A tea in the desert of Morocco

Country of millenarians traditions, Morocco represents a little oriental dreams of anyone. It is precisely this: a concentrate of colors that confuse the gaze, unable to stay long on just one of many possible scenarios that open in front.

Jeep rental with Berber guide to escape the hubbub of colorful civic markets and going to override remote mountains of Atlas chain, through fragrant cedar forest, with monkeys of "Berberia" that pose for tourists, jumping from one branch to another and snatch peanuts, snow-clad peaks and canyons of red rock.

It is more primordial and true Morocco, that over the deserts, the land burned by the sun, or plateaux emerged from ocean depths, it discovers the rain and snow. And if a part of the world, this is the result of climate change lead to some kind of disaster for the inhabitants of this territory, however, it is just a great blessing of heaven!

Along the way, markets full of minerals and fossils, improvised by the young head covered, give immediately the idea of fine art of bargaining, a rule of life in this country, but above all, they provide interesting geological ideas. As the remains of old abandoned Ksar, ancient buildings of mud and straw, for shelter from hot summer temperatures, which bring together whole families in well-articulated hierarchy, as in primitive kind of condominium.

Passing Ziz river, to understand how what was once the bed of a watercourse, now it became a stretch of rocky desert, bullet here and there by pools of natural hot water and small mud fortresses in ruins.

And then there it is, the first real piece of land from "Tea in the desert": the Erg Chebbi.
The crossing, between sand dunes and rocky sandstone plateaus worked by the wind, it brings little popular on runways, reaching unexpected oasis forget and areas particularly rich in fossils of various kinds, which bring to life in the seas 400 million years does. And again: Neolithic cave paintings, the remains of prehistoric dinosaurs, rock pinnacles of gray-blue that was once a coral reef, salt lakes that in exceptional conditions become reserves of flamingos, disused mines which have aroused great interest in French colonists, galleries of salt.

But Morocco is also folklore and culinary tradition in every home that respects no lack of welcome tea, couscous, or typical Tajin, which besides being a dish of meat, vegetables and spices known of place, is also the dish in earthenware, in the shape of inverted cone.
Every place is good to lay a carpet, to invite the guests and to serve in small colored glasses original Moroccan tea, like a fountain. Whether under Berber tent or in the house of one of those remote villages, where women and children emerge from nothing and baste in few moments a real market, it matters little. Here the only rule that really counts is that the guest is sacred!

Along the way you pass for Rissani, millennial crossroads of trade coming from the desert and the mountains. Here, once stood Sijilmassa the capital of the ALAT, Arab dynasty from which current King of Morocco descends. General market is great place to buy donkeys and goats, but if you do not have enough space, even dates, tea, rose water, spices, argan oil or carpets.

Continuing toward the oasis of Haroun, the focus falls on ancient medieval caravanserai, isolated as a castle in sand dunes.
Cutting the high desert between Jebel Sarho and High Atlas then, we reach the Valley of Dades and Skoura oasis. In lush palm many Kasbah rise, with four tall towers, which unlike the Ksar, rise oasis in the heart of the mountain and they have their internal environments and services for families who live there. Among the most famous, where films like "Lawrence of Arabia" were recorded, there is also the castle Almeridi.
Do not forget touristic Ouarzazate, home to major film studios and the famous fortress of Ait Benaddou, a show at the foot of High Atlas, where also "Gladiator" film was shot.

And again we return to cross the heart of the chain of High Atlas, in lush valley, characterized by a series of gardens and orchards with a thousand colors.
Walking through these stretches to discover hidden villages, daily activities of local people, water mills and old buildings resting on rocks, is only the latest of many wonders.

Rita Salimbeni