Kasbah Tamadot near the village of Ansi is slightly more remote than the other locations we have been at. The road traffic is different, the village closest to the Kasbah (about 2 miles down the mountain) is much smaller and the views are spectacular with the mountain side possessing all of the Moroccan colours of bright ochre, deep clay red, lush green and capped off by two snow covered peaks. This is the nicest place we have ever stayed at, every corner of the grounds has something else to offer, a Koi pond with ducks, tennis courts hidden inside of a flower garden, indoor and outdoor heated pools, the list is endless. Last night we took the luxury of lighting the fireplace in our room, while it is cold outside at night, we are definitely comfortable in both the dining area and room. We took the opportunity to both take advantage of both the Kasbah and still relax The village of Ansi as mentioned, is a small village, this means that there is not a permanent Souk and every Saturday the travelling Souk sets up shop in the main part of the town. We were fortunate to be here when it arrived so we booked a guide from the Kasbah and made the trip down. We were not disappointed, this is not a tourist Souk as the main purpose is to provide the people who live in the mountain an opportunity to sell what they produce and purchase what they need. This is also one of the few donkey markets in the area, the tractor of the mountain and an essential resource for farmers. We traversed the souk with our guide explaining what was going on. The experience was different than the larger Fez and Marrakesh markets, the people, while still friendly have that look of fatigue only a farmer can have when caught off guard. This is also a social occasion for people, every corner had men sharing mint tea, shaking hands and shouting greetings across the market in rapid Berber. We began our way down the livestock area, watching the chicken sale briefly and moved on to the donkey area. I am not certain why I had not previously thought about it, but the tack they use takes special tools and a unique set of skills to both build and repair. There is one individual who travels with the Souk and sets up shop both selling new and repairing the old tack. Farmers bring in what they need to be repaired and he works on it at the Souk. There is also a farrier who the farmers bring their mules and donkeys to as well. There was a line up of several donkeys, heads down, patiently waiting to receive new shoes as their owners caught up on the local gossip with each other. While I did mention the people look work tired, they also have an air of friendliness about them. Each person is on a constant lookout for somebody they know, and it only takes each of them a few steps to find what appears to be a long lost friend, a boisterous handshake and an exchange of Walaikum Salam and they are quickly into deep conversation that attracts others who they know as well. These are hardworking friendly people and it is obvious that this Souk is important both economically and socially to them. We continued to meander the aisles, the areas moved from used clothes and shoes, used eye glasses to fruit, vegetables’ and spices. There was a wood worker creating and selling furniture, and individual who fashions buckets out of worn out car tires, a barber and even a dentist on site. One of the largest areas was the butchered meat area. As we have seen this often enough over the past several weeks, the sight of hanging meat and heads does not affect us. We did learn something new this time, animals are slaughtered onsite and there is a vet who inspects them before slaughter who then stamps the carcass showing it is safe for human consumption. All of the animal is used, no piece is wasted and the butchers know how much to prepare so there is nothing left when the souk packs up at 4:00p.m.. Another great learning experience and we were very glad we made the trip down. We took the balance of the day to explore the grounds of our Kasbah and enjoy what it has to offer. A walk found us in the animal paddock and we introduced ourselves to the camels, donkeys and what are apparently pet goats. A leisurely pot of mint tea on the pool terrace and we then returned to the private terrace off of our suite for a casual lunch. Did I mention this location is beyond a 5-star? After lunch Burke and I went swimming, I only mention this as the impact of being in an outdoor heated pool when the air temperature is 14 degrees and looking at the snow capped mountains is breathtaking. After swimming Burke and I decided to explore the National Park adjacent to the Kasbah. We followed a herd of sheep for a while and worked our way part way up the mountain, following an ochre coloured path worn hard by years of migrating sheep and goats. We saw and heard several birds as they started to settle in for the evening and watched as the mountains slowly started to obscure the sun, leaving our side of the valley in a cooling shade and the opposite side of the value in a warm golden glow that highlighted the ochre and red of the buildings and land. Burke collected some rocks along the way as we had a leisurely one hour stroll up and down the mountain while Amanda relaxed back at the Kasbah. I dropped Burke off and decided to hike down into the valley. I wanted to attempt a long-exposure picture of the very small rapids at the bottom of the valley with the snow capped mountains in the background. This meant hiking down through what appear to be a 500 vertical drop. I asked on the way out the door how you get to the bottom and they indicated there is a trail just outside of the compound. I easily found the trail and began my descent. I got about half way down through several switchbacks on the trail and their appeared to be a short cut that took a slightly steeper and more direct route. I decided this was a good idea as I still wanted to get another run in before dinner and I was running out of daylight. So I took the path and quickly ended up an irrigation ditch at a farmer’s terraced field. From the road these terraces provide an incredible patch work of colours and shapes to look at. The reality is that, in order to accomplish a terraced field in this steep of a pitch, the wall ends up being six feet high. This was not an issue as I simply jumped down to the next terrace, crossed the almond orchard, jumped down the next terrace and found my way down the escarpment through a variety of following irrigation ditches, walking through fields, walking through orchards and jumping down terrace walls, all while carrying my photography back pack. I eventually made it to the largely dry river bed and found a reasonably good place to set up my tripod, and spent about 20 minutes refining my images. I might not be able to edit them until I get home as it will require compositing two different exposures as I used an ND filter to blur the water and the sun was still hitting the mountains. At this point I packed up my gear and decided to head back and get the 6 mile run I had planned. I turned back towards the Kasbah and realized that I had a minor issue. First I had not followed any path so I did not know how to start back up the mountain; second, everytime I had jumped down a terrace wall it represented an area that could not be climbed back up due to the nature of the wall. With these facts I began walking downstream for a path. I eventually found what looked like a path and began my climb, ultimately this was not a path, merely a place water had run off and I ended up in a different almond orchard. I managed to walk across this orchard, climb a lower wall, cross the next olive orchard, scramble up the irrigation ditch and then I heard the barking. Dogs have several kinds of barks, the type that keeps you up at night and then there is the one that you know you are in trouble. This was the bark that I knew this dog felt I was trespassing. I had been trying to find some way around the 30 foot vertical climb in front of me, however all options were now gone. I quickly tightened my boots as I heard the dog slowly getting closer and began ascending the rocks. At this point, my camera was still on the shoulder strap and I had three other cameras, two large lenses and my tripod strapped to my back as I was climbing. This was not a shear rock wall, rather a jumble of boulders and my climb was calculated and safe, until I found the vines of roses. I immediately became entangled across both legs and my right arm that was still holding my camera. Fortunately my left arm escaped the first onslaught, although it was also holding me from falling backwards. The only option was to lean slightly to my right and get the rose thorns to a point that they would keep me from falling, mainly through gaining a firm hold on my skin. I escaped the rose bushes through at first gentle movements and then finally realizing that I was going to be torn up so I might as well do it fast. I reached the apex of the climb to be faced with 15 more feet of climbing through the same type of thorns. At this point I was experiencing a mixture of resignation and elation. The resignation was that once again I took the road less travelled and up hill putting my self into a risky situation, the elation was that I knew I had another great story. I crawled through these thorn bushes, attempting to both minimize the damage to my skin and the bushes while also being aware that the dog was still somewhere behind me. I had one more vertical boulder climb to complete of a slightly easier pitch and no rose bushes until I reached the boring, well worn walking path and found my way to the Kasbah well within the time I told Amanda I would be back. I still went running and settled in for another outstanding meal. Tomorrow we leave this incredible location for two more nights in Casablanca.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 05:15:14 +0000
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