Ten confusing "facts" about Fez!

Recently we checked out a large number of travel websites offering "inside information" about Fez. What worried us most was the lack of understanding about the Medina and what it has to offer. The list of "facts" below occur on more than one site, but have one thing in common - they are all wrong!

The medina, or “Old Town”, of Fez is perhaps the best preserved medieval city in the world. It was built in the 14th century, and aside from the introduction of electric lighting, little seems to have changed in the six hundred years. Traditional craftsmen still make and ply their wares in one room workshops, and overburdened donkeys are still the only form of transport that can be used in the Medina. The narrow winding streets are a maze for the unwary, and taking a half or full day guided tour may be the best way to see all the sights the Fez medina has to offer on your holiday in Morocco.

There are many statements like the one quoted above. Here are just some of the "facts" we discovered.

#1: "Apart from electricity there is nothing modern in Fez."

#2: "There are no cell (mobile) phones."

#3: "There is no sense of community because everyone is behind windowless walls."

#4: "Women are not allowed out in the streets. If they do they must be in a burqa".

#5: "The narrow winding streets are a maze for the unwary, and taking a half or full day guided tour may be the best way to see all the sights the Fez medina has to offer."

#6: "Fez is a tour town and once you have experienced the filth and stench of the medina and the few Mosques which you cannot enter the trip is effectively over."

#7: "For safety and drinkable water you must stay in a modern hotel outside the Medina."

#8: "There are also many discos and pubs providing entertainment to all those entire people visiting Fez. Thus come and be a part of the world of entertainment here in Fez."

#9: "Taxi drivers never turn the meters on so be careful when they try to rip you off."

#10: "If you need to use the internet you will have to go to the Sheraton Hotel."


Once you have stopped laughing and decide you are after factual information, shop around. Read as much as you can before visiting. You can also search The View from Fez using the search box at the left of the top bar. We recommend the following sites for accurate information:

Fez Information.
Things to do in Fez.
List of further resources.
Top guidebook.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Moroccan artists to auction paintings in solidarity with Palestine

Eighty Seven Moroccan painters will auction their works, on March 1st in Casablanca, to raise money in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The auction, organized by the Culture ministry, is part of official and popular solidarity with the Palestinian people following the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

The proceeds of the auction will be earmarked to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Chefchaouen - "a jewel of a town".

A journalist friend, Ellen Clark, recently spent time exploring the northern parts of Morocco and reports back that "while some of northern Morocco is gradually pulling itself into the present, centuries of history, tradition, and culture aren't going to disappear instantaneously. It's a safe bet that this mysterious and beautiful land has some time before it is truly on the tourist map. That said, maybe you should bump up Fez and the rest of northern Morocco a little higher on your life list…just in case."

Photo: Ellen Clark

Here is a taste of Ellen Clark's article that appeared on Away.com

Chefchaouen is a ridiculously photogenic jewel of a town. Surrounded by the Rif mountains, a cluster of white-washed buildings march up the hillside between two peaks. This is an ideal place to hang out for a couple of days when traveling between Fes and Tangier.

The medina's narrow streets are a vision in various shades of blue. A carryover from when it was a primarily a Jewish quarter, dried pigments are available in the shops, and decorative doors and walls are painted in hues that range from indigo to powder blue and turquoise. Residents are clearly proud of their lovely neighborhood, as this quite possibly the cleanest medina in Morocco.

Today the medina has a large Berber population, easily identifiable by their unique clothing, the men in woolen earth-tone djellabas and women in colorful straw hats and red and white striped skirts.

Besides its charming medina, Chefchaouen is know for its marijuana, or, as it's locally called, kif production. There are plenty of cannabis fields in the hills just outside of town, and while smoking marijuana is illegal, though widely tolerated, exporting it is perfectly on the up-and-up.

You can walk right from the old town, past the riverbank where residents are doing laundry, into the Rif Mountains. For a pleasant day hike, head up the graded path past cannabis fields, grazing sheep, and panoramic views of Chefchaouen to the tiny village of El Kalaa.

There are still some legendary Barbary apes in the Rif Mountains Talassemtane National Park, but they are few and far between, as these tailless monkeys are now on the endangered species list.

Ellen's full article can be found here: On the cusp; Northern Morocco

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Endangered toad research in Morocco

Yes, we know this sounds strange, but today some good news about the Moroccan spadefoot toad!

Three researchers from the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein in the Netherlands, Philip de Pous, Diederik Dingemans and Eric van der Pol,have a keen interest in amphibian conservation.

After ten weeks of research in Morocco, they decided to write a blog on their current project: “Ecology and conservational status of Pelobates varaldii from the coastal areas of Morocco”. The aim of this study is to research the ecology, phylogenetics and conservational status (distribution and threats) of the Moroccan spadefoot toad (Pelobates varaldii). Pelobates varaldii is currently ranked number 36 in the Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) top 100 list.

And the news from the ponds of Morocco is good.

