Lights, Camera, Action! – Ouarzazate

Aziz, our Berber host from Defat Kasbah where we have been staying the last 5 days, kindly drove us 35kms into Ouarzazate to save us using the motorhome.  Aziz is 36 years old and told us there were no schools in the village he grew up in and is self-educated.  His first language is Berber and he is also fluent in Arabic and French.  His English is pretty good, and he can speak a little bit of German, Spanish and Italian, so he can communicate with the various tourists that come to stay at Defat Kasbah (campsite).  He has a 5 year old son who speaks Berber and in school will speak Arabic until he is 6.  Then up to the age of 9 he will learn to speak French and from then English.  Wish our schools were multi-lingual!
Driving out of the town we stopped for a great view looking back at Âit-Benhaddou.

Âit-Benhaddou

Ouarzazate is the main access point and crossroads of southern Morocco, unfortunately the town lacks the architectural charm of a lot of the other Moroccan settlements we have visited and has an almost cosmopolitan feel to it.  Like most of the new Saharan towns, it was created as a Foreign Legion garrison by the French in the late 1920s and it is now booming with tourism.

Ever since Lawrence of Arabia was shot at nearby Âit Benhaddou in 1962 film directors have been drawn to Ouarzazate.  Ridley Scott loves the place and has used it in Gladiator (1999), Black Hawk Down (2001), Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Prometheus (2012).  It has also been used as the backdrop to several scenes of the TV series Game of Thrones and the making of James Bond, The Living Daylights.

A visit to the Atlas Corporation Studios on the edge of the dessert, gave us an opportunity to look around the some of the film sets that have been used in many films.  It is the world’s largest studio, as it consists mostly of mountains and dessert.

Atlas Corporation Studios

It was founded in 1983 by Mohamed Belghmi, to support the development of the cinema industry in the region and The Oscar Hotel was built in 1988 to house mainly film crews.  The area has been a stand in for Jerusalem, Persia, Somalia, Ancient Egypt and even Tibet.  Seen below, is the plane used in the film: The Jewel of the Nile – Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny Devito (the film that put Ouarzazate on the movie map) and the chariots used during the making of Gladiator.

Jewel in the Nile Plane, Chariots used during Gladiator and the remake of Ben Hur,

Part of the Gladiator film set

Boat from Cleopatra

Trying out our acting skills as Cleopatra and Julius Caesar - needless to say we didn't get the part!

On the 'Jesus of Nazareth' set

All the sets look very realistic, given that they are made out of polystyrene.

Wow, this rock is heavy!

Leaving the studios we drove down to the Kasbah, another one built by the Glaoui but never actually used as a residence.  In the 1930s it was said to be the largest of all the Moroccan Kasbahs and housed numerous sons and cousins of the Glaoui dynasty along with their servants, labourers, tailors and moneylenders!

Kasbah Taourirt

Unfortunately, after being taken over by the government following Morocco's independence, the kasbah fell into drastic decline and a lot of the mud structure washed away with rain   Repair work was carried out but the decorated rooms are not necessarily authentic and having visited the Glaoui Kasbah in Telouet it was a bit of a disappointment!

From the new to the old Kasbah

Nearing our campsite we passed a truck full of donkeys.  Not something you see regularly in Morocco but we are getting used to the unusual!

About 2kms from the campsite, is he Berber village of Tamdaght.  It formerly flourished with the caravan route over the Tizi n’Tichka and is dominated by the remnants of another Glaoui Kasbah, which was used by Ridley Scott in Gladiator and still has signs of the Hollywood props inside.  Unfortunately, it is crumbling into the valley wall and one or two areas look like they are on the verge of collapse.  Our guide Abdou took us around and only spoke French so that was challenging for us but think we managed to get the gist!

Kasbah Tamdaght, the tower is crowned with a giant storks nest

The courtyard used on the set of Gladiator, with some skulls in the background!

And of course Camels, well we are near the dessert!

 The lush gardens below the Kasbah have olive, almond and fig trees. 

He then invited us back to his house for mint tea, where we watched his work colleagues make mud bricks that they are using to try and repair the old Kasbah. 

Another of Abdou’s friends, Omad, who took us to his Kasbah, where he has all sorts in and insisted dressing me up ready for going into the dessert.

Omad, who Mel nicknamed Omah Sherif!

We are sad to be moving on from Defat Kasbah, as Aziz has looked after us so well, and we will miss being able to cool down in the pool after a hot day, 

but Sahara Dessert here we come!

