Sunday 27 July 2014

the berber village of setti fatma

In an excursion organised by our riad, we spent a day up in Setti Fatma, a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains. 


After being informed by practically everyone that we "must see the desert," and reluctantly not having enough days free to go, we decided to head to the mountains for a day, and see what life was like up there.

The drive lasted about an hour, which went by trying to learn some handy Arabic phrases. The first stop off was to an argan oil producing site where we were taken through the process of extracting oil from the argan nut and offered various oil based products to try. Whilst everyone knows the benefits of argan oil for hair, it also comes in an edible form and can be used for dips and to dress salads. It has a distinctive - er - nutty flavour.

Moroccans rarely pass up a chance to offer you tea. Standard tea here is of the mint variety, with the occasional Berber tea thrown in.

Berber tea looks just like potpourri. There are loads of colourful herbs and bits of flowers mixed in and it has an aniseed-y quality to its taste.

Berber Interiors

Following on, we were invited to nose around a traditional Berber house. Mud is used for the construction of the houses in this village, giving them a colouring like that of the surrounding mountains. Their layout comprised of a central courtyard from which the various living and sleeping rooms were connected. The hammam, or bathhouse, functions much like a steam room for its users. A fire is lit beneath a bowl of water, which rises up as it heats. The room itself is very small, to maximise efficiency of the process.

Villagers use man-made streams that run below their houses to manage the workflows, such as milling flour. Running water can be stopped, and started as and when required. These houses have been thoughtfully designed to make use of local resources, minimising the need for dependence on other trades. Irrigation systems have been set up so that water from the river can be directed to the village farms during summer months, when rain is scarce.
Ceramic rainwater pipe: how beautiful and practical!
Colourful patterned carpets cover large portions of interior spaces. 
I couldn't resist myself a Berber bathroom selfie

Up the Mountain

It soon got to lunchtime and we stopped off to eat quite literally on the Ourika River. Stunning.


Some spiced omelettes, tagine and cinnamon-dusted fruit later, we continued on. Our stomachs now satisfied, our walking guide introduced himself and began to lead us up the mountain. One thing should be pointed out - in the description of this trip, "walking" was the referred to exercise. However, "hiking" is more fitting. Thank goodness we were in appropriate shoes!

The Atlas Mountains have seven waterfalls which can take over a day to climb; our trek lasting a few hours only covered two of them.

The hike itself was relaxed; our guide would point out places for good views, places that we would soon reach across the gap, "that tree way over there!", and was very upbeat and attentive. A Berber native of the mountains, he had spent his childhood exploring these very routes and seemed to know them like the back of his hand. We found it entertaining how he would skip gracefully over the rocks like they were stepping stones.

The trip was definitely worth being away from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech, for a while. A breath of fresh air!

A Berber refridgerator

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