and floor are hot.  The attendant (girls for girls and boys for boys) starts pouring big dippers of water over your entire body.  Then you lay down on the hot bench and the attendant puts soap all over you - front & back.  Next the attendant puts on a glove that is like a scrubber mitten - and the scrubbing begins.  It is rough - but it feels OK.  After you are scrubbed, the attendant rinses you with the hot water again.  Your head is next and you get a shampoo and a face scrub.  When you are all done with the scrubbing and rinsing you lay on the hot marble bench for about 10 minutes and you get some kind of body oil - maybe argon oil - on your body and on your hair.  That is a Hammam.  Nora said that she didn’t have any hair left on her arms after her Hammam - and when I checked I didn’t either!  I don’t know if I would ever do it again - but I’m glad I experienced it because now I know.

Back to the mosque:

I will say that we stayed too long.  Naime was doing her best to  explain to us the basics of Islam - and women - but we were too tired and much too skeptical of all religions to be open to her explanations.  Most of us believe that religion is a great tool to control the masses and that differs not one bit regardless of what religion you are studying.  It seems a little crazy and very obvious that there are huge opulent mosques, cathedrals, temples, etc, when hunger exists among the believers.  The fact the a certain group of people have “discovered” the truth and their truth makes everyone else’s truth false, just doesn’t fly for me.  I hope we were not rude nor disrespectful to Naime.  I don’t think we were - but remember I began this post by saying, “we are tired.”

Back to our day in Casablanca.

After we left the Mosque we went to see two other places of worship, a Synagogue and a Catholic Church.  Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco.  As I have mentioned, Morocco was once home to many Jews and Christians but now the population of both groups is very small.  We have seen a couple of Synagogues  - but they are historic and not currently used.  We have seen one other Church and that did have a congregation but it was very very small.  In Casablanca the Synagogue and the Church are in use and active. Below is the synagogue and they were decorating for a bar mitzvah.  It was a beautiful building built in the late 1940s.

Here is the church - but in the 1950s.

We made a quick stop in front of a a big square by a courthouse and the new opera house that is being built.  There we saw the water guys again and took a pic.  These guys walk around ringing a bell - and they carry water in a goat skin pouch and they will sell you drink for a donation.  The “donation” is supposed to be made by reaching in your pocket and giving them whatever your fingers touch.  I think they might make more money taking pictures - because is it polite to pay them IF you take a pic.  

We paid them for the pic - but not the water.  While the people in Morocco drink water from the tap - visitors are advised not to do so.  Moroccan city water is treated but not like the water treatment method that is used in the US. Your body gets used to the bacteria that is left in the water after the treatment but it takes a while.  To avoid the problems that the are caused by drinking the water (usually very bad diarrhea) visitors drink bottled water.  We also follow this rule about food, “cook it, peel it or toss it.”  For example while we are traveling we eat only cooked veggies - not raw - unless we can peel it ourselves.  We eat fruit - but only fruit that can be peeled.  In the US - I always rinse my fruit before I eat or serve it - but in Morocco it is the rinse water that is worrisome to travelers.

This square was filled with pigeons and people feeding pigeons.  I confess that I am not a bird lover.  I LOVE to listen to the birds sing.  I enjoy watching them at feeders in my yard or building a nest - but I am not inclined to walk into a flock of pigeons - but that is just what we did. - for a group pic.

Then the young man taking the pic decided it would be great fun if all these bird - suddenly flew.  You can see how much I liked that idea!!!!

We made one final stop inside a government building.  The building was strikingly beautiful and  - as always - in a place of prominence was a picture of the King - Mohammed VI.

And that stop ended our official tour.  We spent what was left of the day relaxing by the hotel pool with our friends.  We will all begin our long flight home tomorrow.

I have a couple more posts about things we discovered along the way and then I will sign off.  

My next e-mails will be sent from Michigan.

Stay tuned.

[dybdahltravels]

Essaouira - Day 3

April 8, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam

We are having a wonderful time in Essaouira. The port is huge and is under major renovation but it is no longer and international port but used is a national port sending and receiving goods only from Moroccan fleets.  In addition it is home to a huge fishing fleet.   One morning we began our day with a walk through the harbor under the guidance of a very friendly  fisherman.  A fishing boat had just arrived with a huge shark and it was the talk of the harbor. 

There were many types of fish to choose from and we were assured that each would be delicious.

Our main purpose of coming to the port was to select fresh fish for out lunch.  Our friendly fisherman guided us through many booths explaining many things like if the fish are on ice - they were catch yesterday.  NEVER buy fish on ice!  It is funny, because I think I am getting great fish if they are laying on ice instead of wrapped in the freezer.

 Using his guidance we bought sole, shrimp, sardine and breve.  After we paid for this selection the fisherman took our bounty and rode away on his bike to the “restaurant”   

Next we went to the suk, located in the Medina.  We bought first mint, several kinds of olives and bananas, tangerines and some of the best strawberries I have ever tasted.  We stopped in a stall that sold sweets and purchased homemade cookies.  This suk was fascinating and clearly we were the only tourists in the place.  After that we headed to a bakery.  Bread is readily available in the Medina from numerous stalls - but going directly to the baker is cheaper and much fresher.

After the bread we headed to a restaurant that cooks the food you buy.  Naima told us that she had purchased potatoes, zucchini and carrots a day earlier and had dropped them off for them to cook the day before.  The kitchen was clean and everyone working there was friendly and welcoming.  

Before long we had olives, veggie tagine, a variety of fresh fish, fresh bread and fruit.  It was a great meal - and again we were clearly the only non-locals in the place.  These kinds of experiences allow us to walk in the shoes of the locals.  It was great.

After lunch we continued to explore the Medina and all it had to offer including the views.  We were on our own missions and one was to buy saffron.

Anything you could possibly want can be found in the Medina.  It is an amazing place.

We walked through Mellah or Jewish section and also visited a woodworking craftsman’s shop.  What beautiful items!

The pictures above are tabletops on inlaid wood.  Simply gorgeous.

We worked out way through the Medina onto the ramparts of the Medina overlooking the Purple Island.  

The island is NOT purple, but the shellfish that can be crushed to produce purple dye can be found there.  For more than 2000 years the people of this area have been going to Purple Island to collect these shells.  We also discovered that this area was a filming location for  Game of Thrones. 

We spent a great deal of time in the Medina and a wonderful dinner. We so enjoyed each other’s company and the sights and sounds of this beautiful city.  We are getting to Naime bette as well and we are impressed.  Clearly she is a woman that younger women will thank for bravery and determination.  I hope she knows it!

We had another wonderful sunset in Essaouira.  Tomorrow we have a long drive to Casablanca - and then we will head home.  What a wonderful adventure we have had - but Casablanca awaits!!

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Essaouira - Day 2

April 7, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam again from  Essaouira.

This morning we were up early with a big agenda.  We would head out of town and looking for tree-climbing goats, see a Woman’s Association that makes argon oil and then see a suk that was for men only!

It wasn’t long before we discovered the tree climbing goats - everywhere.  The goats really do climb trees to it because there is NOTHING to eat on the ground - unless you eat rocks and they do not.  So in order to eat they climb the argon trees.  The trees have very sharp thorns and I would not be climbing these trees - but the goats do it just fine.

The goats stand up and eat what they can and then take a little bit of a running jump and up they go.  SWEET!!!

We saw these tree climbing goats everywhere in the Argon forrest and another interesting piece of info is that Argon trees ONLY grow in this are of Morocco and no other place on earth.  The goats like the leaves and LOVE the ripe fruit. Here are the fruits of the argon tree - but they are not ripe yet.   Look that these thorns too! YIKES.  When the fruit is ripe (September/October) the the farmer must - BY LAW - pen them up outside of the argon forest.  The goats like the shells of the ripe fruit - but the almond inside is the valuable part.

We visited the Argon Oil Women’s Association and it was fascinating.  The women do not pick the fruit - but they take it from there.  Each woman makes money for her family or for herself.  The first step it to remove the shell from the seed - which they call the “almond."  This is not what we call an almond but it looks a little bit like it.

The woman on the right is blind.  Her grandson brings her in every morning and picks here up at the end of the day.  She likes to work, she told us, because she is bored at home.  She used a rock to break the argon fruit and separate the almond from the shell.  All those shells become delicious goat food - FYI.