During the first weeks in the field we discovered to our great excitement that Pelobates varaldii is still very abundant within the constraints of Mamora forest. Tadpoles were present in almost every temporary pond we have visited during the course of our research. Until now we have measured and photographed approximately 150 adult individuals, which provided us with valuable data concerning their population demography and morphological characteristics, of which now only very scarce data is available.

To read more on this fascinating research, visit the EDGE Blog


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Morocco gets four new radio stations

Radio listeners in Morocco will be able to enjoy four new multi-regional radio stations following a decision issued Monday by the Higher Council of Audio-visual Communication (CSCA: Conseil Supérieur de la Communication Audiovisuelle).

The council approved four thematic radio stations following an invitation to tender. The winners of the licences are:

Radio MARS, a sports radio station (eight audience areas)
Radio Medina FM, a radio station on rural areas (eight audience areas)
Radio LUXE, a radio station on Moroccan handicraft (six audience areas).
Radio Med, a radio station on mediation and conflict resolution (six audience areas).

The Council also decided to grant private radio operators new frequencies to extend their broadcasting to new audience areas.

Concerning TV licences, CSCA decided not to issue any TV licence waiting for a better visibility, as it considers that the approval of any new national television project presents “a significant risk of imbalance for the sector that could affect the balance of current public and private broadcasting operators in the short-term and their sustainability in the medium term.”

Morocco has been progressively freeing up its airwaves, passing a law to this effect in 2004, after which 10 private radio stations were launched.

Moroccan television is set to be further diversified later in 2009, when the country's first Berber channel is set to be launched.

For a more comprehensive list, see The View from Fez: Radio Stations in Morocco


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Berber music at Cafe Clock

Echwan l'beja, local musicians from Derb Serej, Batha, had a full house up and dancing at Cafe Clock on Sunday night.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Algeria opens its border with Morocco - for Gaza aid.

For over fifteen years the the border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed and in a welcome development has been opened to allow passage for an aid convoy heading towards the Gaza Strip. The opening, near the Moroccan town of Oujda,is described as "temporary", but Morocco, which has long been calling for Algeria to open the border, hopes the opening will be the start of better relationship.

The frontier was shut in 1994 after Morocco accused Algeria's secret services of masterminding the attack on a hotel in Marrakech. However, according to the BBC's James Copnall, though the Morocco-Algeria crossing was opened for the convoy, there is little sign ordinary people will be able to travel overland between Morocco and Algeria any time soon.

The convoy of 99 vehicles which left from the UK loaded with medicine, food, clothes and toys is due to cross from Egypt to Gaza in early March.

Diplomatic relations between the Algeria and Morocco have long been poor, and disagreements are currently focused on the disputed territory of the Western Sahara which Moroccans considers part of Morocco. Algeria is one of the few countries that supports the Polisario Front independence movement - a position that has prolonged the tension between the two nations.

Algeria does not intend to finalise a normalisation with Morocco, including reopening borders with her, unless some conditions are met, Secretary General of FLN, the Personal Representative of President Bouteflika said on Saturday.

Abdelaziz Belkhadem told a press conference at the government owned TV headquarters, that opening borders with Morocco for an aid convoy heading towards Gaza Strip does not mean that Algeria is considering reopening the long closed borders, for the moment. Belkhadem added that such a decision would be taken after that Rabat responds to a line of conditions, including security cooperation, countering smuggling, narcotics trafficking and illegal migration, as well as “some other things” which he did not detail.

Yet observers believe that “the other things” are about Morocco being urged to give up her position on the Western Sahara issue by accepting the principle of self-determination, as well as ceasing to accuse Algeria of hindering UN efforts to find a solution to the Sahraoui conflict.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Climbing and trekking in Morocco

Mount Toubkal at 4167m is the highest peak in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains and a magnet for those wanting an extraordinary climbing adventure. Getting information about the climb, the weather conditions and available accommodation and guides in the area has always taken a lot of searching, so we sent our own resident mountaineer, Sandy, to check out the best route to find the information you want.

After struggling through a mass of websites I finally found a couple of places that were packed with information, good advice and some inspiring photographs.

Toubkal Mountain Guides are an outfit with a great reputation in the climbing community. They are a small, independent mountain guiding company whose professional guides are drawn from all over the world. At the present time they employ Irish, English, French, Swiss & Americans.

Most of these guides live year-round in Morocco and have years of combined experience in leading small groups & individuals to some of the most remote and unspoilt areas in this fabulous mountain range.The Toubkal Mountain Guides are headed up by husband and wife team Des and Nathalie Clark.



Des Clark is an (Irish) professional International Mountain Leader and founding director of Wilderplaces Adventure Tours NI Ltd, an Irish company with its offices in the south of Morocco. Outside of the Moroccan High Atlas, he has climbed and guided extensively in the Alps, Pyrenees, Iceland, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.



NathalieClark is a widely travelled & multi-lingual mother of three children. An experienced French & E.F.L. teacher, she especially enjoys the combination of wilderness travel & diverse ethnic cultures. Nathalie leads a number of cultural village and family adventure trips when not home-schooling! Trying to learn the unwritten Berber language Tashelhayt is just one of her current projects.

