Morocco
The experience in Morocco has been a whirlwind of culture, adventure, and surprises from the very first second we landed completely exhausted in Agadir. The very first night we fought our jet leg with amazing tagines and hospitable hosts in an eco-friendly “Kasba” outside of the city of Agadir. The hospitality extended to the cooks who even managed to write U.S.A. in cucumber. In all the places I have gone, even in the United States, I had never seen hospitality to this degree. It was amazing. We were pleasantly stunned and welcomed into the Moroccan culture, hospitality, and sincerity of the people of this region. However, this was only our very first introduction.
The ride to Sidi Ifni, Morocco, the place we would be spending for 4 weeks, was an adventure that we did not anticipate. We drove for almost 3 hours and the further submerged in the mountains and fog we got the more I was impressed with the magic of the region. With the fog consuming the horizon, literally, we finally pulled into what would be our new home. All the buildings were white with blue trim and the streets were almost empty. However, we did not realize this sleepy town would wake up to be the city we have now lived in for a month.
On our first night in Ifni we had a Moroccan feast where we sat in a Moroccan style salon on pillows and learned of our early morning journey to Boutmezguida Mountain. Even with the early departure, I was thrilled for the experience. In the morning, we boarded our rustic Land Rover equip with a fur trim dashboard and leather seats. As you can see blow, it was pretty much love at first sight for our Morocco group. We were sure that if anything was going to be an authentic, un-American experience it would be driving off-road up the mountain in this particular Land Rover. We drove completely off road further into the fog for over an hour.
After we parked in one of the villages on the mountain we were confused where we’d be hiking since you could not see more than a few feet in front of you and there did not seem to be anything but fog above us. We later learned that the fog hid the majority of the mountain above us. However the further we got up the mountain, we noticed the fog subside to show the sun shining over the peak of the mountain. Our formal introduction happened with the hospitable people on top of the mountain cooking us a four-course meal of fresh goat tagine, couscous, bread, nuts, and honey. The meal, or feast might be a more appropriate word, was delicious and well worth the journey up. The only thing better than the food was the beauty of the mountain and especially the fog.
We then got down to business and learned the ins and outs of the fog catchment system from Dr. Vicky Marzol. She was extremely knowledgeable. We were surprised to learn that the altitude was less of an influencing factor than we previously predicted and that the most reliable and useful design for the net was the standard square/rectangular single direction orientation net.
To reward our quick learning, we had the special mint tea. As we sipped the delicious Berber recipe, we were informed that the water source for our tea was actually the very fog water we had just learned how to collect. It was remarkable to realize that this mystical fog catchment system, which I was slightly skeptical about, has actually been supporting many of the water related activities that the people on the mountain partake in.
We have now gone up the mountain several times and by far one of the best parts is the friends that we have made along the straining hike. At first when we go up we are slightly slow and sluggish but once our two village friends show up on their donkeys, the hike suddenly goes from being a daunting task to the end to a journey where we learn words in Berber, laugh at goats climbing up trees, and take in the other strange/beautiful sights along the way. Ibrahim, 16, and Isa, 12, are the two boys from one of the villages in the area and are extremely knowledgeable about the land. They have taught us more about the terrain, culture, and language than any professional tour guide or teacher could have taught us. I can now confidentially do the hokey-pokey in Berber. I am not sure many other people can say that.
We are going back up the mountain tomorrow and with out a doubt Ibrahim and Isa will show up along the hike up and test us on our Berber. It has been an amazing trip so far and I am now beginning to dread leaving in a week. We have all become so close due to the experiences in the Hammam (what happens in the Hammam stays in Hammam haha), hiking up the mountain, or even just feasting out of communal tagines without silverware. Hopefully we can actually plan our reunion trip to Boutmezguida and Morocco in 10 years. I hate to be the over enthusiastic, sentimental group member, but this was definitely an experience I will never forget.