Next the almonds are cleaned…. 

... so they look like this:

Then they are ground to make a paste.  We got to try this and it wasn’t easy.  (Please notice the tattoo on the woman’s chin below.  This custom is fading fast - but it use to be believed that evil spirits would try and enter a woman’s body so to keep them away women would have tattoos by their month, nose, eyes and ears.  Zouhair’s grandmother and all the women the age of his grandmother that lived in his village did that.  This woman has only protected her mouth.)

This paste then goes through some additional processes - this time with machinery - and out comes argon oil.  Argon oil is used for skin and hair care and people eat it too.  We were invited to eat some argon honey, oil and something that tasted like peanut butter.  Yummy!

From there we headed out to a suk south of town.  Naima told us that in the southern part of the country we will find people who are VERY conservation and it is rare to see a woman outside of the home.  We drove for about 40 minutes and entered a VERY busy village of men.  The suk was huge but there were men sellers and men buyers.  There were a few women, but mostly older women, who probably were widows with no family.  Other than that - MEN ONLY!!  We saw men selling every thing - including women’s clothing.  We asked Naime how a man bought clothes or shoes for his wife or daughter and she explained that the father or husband would guess about the size and if you were lucky he was right.  But in this community - he was right - even if her was wrong - so you would be grateful for the clothes and wear it - no matter how ti fit.  We saw lots of things at the suk - including camel meat, chickens being killed and chopped up and even some men relaxing in the shade of a building of canopy getting stoned.  It was clearly a man’s world and most of the men would not let you take a pic.

Other than the females in our group all of the very few women we saw were completely covered.  Niama put on a hijab and it seemed to me that she was treated with disrespect by many of the men there.  She had a few people who were willing to talk to her - but not many.  

Frankly, I was glad to get out of there.  This is the only time I have felt uncomfortable in Morocco.  These men who control everything in their world didn’t appreciate our intrusion.  Usually this is the challenge that just fires me up - but this time - I just wanted to be done.  I’m VERY glad we went though - because I couldn’t even imagine it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. After that we headed to an organic winery - a welcome change from the suk.

The winery was very nice and we enjoyed our tour and a delicious late lunch.  Wine in the majority Muslim country is confusing.  Drinking wine or any alcoholic beverage is “haram” or forbidden for Muslims - but Morocco is very tolerant of people’s choices, so it is available for anyone to purchase.  The King owns the biggest grocery store chain, Carrefore and wine used to be available there.  The king is the spiritual head of the kingdom and many people thought it was setting a bad example to have wine in the store.  So now the King’s sister owns stores next door to the Carrrefore markets - where she sells - you guessed it - wine.  Interesting.

We had such a late lunch the dinner was unnecessary - but a walk on the beach for sunset was a must.  Check this out.

Sweet!!!  

Stay tuned - we have another full day in Essaouira.

[dybdahltravels]

To Essauouira with Naime

April 7, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam,

Naime Azougarh was ready for us this morning and although she knew that competing with Zouhair who had had 20 days with us would be futile, she brought her own game.  Clearly bright and fearless, we are excited to get a woman’s perspective on this world so dominated by men. She was open, energetic and panning to make sure that we had the best Morocco had to offer in the last days of our trip.

From Marrakesh we dove to Essaouira on the Atlanta Ocean coast.   Essaouirais pronounced  “Essa - whir - a"

About an hour away from Marrakesh the terrain changed dramatically. The land in this area is dry and rocky - unbelievably rocky. 

It is surprising that anything grows here - but thanks to drip irrigation it does.  This area is known for olive and argon trees.  I had never even heard of an argon tree or argon oil but most of the women in our group had and explained it is very often used in hair products.  The other thing that the area is know for is tree climbing goats.  Really!  We had been told that there are places where people tie goats to trees to try and trick tourists - and that we should just ignore that - because we would indeed visit the area where there there are tree climbing goats  - and we did!

On our way to Essaouria we stopped for lunch at a tiny village and had lunch in the home of a lovely widow.  She and her husband used to cook for weddings and other celebrations, but now she lives along and works for travel groups inviting people into her home.  She has grown sons but they do not live with her.  She and her husband had selected each other - as opposed to have their marriage arranged by their parents - which was very modern and against all customs.  After she was married they moved into her husbands home as custom dictated and after 2 months she said “I'm LEAVING!”  She told us that her husband’s mother was just mean and she could not live with her - so her husband decided to make a house of his own for his wife and himself and they had lived very happily after that time.  She even learned to love and respect her husband’s mother.  :). They had 4 children -  2 daughter and 2 sons.  Only one son was married and she told them - GET YOUR OWN HOUSE!  Her daughters also did NOT live with their respective husband’s families and she thought that was a great plan.  “Times are changing” she said.  

She was fun to talk to and our lunch was delicious.  Of course we had tagine - but this one was goat tagine - and it was yummy.

Shortly after lunch we passed the goat in trees tourist trap (and I felt very sorry for these goats). These goats are lifted into the trees on platforms and then tied there.  People who stop have to pay the owner to take pictures. I took this picture out of the bus - while out guide was saying - “animal abuse - we will pay them NOTHING to mistreat goats.”

We had one more stop after lunch and this time we were at a very small organic farm.  This lovely man welcomed us to his farm and stopped his work to tell us about his life.  His farm produces what his family needs and a little bit to sell at the local suk.  Water.is a big problem here and his water supply is regulated, but the region had experienced 3 days of rain recently and that had given his crops and jump start.  Below he is showing us his artichokes.

He had goats and cows as well as 4 children.  When asked if he hopes his sons will grow up and take over the farm, he emphatically replied NO!!  His children will go to school - all his children.  Education is so important and so difficult to obtain.  We wished this kind farmer well!

We continued on until we reached Essaouira.  The city is very European and modern.  The beach is beautiful.  The city is known for its winds and right away we saw many windsurfers.  Cool - huh?

The temperatures here are very warm and it will be the first time that all of us will get to wear the summer clothes we have hauled around for almost 3 weeks. This city is not ancient like the rest of the cities we have visited but is just a little more than 250 years old.  The city was designed at the requisition of King Mohammed III in 1760  and built to serve as an international port.  Mohammend III was also the King of Morocco when Morocco recognized the brand new country of the United States. 

We stopped for a picture outside the city and looked what walked by:

I  must say that no matter what road we were on - including 4 lane expressways - there were always animals sharing the road.  It is just the way of life.

We settled in and then took a walk to the Medina and down the beach.  The weather is perfect!!  23 degrees C and sunny!  The Medina is more modern than we have experienced with wider alleyways..  Oh a thousand years can make a difference - right?

Sweet!!!  

Stay tuned - we have another 2 more full days in Essaouira.

[dybdahltravels]

Farewell Zouhair

April 6, 2019

Today we say good-bye, hope to see you soon to our friends, but we all know that when we say good-bye to Zouhair it is forever and it made me sad.  He is an amazingly kind and caring young man with a mind that everyone should envy.  He is fluent in Arabic,  the Amazigh language -  Tamazight,  Hebrew, French and English.  He is amazingly well read in all languages and he is a poet.  Here are two poems he wrote during our trip.

Yes - the man writes poetry in English.  Talk about feeling dumb.  But the truth was I felt numb.

We had a great last day visiting government buildings, palaces and taking the carriage ride.  We beat the rain and had a great lunch atop a roof overlooking the Medina.  AWESOME.

Dinner was simply lovely in another gorgeous Riad - but when it was time to give our thoughts about the trip I started to cry.

Saying good-bye to Zouhair was like saying good-bye to family.  He had worked so hard for us.  He had solved every issue no matter how big or small but we all knew that he was anxious to get home to his son, wife and family.  And the truth was we couldn’t stop time - so early the next morning we would say see you soon to Gwynn & Jim, Kevin & Joan and John & Susan, and say good-bye forever to Zouhair.  Our friends will have another day in Casablanca with our dear guide.

I do believe that people cross your path sometimes that change your life.  My mind and heart had grown so much under this gentleman’s guidance.  We promised to stay in touch - but realistically we probably won’t.  This is his job just as my job was to guide my students.  I hoped I touched many of their hearts and minds, but I do not stay in touch with many of them.  Life moves on.

A few days after we parted I got this video from Zouhair and...