What I like about the Toubkal Mountain Guides websites ( they have a blog as well) is the emphasis on safety. Toubkal is not a picnic walk. The minimum time required for a fit individual is 3 to 4 days depending on weather conditions. There are two refuges below Toubkal. One is run by the Club Alpin Francais and the other a private venture called Mouflon. All reports suggest that for comfort, Mouflon is preferable.


Of course Toubkal is only one destination and as the related website NomadicMorocco points out "Both the Western High and Mgoun regions offer superb trekking and mountaineering - "far from the madding crowd"!

Although Ighil Mgoun has the attraction of being over 4000m (it is 4068m), it is far enough away from Marrakech and remote enough from the main valley regions to prevent it being over-run with day-trippers and the like.

The Western High Atlas are even less visited but there are some hidden gems to reward those who venture - Immaradene 3350m and Moulay Ali (also 3350m) being just two.

Incidently, NomadicMorocco is the trading name of Wilderplaces Adventure Tours NI Ltd (a company registered in Northern Ireland) but their office is based in southern Morocco.


Essential info - visit these links.

Toubkal Mountain Guides

Toubkal Mountain Guides Blog ( with weather conditions)

Nomadic Morocco

The View from Fez would like to thank Des Clark for permission to reproduce the photographs in this article.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Sufi Brotherhood in Fez unites Africans

If you venture down to the end of Tala'a Kebira and turn left at the Attarine Medersa, you'll come across one of the most beautiful zaouias (saint's shrines), that of Sidi Ahmed Tijani who is buried here in Fez.

Sidi Ahmed Tijani zaouia, Fez

The shrine has a beautifully decorated porch and carved and painted doors, as well as carved plaster and superb zellij (mosaic tiles). It's well worth a visit, even though non-Muslims are not allowed inside. It's an extremely important shrine for Muslims from other African countries, who, as part of the Tijani brotherhood, like to visit it before or after a trip to Mecca.

The following article by James Copnall appears today on the BBC website:

"The 12-centuries-old city of Fez is known as Morocco's spiritual capital, but it also has huge relevance for millions of West Africans.

They come in droves - from Senegal, Mali, Niger and Nigeria - to worship at the tomb of a North African holy man, Sheikh Ahmed Tijani.

Senegalese men in flowing twilight blue boubous mingle with Moroccans in hooded djellabas at the impressive gate of the zaouia, or religious centre for the Tijani brotherhood, in the narrow and winding streets of Fez's old town.

Sheikh Tijani, who was born in Ain Madhi in what is now Algeria, is reputed to have learnt the Koran by heart by the age of seven, and given his first fatwa (religious instruction) at 15. He founded the Sufi brotherhood at the end of the 18th century - using the Gregorian calendar - or towards the start of the 13th Islamic century. Muslims flocked to hear the teachings of the holy man, who had spent long periods meditating in the Sahara Desert. The Moroccan sultan of the time, Moulay Slimane, supported Sheikh Tijani, aiding his rise.

All sorts
Tijani disciples from neighbouring countries spread the word and now there are millions of his followers in West Africa.

"I have visited many African countries, and there are villages and towns where you don't expect to find even a sign of civilisation, but you find a Koranic school and other buildings put up by the Tijanis,", says Zoubir Tijani, a descendent of Sheikh Tijani, who looks after his mausoleum.

Zoubir Tijani

"Secondly, our brotherhood sticks very closely to the Koran. Sheikh Tijani said if you hear me say something which contradicts what the prophet says, you must ignore it. This message appeals to people, so if you go into the zaouia now, you will find more than twelve nationalities. In this brotherhood you find all sorts - ordinary people and ministers."

The former Senegalese Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse, comes from a famous Tijani family, and Hissen Habre, the former dictator of Chad, is a Tijani. Zoubir Tijani brushed away suggestions that Mr Habre, who is accused of numerous human rights abuses, had clearly found it difficult to follow the Tijani message of peace.

Senegalese community

Tijanis, both well-known and anonymous, come to Fez to pray at Sheikh Tijani's tomb, often on their way to Mecca, explains Abdellatif Begdouri Achkari, a Tijani, and a senior member of Morocco's Islamic affairs ministry.

"Islam came to West Africa from Morocco, so it's normal there is such a strong spiritual relationship," he said.

"Sheikh Ahmed Tijani is a great figure in Morocco, and the links we have with people from other countries are not political, they are spiritual."

Round the corner from the zaouia, Sheikh Tijani's last resting place, a small community of Senegalese people live. Samba Thiam moved here nine years ago, thanks to his faith. He rents a room in a traditional two-storey Fez house, and helps other Tijanis who come to pray at the grave of the Sheikh.

"I came here because of the zaouia of Sheikh Tijani," he says in halting French, mixed with words of Wolof and exuberant English. "I live here near the zaouia to welcome and help the disciples. They come from all countries in the world, and there are lots of them - sometimes we have as many as 30 in a week."

