Morocco’s Deserts

The essential part of Morocco is the desert…

…and the Atlas mountains.

A typical Bedouin tent.

Wherever there is a tent, there are also Bedouins….

….disguised into foreign tourists.

The first thing that comes to mind when someone says desert are camels.

When a camel gets a cub, it is separated from other camels and spends 6 months in isolation, until the cub grows up, after which it returns to the herd. One-humped camels live in this part of the world.

Berber Villages

High up in the mountains are Berber villages. The Berbers are a group of different tribes that used to live in North Africa in ancient times. It is assumed that their name comes from the Greek word barbarian, because the Greeks, and later the Romans also, called all peoples who lived outside their borders barbarians. When the Arabs came in the VII century, the majority of the Berber population converted to Islam. The Berbers were the bearers of Morocco’s statehood and culture during the Middle Ages. Thus the kings of the most famous dynasties of the Alomoravids and the Almohads belonged to the Berber population. Berbers are divided into a large number of groups and tribes that differ in language, culture, customs and tradition. However, it’s not them who make up for the majority of the population in Morocco, but Moroccans of Arab descent, who mostly live on the coast, in cities and plains. The Berbers, on the other hand, were pushed out into the mountains, where they have managed to preserve their traditions, language and customs to this day. One fourth of the population in Morocco today is of Berber origin.

There are three official languages ​​throughout Morocco- Arabic, French and Berber, and thus public buildings have signs in all three languages. Here you can see the Berber language, which is very similar to the Greek alphabet.

The majority of the Berber population is of the Islamic faith, while a smaller percentage of the population belongs to Christianity. It is interesting that Berbers, regardless of whether they are Christians or Muslims, celebrate the New Year on January 12, and some also on January 13 in their homes. According to their way of counting time, today we are in the year 2970, because years are not being  counted from the birth of Christ, but from the year when God created the world. They probably took this over from the Byzantines, since they also counted time from the creation of the world. However, the Byzantines had a different calculation, so if they had survived, today they would have believed to be in the year 7526.

A typical Berber-style street, not heading straight.

Only pedestrians can pass through certain streets.

Donkeys and mules (a mixture of mares and donkeys) are widely used as a means of transportation.

Domestic animals move freely on the streets.

The ancient way of transporting water from the mountains to the village has been preserved from ancient times to this day. Water was conducted in the same way from the mountains to Marrakesh and its city fountains and to the riads of rich merchants.

Local children always have a smile on their faces…

…and are always ready for a photo.

Imlil

The most famous village on the Atlas is Imlil, from which the ascents to the highest peak of Morocco and North Africa start. It is the Jebel Toubkal, at 4167 m above sea level.

On the streets of Imlil, which is visited by a large number of tourists and mountaineers, the sales are blooming  like in Marrakesh.

Anything can be found in the desert, including this hotel with rooms made of tents.

What is more, each hotel has its own hotel buffet. Coffee, tea and other non-alcoholic beverages are mainly served, because the trade and sale of alcohol is regulated.

Where better to end the trip to Morocco, than in the desert.

Compared to anything else, the sunset in the desert leaves the strongest impression.

This is just a small part of Morocco, which is just a little scratch below the surface. Other cities in Morocco – Fez, Chefchaouen, Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, Essaouira, Tangier, Meknes, Ouarzazate, Zagora, etc., which hide various stories, are left for another trip.