... a very cute video of his precious son.

The following day I got a thank you letter from him expressing to me how much I had inspired him and how our entire group had broadened his mind.  You know what i said about those paths crossing.....  In the letter was this:

a picture of his wife, Fatima and his beautiful son.  A family reunited - if just until the new group of tourists arrives.  He included this poem:

And under the poem were these words:

God Bless You all: and thank you very much for the beautiful minds and hearts; thank you for the wonderful smile on faces. Love You all.

Love you back, Zouhair!  You are a jewel to your country and to our world.  THANK YOU, my dear!

But now we have another guide, Naime - a young Muslim woman.  Our journey continues and I think we will see a different perspective from this vantage point.

Stay tuned.

[dybdahltravels]

Over the High Atlas Mts to Marrakesh

Bonjour and Salaam,

On April 3rd, (grandson Sagan’s 9th birthday!) we traveled over the high Atlas Mountains from  Ouarazazate to Marrakesh.  

The trip over the mountains was spectacular for the eyes - but scary - especially if you don’t really like heights - and I don’t.  YIKES!!  This is what it looked liked as we left but soon we left the desert like area behind.

Slowly it got greener and greener....

Morocco is improving the roads in the mountains - so we had a lot of construction and trucks and big machines sharing our small road.  Sometimes, I just closed my eyes, but all was well.  Except for the “bad fuel” problem.  Our poor bus decided about half way in our trip it needed a rest again.  This time there were no taxies to call.  We were in the wilderness.   The bus started going slower and slower and slower.  We all looked at each other with very wide eyes.  But after a short rest, the bus was ready to go again and took us all right into Marrakesh.  The roads of Morocco are simply fabulous BTW.  This came as a surprise to all of us - but we were never on any roads like we have in Michigan.  NEVER!!

We saw lots of little villages tucked away in the mountains many that had only donkey paths for access.  We also saw the summer grazing frames for the nomads.

Below is a picture of our group at the highest point you can drive to in the High Atlas Mountains, 2260 meters or  8, 727 feet.  It was sooooo WINDY!!! Everyone - but Joan was tucked away using the sign to protect us from the wind - poor Joan!  Her hair shows you just how crazy windy it was.

We stopped at one spot a little past this point - where anyone who wished could stand on the top of a sheer cliff that dropped more than a 1000 feet.  NOT ME!!!  And I have ZERO pictures to prove I didn’t go!

So on to Marrakesh.  My first impression of this place was “GET ME OUTTA ‘HERE!”   I did appreciate it more and more as time went on - but at first it looked like everything I don’t like about a place.  The crowds were insane.  Our guide told us that we needed to be careful about pickpockets.  There was a cacophony of sounds everywhere. There were people trying to talk you into buying dumb cheap things and to top it off there were snake charmers trying to put snake around your neck.  Before we got of the bus, Zouhair said - "DO NOT let people put snakes around your neck.”   No one needs to tell me that - BUT when we walked from the bus to our riad - someone ALMOST put a snake around Jim's neck.  OMG!!!

As we walked through this HUGE square it occurred to me that THIS was what I had thought Morocco would be like.  The massive crowds; the pickpockets; the snake charmers; dancing monkeys; the sound of the snake charmers horn; the overwhelming smells of food; men and women dressed in different kinds of Muslim attire; the heat.  Now I recognize that I couldn’t have been more wrong.  All this belonged to Marrakesh and Marrakesh belonged to Morocco - but it was just one tiny pice of the beautiful tapestry that is Morocco.

We settled in to the riad and then took a walk to the Medina.  Our riad is on the square - right on the square!!  PERFECT!!  Just as we got ready to walk out the door, the hotel manager stopped our group and reminded us that - sadly - we needed to be aware of pickpockets.  He advised the women to wear our purses across our bodies and to put our cell phones out of sight.  He advised the men to move their cell phone and wallets to front pockets.  We thanks him and started to leave but then his asked my friend, Nora, where her cell phone was.  Nora lifted her purse but she didn’t see her phone.  At that moment, the hotel manager held up her. phone.  WOW!!!  A great lesson for all of us and we made the adjustments.  No one lost a phone or a purse or a wallet.  No one got a snake around the neck and we all learned to love Marrakesh. We visited the Medina where the alleys are filled with shops and people and smells - AND motorcycles, bikes, carts and dollies - with no one slowing down.  WHY there are not dead people just lying in the alleyways I cannot figure out - but I was determined not to be the first.  Frankly, I was happy when we emerged back into the square.  In the square was a huge food area - like mini restaurants

Zouhair walked us through this giant food area and then challenged us to taste some of the favorite foods of Moroccans.  We agreed and then he brought us sheep brains and tongue.  Many people changed their minds - but I was determined to taste it and I found them both delicious.  (I also found it easier to just think of it as “food” if you get what I’m trying to say!)

I was most surprised to discover that this entire restaurant area would be taken down around midnight.  The square cleaned and scrubbed and re-assembled the very next day.  Truly, I though Zouhair was kidding us - but when we walked into the square the next morning - that entire area was clean and empty.  By evening the entire restaurant area was up again.   That was pretty cool!!!

I have been simply amazed at how clean the city streets of Morocco are.  There are people sweeping and washing all the time.  Very few people smoke here as well - and that is certainly helpful.   Life is busy in these cities, but everyone we have met has been kind and generous - except for the guy with the snakes - JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!  The villages, however are not clean.  They are trash filled and plastic.  Plastic -  like in the US - is a plague on our planet.  There is no re-cycling here - FYI.

We spent 3 days in Marrakesh.  

It is spring here - for sure  - and the taxies in Marrakesh are the color of butternut squash.

We saw one of the King’s palaces and museums and took a  horse drawn carriage ride from the ancient city to a very modern city.  We walked through the Jewish area called  “mellah.”  I really like that Morocco continues to credit the Jews that helped make the Morocco that we see today - even though there are very few Jews living in Morocco now. 

The palaces are simply gorgeous and I can’t think of anything like it is the US.

A quick aside - these carvings you see are handcrafted.  While there now exists molds that can made something that looks like this, there exists a thriving group of craftsmen who work in renovation.  We walked by a man doing this work in Fes. Check it out.  What a difference a day makes.  SWEET!!!!

The ceilings of this palace was awe-inspiring.  It was a BIG deal - BTW - that the King had recently opened up some of his palace for visitors.  A BID DEAL!!!

The walls were equally splendid!

Here we are in the King’s Favorite Wife’s chamber.  Yes - turns out we were our husband’s favorite wives.

We also got to see inside of the concubines living areas.   It too was opulent - but in a very different way.  The life of a concubine was tough due to the passage of time.  When you are hot - you are hot and when you are not - you are gone.  Really - the king needs 100s of concubines plus 4 wives? Does he have anything else to do?!?!?  I’m not buying this idea.

Nice door and window shutters - but they locked on the outside - if you can even imagine how sick and twisted this concubine concept is.  YUCK!!

The carriage ride was great!  We went from the Medina to the modern city - a lot like any huge modern city in the world.

As we left the the Medina, we saw the snow capped High Atlas Mountains and the beautiful minaret for end main mosque of Marrakesh .

The sun was out but it was still cool but we had a great time.

It was during our adventure in the modern city that Mark saw this:

Since he just can’t resist having a man with a straight razor who doesn’t speak his language shave him and cut this hair - he hustled in.  Brother.....

In the meantime, I discovered this store - clearly named for our 12 year old grandson and the restaurant plague of all cities - well you figure it out.

At least the meat is halal - which is the opposite of haram.

Here is the mosque for this part of town.

In the end I learned to love Marrakesh but it was NOT love at first sight - believe me.   Our trip is drawing to a close and when we leave Marrakesh we will say good-bye to 6 our of dear friends and to our beloved guide, Zouhair.  The remaining 8 will meet another guide and head to Essaouira on the Atlantic Ocean.  We have heard that this area of Morocco is unique and that we will love it.  So far we have enjoyed everyplace we have visited - even Marrakesh.

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Family life in a Moroccan Village

April 2, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam!!

Back to the lunch in a small home in Souss-Massa- Draa - outside Ouazazate.  Luckily, it was Spring Break and all the kids of the village were home and OMG!! - what a great day!! This family was very wealthy in their village.  They had lots of goats and sheep.

