May 12th- 13th Ait Ben Haddou Through Ounila valley to Marrakesh and on to Essourira

 Bedouin tents used at Riad
 Ksar Ighnda

Leaving the lovely Riad Ksar Ighnda, we headed back to Marrakech using the main caravan route through the Ounila valley till we reached the High Atlas mountain pass of Tizni-n-Tichkna. The clay colored mountains, greenery of fields with beans, wheat, the almond and walnut trees and flowering wild oleanders trees make it a magical drive.

Abandoned Kasbah on road

The road was only paved 3 years ago so previously you needed a 4WD vehicle to travel this road. Still tourist buses do not drive on it because there is a small section that is not paved.

Stream with old village

Some ancient caves are still occupied

Some tribes lived in caves along the sides of the valley, and we had been told that some of the tribal women were the producers of many of the best carpets. We would say this road was a highlight in terms of scenery of all the valleys that we have seen in Morocco thus far.

Building techniques under consideration

We saw several men working together as a team making the large rectangular casts of rammed earth known in French pisé, which produce the clay building blocks of the walls and buildings. It takes two men to pound down the earth with a blunt-headed instrument to fill the larger forms, producing roughly 3' by 2' walls more than a foot thick, or double that in size for large Kasbahs. In addition to being the base for the large kasbahs, they are used for fencing and animal pens. The smaller adobe blocks are used for the decorative pieces higher up in the structures. We have found the molds for the pisé and the adobe blocks in many places along the way lying out in the open ready for use. In looking at the walls you can see that two of these pisé blocks are put together so you get a wall about two feet thick. The pisé is about 70 x 30 x 12 inches and are often used two abreast to build a wall 60 two feet thick.

This valley is also very rich in elegant and picturesque architecture; crenelated roofs, kasbahs with towers. We stopped at a salt mine along the road that belonged to the powerful Glaouis tribe.

The salt rocks were mined and then put into water pits in the sun to crystallize. The mine is now closed now because it became uneconomical. Salt was actually what created this caravan route. We remembered that in ancient Rome, only a rich family could afford salt; when entertaining those who sat nearer the host were "above the salt," and those less favored were "below the salt". We continued on passing through a paler, dryer soil with white streaks of salt visible at various points.

Old tower guards salt mine

We then stopped at Telouet, which sits on the banks of the Mellah river.  Mellah means salt in Arabic. After Morocco's independence in 1953, the Glaoui family was evicted and the kasbah was left to ruin. The remains of the kasbah stand proud but crumbling on top of a small hill.

The kasbah is actually a large compound of three kasbahs that  successive generations built, The first kasbah dates from the 1700's, the second from the 1800's, and remnants of the second kasbah include a lovely arch. The last kasbah built by T'hami's son Brahim in the early1900's, remains upright and solid and shows the significance and fallen wealth of the kasbah.

Andalucian style evidenced

The reception and entertainment rooms include stunning mosaics on the floors, and intricate wood carvings adorn the walls, along with plaster work all in the style of al-Andalus, Islamic Spain. The attention to detail is most incredible and the work and money spent on building it is unfathomable.  

Beautiful old silk fabric panels on walls

“In a fascinating sidebar to Moroc­co's early 20th-century history, Madani al-Glaoui and his brother T'hami eventually raised so brazen and so strong a challenge to Sultan Moulay Hassan that his Alaouite dynasty, seriously shaken, was forced to open the door to French rule in the south. In their time, the Glaouis were so powerful that they entertained the likes of Winston Churchill, attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and sat in high council with the resident generals of the French Moroccan protectorate - until they were so sweepingly double-crossed by the French that their name entered the language as a Verb: glaouiser.” (meaning to betray). Quote taken from Aramco World Magazine “Across the High Atlas”

Telouet from the kasbah

There are a couple of tourist shops and Leslie bought another Sabra carpet along the same colors that she had bought before but this has more intense designs and is the same size as the others. After bargaining she paid $150 feeling well pleased with herself as this had more designs work than her other two and the price was only $20 more.

We had lunch at a truck stop after the pass and enjoyed our first taste of amlou and argan oil. This plant oil produced from the kernels of the argan tree (Argania spinosa L.) that is endemic to Morocco. The strong nutty taste of the oil is nice with bread or drizzled on the traditional Moroccan chopped tomato salad.  The amlou is a delicious mixture of the argan oil, almonds and honey and is also known as Berber Nutella.  Leslie bought a kindle edition of Paula Wolfert’s, “The Food of Morocco” a few days ago and has enjoyed reading it for the background information as well as the recipes.

We arrived back at Ksar Anika and collected our stored suitcase and moved back into our same suite. We had dinner at the Ksar and tried to use the internet but it was a very frustrating cause.

The next morning by 9am we were on the road to Essaouira which was expected to take about 3 hours. About an hour before Essaouira we saw goats climbing on top of argan trees (Argania spinosa L.).

Goats in tree look like fruit but really eat it

We stopped to take pictures dutifully reimbursing the shepherd the photography fee of $1. The interwoven trunk and low lying branches of the tree make it possible for goats to climb up and settle in to enjoy the fruit. The seeds become excrement and are left behind to be collected. With the demand for argan oil growing the women now also collect the fallen fruits and dry them in the sun.

The nut’s black casing is then cracked off and the seed removed. When we entered the association the three women working on the argan nuts did a ululation greeting for us.
The two sales staff were happy to explain the process in their English which was quite proficient and their comprehension was good enough to answer questions.

The production of Argan oil is managed by the women of Morocco. Cooperatives line the roads along the coast and each is responsible for the production of this highly sought after oil. The money they make by the sale of the oil goes directly back into the cooperative and supports the surrounding community. The culinary form of the argan oil includes roasting the nuts before the extraction process where as the cosmetic form does not roast the nuts.

We had already tried the edible oil as both a yummy dipping oil and a salad oil, so were delighted to buy some to take to the USA. We also purchased some of the ladies Amlou which included as one of the ingredients argan honey.

Shelling the argan nut

These ladies had developed quite a line of products including argon oil mixed with lavender or rose or thyme and many other aromatic herbs. But all of those items which were mixed with another essential oil were not to be used on the face only on the body. On one’s face and hair you were only to use the pure Argan oil. As an idea of pricing at the source: a small 40 ml bottle was the equivalent of $15. The cooking oil was $20. The waste product from the oil extraction is used to feed the cattle or can be used in the hammam's (steam rooms) for fuel. You see it being sold as brown molded patties with finger imprint on one end.

Grinding the nut to extract oil paste

We continued another 40 minutes down the road to arrive at Essaouira. The temperature dropped from 43 degrees to 36 degrees. We were amazed at this climate change. Rashid stopped the car at the Marrakech gate of the old medina and we found a carossa to wheel our bags to L’Masion d’hotel Villa Garance, which was to be our home for the next three nights. The location was very good as it was in the heart of the medina and just off one of the main passage ways going though the walled city. Our room was an “L” shaped with windows and doors looking onto the small courtyard and included a private bath and a fireplace. Carrying one huge suitcase up the uneven stairs was a struggle but we were happy to have the extra  space to put the suitcase. We had arrived in time for lunch and were ready to go exploring.