Morocco - Overseas Adventure Travel tour
April 5-25, 2022
Part Two - Main trip on Morocco tour
Page Seven - Ouarzazate, Asfalou Village, and overland to Marrakesh
We stopped to learn about khatarat, an old underground water system.
The man who gave us a tour there had a baby camel and a baby goat.
The two seemed to be buddies.
The baby camel had lost its mother shortly
after the camel was born.
The mother had been hit by a truck and killed,
so the owner had to
take the mother's place to care for the animal.
We left the desert to drive to Ouarzazate, about 8 hours including stops.
Here's a boy seen in a small town along the way.
In El Khorbat Oujdid, a ksar (a fortified village) near the Moroccan town
of Tinejdad.This ksar was built in 1860 and is still inhabited. We walked
inside
the fortified ksar, a Berber walled city typically used to keep
desert raiders
out of Roman cities on the coast.
We stuck our heads in a classroom to wave to the kids. The government
was
not allowing
school visits when we were there.
Education in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school.
The estimated literacy rate is maybe around 72%.
School attendance is compulsory up to the age of 13.
About 56% of young people are enrolled in secondary education;
about 11% are in higher education. Access to education is much more
difficult in rural areas.
A view from a rooftop of buildings and a mosque in
El Khorbat Oujdid
A view of fields nearby our riad in Ouarzazate, quite a
contrast to the Sahara Desert
The day after we arrived in Ouarzazate, we rode in our bus to
Asfalou Village, a mountainside town. A woman and her child
seen along the roadside
Away from Ouarzazate, you can see again nomads and
others watching over their animals on arid land.
Nearing Asfalou Village
This gentleman was our local guide for Asfalou Village. He's showing
work from a local artist. He was one of the actors in the 4th season
of "The Game of Thrones." A number of movies have been filmed in this
area of Morocco, including Lawrence of Arabia. There are 2 movie studios
located in the Ouarzazate area, CLA Studios and Atlas Studios.
In Asfalou Village at the home of a local farming family.
Our host is also a bricklayer and has a small shop in his home.
One of the bedrooms in their home
Two baby goats they owned that had been born one week before
The wife and mother who was making fresh bread for us.
We took a short walk from their house into their fields. Here's
one of their donkeys and an irrigation canal.
One of the daughters
The father and husband showing us how he makes mud
bricks for home construction
Putting the finishing touches on our lunch. Issmail, our guide,
provided translation.
Another of the daughters
Part of our lunch meal, couscous, one of Morocco's
staple foods. Couscous is a dish made usually of meat and vegatables
cooked
in a delicious broth served on a bed of steamed
semolina (made from wheat) granules.
Waving goodbye to us as we were departing in our bus
At the Grand Circle Foundation sponsored Imik Simik Women's
Assocation for Rural Development. Established in 2012 by 15 women
and has since grown to include 43 women, each hoping to further their
education and opportunities. Its goal is to create workshops and programs
that teach women how to sew, read, cook, develop healthcare and other skills
and crafts that otherwise would not be available. Some of the women dressed the 3 of us
who volunteered
(me, Jim, Bonnie) in the type of clothing worn for special occasions.
One of the women at Imik Simik.
Women in Morocco often endure harassment
when they go out in public though it is getting better.
Often the sexual harassment takes the form of name calling.
The culture of sitting at a cafe has been dominated by men for a long time
though this has changed some in the big cities.
One of the women using henna, a traditional, natural dye to give
Bonnie an intricate and non-permanent tattoo.
Four of the women in our group got the tattoos.
We drove overland from Ouarzazate to Marrakesh.
Our drive was bringing us to the highest altitude of the trip,
more than 7,000 feet across the High Atlas Mountains.
We stopped at a place that makes argan oil products. This
was the view across the street.
View of mountains and valleys from a high point on our drive
Link to Page Eight - Marrakesh and Casablanca
Pat's Home Page