'Big advantage'

Later he and other Senegalese, two of whom have come from France, sit down for lunch in the Senegalese style, using their hands to eat from a common dish. Many of these pilgrims contribute to the upkeep of the zaouia.

"Disciples of the Tijani brotherhood provide everything that is necessary here - they pay for water and electricity, carpets, everything that is needed," explains Zoubir Tijani. "They aren't obliged to, but they do it to make everyone feel at ease."

Habib Diallo, a Senegalese student in Fez, is a regular visitor to the zaouia. He and other Senegalese meet on Thursday evenings to chant Allah's name, to prepare themselves for the Friday prayer. He says the fact so many Senegalese are Tijanis has contributed to the close relationship his country has with Morocco.

"The Moroccans respect us because we are disciples of Sheikh Ahmed Tijani," he says. "It's a very big advantage. Everyone knows there is a very nice relationship between Senegal and Morocco, and Sheikh Ahmed Tijani is at the centre of that."

Note that the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture takes place from 18-25 April. See the programme here.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Fez (almost) hits the spot

Fez nears Wanderlust's Top Ten City List, reports our London correspondent, Tamsin Ranger.

Top UK travel magazine Wanderlust has announced its 2009 Travel Award Winners in the March issue. These categories - voted for by its readers - cover a range of topics including Top Low-cost Airline, Top Worldwide Airport, Top Travel Equipment Brand and Top Rail Journey.

Fez finds itself just outside the top ten ranking for Top City. It is in good company with Melbourne, Verona, Seattle and Split that also just miss out on the first ten spots (not a New York or Paris to be seen).

Antigua, Guatemala nabbed the top spot, leaving two-time winner Launag Prabang, Laos in 7th place. New entries to the top ten list also include Tallinn and Krakow.

Japan was named Top Country after a couple of years of close competition between Namibia and New Zealand.

Now on its 102nd issue, Wanderlust is a reliable and inspiring source of information for independent travellers. For more information, see www.wanderlust.co.uk.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Travel Writing About Morocco #26

This week our travel writing sleuths have come across three interesting examples. One is from a high circulation newspaper, another a mass market book and the third, a small blog. Book reviewer and literary critic, Ibn Warraq, takes up the story...

HASSAN the driver asked: "Would you like to meet a Berber troglodyte?"

This is the opening line from a better than average piece of writing on Morocco. Good, that is, in the world of newspapers. I add that because many times it is obvious that a sub-editor has taken to a piece with no sense of the overall integrity of the whole. This appears to be the case in Phil Hammond's story in the Australian Courier Mail, the countries highest circulation newspaper, as the later part of the article seems to be quite truncated. Hammond's opening line is a good one and his quirky take on things continues - not in the usual places (Marrakesh, Essaouira, Erg Cherbi) but parked on top of someone's cave.

He was easing the LandCruiser along a very rough track in an arid valley. The steep walls of this western Saharan mountain range, called Jebel Sarhro, displayed strata lines in dozens of hues of brown, red and cream. It was 46C of dry desert heat outside the vehicle.

Hours before, we had left the cool, fountain-graced courtyards of our hotel in Ouarzazate for a real Moroccan adventure. As the wheels crunched to a stop, we peered out for signs of a cave. All to be seen were the rolling, stony foothills splotched with weedy ground cover.

Then a Muslim woman appeared below and smiled a toothless welcome. Two dogs were too heat-stressed to raise a bark, and a nubian goat kept on munching. We had parked on the roof of her cave. Venturing down, we found a steep-sided bank with a row of four cave entrances. Each tunnelled five or six metres horizontally into the hillside and none was high enough to stand up straight in.

The first cave contained the kitchen, or rather a clay oven. The second was the family's lounge room, where our hostess had a sizeable loom on which was the start of a Berber carpet. From grubby plastic canisters, she poured water into a tiny teapot and fired up a small spirit stove. In the tradition of Moroccan hospitality, we were invited to sit on the cave floor and sip mint tea from small glasses.

With Hassan to translate, we learnt the third cave was the sleeping quarters and the fourth sheltered animals on cold nights. The woman said she had raised 11 children in her cave home. A distant movement showed dad and some youngsters were bringing a flock of sheep and goats from the water supply.

Phil Hammond writes well and his word pictures are wonderfully evocative.

The saving grace in this part of the world is that even in drought, water does keep trickling. Soon we were bouncing down into the Dades River Valley. Snow from the High Atlas mountains melts and permeates the rock, providing, at this time of the year, a modestly running creek. It is sufficient to sustain a vivid green ribbon below dramatic rock formations like melted toffee. These hillsides dwarfed mud-plastered villages where every home is allocated a riverside allotment.

Downstream, we had poked along through the Valley of a Million Kasbahs... (Well, we could knitpick and point out that it is usually only a "thousand kasbahs", but what the heck.) A kasbah here is an imposing, fortress-like house. Rich French people have "discovered" them for holiday homes and renovations among the groves of date palms are impressive.