They had an outdoor oven to bake bread that they shared with all the neighbors.  They even let our friend Gwynn try making some bread and baking it in the oven.

Then after bread making we walked into their field and had our welcome tea.  We left the house carrying stools and all the things we needed for making tea and eating the freshly made bread - but all the neighborhood kids grabbed our stools and carried everything we needed.  They were so helpful!  Gotta’ love spring break!

The family had 5 children and the boy in green is part of the family - the rest of part of the community family. Below is the second oldest daughter and the oldest son.   She is wearing the hijab because she does, but the little boy has on a turban - not part of his family wear - but he is dressed for the play they will presenting for us. They were magnificent.

Here is the second oldest daughter holding her youngest sister.

This little guy was so smart and wanted to learn English.  In just a couple of minutes I taught him the words “nose” “ear” “teeth” “hand” “fingers” “foot”, “knee” and “elbow.  I would have liked to bring him home.  What a sweet young man.  I believe he will go far!

Soon it was time for lunch:  Lamb tagine and couscous.  YUMMY!

After lunch, the children has planned a play for us.  FANTASTIC!!!

The kids sang us some songs...

...and then we did the same to them.  Ok - they were cuter!

All too soon it was time to go.  We hated to leave our new friends.  All the kids from the village escorted us to the bus and waved good-bye.

From there we went to a nearby Woman’s Association in Ksar of Ben Haddou.  Now this is the place we viewed from across the valley - the UNESCO site.   I would have liked to wonder around in this city - but instead we went to this site - and THAT was an excellent choice. 

Any organization supporting women is new and revolutionary.  Morocco has a real girl/women problem.  More that 50% of all girls quit school by age 12 - or don’t even go to school - and most of those that leave school live in the small villages.  Girls are supposed to get married and have babies and learn to do everything to take care of the house, children, fields and their husband.   If a girl is unhappy with her husband - even if he beats her - TOUGH!

If the husband does decide to divorce her, she returns to the home of her mother and father and is a disgrace.  In Morocco a man can have 4 wives - even if the first wife doesn’t like it.  TOUGH!  Wives are not allowed to work outside the house, either.  Oh my!!!

But occasionally a girl in a village manages to convince her father - who makes ALL the decisions - that she would like to go to school and become something other than a wife and mother.  When it happens, she is considered not suitable for marriage and motherhood and is an embarrassment to her family - even if her job is a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher.  From my perspective, this is CRAZY!!  I believe that girls can be anything they wish AND a wife and mother too - if they choose and I may have mentioned that to my daughter, sons and grandchildren - more than once.

 These new Woman’ s Associations are helping young women learn to do other things that will bring in money into the home and even helping them start businesses.  We talked to two amazing women who started this program and to several women who are currently running a bakery. 

They are in the process of building a big building - thanks to Grand Circle Foundation (part of OAT)  - and that will provide women lots of opportunities.  We walked to the building site and were so happy to see the progress.  Jobs - jobs - jobs for men and women!

The young women told us that many men are starting to change their minds about the role of women - but that it is a VERY slow process.  I believe they are on the right track.  Many of us made donations to this program.  We know that education is the only way to improve the lives of people and we also know that if women are educated they will make sure that their children are educated as well.

I confess that when I sent my letter to the classrooms  I MAY have carried on a bit about the value of education.  As a matter of fact - here is what I sent the kids: 

You are VERY lucky to be able to attend school.  So many children around the world would give anything for the educational opportunities you have.  Make sure you appreciate your books and your desks and your teachers and your building with heat, running water and bathrooms.  Way too many children around the world have none of this and their lives will continue to be filled with hunger and poverty until they can change their lives by obtaining an education. Take time to look around your school today and be thankful.  Don’t waste a minute of what you have.  You might grow up to be the person who can help fix this education problem in countries like Morocco. Lucky me - lucky you.   Take a minute and thank your teachers for what they are giving you.  Right now would be a great time!

I truly enjoy getting a look into the lives of the people who live where we visit.  It takes the trip from superficial to remarkable.  

Loving Morocco!

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Salaam from Ouazazate

Bonjour and Salaam,

The name of the city we are in today is prounced "Whaza-zot” and I confess that i just love saying it. Ouazazate is the Hollywood of Morocco. By that I mean this place is filled with movie studios - and not just Moroccan movie studios, but studios from America and Europe in addition to the Moroccan studios.  It is a super modern city - where you can still see a donkey cart - or a person riding a donkey.  Many famous movies have been made in this city for years.  Almost without fail, if the movie is about Ancient Rome, Troy, Greece or Biblical lands - it is made in this city.  Many Science Fiction and Fantasy movies are also filmed here and we met many people who have jobs as “extras” in movies or security or something to do with the movie industry.  At one time it was estimated that more than 50% of the town people have worked as extras.  Movies include Ben Hur, Game of Thrones (Season 3), Prince of Persia and a whole lot more. This city has been a movie studio center since the 1920 and many city people have had many jobs - BUT in the last 18 years most of the significant jobs for men involve playing terrorists and really bad people.  That made me sad and disappointed.  If people have never met people from Morocco and only know them as villains in movies - soon they will think of Moroccans as being bad people and believe me they are not!  We have found Moroccans to be kind, friendly, generous and welcoming.

This picture below is the city square of Ouazazate.  We have seen many city squares or neighborhood parks with these cute little electric cars.  They are a hit!

We had a little adventure getting to Ouazazate because our bus decided it needed a little rest.  On our way to the Sahara we had had a little bus problem when suddenly our bus didn’t want to go.  We pulled over that after revving the engine - it final began to move.   Mark said “dirty fuel.”  But we got to our drop-off place and while we transferred to our 4-wheelers, our bus went for some maintenance.  Filters got changed and some other stuff as well - so when were reunited with our bus - the bus was given a clean bill of health.  Mark said “ still has dirty fuel.”

Just outside of Tinghir - about half was to Ouazazate-- our bus slowed down and then just stopped. (Dirty fuel)

Our guide jumped off the bus and hailed a taxi while our bus driver and his assistant began working on the bus.  Tinghir has yellow taxies,  FYI.  The taxi left and returned with 3 other taxies and Zouhair sent us a couple of miles up the road to a coffee/tea shop in the center of Tinghir.  It was a sweet place - right on the main road - but before we got our drinks - Zouhair whispered to me that our bus was fixed and on its way.

We enjoyed our beverages and being in the middle of town - and surely the talk of the town.  Then we walked about a block to our bus.  We got on the bus and continued on our way to Ouazazate.

The land between our desert camp and Tinghir was very dry and we passed many, many small villages made of adobe bricks.   The bricks are made with soil, straw and animal dung (poop).  This is all mixed up with with and put in a mold.  The mold is removed and the bricks dry in the sun for a couple of weeks.    Below, our friend is getting instruction on how to make bricks from the brick maker, Mohammed and his son.  Look behind Mohammed to see a wall made of brick and behind our friend to see a pile of bricks,

Then they are used to build walls.  Once the walls are tall enough palm wood is played across the roof.  

The roof is covered with plastic and then more adobe.  This works great - because this area is very, very dry and gets very, very hot in the summer.  The walls are thick and that means it keeps the houses cool.  The houses do need some repair every few of years - especially if the area gets a heavy rain - but that WAS rare.  Because of climate change, it is no longer rare and the houses are having to change since the rains are causing major damage.   The people who can afford it are now buying cement blocks and making a house of concrete.  This is great because concrete will not fall apart when it gets wet BUT this area is super hot in the summer, 45- 47 degrees C.  (113-116 degrees F)  The adobe houses stay cool but the concrete houses do not  - easily reaching 100 degrees inside.  There is no air-conditioning and most people do not even have electric fans nor could they afford the electricity to run it.  You can see that this will be a big problem for the villages.

Below is a community built with bigger bricks - but it still mud based.  They were repairing the wall.

We had 2 wonderful events while staying in Ouzazote and both involved the people of the area.

On our second morning we boarded our bus (still doing just fine - thank you!) and headed to a nearby village.   On our way we saw this very beautiful little village that has turned into a tourist stop.  The Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou is an example of a traditional pre-Saharan habitat in southern Morocco, surrounded by high walls and reinforced with corner towers.  I get it - because it is beautiful, and I would have liked to visit - but we passed it by and headed to a tiny village a few miles away.  Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou is a UNESCO site after all. 

