Traveling in Morocco

Left to right: Dr. Betsy Levick, Jan Frankel, Peter Levick, John Cobey on camels

Jan Frankel and John Cobeya along with Peter and Betsy Levick, were lucky enough to visit Morocco on a temple trip before its destruction by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. Many historic and cultural sites in around Marrakech, from ancient minarets to adobe villages, have crumbled to rubble since their visit. 

They enjoyed the cacophony of city life and the distinctive architecture in Casablanca, Fez, Rabat, and Marrakech. They also saw exquisite riads, traditional ornately decorated Moroccan homes with multiple stories. Each home surrounds an open-air courtyard of fountains, gardens, and trees. Now, many of them are boutique hotels and restaurants. They also visited mosques, synagogues, and cemeteries. The mosaics in the historic sites were gorgeous.

By night, one could get lost wandering through the dark and winding cobblestone streets of the medinas (walled medieval city centers). During the day, the medinas were lined with stalls overflowing with crafts of artisans, copper, blue and white pottery, and handcrafted rugs. Women sat before looms, weaving the beginnings of rugs and tapestries. The group had fun “hondeling” (bargaining) with rug merchants.


Copper craftsman in the marketplace 

They visited a tannery where the craftsmen dyed the skins in huge vats. Shopkeepers gave them peppermint to put under their noses to block the stench. The tannery made jackets, shoes, belts, wallets, and purses. 


Spices in the market

The markets were colorful and full of life offering foods and barrels of spices, even camel heads to cook and eat. Folk dancers entertained the crowds. In a square in Marrakech, there were men with monkeys and snake charmers.

The group learned to make a slow-cooking North African stew in a tajine, a large shallow ceramic or clay pot with a cone-shaped lid. The shape of the lid traps moisture resulting in the mouthwatering aroma of a juicy slow-cooked North African stew. They started with oil, parsley and onions on the bottom adding vegetables and Moroccan spices. Lamb or chicken are options. Most meals center around the tajine. 

“We must have had tajine twice a day for eleven days,” said Jan. “Mint tea is a tradition of welcoming. Wherever you go, you get mint tea.” 


Tajine cooking

In a Berber village, the couples baked bread. Berbers are nomadic populations, descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. Buildings in the Berber village are made from adobe. The residents there are the Amazigh, the “free people,” the country’s largest indigenous group. 

The group learned about the history and culture of the Muslim and Berber population as well as the Jewish population of Morocco. In the streets, they saw many women, even young women, who still wore the hijabs, even though a lot of them have a choice whether to stay covered. 

They found it interesting to learn that the government funded the restoration of the synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and the Jewish quarters. No other Arab country has gone to such lengths to revive Jewish heritage. Burials are above ground with mausoleums, white stone coffins, and markers. Only about 2,000 to 2,500 Jews still live in Morocco. At one time, Morocco had a Jewish population of more than a quarter of a million people. Morocco has a Jewish judge who addresses Jewish issues. The group toured Marrakesh’s Jewish quarter which has been completely restored. In spite of this, many of the young people leave and go to college in Europe. They find their mates there and stay in Europe.


A mausoleum in a Jewish cemetery

After the tour, the Frankel/Cobeys and the Levicks headed for the desert. The Agafay was a rock desert, not sand. They “glamped” in tents with beds and ecologically friendly toilets. 

“The stars were amazing at night; the atmosphere was so clear,” said Betsy. They used apps to identify constellations in this magnificent northern part of Africa.

The group donned helmets to explore on ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and they rode camels, experiencing a beautiful sunset. Jan initially named her camel “Trouble” because he kept nibbling at the other camels’ “tushis.” At the end, when everyone got off their camels, Jan’s camel would not go down. 

“It wasn’t going to let me off,” said Jan Frankel.

The camel driver finally came over to make it go down. Jan thought she had a chance, but the minute “Trouble” went down, it went back up again before Jan could get off. At that point, all the other camels followed Jan’s camel’s example and stood up.


A Jewish cemetery 

On a walk in the morning, they marveled at a rock desert wall. The Agafay Desert is hundreds of acres of rock landscape, layers of rock dunes. 

“The hospitality of the Moroccan people was lovely,” said Betsy.