Sally x

Âit-Benhaddou and Telouet - the old caravan trade route

Âit-Benhaddou is a UNESCO World Heritage site, 3kms from the campsite we are staying and our Berber hosts told us there is a path you can follow along the Asif Ounila that will lead us straight to it.  So armed with plenty of water, as it was already reaching 24°C at 10am, we set off.  Not an easy task as our version of a path and a Moroccan version are worlds apart.

We saw a couple of these interesting fellas – A Barbary Ground Squirrel, these are native to the western Sahara and hard to photograph as they don't stay still for long

And evidence of irrigation systems

A common site was seeing women doing their washing down by the river – there are no washing machines in this part of Morroco!

About an hour later and trecking through fields bushes and trees, Âit-Benhaddou came into sight!

The back of  Âit-Benhaddou

The bridge to access the Ksar

It is the most famous Ksar (fortified tribal village) in the Ounila Valley and its buildings are constructed out of earth and wood.  It is well known for its location for a lot of films namely Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, and more recently Game of Thornes, and dates back to the early 18^th century and played a vital role in the caravan trade between the regions of the former Sudan and the imperial cities of Morocco (Marrakesh, Fes, Rabat and Meknes).

List of films made at Âit-Benhaddou

From the top of the Ksar, looking back down the river where we had just walked

Snow on the tops of the High Atlas Mountains

Looking down on the old Kasbah

The Granary, considered the first building in the Kasbah

Into the old Kasbah, which is now laid out into a museum and giving you an insight as to how they lived

Unfortunately, a lot of it is crumbling away

As the temperature ramped up to 27°C it was time to head back.  The question is can we pick up the trail again!

The following day we took the motorhome up to Telouet, a remote area in the Atlas Mountains, about 40kms from our campsite.  Passing through lots of small villages on the way we witnessed the worst poverty we have seen since coming to Morocco.  We saw men and women, young and old with heavy loads on their back and young children who looked like their body hadn’t seen clean water or much food for a while waving to us and some flagging us down.  

They only spoke Berber so it was difficult to communicate with them but it was clear they just wanted sweets so we obliged but we also gave them pens.  Not sure if there is much hope of them getting an education out here, as we didn’t see any schools but hopefully if they manage to they can use them, if not at least they will be able to draw.

There are some steep roads here, as the sign suggests, with sheer drops and no safety barriers - not a good road in a motorhome but the views were spectacular!

Looking back at where we have just come from

Even steeper if you have to climb it on foot and by donkey! 

The snowy tops of Jbel Toubkal

At Telouet we were greeted by Ali.  His English was really good and he told us he has lived in the Atlas Mountains all his life and travels to Telouet by Donkey every day – takes him about 2 hours!  He works in the café, (where we sat and had coffee with him) and is also a guide around the Kasbah.  He offered to be our guide around the Kasbah for 100DH.  He was a really nice man and he gave us a good history of the place.

Mel, with Ali - our guide

The Kasbah was once the palatial residence to the the Glaoui Family.  Brothers Madani 1866-1918 and T’hami el Glaoui 1879 – 1956, the greatest and most ambitious of all the Berber tribal leaders, and known as ‘Lord of the Atlas’ who controlled the caravan trade between Marrakech and the Sahara. 

The family resided here from 1912 to their eviction in1956 (after Morocco’s independence), governing the country in barbaric and ostentatious splendour.  Since their departure, it is fast crumbling but some rooms remain intact with delicate iron window grilles and fine carved ceilings from the late 19^th / early 20^th Century. as well as stunning mosaics and intricate wood carvings

The Reception Hall

Into the Hareem, used by the many wives and concubines

Beautiful ornate grills on the windows

Star of David inlay on the ceiling

The ruins as viewed from the top

According Ali, the family entertained Winston Churchill, General Paton and Charlie Chaplin in this courtyard with music and dancing.

A stop off to admire the views in the Atlas Mountains

We have been at this campsite 3 days/nights and had a fabulous time.  We have eaten in the restaurant every night – 5-course meal of olives and bread, soup/salad, lamb/chicken tagines, fruit salads and coffee and all for 160DH for 2 people.  We were also entertained with Berber music by our hosts and encouraged to join in.

This place is so relaxing we could stop here for weeks, but Morocco is such a big country and we have only just scratched the surface.  So we will stop one more day/night then it’s time to move on!

Sally x