You will find Phil Hammond's full story here: Mix of Culture

The iconic kasbah at Ait Ben Haddou

The Quest for a good book on Kasbahs.

Recently The View from Fez was sent a review copy of the new travel adventure book by Richard Bangs. For those who do not know Richard, he is the author of more than a dozen adventure books which cover half the planet. He is a full time explorer and adventure junky.

When Bang's latest book Quest for the Kasbah arrived on my desk, I was keen to dive into it because the subject of the Moroccan kasbahs was one we had recently been discussing. It starts with a description of a descent of the Omo River in Ethiopea and his travels with his friend Lew - "Though Jewish, Lew had spent time traveling through North Africa." Imagine that.


What soon came clear was that this book is not so much about kasbahs, as about Richard Bangs. In fairness, it should be pointed out that Quest for the Kasbah is a TV tie-in, marketed to go with a the PBS special Morocco: Quest for the Kasbah and as such will probably be enjoyed by many. Thee book's observations about Morocco are at times poetic - "With Walker just a few steps behind we passed through a gate of three symetrical horseshoe arches and kneaded (sic) down a smokey, teeming alley, thick with the tintinnabulations and perfumes of North Africa."

Bangs observations are unfortunately simplistic snapshots that fail to go beneath the surface. In describing the urban layout of Fez, Bangs falls into the trap of failing to see beyond those first impressions. Instead of describing a city that has grown organically along the river and then developed along Islamic lines (each area having its own mosque,bakery, medersa, fountain and hammam), Bangs tosses off the standard cliches.

"...so tendrilled and tortuous that even those living just outside the walls often do not enter for fear of getting lost. There are no maps, no street signs. Hell is better organised."

Now, we wouldn't quible if that was not so demonstrably wrong. There are maps. There are signs in French, Arabic and English and the Fez Medina is certainly not ... "endless and circular, a maze within a knot inside a honeycomb within a skein within a web." To compound the problem, Bangs then goes on about the great adventurers who got lost. Starting with Moses he details, Livingstone, Kit Moresby, Shackelton, Herzog, Amelia Earheart, the list goes on. Yep, know how they felt, just like being in the "cosmic soup that is the Medina of Fez".

Richard Bangs

Another unfortunate habit of Mr Bangs is to see the world through a myopic and slightly imperialist set of glasses. He is take on traditional cafe culture: " ...with its luxury of unmeasured time the Moroccan cafe is out of harmony with western concepts." Bangs' spends a lot of time through the book commenting on mobile phones and modern communications. In fact it seems he spends more time on that subject than talking about kasbahs. But even his writing on communications is hard to take seriously after his observation about mobile phones in Fez: "...In the midst of all the bustle I don't see a single person with a cell phone, PDA or any digital device..." It makes one wonder if he was actually in Fez at all. The cell phones are, as any casual observation will confirm, in plague proportions.

Quest for the Kasbah ultimately is an unfullfilled quest. But now I understand my European friends when they tell me I have been"banging on" too much.

Quest for the Kasbah is published by Open Road Publishing.

Advice to Travellers.

My last quick review this week is of a website promoting Fez that was sent to us by a concerned Moroccan guest house owner who complained that the site made it sound as though staying in the Medina of Fez was a second rate option.

"Much of the city is still holding on to its French roots. Thus around 200000 of Fez's inhabitants stay in the city of Fez el Bali. Staying a few days in Fez el Bali will make you recognize that it's hard to avoid the paradox of the place. Fez el Bali is a place with a constant source of interest.
Accommodation
You can either stay in the modern hotels of Ville Nouvelle with a reliable water supply, or in the basic hotels of Medina in Fes el Bali and Fes el Djedid. There is frequently a shortage of hotel space so be sure to book well in advance. A small number of the better hotels have swimming pools and also offer the advantages of nearby restaurants and pubs.
Restaurants
Ville Nouvelle is the center for most of the cities restaurants, bars, cafes, bookshops and other facilities. Fes el Bali and Fes el Djedid have no bars and a few Palace-Restaurants that are very basic and only open for lunch. They mainly cater for tourists"

While we agree that the information is inaccurate and does paint the wrong picture, the site itself is well meaning. Visitors probably check more than one website before booking accomodation in Fez and can be assured that they have "reliable water" supplies!

See our Travel Writing about Morocco series here. Travel Writing Index


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Cafe Clock's Cultural Week

Cafe Clock has a great line-up this week of cultural activities:


Monday 16, Wednesday 18 and Friday 20 February
15h00-17h00
Calligraphy
Discover the sacred art of calligraphy with the master Mohamed Charkaoui. Private lessons by arrangement.

Tuesday 17, Thursday 19 and Friday 20 February
10h30-noon
Yoga
A relaxing and invigorating mix of Sivananda and Ashtanga disciplines. Escape the medina bustle with Nora (Dh50)

Thursday Movie at 18h00 - Free admission
Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is an Oscar-nominated 2004 German/Austrian drama film depicting the final twelve days of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, written by Bernd Eichinger (in German with English subtitles).

