MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 1.
WELCOME TO MY WORLD

It was a coincidence and a stroke of luck that my work travels in Morocco converged with the travels of Padma, Jenni and Russ. So they were able to meet my work colleagues and we were able to spend a night in Marrakech before the three of them returned home. We all decided to make the most of our night and travelled to Jemaa el-Fnaa, the famous square in the city’s medina. We were a convoy of three vehicles which included my Crop Trust colleague, Benjamin, and agricultural scientists from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Drylands and the Moroccan national agricultural research institute.

So Jenni, Russ and Padma got an earful on our work to ensure food security by conserving the wild relatives of our common crops. Padma noted that my colleagues were all very quiet. Uncharacteristically quiet, I said. We had all spent the midday in durum wheat and barley fields when the temperature was hovering around 33 degrees Celsius. It was only the first day of our road trip but we were all knackered.

Nevertheless, it really was a special time to eat some food from Moroccan tangines and let my family get to know what really happens in my work world.

MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 2.
A HEARTY BREAKFAST

We decided to skip the buffet breakfast in our Marrakech hotel and left early so we could eat in Tamallalt, a rural town. We found a shop making batbout (or mkhamer) and masaman (pictured here). We ate the freshly cooked bread along with some faba bean soup and washed it down with some nuss nuss (half coffee, half milk) and we were ready to set off for the Atlas Mountains.

MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 2.
MOROCCO’S FINEST COUSCOUS

Our mission includes looking at durum wheat. We wanted to see some of the end products so we drove to the city of Beni-Mella and visited Coopérative Tradi Bio Malika, a women’s cooperative dedicated to making products from grains. They were making couscous when we visited. They take semolina from durum wheat, add a touch of water, roll them into balls and then sieve them.

After they informed us about the cooperative they kindly invited us to sit down and try some of the best couscous in Morocco. We all grabbed spoons and dug into a huge bowl of couscous with lamb and were grateful of the overwhelming hospitality of the co-operative.

MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 3.
OUZOUD

Day 2 left us feeling exhausted so we took a little R&R time early on Day 3 and visited Ouzoud Falls. Ouzoud means the grinding of the grain in the local Amazigh language so perhaps we still had wheat and barley on our minds. The falls aren’t terribly spectacular when compared to other falls but with a combined height of 110 metres over three drops they are indeed impressive. They’re 150 kms from Marrakech so are often packaged as day trips. We cleared out before the tour busses arrived but did find a friendly vendor so we helped support the local economy and bought some souvenirs as a nice reminder of a most enjoyable morning walk.

MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 4.
GUIGOU

We took a left when we should have taken a right and ended up on a forest track with scant resemble to any kind of road. Wise travelers might have turned around once they realized their error, but Google Maps showed that after 20 kms or so we would re-join a bitumen highway. The detour cost us an hour but it was worth it as we passed through some beautiful highland country. At one point it looked like the road was impassable, but Filippo was not intimated and with a little road maintenance (i.e. moving rocks off the track), he got us back on a road.

Eventually we arrived in a village near Guigou in the Atlas Mountains. We visited a farmer who was growing wheat and barley under organic conditions. The farmer didn’t want us to leave on an empty stomach so we waited while a couple of chickens slow cooked in a tagine.

MOROCCO ROADTRIP DAY 5.
ANNOUCEUR

We finished our work at the Annouceur research station and had just one more field visit – a farmer participating in an on-farm evaluation. We started out toward the farm but then learned that the farmer wanted us to come to his home for tea – and that was in the opposite direction to the farm. We were a caravan of four or five vehicles as we picked up some of ICARDA’s partners with the national agricultural research services.

Clouds were developing quickly so Filippo rushed us through the tea. The ’20-minute drive’ to the farm soon became 40 minutes with no sign of a barley or durum wheat trial in view. Lightning was striking in the distance and thunder was rumbling. The road became more of a track as we passed through a desolate landscape. Filippo was getting nervous as we crossed dry river beds. ‘These will be gushing with water a few minutes after a heavy rain,’ he said. ‘The weather changes here in minutes. This place is like a funnel and all the water rushes off those mountains and floods this place out. If it rains hard we’ll be spending the night here.’

But we kept thinking the farm was near so we drove on. Finally our lead car pulled up at a shepherd’s stone hut and we could see a verdant field of barley and wheat. The rain hit as soon as we parked the car but we donned rain jackets and ran out to the fields. At 1500 metres I couldn’t run too fast while carrying a tonne of camera gear. But we reviewed the trials and I just kept shooting pictures with my soaking camera.

The downpour we feared just never happened and in the end we managed to get our job done. As we walked back to the shepherd’s hut the farmer grabbed my hand and lead me around a stone wall and proudly showed me his pride and joy: a flock of sheep encircled in a corral.

AU REVOIR MOROCCO

I had a bundle of dirham (Moroccan currency) and a list from Padma so on my final evening in Morocco I walked to the medina for some shopping. I found the ceramics shop where Jenni and Padma bought gifts the week before. The shopkeeper remembered me and welcomed me back. I didn’t know if his products were the highest quality or if he offered the best prices. I didn’t really care. I pick the shopkeeper first then the shop. If the shopkeeper pushes me or seems to eager to offer me a special price I walk away. But this man was kind and gentle … there was no hard sell. I could walk away and it wouldn’t seem to worry him. So amongst all of the shops along Rue des Consuls he got my repeat business.

Next on the list was argan oil and I applied the same principle. I found a quiet woman sitting in her shop. I had no idea if her oil was any good but she was kind and smiled and laughed with me. She got my business and I think I got some nice argan oil. If not, I’m happy walking away with a nice memory and photo.