Though I have been in Morocco for more than half this trip, today feels like the "home stretch." There is more than a twinge of sadness as I pack my bags to leave Les Jardin Des Skoura.
This will be a long drive day as we head back through Ouarzazate to Marrakech. Over breakfast Jewel, Gypsy and I determine that one of the three kasbahs we are to visit today needs to be eliminated because of time. In addition to the kasbahs, our itinerary has us stopping at an Argan Cooperative, which we don't want to miss, and Tehar has invited us to his home to meet his wife and daughter!
In Tehar's vehicle, we collectively agree to miss seeing Ameridhl Kasbah, which is literally "right down the road." Dating back to the 17th-century, this kasbah once belonged to the Glaoui family, who at the time was the most powerful family and held the responsibility for protecting the village.
Instead, we head directly to Ouarzazate, Morocco's film-making capital. At the crossroads of the Draa and Dadés valleys, it was founded by the French in 1928 as a strategic garrison town of the French Foreign Legion. Tehar, who is involved in the film industry as a "driver for the stars," tells us that there are four film studios here, which are a major economic generator for the local economy — directly and indirectly. The Atlas Film Studios looks like something out of a movie set with its classic earthen-desert. On the other side of town is CLA Studios of Morocco, which was a 2004 joint venture between Dino de Laurentis, Cinecittá and Sanam Holding.
Our first stop is Tehar's home. He and his family live in a lovely section of town. Beyond the front wall bordering the sidewalk is a small front yard. Inside their home is spacious with a central hallway. Tehar's wife Merriem is lovely — a professional woman working in the tourist industry. She has prepared mint tea and home-baked pastries. We also meet daughter Zainab, who is a very attractive high school senior. Unlike her brother Lahcen, who is studying engineering at a university in France, she hopes to get accepted at the Moroccan university in Agadir and study international economics. In the brief time we spend at their home, the sense I come away with is that Tehar occupies the classic male patriarch position, but his wife runs the household and keeps the family going.
This will be a long drive day as we head back through Ouarzazate to Marrakech. Over breakfast Jewel, Gypsy and I determine that one of the three kasbahs we are to visit today needs to be eliminated because of time. In addition to the kasbahs, our itinerary has us stopping at an Argan Cooperative, which we don't want to miss, and Tehar has invited us to his home to meet his wife and daughter!
In Tehar's vehicle, we collectively agree to miss seeing Ameridhl Kasbah, which is literally "right down the road." Dating back to the 17th-century, this kasbah once belonged to the Glaoui family, who at the time was the most powerful family and held the responsibility for protecting the village.
Instead, we head directly to Ouarzazate, Morocco's film-making capital. At the crossroads of the Draa and Dadés valleys, it was founded by the French in 1928 as a strategic garrison town of the French Foreign Legion. Tehar, who is involved in the film industry as a "driver for the stars," tells us that there are four film studios here, which are a major economic generator for the local economy — directly and indirectly. The Atlas Film Studios looks like something out of a movie set with its classic earthen-desert. On the other side of town is CLA Studios of Morocco, which was a 2004 joint venture between Dino de Laurentis, Cinecittá and Sanam Holding.
Our first stop is Tehar's home. He and his family live in a lovely section of town. Beyond the front wall bordering the sidewalk is a small front yard. Inside their home is spacious with a central hallway. Tehar's wife Merriem is lovely — a professional woman working in the tourist industry. She has prepared mint tea and home-baked pastries. We also meet daughter Zainab, who is a very attractive high school senior. Unlike her brother Lahcen, who is studying engineering at a university in France, she hopes to get accepted at the Moroccan university in Agadir and study international economics. In the brief time we spend at their home, the sense I come away with is that Tehar occupies the classic male patriarch position, but his wife runs the household and keeps the family going.
Our next stop is to purchase saffron from an herb dealer Tehar knows. And, not just any saffron, but that grown in the nearby town of Taliouine, which is between the High and Middle Atlas mountains. A member of the iris family (crocus sativus), the stigmas must be harvested by and — it takes 225,000 to make just 1 pound of saffron. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and authentic, good quality saffron is not cheap . . . even in Morocco! Besides cooking, saffron is used in desserts, teas, as a natural dye for material and make-up, and medicinally to calm spasms, increase energy and blood flow, kill microbes, alleviate toothache, and as a sexual stimulant. Before leaving town, we head to the bank to exchange money.
A short distance north of Ouarzazate stands the ksar of Ait Benhaddou, which has often been used as a film location including: Lawrence of Arabia, Sodome and Gomorrah, and Jesus of Nazareth. After parking and meeting our guide for this excision, we cross the mostly dry Wadi Mellah. Though the village is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and some restoration work has been carried out, it is a difficult place to photograph as there are trinket shops and vendors lining the steep steps that are everywhere. As afternoon approaches the heat of the sun becomes almost unbearable — much to our guide's angst we cut our tour short.
[More on this day to come . . .]
[More on this day to come . . .]