Sunday Sunset Concert
18h00
Aissawa: Traditional Sufi Brotherhood music (Dh20)

Monday 23 February
17h00
Oriental and Belly Dance Workshop - Free introductory offer
A new social workshop hosted by Evelyn/Saida.
Dancing will be followed by a glass or two.

In March, Cafe Clock will be hosting a Moroccan Film Festival - watch this space!

Contact details: www.cafeclock.com


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Fez Medina's smart new snack bar

Last October, The View from Fez reported that a new fountain was being built near the post office in Batha. It now graces the outdoor courtyard of the new Snack Omar on Rue de la Poste.

The snack bar serves the usual street food at very good prices: chicken with chips and vegetables is Dh18, sandwiches - which are small baguettes stuffed with your choice of fillings and cooked while you wait - are between Dh12 and Dh15, or you can have an omelette for a mere Dh6. Snack Omar is open from 10am to 11pm.

What makes this little restaurant so different is the care that's gone into the surroundings - the courtyard has pretty zellij, the wall fountain and lots of lush plants, all set in the shade of wooden trellis work overhead. Anyone for lunch?


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

15th Book Fair opens in Casablanca

From tomorrow (Feb 13),Casablanca will be hosting the 15th International Publication and Book Fair. It is expected that it will be attended by 500 exhibitors and 100-plus editors from 41 countries. The fair has, over the years, gained a worldwide renown and become a gathering where the literarti celebrates cultural diversity of the world heritage, and continues to attract more and more visitors and exhibitors from across the globe.

The fair, themed this year "In the Realm of the Book", will have Senegal as the guest of honour. The event features meetings with intellectuals and critics, as well as conferences and seminars.

The programme of the fair, which covers a wide range of subjects and genres, aims in particular at making the book accessible to the public and not limited to an elite, according to Moroccan culture minister, Touria Jabrane Kryatif (pictured left). The ministerf called upon public and private sectors to get involved in a national project aimed at promoting a culture of reading in the kingdom, to be finalized next month.

Noting that the situation of reading and book distribution gives grounds for worry, the minister insisted that there need to be appropriate solutions which involve all partners.

"We are required to responsibly rise to this challenge, by launching concrete actions," she said, adding that the “critical situation” calls for a large-scale and urgent mobilisation.

Illiteracy, the lack of an engrained culture of reading in the society and the exorbitant book price are all subjective and objective factors that contribute to this phenomenon, she deplored.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Moroccan triva #42

Possibly the least useful piece of information about Morocco and one you will only ever need for a trivia night. But should someone ask about the average height of Moroccans, you will now know the answer.

Moroccan footballer Jawad Zaïri - taller than average.

In a recent comparison of people from all countries, the average height of Moroccans (18-30 years) was 173 cm, putting them in 47th place. Topping the list was the Netherlands at 184.80 cm.

Moroccans are taller than the overall world average which was found to be 170,60 cm The shortest nation is Cambodia with an average height of 162.50

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Fes Festival and the Kabbalah's Tree of Life

The View from Fez recently announced the theme of this year's Fes Festival of World Sacred Music: The Tree of Life. Here's why it's a particularly apt symbol for this event.

The Kabbalah Tree of Life

"It would be hard to think of a more appropriate symbol for the Fes Festival", says our Kabbalah expert, Draco Draconis.

"The Tree of Life is found in every major mythology. It is one of the few universal symbols of humankind. That is certainly a valid reason for its use as a symbol by the Festival - as well as its embodiment in the Batha Museum's Barbary oak, under which discussions and concerts take place.

Cantus Colln perform under the tree at the Batha Museum, Fes Festival 2008

But there is also one esoteric tradition in which the Tree of Life has the central place: the Kabbalah, the esoteric tradition within Judaism; and the kabbalah produced its most extraordinary work in Moorish Spain, in the short era of cohabitation of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Like Sufism, kabbalah claims to be as ancient as the religion it inhabits: kabbalists claim the original teachings were handed down from Abraham in unbroken lineage. Like sufis, kabbalists were and are frequently at odds with the orthodox. And like sufis, kabbalists claim to have keys to the secret meanings contained within scripture.

Most interestingly, from the viewpoint of Fez, the kabbalah contains notions of the divine that integrate male and female. Adam Kadmon, primordial man, existed in archetypal form before creation took place - creation as a whole is in his image. But the perfection of creation cannot take place without the integration of male and female.

The Tree of Life consists of the ten sephiroth, which are 'emanations' from Ain Sof (nothingness), and the paths between them. Each sephira represents a force or quality in the creation, the downward movement from Keter (the Crown) to Malkut (the Kingdom), and also a station in the ascent of the soul towards Unity.

The androgenous teaching of the kabbalah can be traced to the Zohar, the great, obscure kabbalistic treatise published in Spain in the thirteenth century, during a time when Jews, Christians and Muslims not only lived side by side but mingled in esoteric groups. Moses de Leon, author of the Zohar, claimed the text came from Shimon ben Yoshai, a famous rabbi of Roman times. Modern scholars say Moses de Leon wrote it, but drew on an immense resource of old texts and orally-transmitted material.

