Berber friends

We left Marrakesh feeling revitalized and crossed the Atlas Mountains in perfect weather. We slept on top of a hill and enjoyed the view on the mountains and the solar thermal power station in the valley we crossed that day. As we make our way towards the Sahara, the landscape changes, with more and more sand appearing along our route. We got stuck in such sand due to an unlucky maneuver that should have been an U-turn. Before we could even start to deal with it, some locals stopped to help us get back on the road. Our unlucky moment turned into a lucky one when one of the helpers invited us to camp beside his house. We happily accepted and followed him. Meanwhile, the wind increased and the sun set. We weren’t expecting to be invited to dinner, but we gratefully accepted because we were curious to try some authentic local cuisine. We wanted to facilitate cultural exchange in such situations, so we offered to make a specialty of ours. That same evening, we started preparing what we had brought from home: sourdough and plenty of rye flour to bake “grey” bread, which is primarily known in Germany and surrounding countries. Meanwhile, strong winds formed a sandstorm, which prevented us from sleeping well as it roared all night and into the next day.

A little late in the morning, we had an authentic local breakfast with our host’s children. Since being outside was less fun, we spent the day inside playing with a special gift that the kids had never seen before and were very happy about. After school, we had lunch, which was specially prepared just for us—wow! The reason for this was the ongoing Ramadan. Morocco is Arabic-influenced, and during this month, Muslims do not eat while the sun is shining. For this reason, our hosts usually have breakfast around 4 a.m. and dinner right after sunset, which is the highlight of the day.

After lunch, our hosts wanted to show us more about their culture, so we turned into real Berbers. From now on, our names are Aisha and Addi. They showed us how to write them in a script called (Neo) Tifinagh. Our next experience was getting a henna tattoo that we still enjoy a lot. There was even more happening that day. After offering our German bread, we were invited to see how their flatbread is made every two days. It was such an honor! Finally, we tried both types of bread during dinner, which was served in several courses over a long period of time.

The next morning, we continued traveling toward even sandier areas. I hope we did not offend our hosts with any thoughtless behavior, and that we showed them enough appreciation for their invitation. They were such a lovely family, and we were fortunate to get to know them better. We are still overwhelmed by what we just experienced. Thank you so much!

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