We were going there to meet a family that would share their world with us for the entire day.  More about that next.

Loving the people of Morocco!

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Khettaras - WOWZA

Many of our bus trips from one Moroccan location to another have been long - but in order to break up the trip, we always stop and do or see something that is amazing - even if it is a little bit out of the way.  The people of Morocco and so many other places on earth are in a constant quest for water - even in the US.  Water is a key element of life.  As you have seen with water you can turn the dessert into a garden.  People almost always settle by water - a river, a lake, a spring or the oceans.  But not everyone can live by the water -  so since ancient days human have tried to figure out a way to bring water to places that don’t have water.

Here is a Roman aqueduct that carried water from the mountain springs to the people of  Volubilis.

But the currently area we are visiting is so dry that much of the water that runs on the top of the aqueduct would be evaporated - so they had to come up with another method.  The method they developed more than 500 years ago was called Khettaras or qanat.  (Qanat is a GREAT word if you are playing Scrabble or Words with Friends- by the way!)  We were driving along the highway and we kept seeing hundreds of big humps of soil as far as the eye could see..  Zouhair asked us if we would like to take an underground challenge and we agreed. 

We soon discovered that these humps we saw were the soil that had removed from holes dug into the ground.  Below is how the hole was dug and how the dirt was hauled up.  But there was lots more to learn.

The picture below is from the top of the hole looking down.

We were led to a shack nearby and headed down the steps to discover that a tunnel connected all these holes - and that tunnel was slanted so that each hole we saw was a little bit shorter or a little bit deeper that the hole next to it. We discovered that this tunnel and a series of holes went on for MILES and MILES to a spring in the foot hills of the Mid Atlas Mountains. 

The picture below is from the bottom of the hole looking up.

We discovered that this tunnel and a series of holes went about 190 miles to a spring in the foot hills of the Mid Atlas Mountains.  This tunnel dug by hundreds of people carried water from the mid Atlas Mountains to the farms of this area and had been doing so since the 1500s

About 45 years ago many of the qanats were replaced with pipes - but some of the 75 khettaras around the area - on both sides of the mountain are still in operation. Think about the mathematics that would have to be involved in the development of this system.  Gravity is the driver of this process and although you have to move the water more than 180 miles you don’t want it BELOW your town when it gets there.  One thing we know is the water will NOT flow uphill.  Below is a pic I took of a little chart.  It is in French and “puits d’acnes our creaser et delayer” means “access shafts for digging and shoveling.”  “Terre de deblayement” mean lands to be cleared..  Imagine this is a plan for 100 miles from the underground river to the oasis.  Where would you start to dig?   Brilliant minds and lots of muscles built this system.

There still exists a minister of water in every small town today - but even in the 1500s the job of that minister was to make sure the water was shared fairly based on how many crops the farmer had.  Here is something I know - don’t piss off the minister of water!

Our host, Mohammed,- yes his name is Mohammed! -  explained how this system was built and regulated for more than 500 years.  I was simply amazed.  And two last things - the bowl he has in his hand is a timer from hundreds of years ago..  The Moroccans had a figured out how much water to pour into that bowl so that it would take exactly 60 minutes to drip out.  I’m not sure why they needed to measure an hour - but I thought it was ingenious.

And Mohammed had been raising a baby camel that he found after he saw the baby’s mom get hit by a truck.  He calls the baby his daughter and she loves to drink tea.  Check this out:

The things you can learn when you travel will blow your mind.

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Farewell Sahara

Bonjour and Salaam,

We have left the Sahara but I have a few more things to report.  Despite our bout with chilly weather and rain, we still got up to watch the sunrise.  The first morning was kinda a bust because a ban of clouds blocked the actual sunrise. 

But we got the feel of it and Mark & I decided to get up even earlier to stargaze and watch the stars fade as the colors start to appear.

The stars were glorious but even cooler was the silence.  

Not a sound and frankly I didn’t really realize it until it was gone.  Slowly, as the sky begins to lighten and the stars begin to fade and  the birds began their morning song.  The roosters began to cow and the donkeys began to bray.  All lovely sounds - and then we heard a generator.  Ahhh, the modern world.

That is Kevin & Joan in the distance

Sweet!  We had a wonderful time in Sahara and that included the last night when we enjoyed a lively discussion about Islam around a campfire.  The truth is that not any of else know a great deal about Islam so we welcomed the information.  What we did learn is the Islam - like Judaism and Christianity - is a Abrahamic religion that has been given a bad name by extremists.  It is a peaceful religion that preaches love and kindness. 

My take continues to be a lot of rules and many that oppress women - but I believe that is shared equally with most religions.  It would have been easier - I think - to have had a religious scholar speaking as opposed to a believer, but how Zouhair remained calm and understanding when the fundamental beliefs of his life were be questioned was beyond me.  He is a gentleman to the core.

Loving Morocco!

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Loving the Sahara

March 31, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam,

Another surprise was a trip a farm - right in the middle of all this sand.  The magic ingredient of life is  - of course -  water.  There are many underground rivers in the desert and when that river appears on the surface it forms an oasis.  Below is an oasis.

But back to the farm.  Our host Ba-Mohammed was able to dig a well.  The first well was only 3 meters - but it was salt water. Zouhair tasted that - and I can attest by his reaction and how fast he spit that water out - that it was indeed VERY SALTY!   Then Ba-Mohammed  dug another well - this time 9 meters deep  and that well was fresh water.  Slowly he began to build a farm with a mixture of the water that was mainly fresh water and a little bit salt. 

From his well he has many pipes and hoses leading to his plot of crops.  Below he is showing us how the opens the lid on a pipe and water flows out to his newly planted dates.

He has this irrigation system everywhere and look what it happening.

He has been doing this for more than 30 years and he as lots of little plots of different kinds of foods and vegetables.  Below he is showing us how he climbs his date palms to harvest the fruit.  By the way - I freaking love dates!!

He is always fighting the elements to keep his farm productive.  Below you will see that the wind has blown the sand onto his date palms.  He will shovel the sands away - but they will blow back in a few days.  If he decided not to shovel - then the sands would kill the palm. 

A never ending job.

Ba Mohammed also has many goats.  He uses them for milk and cheese, meat and  - perhaps the best commodity - manure.  Manure is his fertilizer and it is like silver to a farmer trying to grow plants in this environment.  (Water is gold!) You can see by looking at his gardens that they have little or no nutrients in the soil. Ba Mohammed uses the goat poop very effectively!

I did NOT know that you could have a thunderstorm in the desert or that you could grow a garden in the desert where there is no oasis.  Travel enlightens while expanding your heart.  Win/win!

By the afternoon the temperature was warm and we decided to take a hike on the dunes.  - shoes off!!!  It was so much fun climbing, sliding down and climbing some more.  There was a gentle breeze but not enough to blow the sand in your eyes - but enough to make your tracks disappear in a few minutes. 

Friends Jim, Tom, Kevin and John M. decided to climb to the top of the biggest dune we could see.  The rest of us said “see you back at the camp!”

They hiked for about an hour - but decided to turn around before they reached the top because it was simply too steep.  You can see how far they got - before the turned back.  Check out their tracks.

While the hikers climbed we went back to camp to meet up with a young woman who was going to give us a henna tattoo.  She was clearly talented.

The way this is supposed to work is that this natural dye stains your skin dark brown.  The stain then lightens up over the next few days until it eventually disappears in 10 days.  But something happened to this solutions and it didn’t stain - at all.  We were all disappointed but quickly recovered.  It was worth a try!

Soon after our hikers came back and although we gave them some crap about not making it to the top - we gave them a hero’s welcome.

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

April 3, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam from the Sahara,

Today was a great day in the land of sand.   The weather has changed and we actually finished the day with the weather I expected - sunny and hot.  The morning was still pretty chilly - but we just put on our coats and headed out to ride some Arabian camels or dromedaries.  I can’t tell you how fun that was.  Arabian camels, also known as dromedaries, have only one hump,  The hump stores up to 80 pounds of fat, which a camel can break down into water and energy when needed.  These humps give camels the ability to travel up to 100 desert miles without water - and apparently they are delicious.  (YIKES!)

