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Published: January 24th 2019
Tafraout, Anti Atlas, Morocco
December 2018 – January 2019
“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”
Pema Chödrön “Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you.”
Neil Finn, Crowded House “Loneliness is the human condition..
that.. tunnels into you ..
and.. allows your soul room to grow.”
Janet Fitch “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.”
Robin Williams
Tafraout (30.47028 -8.87695) is a small regional centre in Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa region of Morocco, in the central part of the Anti-Atlas mountains. It is 386 km south of Marrakesh. The population is around 6,000. It's off the main tourist route but is becoming well known for being a great location for granite rock climbing and rock scrambling. One any day there are more than 50 camper vans (Europeans) parked on the plain to the
north of the town.
It's the kind of place where you can just wander across the road in the middle of town without fear of being run over... either because the road is empty anyway or traffic that does exist is slow and gentle. Some of that gentle traffic is very old (what would be sought after as 'vintage' in Western countries) Renault cars.
Being here was only by fate... Yusef the manager at my digs in Tiznit (100 km away) simply said “you should visit Tafraout”. Beyond any planning I have now been here five weeks and I really wonder when I am going to leave. I only have 5 weeks left on my 3 month visa in Morocco (although I could cross into African Spain for a day and come back for 3 months). But I do need to get to whatever the next thing is for me. What that is exactly I am yet to discover. I have a major issue right now with my recent application for an Indian Visa refused ...that's a whole other story.... and I have been trying to access someone within the Indian bureaucracy since early
October to rectify this, without any joy thus far. One narrative I hold is that I am in exile here in Morocco, at the pleasure of Indian 'authorities'. I may well need to return to Australia to get that sorted.
I struggle with making sense of it all … life that is. I guess most do and that is why so much is written and said and practised to try and address this human condition of ours. It's nuts to be sure. Why should it be that we are caught up in mind games and chatter which brings us down? I have approached being in this amazing town as a bit of a chance to be still. Besides the Indian Visa issues, there are things I need to gain resolution and acceptance over. There is ever the question of meaning and sense to just be able to accept what is. So I treat my time here almost monastically.... having got into my tried and proven routines and strategies to just ask without need for answer “what is this?”; to just embrace it all, let reactions go, see how that then is (the equanimity); and enter into a
stream of 'being' through my daily practices. When plagued with restless thoughts about what I ought to be doing, I remind myself that this stillness is a worthy path for now. I grasp at things that make sense to me. It just seems to me that there are a million books and gurus and wisdoms out there and that they all pretty much say the same thing. Basically: BE HERE NOW.
There is this great movie called “The Peaceful Warrior” where the character playing the modern day guru (Nick Nolte) says to his adopted 'student' that there are three things to hold as very important for living well and understanding life. I grasped them (they are nice):
Paradox (things are seldom what they seem);
Humour (keep smiling and laughing at life and what it throws up); and
Change (the impermanence of all things). The latter also brings to mind the Zen awareness that we can be sure of only one thing … that we will die; that we can never be sure when that is going to be; and so.... we must ask ourselves “so what should I do?”
One of my daily practices
here is a morning routine of leaving my room quite early (it only really gets light by 8 am now) and rock scrambling (going up) / Zen rock-hopping (going down) for two or three hours. This simply involves picking one of the many mad mountains of granite that surround the town and climbing to the summit. Some are higher than others but all are hauntingly beautiful. Often I am over a rise and it might as well be in the middle of a remote nowhere. And so this being still I speak of comes also from being active: 'Only in Movement, Stillness' (to paraphrase Ursula le Guin). Once up there alone, there is an uncanny stillness all around... a poignant quiet only occasionally disturbed by a disturbed scrub bird or wild boar.
Very often I come across ruins of human habitation and cultivation. I am told that in olden times the Berber people, who predate by centuries Arab invasion, would live up on the mountains to remain remote and protected from possible attack. It seems such a harsh environment, and my time in Tafraout is the dry winter. It is obvious that there are times of abundant
rains here, evidenced by the many dry gully runs, however the area has officially been classified as drought stricken for about 5 years now.
My solitude is partly chosen but also a circumstance of this place. Sure I am now a bit of a town fixture and greet local people in the market and frequent favourite cafes for coffee and shops for supplies. But there is no deep interaction. Most foreigners keep to themselves and are only passing through. Despite my belief that the hotel I am in is the nicest and best value in town I seem often to be the only guest here. Having said all that... I do long for
some interaction.... and pathetically find myself sitting close to foreigners if I see them at my cafe in a hope that they speak English (which is often not the case... many are French travelers in this once French Protectorate area of Morocco) so that I can strike up some conversation. But if I were to engage and be invited to spend time with anyone (it has happened once) for dinner or something, there is a part of me that is annoyed about intrusion into/
Representation of my struggle against Indian bureacracy
After 4 months and trying many tacks, no response at all from anyone in the Indian foreign missions or Delhi bureacracy about why my visa was refused (I have my theories) and what to do. disruption of my routines.
Tafraout is famous, apart from the surrounding granite wonders, for two commercial activities: making traditional leather shoes and amlou. The shoes are sent all over Morocco, and are worn here by most people. Amlou is a paste (a bit like a good peanut butter) that is made from ground roasted almonds, argan oil, and local honey. Argan trees grow wild among the surrounding granite outcrops. The oil is extracted from the seed kernels that are then roasted and ground in a stone grinder. Amlou is often served in a saucer with bread and mint tea. My habit has been to mix it with yoghurt, banana, plus nuts and dates as my early breakfast.
One other notable thing in Tafraout is the painted rocks dotted in a valley about 5 km out. The Belgian artist Jean Verame 'created' this gallery in 1984 as a tribute to his late wife. He used local labour and 18 tonnes of paint. But my reaction (as has been for many) was “is it art or vandalism?”; “is it contribution or self-indulgence?”. The landscape is amazing enough in its pristine state. Still, it is interesting and
attracts many visitors (plus me). I am told that the municipality forks out the expense of repainting the spectacle every few years to maintain this now local tourist attraction.
To all things I am convinced that the trick is to just let go.. of reactivity, of inflexibility, of attachment. I have a long way to go. But I am aware that this ought not to be confused with a loss of passionate engagement, and I sometimes look at myself and wonder about that. How to remain engaged with life and its wonder, both its joys and sadnesses, the highs and lows. Balance is the answer I suppose.
Meanwhile... where to go after Tafraout?
Ohm gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svah Gone gone, beyond; completely exposed; awake. So be it.
(more pictures in the gallery below)
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Ernst
non-member comment
Love Tafraout
Hi Paul Also i loved Tafraoute very much. Your describtion of the area is absilutly perfect. I travelled trouh whole Marocco but never found any place, which can compede. It was ver nice, and i am very happy to meet you. Tanks, Ernst _()_ _()_ _()_