More Than Meets the Eye

BOUMALNE DU DADES & DADES GORGE, MOROCCO -- April 6, 2006
(a collection of impressions)

...The drive through the mountains -- kasbah fortresses like giant sandcastles rising above the red desert floor

...Mashed in a grand taxi meant to seat 8. We have 13, including two in the driver's seat and one stowed on the roof. The driver pays baksheesh to the police as we pass their checkpoint, and all is forgotten.

...Eating lunch in the shade of the foliage growing along the streambed, which a local boy whose family lived nearby had given us permission to access.

...Smelling the fragrant aroma of rose petals from small vials sold all over the Boumalne area. In nearby El Kelaa, which we drove through earlier today, roses grow plentifully in the Vallee des Roses and are pressed into a sweet-smelling rose water/perfume which is sold from literally every shop and cafe in the area.

...Walking along the Oued Dades on a high snaklike road that switchbacks into the mountains. The color of the red rock contrasting against the deep blue of the sky, the vibrant green of the trees, plams, grasses nestled in the valley.

...Women and children near the river, splashing washing clothing, sipping the cool water that gives life to the villages located here.

...Back in Boumalne, fingers stained yellow from the pigment in a succulent dish seasoned with a plentiful amount of curry.

~Melanie