While the details of the processes it describes are obscure, the Zohar makes it clear that male and female must be joined to sustain the harmony of the cosmos. For this reason alone the kabbalah would remain suspect in the eyes of the patriarchal orthodox.

The kabbalah had remained a secret teaching until the middle ages, and its first great flowering was in 13th century Spain. Later, the revisionist kabbalah of Isaac Luria - adopted by the Hasidim - would prevail as the face of Judaic kabbalah, but it was through the Zohar that kabbalah entered the Christian world during the Renaissance, thanks to Pico della Mirandola and other students of esoteric knowledge. Through them and later Knorr von Rosenroth, the kabbalah became part of the great swell of mystical and esoteric learning in the West - the philosopher-mages Bruno, Fludd and Dee, the mystics Reuchlin, Ruysbroek and Boehme, the poet William Blake all drew heavily on the kabbalah - and became incorporated into the perennial philosophy.

One reason for the Tree of Life's continuing central role in Western esotericism is its multi-level, multi-layered symbolism. Each sephira contains a whole Tree within it; there are four Worlds (Archetypal, Creative, Formative and Active) and the whole Tree can be viewed as existing in each of these worlds, or all can be viewed as interconnecting. Almost any process or schema can be mapped onto the Tree.

From a Judaic viewpoint, the kabbalah (which means tradition) has been primarily a means of understanding scripture. Within the Western esoteric tradition, it has been and remains a means of exploring the laws of creation and the processes of reintegration with the divine outside the frameworks of orthodox religion."


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Café Clock in Fez - Cultural menu.

Café Clock in Fez - This week's Cultural Programme






Calligraphy: mon /wed / fri 3pm - 5pm
Discover the sacred art of calligraphy with the master Mohamed Charkaoui. Private lessons by arrangement

Yoga: tues /thurs /fri 10:30am-12pm
A relaxing and invigourating mix of Sivananda and Ashtanga disciplines. Escape the medina bustle with Nora

Film: thursday movie 6pm
Erin Brokovich- Directed by Steven Soderbergh. With Julia Roberts
An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.

Dance: salsa on Sunday from11am
Learn latin dance styles with Jonathan
Oriental dance can be arranged in advance

Concert: Sunday at sunset from 6pm
SCHLOUH – berber music with drums, fiddles and dancers

Please check www.cafeclock.com for more info


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Palme d’Or Film to screen in Fez

Cette semaine à l'Institut Français de Fès.

Cinéma : Entre les murs

Mercredi 11 février 2009, 19h, Médiathèque de l’institut

Un film de Laurent Cantet
Avec : François Bégaudeau Nassim Amrabt et Laura Baquela
Film français, 2008, 2h10min
François est un jeune professeur de français dans un collège difficile. Il n’hésite pas à affronter Esmeralda, Souleymane, Khoumba et les autres dans de stimulantes joutes verbales, comme si la langue elle-même était un véritable enjeu. Mais l’apprentissage de la démocratie peut parfois comporter de vrais risques.

Yes! It is true, the Institut Français de Fès is hosting a showing of the fabulous French film - Entre les murs (known in English as The Class), This extraordinary film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is worth making an effort to see.

The narrative unfolds inside a school in the working-class 20th arrondissement, a residential district on the city’s farthermost eastern edge. A rainbow coalition of sullen boys and mouthy girls ages 13 and 14, the students are meant to be learning the finer points of the French language, parsing the differences between the passé composé and the imparfait, distinctions that seem nearly as foreign to them as does the reedy young teacher down in front.

One of the most remarkable things about Entre les murs is that this quietly stubborn, prickly man is François Bégaudeau, who wrote the autobiographical novel on which the movie is based. But there is more. Entre les murs is brought alive by the performances of the non-professional actors playing the students. The filming (over an entire academic year) delivers a slice of life that is worth tasting.


The film is showing on Wednesday February 11 at 7pm at the Médiathèque de l’institut Français.

Contact : 33, Rue Loukili, B.P. 2277, Fès. Tél : 035 62 39 21 / 62 35 40 / Fax : 035 62 52 03
Espace Langues : 12, Rue Serghini, B.P. 2277, Fès. Tél : 035 62 41 49 / Fax : 035 62 56 65
Riad Dar Batha : 15, Salaj, Fès Médina. Tél : 035 63 67 13


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Fes Festival Theme announced

The View from Fez is pleased to announce that theme of this year's Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is The Tree of Life.

Mohamed Kabbaj, Director of the Festival, explains:

"All traditions give importance to the symbolism of the tree. According to Ibn Arabi, the tree is the symbol of Man - above all in its universality (Kulliya) and identity (Mitliya). The tree of which Adam and Eve ate the fruit, is mentioned in the Koran as a 'Tree of Immortality' (Shajarat Al-Khuld). The tree is located, according to Genesis, in the middle of Paradise.

