Morocco, located in the north-western part of Africa has a population of around 37 million. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. The culture of Morocco is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca. Islam is both the official and predominant religion, while Arabic and Berber are the official languages. Additionally, French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are widely spoken.
Agadir, Morocco is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains. The population of the city is just over one million people.
A colorful village by the seaside - more photos later...
Our Excursion today was a six-hour 4x4 tour traveling north of Agadir along the coast and into the Atlas Mountains.
Our first stop was in a village in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains where a family business harvested and processed the Argan nut to make argan oil.
The Argan tree (Argania spinosa) is only found in Morocco, specifically in the southwest of the country, due to its unique adaptation to the region's arid and semi-arid climate. The tree is perfectly adapted to withstand extreme heat, drought, and poor soil conditions, which are characteristic of this area.
In the United States, the oil is best known as a cosmetic oil found in luxury lotions but, argan oil is also an essential ingredient in Moroccan cooking. The oil can cost as much as $300 per liter, a price tag that has earned it the title of most expensive edible oil in the world. Another factor in the price is the labor involved. Argan fruit is largely collected by hand and only after it has fallen from the tree to ensure its ripeness. Once collected, the workers lay the fruit out to dry in the sun before peeling off its outer layers. The next step is the most sensitive: The leftover nut must be carefully hand-cracked to get to the oily kernel without grinding it. From there, it's ground up — traditionally by hand.
Here you see a family member cracking the nut, which is done one by one with a rock. It looks like a good way to smash a finger to me.
The stone grinder and the oily paste it produces. The processing of the nut is done exclusively by women who have formed a co-op which provides employment to a large segment of the population who otherwise have little education and few work skills.
A few of the many cosmetic and medicinal products sold by the co-op. This is in addition to the food grade oil sold.
After leaving the argan oil shop, we continue into the Atlas Mountains and pass thru several villages and small towns. Here are a few photos I took along the way.
Khobz or Khubz bread, a daily staple in the Moroccan diet - and it is delicious...
We temporarily left the mountains to visit this coastal village. It wasn't far to travel, the mountains reach all the way to the coast. This is the village in the first photo.
It certainly was a colorful place, I don't think our HOA would approve of the color scheme.
After only a few miles along the coast, we turned once again to the mountains.
Here is a little geological information on how the United States's Appalachian Mountains and Morocco's Atlas Mountains are related.
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and stretches around 1,600 mi through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The Central Pangean Mountains were a massive prehistoric mountain range, trending northeast to southwest, in the central portion of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods. These were formed as a result of continental crust collision (convergence) between the large continents of Euramerica (also known as Laurussia) in the north, and Gondwana in the south.
Once upon a time the Scottish Highlands, the Appalachians, the Ouachita Mountains, and the Little Atlas of Morocco were the same mountain range, once connected as the Central Pangean Mountains.
Most of the roads were in excellent condition although very narrow, sometimes two vehicles could not pass when meeting.
After about 15 miles of narrow winding mountain roads, we arrived at our next destination, a traditional Berber home in a small mountain village.
Here we were treated to a typical Berber breakfast. We enjoyed Khobz bread dipped in an assortment of condiments. We had homemade butter, peanut butter, honey and of course argan oil. This was served along with hot spiced tea.
The hillsides were covered with argan nut trees. These trees can live for up to 200 years. You can get an idea of the size of this one by comparing to the vehicle parked underneath. The trunk is a wide as the van.
Leaving the village, we traveled along a mountain ridge for a distance before returning to the coast where we were about 30 miles north of our ship.
A new dam is under construction. Fresh water is a challenge for Morocco, especially with several years of drought. Our guide explained that this was being addressed thru better watershed development and conservation. Finally, a project not financed by China but by France.
Here the Atlas Mountains reach the coast. There are many surfing resorts and communities along this area of the Moroccan coast. I was surprised at the number of sufers we saw.
Again, we passed thru many small towns where I took local interest photos.
This was the first time I have seen a camel on the beach!
Back on board the ship, I took this photo of two airplanes sitting on the several hundred-foot-tall bluff directly behind the port. I had been curious about what they were doing there. Apparently, a Turkish construction firm transported the planes to this location and are in the process of making them into a restaurant. There is a water park and other amusement parks on the bluff as well.
This is a map of our route today. We traveled 99.25 miles total.
It was an enjoyable day, and I learned a great deal about Moroccan culture and its people. It was also fascinating to walk on mountains that were once part of our Appalachians but now are thousands of miles away, separated by an ocean.
We sailed at 6:00 PM and will sail all day tomorrow, arriving at Casablanca at 8:00 PM tomorrow. We have another six-hour excursion planned for Sunday.
