The Garden OF STARS
Riad between Agadir and Taroudant, in southern Morocco
Holiday rental with a resident of Swiss nationality
Intact villages and authentic people of the Atlas
Intact villages and authentic peoplentiques dand the Atlas
Meet authentic people and untouched landscapes in the nearby Atlas? It's not difficult, by car, from the Jardin aux Etoiles! We reach ina half hour to the nearest village, named Eddir.
Ici, la voiture n'a pas encore remplacé le moyen de déplacement traditionnel.
... et tout à coup une voiture.
Une autre technique traditionnelle encore à l'honneur à Eddir.
Des légumes magnifiques.
Sous les parasols.
Ces chèvres viennent d'être abattues et portent l'information que leur viande et toute fraîche.
La viande exposée attire ainsi le chaland. La balance n'a pas changé depuis des siècles.
Il s'agit d'une commune rurale, dotée d'une petite administration locale.
Un des nombreux signes qui ne permettent pas de confondre Berbères et Arabes.
While the city ofOuled Teima nearby is mostly Arab, Eddir is totally Berber. It is imperative to go there on Wednesday morning, in order to take advantage of the atmosphere of the market which is held there that day.
At the entrance to the village, several dozen donkeys stand still, attached to the hundred-year-old argan trees. It is the sign of a large gathering, that of the inhabitants of the small surrounding douars, gathered for the occasion. Some come here to sell their goats or sheep, others stock up on vegetables and meat. Objects of all kinds are offered on the floor.
Warm welcome
Tourists are another attraction here. The foreign visitor is cordially welcomed, provided of course that he behaves with respect, which is the least of things. If you manage to get out a few words of tachelhit (Berber language), you will be immediately adopted! You may be invited to have a drink in very small improvised cafes, set up on the ground, sheltered by adobe walls and covered with reeds. We drink tea, we eat fried sardines. Here beats the heart of the real Amazigh Morocco.
Please note: the Eddir market is almost exclusively a meeting place for men, which may inconvenience Western women.
En étages
A gauche le barrage
Vu d'en bas
Dkhila Dam & Salt Pans
From Eddir,in 10 minutes by car, you can access a dam and salt pans named Dkhila. The dam extends in length, at the foot of an impressive stone cliff. For their part, the saltworks and their basins offer a nice sight to see.
Fatima dans sa cuisine, en train de faire fonctionner son tour qui produit de l'huile d'argan
Entourées de figuiers de Barbarie, comme le Jardin aux Etoiles.
La route s'élève au-dessus d'un paysage magnifique
Le ciel, la verdure, les champs
Ces tiges se transformeront par exemple en abri pour les véhicules, comme au Jardin aux Etoiles
Construite en terre crue, c'est-à-dire en pisé, et décorée de motifs de feuilles de palmier
Au-dessus de Tamaloukt
On y accède de Tamaloukt, en traversant l'oued, parfois rempli d'eau.
A 7 km de Tamaloukt.
From Taroudant to Tafraouten, via Tamaloukt
Here is our third proposal to discover the intact villages and the authentic people of the nearby Atlas. Count an hour and a half to get there. FromTaroudant, you have to head north, via Tamaloukt, a village located at the foot of this mythical chain. A good paved road of about thirty kilometers was opened from the town of Amcherk. From the first foothills of the mountain, dotted with argan trees, the spectacle of nature is king.
This road leads to the parent town of Tafraouten (not to be confused withTafraout, locality located in the Anti-Atlas) and even further, in even wilder heights. The Imoulaas Valley (pictured in the carousel above) is well worth a visit. If you want to spend a night there: The Atlas Terraces.
Rammed earth and bricks
Some villages are not disfigured at all by the brick constructions. The traditional Berber houses in rammed earth, that is to say in raw earth, which constitutebest insulation and keep cool in summer, are still the rule, and should be protected. Because they are friable, and bad weather sometimes seriously damages them.
It therefore turns out to be simpler and more economical to build with industrial bricks. But these insulate neither from heat nor from cold and make the landscape ugly, since, in the countryside, they are almost never plastered.
Enriching encounters
An extraordinary peace emanates from these villages! At the edge of the road, kindly ask the inhabitants, Berbers in their overwhelming majority, and ask them if they allow you to discover their house.
They will be happy for your interest and will bring you to their very modest home. You might see the stay-at-home mom working the trick that getsArgan oil by crushing the kernels which are difficult to extract from the core of the fruit. If you're lucky - but don't we provoke it? -, the father will be proud to show you his offspring on the back of a donkey.
Despite the obstacles, serenity
This impromptu visit will allow you to better understand the difficulty of daily life in these Atlas villages and, despite all the obstacles, the optimism and serenity of their inhabitants. Rewarding encounters are within your reach!
Of course, leave a few tens of dirhams to the good people who have offered you their welcome and often their hearts.