Would you like to know a few more facts?

- 320 million years ago, this entire area of Morocco was a sea, very rich in fossils and I think a fossil cutting factory is on the itinerary for tomorrow;

- The water table is now 40-70m/131-229′ deep and the water is salty from the ancient inland sea. In the dunes, you can still go down 1m/3-4′ and find fresh, good water. A 15-year drought lowered the water tables drastically but there has been plentiful rain the last three years;

- The Tafilalt area consisting of the villages of Erfoud and Rissani among others is the biggest oasis in Morocco and cover 150 km/93 miles;

- This area of Morocco is extremely close to the Algerian border and relations between the two countries aren’t exactly friendly; and

- There are over 1,600,000 date palms in Morocco that produce 95,000 tons of dates each year. There are 20 different types of dates and a peculiar fungus has been selectively killing the best kind of date palm. Scientists from around the world have been working on a remedy but still haven’t discovered how to stop it. As we drove past many of these over a million date palms, it was easy to pick out the diseased ones. It is a Date Palm with no crown, just the trunk standing.

Local guide, Ali, joined us on the bus in Rissani dressed in traditional blue Tuareg bou-bou, a blue outer garment similar to a kaftan, with baggy pants underneath and his blue turban…View image. The Tuareg are Berber nomadic pastoralist people and I still don’t really understand the main distinction between those who refer to themselves as “Tuarags” and those who refer to themselves as “Berbers.” More of Ali’s information: Tuareg means “men on the move,” they use indigo to dye their clothing blue and the blue dress protects against the sun and mosquitoes,

Ali also taught us two new Berber/Tuareg words… This is phonetic: wak-hah – okay, and, libby-tibby-two – cheers. Never had a chance to use cheers but wak-hah became a staple in our Moroccan vocabulary.

On to Ksar Ouled Abd El Halim dating back to the 17th century and only a few minutes from Rissani…View image. Ali began his introduction by explaining the distinction between a Kasbah and a Ksour/Ksar -

He continued by explaining the architecture and building process of the high walls used as protectection from marauding tribes, houses made from lime, sand and stones and decorative motifs. This huge Ksar once contained 25,000 people but only 45 people still live here. If you stop to consider that my Glenview suburb of Chicago has 35,000 residents spread out over miles of land, this is mind-boggling. It was once a prosperous caravanserai/caravansary on the salt/gold route and Jews were one of the tribes living in Ksar Ouled Abd El Halim. They not only taught the Berbers goldsmithing and metal work, but also decorated the mosques, doorways and houses incorporating Islamic motifs, the six-pointed Star of David and 8-pointed Turkish star. Often, appearing in the same deor. The last Jew moved out in 1972. Recent excavations have even turned up gold dating back to the 7th century.

Inside, we visited where the founder of this Ksour/Ksar lived. He had two wives and each wife had their own rooms at opposite ends of the garden. The over 300-year old ceiling decorations were still vivid and beautiful thanks to the method of painting with eggs, Egg Tempera. There were mosaics, cedar wood beams and the five things that are always found in a Ksour/Ksar: a mosque, well or fountain, hamman, Koranic school (Medersa) and bakery.
This was an extremely interesting visit with a wonderful guide who made it fun. Watch the video for all the details and sights otherwise I would have been writing for days!