  Dromedaries are very neat animals perfectly adapted to the desert life. (Oh - evolution, you genius!)  They have amazingly long eyelashes and ear hairs to keep the sand out of their eyes - AND they have a third eyelid that can help them get sand out of their eyes.  Arabian Camels' feet are wide so they can walk on sand more easily. Their huge feet help them to walk on sand without sinking into it

We got to ride the Dromedaries because we are tourists  - but mostly people traveling though the desert with camels have used the camel to carry supplies and they just lead the camels.  For today’s adventure - we were the “supplies" and the owners of the camels just led us around.

Getting on the camel was challenging - but an interesting process.  The camel kneels first and then lets you mount.  I hope you can see the video I have attached of two of my friends.

Below  I am riding my camel.  We walked for about an hour - going up and down the dunes.  At one point we were right on the edge of a big dune and my camel would NOT get of the edge.  I said gently - Hey Buddy- a little bit to the right, please” but he ignored me and just kept walking right on the tippy top of the this giant dune.

While we were be lead all over the dunes for an hour, Zouhair was running around taking pictures of us.  Frankly, I thought he should just take a break, but no way - no how.  Not him!  Here is the result of his work:

We did a lot more than just ride dromedaries - a LOT more.  It is coming.

Stay tuned! 

[dybdahltravels]

Forgotten Morocco

Bonjour and Salaam, 

We saw some amazing scenery on out way to the desert.   Enjoy!

When you travel it is VERY important to try and discover not only the beautiful scenery (above) and the historical and cultural components but also the real part of wherever you visit.  We have certainly seen a great deal of the former three things - but finding the later is more difficult - even if you see it right under your noses.  We have never been to  a big city where poverty is not visible.  There are always people begging - although I have to say there seem to be very few here.  There are always people dressed in worn or tattered clothing and there are always people working doing things they should not be doing - just to survive.  An example of this is that we saw a very old man carrying very heavy boxes but he could barely walk himself - but he was still working.

Morocco does not have a system that assures that their elderly citizens will have money even after they are no longer working - like the Social Security system of U.S.  They have health care for everyone - but we heard it is very poor quality and locations are very hard to get to - especially if you are not in a town.

We visited a family who had just lost the husband/father to cancer.  He had been diagnosed and tried a few times to take the 9 hour bus ride to the chemo center but had given up.  Even after the ride, it was a first come, first serve system, so he might have to wait several hours for his treatment and then ride the bus home again.  He decided it was too inconvenient for his family, so he just died.  We learned that the king recently needed eye surgery and he opted to fly to France for the surgery.  I think that says it all about the health care system of Morocco.

This house we were generously welcomed into was made of mud bricks.  The ceiling was palm tree trunks covered with plastic and then mud.  

The house would need major repair every year - after the rains.

The day we visited, the mother’s sister was in charge because mother was in the fields.  Mother’s sister now lives in the home as a helpmate. We met two of the young sons and they were delightful, shaking hands with everyone and making sure we were welcomed.  Of course we had tea to welcome us.  (Weaving is a part of most families we visited.)

One of things I really like about the travel company we travel with (OAT) is that they always make sure that you see all sides of life in the area you visit.  Our wonderful guide, Zouhair talked to us about the “forgotten Morocco” or the part of Morocco that no one wants to talk or think about and he started with Nomads.  Nomads are  people having no permanent home, and who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock. Nomad livestock consists of goats or sheep or camels.

As we have traveled around Morocco from city to city we have seen many many herds of animals (mostly goats and sheep) and many shepherds.  Not everyone who is a shepherd is a nomad, but as we got closer to the mountains we started seeing shacks in the fields - some covered with plastic and some covered with blankets and rugs.  At one shack, close to the road, Zouhair had the bus pull over and he left the bus and started to walk toward the shack.

He talked to some ladies and then to a man.  He returned to the bus and told us that we had been invited into the nomad’s home for tea.  Off the bus and into the “home” we went.

The “home” was a tent - with 2 rooms.  The first room had a stove, some dishes, a basket of eggs, many blankets and and a loom in it.  We were surprised to also see a TV.

We were invited into the second room which was filled with blankets and pillows and a small table.  On the table was a very nice tray and several glasses. Rugs covered the floor and blankets hung on some of the walls and on the ceiling.  We removed our shoes when we  entered and sat on the floor of the our host’s home.  He welcomed us and told us - as Zouhair interpreted -  to feel free to ask him any questions he might have.

He told us that he had 2 children, a daughter and a son.  His 12 year old daughter attended a boarding school but his 9 year old son would not be attending school as he was needed to help with the herd.  Living in this home was his wife, his son and his brother.  The brother was tending to the sheep and goats today and he was resting.  They raised chicken’s and his wife sold eggs and chickens in the local souk.  He has several “home” frames in different parts of the mountains and depending on the quality of the grazing lands and on the weather - they would move as needed.  When they moved they would strip everything from their home - but the frame.  He had 2 donkeys and 2 carts that would help them move as needed.  He assured us that no one could even consider bothering his frame as he would never bother the frame of any other nomad.

He served us tea and continued to talk.  His parents were also nomads and they - with the help of a government program - had purchased a solar panel AND a TV.  He and his family were practicing Muslins and he was proud of the king.  He even the King and his family's picture hanging on his wall.

We asked Zouhair how this man, who seemed to have so little had a beautiful tea pot, tray and glasses and Zouhair explained that NO home - however humble - would be without this.  It is possible that this belonged to this man’s family for years - or was just purchased at the souk - but it is a MUST.  Serving tea is how you welcome guests and we did indeed learn that  every household we visited (and we visited many!) had this item.

He was kind and generous.  He told us that the King had passed by their home - but didn’t stop.  Someone from the King’s travel party did stop recently and told them that the King wanted them to move their homes to a new location so that no one could see it from the road.  That made me mad.  There were really kind and caring people who are poor doing the best they can and instead of helping them - they wanted them to disappear.  GRRRRRRR!! When we were in the Sahara, we visited another Nomad.  This man was in his 70s and he had been a Nomad his entire life.  He lived with his wife, his oldest son and his wife and their children.  Here is his home for this time of the year:

This family has camels and they rent half of the camels for tourists - but they must move when the food source for the camels runs low.  (Note the tea service, my friends.)

He welcomed us into his home and made us tea - which is a welcome “must.”  When we arrived he was loving on his darling little granddaughter.  The love between a grandparent and a grandchild is worldwide and looks the same in Morocco or Michigan.  It warmed my heart and made me miss my own grands.

We removed out shoes before entering his home and he invited us to ask him questions.  He told us he had 7 children.  All his daughters were married and lived with their husband’s families - all were nomads.  He had one son that lives with he and his wife, but all of his sons work with tourists, driving or doing camel rides.  We asked him what he would do if suddenly he had a great deal of money.  He said he would move to a city where he could pray in a Mosque five times a day.  He told us that he had no choice about his life’s work but that he thanked God for the opportunity to work. (His answer made me think of Tevya’s “if I were a rich man” song from Fiddler on the Roof.  Different religion - same devotion.

His daughter-in-law joined us and she too was kind and generous.   What a kind and loving family.  The picture above is one of my favorites of the entire trip.  This sweet little Moroccan 2-year-old rolled a ball to our friend, Kevin and he rolled it back.  It didn’t take long to have a little game going.  While we talked Kevin played with the little girl.  She was delighted, Kevin loved it and even though Mom was wearing a niqab, you can see her smiling eyes. People are so much more alike than different.

We felt to honored to be invited into the homes of these wonderful Moroccans..  My heart grew so much after meeting with these kind and loving people.  What a life they lead.  I wonder if I could be so brave and welcoming to strangers from another country.  I certainly hope so.

The desert nomad family also had a loom and our friend, Jim, purchased a rug woven by the young mother.  I know that purchase made a big difference in their lives.  Yay Jim! We are loving Morocco.

Stay tuned!

[dybdahltravels]

Salaam from the Sahara

March 30, 2019

Bonjour and Salaam!

Yesterday we had a very long drive to reach Erfoud on the edge of the Sahara.  My map below says 6 + hours - but by the time we stopped for breaks and lunch almost 9 hours had passed.  The scenery was break-taking as we drove across the Middle Atlas mountain range.  More on that tomorrow.

