The Real Tajine — The Towering Travelers

Tuesday was our day trip into the Atlas Mountains. One other couple was supposed to go with us, but one of them got sick, so it ended up just being the four of us in a small van with our 22-year-old guide, Abdullah.

Abdullah first drove us to the Ourika Valley, where we stopped at an argan oil cooperative so that we could learn about the process of making the oil. There’s a seed that’s removed from the fruit of the argan tree, cracked open, ground to make a paste, and then squeezed to create oil. They walked us through all of the uses of argan oil, from putting it on food and in sauces to hair and skin treatments. It tastes a little like olive oil, but with a nutty undertone.

Ally learning to make argan oil (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The different stages of argan oil production (Photo/Jason Rafal)

From the argan oil cooperative we headed to Setti Fadma, which is a riverside town that caters to tourists looking to escape the heat and bustle of Marrakech. Setti Fadma is named after the ubiquitous female hand symbol that defends against the evil eye, also known as a hamsa. On the way, we stopped to take pictures on one of the many bridges that crosses the Ourika river. They were all rather rickety, and Emilie was not feeling it, but it was a pretty good view.

Emilie walking out to the bridge (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our group on the bridge (Photo/Abdullah)

Abdullah explained that there are some issues with flash flooding in Ourika valley — Japan gifted the valley an alarm system, which has severely cut down on the number of deaths. As we went up the river, it became clear why it was an issue — there were a lot of restaurants and shops built in the riverbed, instead of higher up on the hill.

When we got to Setti Fadma, Abdullah handed us off to a local, who took us on a short hike up to one of the area’s waterfalls. We walked through some of the town first, where we saw shops, cats, and a couple of families of monkeys. We were the first group up there, which made it quiet and quite peaceful. We also saw some goats perched on the rocks nearby, which made me happy.

Walking through the riverside restaurants to get to the hike (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Monkeys on the way to the waterfall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The waterfall at the top (Photo/Jason Rafal)

How many goats can you spot? (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We took some pictures at the waterfall, then headed back down the rocks to enjoy some mint tea at the river. The Ourika river has a ton of restaurants along and even in the river — chairs and mats are set up along the water and on rocky outcroppings in the river, and everything is bright and contrasting colors. Sitting there and watching the locals prepare for the afternoon tours, I realized that even with all my time in mountain towns, this was a wholly unique experience for me. It was a wonderful place to enjoy a glass of hot mint tea.

After enjoying our tea, we drove through the other three valleys while Abdullah taught us about the area. The valleys are primarily agricultural, and we saw a lot of orchards and terraced wheat and vegetable farming. Originally, the towns were built on hillsides to make them more defensible against warring clans, and now the combination of villages and farmed terraces makes for an incredibly photogenic area. The terraces are also still farmed manually, with donkeys and wooden plows. When we stopped to take pictures on one hillside, a farmer joked with Abdullah that we could come help out. It’s always uncomfortable being part of such an enormous and obvious wealth disparity, but everyone we interacted with was very kind to us.

One of the hillside Berber villages (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A beautiful view of the Atlas mountains (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Layers of houses and farmed terraces (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Another hillside village (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In the last valley, we stopped in one of the Berber villages for lunch. We later found out from Abdullah that the three-person company that he worked for had gone door to door, asking if families in the village would be willing to cook for small groups of tourists. It’s a lot of work, but I imagine the financial benefit for the family must be huge. For us, it created a really special lunch experience that we were incredibly grateful for.

When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by the family, which included the farmer, his wife, their children, and his brother’s wife and her child. It’s pretty normal in Morocco for an entire extended family to live together. The children, who were between one and three years old, were adorable and came up to us for high fives. After the family showed us the tajine cooking and the bread oven next to their shed, the kids helped us wash our hands, then led us down into the orchard to have a seat. We were then served one of the most delicious meals we had in Morocco while we enjoyed the sun and fresh air. There was soup with argan oil, a salad similar to pico de gallo (but differently spiced), fresh bread, couscous, tajine, and fruit. The family was incredibly gracious and kind, and Abdullah stopped by occasionally to tell us about the food, but otherwise left us to soak everything in. While he was sitting with us at the end of the meal, we spent an amusing several minutes trying to explain to him what a manatee looked like, which is surprisingly challenging without a frame of reference.

The tajines finishing the cooking process (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Ally’s new friend helps her down the hill in the orchard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our very attentive dog friend (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On the way out of the mountains, we stopped at a part of the winding road where a motorcycle chase from Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation was filmed. Abdullah explained that the road was in great shape because they had re-paved for the movie. I have to agree with whoever scoped out that location, it’s a good place for a chase scene.

More farming and mountains (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our last stop before heading back into Marrakech was a traditional market outside of town, which is open twice a week. There were as many donkeys and mules in the parking area as there were cars, which was pretty typical for our experiences in Morocco.

In the market in Marrakech, the shopkeepers were so used to western tourists that we were constantly yelled at to buy things. In this market outside of town, there were very few tourists, and we were seen as more novel than as a potential form of income. Many people just stared, and some practiced random strings of English words on us. We also walked through the butcher section of the market, which I regretted as soon as I realized how many whole goat heads were on display. It was generally a bit uncomfortable, but walking through open air markets is always a great way to contextualize things.

The view approaching the market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Christmas, we ended up having a very European-feeling day. We went outside the medina to the newer part of town (newer here meaning very old, but not as old as the medina). We started the day at the Bacha museum, which was a beautiful museum that housed some important fashion and a photography collection. In Marrakech, I’ve found that I’m consistently more captivated by the museum buildings than the art inside of them — everything is so ornate, and the colors are fantastic.

Pomegranates in the courtyard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole in one of the courtyards (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We sought out the museum in the first place because we wanted to stop at Bacha Coffee, which is one of the famous coffee spots in the city. We missed it the first time because we didn’t expect it to be actually in the museum, so we spent a few minutes wandering around alleys that weren’t on the map of the medina before completing a full circle and entering the museum. Bacha is incredibly ornate and European feeling — it reminded us strongly of the famous old coffee houses in Italy and France, as well as Cafe Tortoni in Buenos Aires. They had a huge coffee selection, and we enjoyed a couple of desserts as well.

Side note: we almost didn’t get seated at Bacha Coffee because we didn’t have reservations. This happened to us several times in Morocco, which we were really not expecting at random restaurants during the low season. So generally, if you want to eat at specific places, it’s a good idea to make reservations.

After coffee, we headed toward the Jardin Majorelle, which was nearer to the newer part of the city. We made the mistake of arriving in the early afternoon, which is the busiest part of the day. The garden is stunning, but I’d recommend visiting as early as possible, just so you won’t have to wade through tourists. It has a huge variety of plants, from a large selection of cacti to a bamboo forest. There’s also a Berber museum on one side, which is a brilliant blue building. The juxtaposition and the colors are all pretty remarkable.

The welcoming cat (you knew there would be one) (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Cactus spines in the light (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After the garden we headed to the Gueliz area, where we found a Thai restaurant for lunch. We really didn’t know what to expect, but it was pretty good, and we still needed a break from tajine.

After lunch we spent some time at a wine bar, which was an interesting experience. Moroccans are not allowed to drink alcohol publicly in Morocco, so this bar had sheets hanging between the terrace and the sidewalk to obscure the drinkers from the street. The bar had a nice selection of Moroccan, French, and Italian wines. Interestingly, tourists are allowed to drink in public, but for the most part we were drinking on upper terraces while at other restaurants.

For dinner we headed to a hip Australian-style restaurant that is a joint effort by three restaurateurs. It was a very classy, delicious, and surprisingly affordable Christmas dinner.