On the move again today and we’re due to travel across the Anti-Atlas to Mirleft on the Atlantic coast. It feels like we’re on the last few legs of this fantastic adventure before we head to our final destination, Marrakech.
We drive through the Anti-Atlas, a wild landscape of barren desert and rocky outcrops. We stop at the village of Icht at a beautiful auberge https://www.borj-biramane.com/en/ that’s a fabulous location crammed full of palms and succulents, we really wish we could spend the night here. Instead, we get to stretch our legs and luxuriate in the peace and tranquillity of our surroundings for half an hour or so.
We rejoin the bus and our drive takes us past numerous villages as we wend our way through the anti-Atlas and into the Taghjijt Valley, an oasis of palms. We leave the bus at Taghjijt and meet with a local date farmer and take a guided walk with him through the valley.Taghjijt is an oasis of green gateway to the Sahara. Located in the heart of a semi-desert landscape, it is renowned throughout the Kingdom of Morocco for its succulent dates.
Our guide Mohammed explains that the village operates through an ancient social system that has survived the centuries. Every family enjoys the water needed to irrigate his land through a fair system of sharing water to ensure that everyone is able to irrigate their land.
We walk for about an hour through a Berber village that dates back 800 years. It’s seriously hot,32 degrees in the shade. We learn about the 3 different varieties of date palm that are grown in the area. At maturity, yielding in the annual harvest up to 50kgs per tree. As we continue our walk through the village we walk past a couple of small Mosques and an Islamic graveyard with delicate stones markng the memory of the deceased. All of the houses as constructed in the traditional way using mud and straw and as we’re about to discover this method is the perfect antidote to the ferocious heat.
At the end of our walk we enjoy a traditional Berber lunch of couscous vegetables with some lamb and chicken on the bone and fruit at Mohammed’s house with his wife and daughter. They are all excellent company and very hospitable. They proudly offer us tours of the house in 1’s and 2’s. It’s spqcious and has a small vegetable garden at the back. They have a couple of bedrooms for travellers to rent to experience and authentic Berber home. The house is cool and airy but the absence of windows makes the house darker than our house in London that’s flooded with light. Climate is the difference and we’re grateful for the cool mud walls. Waited we say our goodbyes and take a group photo, it’s been a humbling but genuinely lovely experience and most unexpected.
As we reboard the bus and continue our journey, the landscapes become greener and lusher – a sure sign that the Atlantic Ocean is almost in sight.
We stop at Guelmim for supermarket stop and fall upon the ice cream fridge that are welcome in the afternoon heat. Our next stop is the town’s famous camel market. Its late in the day and there’s not many left by the time we arrive. Although we see one happy buyer depart with his purchases from http://www.webuyanycamel.com
The sellers ask what we’re looking for and we joke with them that any potential purchase must have a sunroof, not be brown and have a good temperament. They sadly don’t have anything that meets our spec, maybe next time. The going rate for a camel is approx 10,000 Dirhams / £750.
We reboard the bus and after another hour reach our destination for this evening, the small town of Mirleft, on the coast,
We dump our bags and take a walk down to the stoney beach which seriously gives Beer Beach a run for its money. Its warm and the tide is coming in as we watch the fisherman on the rocks as they battle with the Atlantic. We stay for sunset before walking back up the hill for dinner at the hotel. A ancient fisherman mounts a donkey for his ascent and offers us a ride. We decline gracefully; Brownie’s not a fan and I might squish it. Bags are lightly unpacked as guess what we’re on the move again tomorrow.
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