The Sahara is HUGE and Morocco touches just a bit of it.  When we reached our camp outside the village of Merzouga, we will be near the very long Algerian/Morocco border. Morocco and Algeria are not currently getting along - to put is mildly.  The history of is conflict is so complicated that I don’t even what to think about it.  I will say that it has to do with terrorism and terrorism is the only death penalty crime in Morocco.  Morocco is NOT fooling around when it comes to terrorism because tourism is a big  part of their economy and terrorism is the death of tourism  Morocco has 9 UNESCO sites and hosted more than 12.5 million tourists last year.

In 2001 the King initiated “Plan Azur” a multi-level approach to ratchet up tourism.  It involved pouring money into 6 coastal towns to turn them into vacation home resorts, developing high speed trains trains, major road improvement and increasing hotel accommodations throughout the country.  This plan has been overwhelmingly successful and clearly we are an example of that success.  We have been blown away by the quality of the roads, BTW - but if you live in Michigan your bar is pretty low.

Look at the comparison of the the mainland of the US with the Sahara.  I am just calling it Sahara because I learned that the word “Sahara” is Arabic for “desert.”  So if we say Sahara Dessert (like the stupid map below) - we are really saying “DESERT DESERT."

When we arrived last night  at Erfourd, I was SHOCKED at what I discovered.  I was quite prepared for sand - lots of sand…

...but I was NOT prepared to arrive at our hotel in the middle of a thunderstorm.  It was pouring rain - and very cold!!!  

WHAT!??!!  I was dumbfounded.  How could this be?  But there we were right on the edge of the Sahara and I had on my winter coat, mittens, a hat to cover my ears and my umbrella!  (At least I was prepared!)

I was also not very knowledgeable about the topography  of this area.    Check out this great topographical map of Morocco.

I have seen big sand dunes by Lake Michigan - but there is no water here.  We are also at a very high altitude - about 2,500 ft or 750 meters.   The sand dunes I have seen in Michigan or on the east coast or west coast of the US  always end up at the water at sea level.  Tectonic plates have been busy in Morocco - which is why we have the Atlas Mountains - colored white on the topographical map - they are indeed snow covered FYI.  The African plate and the European plates are clashing and have been for millions of years - so things have been pushed up - like mountains and deserts.  

At one time the Sahara was the bottom of the ocean and as a result we see two very cool things:  AMAZING FOSSILS and salt - salt is everywhere.  If you dig a well and strike water - you will get salt water - but keep digging and you might get fresh water.  We took some time to see some amazing fossils collected and polished by others - and to go look for our own fossils.  It was so much fun.

Here is Mark looking for fossils.  He found plenty!!!

This morning we drove another few hours to reach our tent camp - still raining and BRRRRRR!   We did not take our bus - but transferred to SUVs with 4 wheel drive as we will be going off road.  Our bus needs a little break - FYI - as it seems to have gotten some dirty fuel and is acting up.

Our SUV driver was Ahmed (not Mohammed - FYI) and he was hysterical and very gentle.  He spoke a little English and I speak a little French, so we did our best to communicate.  He turned off of the road and just started going across the sand.  When we would fly over a dune, he would start laughing and yell  “Inshallah!” Or “oh-la-la!!!”   Ahmed would yell out  “Berber Massage!”  as we were bouncing all over the vehicle and getting a “massage” -  and then he laughed and laughed.  He named Mark “Alibaba” and he would laugh and laugh.  All that laughing made us laugh too.

We saw lots of camels - some walking and some just standing still.  If we saw camels standing still - Ahmed would shout “Dromedary Parking!!”  Then he would laugh and laugh.

By the time we got to camp the rain had stopped - but it was COLD!!  This is our camp.

This is our tent inside and out.

Pretty nice - huh?  We even had a bathroom and a shower BUT the hot water was heated by solar power and if it is raining or cloudy - no hot water.  But we didn’t care because we were going to spend two nights is a beautiful tent in the Sahara.  How lucky are we?

Tomorrow we will hike and ride camels and visit a farm and a nomadic family. Tonight will be cold - we will sleep in long underwear and winter jammies because our beautiful tent has no heat. But we didn’t care because we were going to spend two nights is a beautiful tent in the Sahara.  How lucky are we?

Stay tuned

[dybdahltravels]

The Artistry of Fes

Bonjour and Salam again - from Fes,

Fes is huge and it would take months to explore it all - but thankfully we have a wonderful guide that is taking us to many of the fabulous places.  Today I will tell you about some of the specialties of Fes.

The Tanneries:  Fes has been the heart of leather production for more than 1000 years.  You can purchase leather made from cow, camel, goat and sheep here.  There are plenty of factories around the world that tan leather but in Fes, they are doing it EXACTLY the way it was done when the trade first began.  The Medina has a huge section just for the process.  These beautiful leathers come in every color of the rainbow and each color is made from the same natural dyes that had been used for centuries.  Check this out!  To understand the size of this dye lot - look for the people standing on the edge of the pots.

At the top of the picture you can see the skins drying and waiting to be dyed. The white vats are where the leather goes in the first step and they contain a mixture of  cow urine, pigeon feces, quicklime, salt, and water – in order to clean and soften the tough skins.  REALLY!!  The skins soak in that mixture - the same formula that has been used for 100s of year - for 2-3 days.  They are turned and stirred and then washed and hung to dry. This process prepares the hides to readily absorb the dyes. They are then soaked in the dyeing solutions. After the dyeing, they are dried under the sun.   The skins are hanging everywhere.

Above is the man is dying some camel leather.  As you can see, he gets right into the vat of dye.  This leather - when it is finished - is unbelievably soft and beautifully colored and smells wonderful.  The smell is surprising.  The treating of the skins is a VERY stinky process.  When we headed into see this - our guide handed us a sprig of mint - and believe me, I kept mine by my nose the whole time.  BUT we did discover that while this smells bad now - the middle of summer it is 100 times worse.

So I didn’t like the smell but I loved watching the process.  The yellow dye is made with saffron - and saffron is EXPENSIVE, so if you want a yellow leather anything you are going to pay big bucks.  Red dye is made from poppies and green is made from mint  . Blue is made from iIndigo   Brown is made from cedar bark.  Black is made from coal.  Many other shades of colors are mixed or created from other plants, or seeds or bark - but everything is natural.  I loved this ancient and still magnificent method of tanning leather.

Three of our friends bought jackets and many of us bought other things - like purses.  The leather is soft, smells great and looks beautiful.

Ceramics:  We also visited a ceramics center and that was also fascinating!   This place and all of it’s craftsmen (I only saw men working) produced things like these two fountains:

We got to watch people work in all areas from throwing the pots, painting them before the different firings and then we watched people make the tiny pieces and them assemble them.  Each step was extremely interesting and took so much skill.  Look at the picture below of the man painting the jar.

Look at his brush.  It is called a “reservoir” brush.  The artist dips the brush in the paint and then is slowly feeds the small bristles sticking out at the end - with no dripping.

This man below takes clay and creates all kinds of pieces on the potters wheel.

But it was the mosaics that I found most interesting.

These guys  cut tiny pieces all the same shape and size for a big project.  They have a list and that might say “1200 red triangles” of a certain size.  It is all VERY precise.  Once they complete the item on the list - they bag them up and go to the next item.

he nest step is to assemble these little pieces into a complex pattern and THAT is done with he pieces facing down.  These men have no pattern to follow - because they have done this hundreds of times, but it is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle - UPSIDE DOWN.

Once they are finished the set a metal frame over the “puzzle” and put a thin layer of cement over it.  Look behind the man in the blue coat. After the cement dries - they can turn it over to reveal the pattern - like the onse below - although the ones below are pretty plain.

The entire process was extraordinary!!!  And we dropped some big bucks in there which is why this young man looks so very happy.

Textiles:  The last craft shop we visited was in the textiles section of the Medina.  Weavers have been making cloth in this area for over 1000 years.  We asked one of the weavers if he knew the age of his loom and he said it was impossible to know because you just replace the piece that wears out.  He thought most of the loom had been setting in the same spot for 800 years - maybe more.  The weavers use cotton and silk - but the most interesting thread is called AGAVE SILK.

This is an agave plant.  

...and this is the fiber from the agave plant.  Those fibers are spun together to make thread and that thread is used in many fabrics of all colors.

