Among the Nomads in Morocco

Travel Blog • Terry Ward • 06.19.07 | 2:17 PM ET

Morocco, like many places, is modernizing. I’ll admit that last time I was in Marrakech, I spent a night in the Ville Nouvelle at a flashy South Beach-style club, sipping top dollar martinis and being wooed by French card players in town for a poker tourney. To really experience traditional Morocco, however, you have to get away from Marrakech’s trendy clubs. Taking that concept to the extreme, the Guardian’s deputy travel editor, Isabel Choat, recently tagged along with a semi-nomadic family during its annual early summer migration from the lowlands to the cooler pastures of the High Atlas mountains.

Choat detailed her week-long adventure in an interesting story that puts readers among the nomads’ bleating sheep and snorting dromedaries for a taste of nomadic Morocco.

While there’s virtually no dialogue in the story—I was left wondering if Choat ever communicated with the family itself—she paints a good picture of the rituals of a timeless journey.

Mid-morning and time for tea—out came a blackened pot, tea glasses and a lump of sugar the size of a brick. Massive chunks were hacked off to make super-sweet mint tea, a ritual that would be repeated many times.

An adjoining audio report, narrated by Choat, is a wonderful supplement to the article (and perhaps more interesting). Several minutes long, it puts you right in the fray after a scorpion has scooted across the dinner table and lamb stomach kebabs are about to be dished up. The chatter of kids, the rush of the desert wind, the sound of tea being poured on high and utterings of ‘Bismillah’ (In the Name of God) before mealtime brought me right back to Morocco.

Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Video: Bizzare Foods: Morocco
* Video: Bizzare Foods: Morocco: Interview with Andrew Zimmern

Photo of dromedaries in Morocco by winkyintheuk, via Flickr, (Creative Commons).