La Maison Traditionelle

From Tafraoute, we went to explore the old Berber villages, nowadays nearly completely abandoned, but some houses are restored as museum, called “maison traditionelle”.

We visited one house in the village of Tazka, in walking distance of our campsite.

Only 3 of the old houses are still in use, all the other families moved either to new houses in the valley or immigrated to the big cities of Morocco. The bigger houses in the village all belong to people who live now in Casablanca and return to their village only for the holidays.

A drought during the last years had made agricultural nearly impossible, the once fertile valley is now without any fields, even the palm trees seem to struggle. There is no water in the old wells, only if you dig very deep, there is still water to be found.

We learned, that there are still wild animals living here, like gazelle, fox, rabbits, wild boar and porcupines. Close to the village, we found a rock engraving of a gazelle.

The second village we visited was Oumesnat, north-east of Tafraoute, which was one of these villages which are glued to the mountains, and nearly invisible from a distance, as the houses are the same colour as the rocks. On the way, we noticed the lion’s head, looking down at us from the mountains.

The layout of the houses consists of 3 levels, the lower level used for the animals, the 2 level for the family with the kitchen in the centre, and the third level for guests and on top the terrace, which was used for sleeping in summer, for drying food and washing and as a working space for the women, including the loom for weaving carpets.

The room for guests was always well attorned with colourful carpets, cushions and valuable items. It was not used by the family, beside of welcoming visitors. Otherwise, this room was kept locked. Children under 10 years were not allowed in the parlour.

We drove through the valley, looking at the typical houses of the local Berber tribe.

Back at the campsite, we got our water tank filled up. There were many vendors coming by, selling everything from bread to gas bottles. We bought delicious apple pastries and doughnuts. One night we ordered dinner being delivered to our camper. We had delicious couscous with sausages, which lasted for 3 days, as the plate was enormous.

Tomorrow, we plan a hike to the painted rocks – more soon!