The fabric is not really super soft like silk made from silk worm cocoons but it is certainly beautiful.  The day Zouhair wore his djellaba - the one he wears for be with honored guests or to go to the mosque to pray - it was made from agave silk.

We had lot of fun at the textile center with workers showing us all the ways to use a scarf.  Here are some models:

And the whole group ready for a show!!

Too cute.  Too much fun in Morocco!!  Boy, I used to just drape my scarf around my neck - no more!!

Stay tuned.

[dybdahltravels]

Volubilis  and Meknes WOW!!

March 28, 2019

Bonjour and Salam,

Today we left Fez to travel to Meknes and to the Roman Ruins of Volubilis.  

Built in 200 BCE as part of the great expanding Roman Empire, this city would have been a sight to behold.  Check out the map below to see the Roman Empire.

Less than 400 years later the Romans left  leaving the city to the locals.   But soon this city - that had once been an important trade stop was no longer important and eventually everyone moved on - leaving Volubilis a ghost town.   

This city was fantastic with running water - brought in by aqueducts  (above with a very handsome travel group) and  a communal laundry, exercise rooms, toilets and even steam baths.  Not bad for a place built almost 2,500 years ago - right?  Feel free to guess which of the aforementioned rooms these middle school men are pretending to visit below.

And here are some of the public baths - complete with hot water.  SWEET!

The floors of many mansion had beautiful tiled doors.  While the roofs of the buildings did not survive the years - the floors did - and they are quite stunning!! Boy, they just don’t build things like they used to!  Check these out!

Below you will see the olive oil press build at the time of the city was constructed and below that is a picture explaining how it worked - in French - so good luck - or as we say in French, “bon chance!”

This place when on and on.

We spent a few hours in Volubilis and then headed to  the  city of Meknes - home of Zouhair’s university and a few other things.  First stop was lunch at another shockingly beautiful riad.  I’m beginning to think they are just commonplace here.

Food was great, company was better!

After lunch we headed out for a tour of the Meknes Medina... 

... and a stop at  Sultan Moulay Ismail’s granaries and horse stables from the 17th century.  Now I will confess to being less than excited to see granaries of horse stables - but I stand corrected.  WOWZA!

Before I add the pictures however, I need to explain something that played a significant role in the history of Morocco - and frankly - all of Europe and much of the world:  The Lisboa (Lisbon) Earthquake of 1755.  On the morning of November 1, 1755 while most of Lisbon was attending mass an earthquake struck. Experts believe that quake to be equivalent to a 8.2-9.0 on the Richter scale - had it been available at the time.  This sucker not only devastated Lisboa and much of the Iberian peninsula, but Morocco as well.  The quake was felt significantly in all of Europe as far away as Finland.  It triggered major structural damage and firestorms in many cities and also spawned a tsunami that was felt in Brazil.  Morocco experienced 40 foot tsunami waves and saw destruction of major building throughout the entire country.  Look at the map below to see the impact of the tsunami.

In order to understand the architecture and the history of Morocco you need to know about Morocco pre and post  Lisboa Earthquake of 1755.  We have seen many buildings and entire communities that were significantly damaged or destroyed or at the very least lost a roof due to the quake, but in Meknes we saw a building that survived that quake based on the design - Sultan Moulay Ismail’s granaries.

These massive buildings containing silo after silo were designed to protect the people of the region from famine but the domed ceilings  - probably not designed with earthquake safety in mind - saved the building.  

The building also served as a water source for the Sultan’s 12,000 horses.  The stables roof - FYI - did not survive the earthquake and I’m guessing that lots of horses didn’t do well either. 

It was a beautiful site and an interesting experience.  We headed back to Fes and Mark and I had different ideas of how to use the bus time.  But both of us were happy, (nappy,) happy.

Stay tuned!  Loving Morocco!!

[dybdahltravels]

Fabulous Fes

March 27, 2019

Bonjour and Salam from Fes,

This is Fes (pronounced  FESS) and written FEZ on American maps.

…and this hat below is a FEZ,  pronounced "fez"

This fez is on the head of a delightful young man named Mohammed who truly was at our beck and call for the entire time we stayed at Riad Salam.  He served us breakfast - oh, would we like coffee or tea an hour  or so before breakfast was served? - he would deliver it.  Would you like wine glasses for 14 brought to the terrace?   (Below are Susan and John on that beautiful terrace overlooking the Fez Medina.) Mohammed would deliver them AND re-arrange seating to make sure everyone was comfortable.  Then we chat him us until someone would come looking for him.

Then we chat him us until someone would come looking for him.  (Then we would chat her up too.)

We had dinner two nights in the Riad around 7:30 PM - and who served us?  Yep, Mohammed.  His English was outstanding - he had a wide range of idioms and was quite a comedian.  Not bad for teaching himself beginning 14 months ago.  I questioned him about his work hours and he said he arrives as early as necessary and stays until his work is done and he is no longer needed - 7 days a week.

This attitude of selfless service played out everywhere.  Now I do expect people working in the tourist industry to put on a happy face, but really everyone we saw seemed pleasant and willing to assist.  We had a conversation near the end of the trip about never - not once - feeling unsafe or in danger.  Of course, all the merchants wanted you to stop and shop, but if you said, “sorry no can do,” you were waved away with a smile and a blessing for peace, “Salam.”

The only exception to this attitude happens if you take a picture without permission or payment.  And that makes sense to me, so I’m OK with that.

I have to say the I am just crazy about this city of 1.2 million people.   The Medina is simply fabulous and contains more than 10,000 alley ways.  Our guide went WAY out of his way to tell us not to get separated from the group or - buh-bye!!  All of the alleys are not car friendly - but that doesn’t stop the cars, the motorcycles, the donkeys and lots of people pushing or pulling carts from sharing the alley with the masses.  

Except the alley below - it is definitely a one-way pedestrians only alley.

This one too!

We learned that if someone yells “Bar - oke” (I’m totally making up the spelling of that Arabic word ) or “Attention” in French, that person needs clearance because he is pushing a large cart or leading a mule with a large load.

There were times when I thought “NO WAY!  That cart CANNOT possibly get through this crowd - but then everyone moved to the edge or into a shop and ta-da.  Where is the road rage in this country!?!??!

The Medina is filled with everything you could possible want or need.  For example the lady below was cooking phyllo dough for a lot of amazing deserts.  The very thin dough is dropped on this big hot cast iron head-looking cooker.  Behind that you will see that she was also selling camel meat in camel fat.  YUM???

We explored the Medina for several hours seeing the Kairaouine mosque and university - one of Africa’s largest mosques and possibly the oldest university in the world.  The mosque was founded in 859 by a woman (YES!  I  aid,  “WOMAN!)  from  Kairaouine (now Tunis.)  The mosque has been enlarged many times over and now can accommodate 22,000 people.  The university in well renown and was the intellectual center for Africa and Europe.  It was the first multi-discipline university.  Non-muslims are not permitted to enter mosques in Morocco except the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca and we will see that on the next to last day of our tour.  We did get a little peek however.

I have been greatly impressed with how much credit the Jews of Morocco have been given for their contributions to Moroccan culture and advancement. Sadly, Morocco has only a tiny Jewish population still living in the country, but the history is deep and Jewish travel to Morocco in search of the history and shrines is massive.  We also visited the Aben Danan Synagogue deep in the medina - in the former Jewish section.  This synagogue has no congregation - FYI.    Wonderful.

The gates to the Medina are beautiful and plentiful.  I think there are 11 gates in Fes.  FYI - each city has a fleet of “petit taxies”. The petit taxies in Fez are red - but each city has it’s own color.

The best gate - in my humble opinion is the BLUE gate.  The color blue symbolizes infinity or something like that….    

The back of the blue gate looks like this:

Green symbolizes heaven.  So when you leave the Medina you are leaving heaven and when you enter you have universal opportunity.  Kinda cool.

More about Fes tomorrow - but I finish today with a picture of Mark and Tom wearing the traditional hat of Fes - the FEZ.  Nora stands behind the fez-wearing men, but don’t but ANY significance in that - because she stands behind no man unless it is by design.  But note the smiles.  Tom and Nora have overcome the bumpy start and are - like everyone else - loving Morocco. (Or it could be the wine? - Nah - We are all loving Morocco!)

Stay tuned!