There are also several symbols of the tree in all religions. It is often compared to an Axis of the World, a link that connects Heaven and Earth. It is the distributor of the waters of immortality - the inexhaustible source of life itself."

The View from Fez can also announce the theme of the Fez Meetings (no longer called Encounters) to be held from 09h00 to 13h00 from 30 May to 3 June at the Batha Museum: Living between the Sacred and the Secular - The Force of Things and the Hand of God.

The programme reads:

"Our age is characterized as much by tremendous scientific progress as by a strong aspiration for the sacred.

To give meaning to his life, the post-modern man has to choose between both, or deal with both, in order to find a balance between materialism and spirituality.

This dialectic raises fundamental questions about our origin, our existenceand our individuality in a constantly changing world in which we have to adapt without denying our identity."

Programme:
May 30: The origin of the world: 'big bang' and divine explanations
May 31: The origin of man: creationism and evolutionism
June 1: The contemporary issues about life and death
June 2: The sanctity of life
June 3: The sacredness of the woman

There will be discussions from 18h00 to 20h00 at Dar Batha.

Festival in the City Programme
May 30-June 7 Free admission
18h30 at Boujloud Square and at 20h00 at Ait Skato: concerts

23h00 at Dar Tazi:
Rituals and chants of tohe Sufi Brotherhoods

15h00 to 18h00 at Al Houria Complex:
Pedagogical activities and artistic workshops

See a further explanation of The Tree of Life - click here.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Morocco to adopt 10-digit numbers on 6 March

Morocco will move to a 10-digit numbering system on 6 March, due to the high demand for mobile services. Regulator ANRT, which announced the planned change in September last year, has now given an official start date as March 6.

Fixed-line phone numbers starting with 02 or 03 will change into 052 and 053. Mobile phone numbers starting with 01, 04, 05, 06 or 07 will have a 5 after 0, while those starting with 08 or 09 will become 080 and 089.

To dial, from abroad, a Moroccan land-line number starting with +2122 or + 2123, add 5 before 2 or 3 (i.e. 21252 or 21253).

When calling a mobile phone starting with +2121, +2124, +2125, +2126 or +2127, a 6 should be added before 1, 4, 5, 6 or 7. For international calls to numbers starting with +2128 or +2129, replace 8 by 80 and 9 by 89.

The changes will not apply to international calls from Morocco, special service numbers and emergency numbers, ANRT said.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Moroccan Writers Awards

The prize giving ceremony for the 2008 book awards is scheduled to take place on February 12 in Casablanca at the opening ceremony of the International Book Fair.

Human and social sciences prize went equally to Mohamed Rabitat Eddine for his book "Marrakech au temps du règne Almohade" (Marrakech during the reign of Almohades) and Mohamed Belboul for his book "La structure du mot dans la langue arabe, représentations et principes" (word structure in Arabic, representations and principles).

In the category of literary studies, the prize was awarded to Ahmed Tribak for his book "Le discours soufi dans la littérature marocaine à l'époque du Sultan Moulay Ismaïl" (the Sufi discourse in Moroccan literature during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl).

Mohamed Azeddine Tazi and Ahmed El Madini equally won the narration and storytelling prize for their books "Abniat al Faraghe" (buildings of vacuum) and "kharif wa qissason oukhra" (autumn and other stories) respectively.

The poetry prize was awarded to Latifa El Meskini for her collection "hanajiroha amiae" (blind throats), while Farid Zahi won the translation prize for the book "Assihr wa-dine" (magic and religion), an Arabic translation of the French book "Magie et religion dans l'Afrique du nord" by Edmond Doutté.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Radio Stations in Morocco

RTM Chaîne Nationale, the main domestic service, broadcasts programming in the Arabic language. In addition there are occasional programmes in English, French and Spanish.

RTM Chaîne Inter is the international service with programmes in Arabic, French, Spanish and English.

RTM Chaîne Amazigh caters for Tachelhit, Tamazight and Tarifit speakers. These are all derivations of the Berber language. Tachelhit is spoken in south-west Morocco, in an area between Sidi Ifni in the south,Agadir in the north and Marrakech and the Draa/Sous valleys in the east. Tamazight is spoken in the Middle Atlas, between Taza, Khemisset, Azilal and Errachidia. Tarifit (or Rifia) is spoken in the Rifarea of northern Morocco. A small number of programmes are broadcast in Hassaniya, which is widely spoken in Western Sahara.

Medi 1 and Radio 2M are commercial stations. (If you want to listen on the web, try here: Radio 2m) The principal language for both stations is French, although they do play Arabic music at times. Radio Atlantic, a commercial station, came on air in November, 2006. Bizz FM (Business radio), Cap FM, Hit Radio, Chada FM, MFM, Radio Plus & Atlas FM were all launched in late 2006/early 2007.

Listen online:

Maroc Zik
Moroccan radio station broadcasting music for singers from different Arab countries.

Ournia.com Morocco
Moroccan radio station broadcasting Moroccan music as well as other oriental and occidental music for singers from different countries.

Radio Mediterannee Internationale - Medi 1
A French language radio station, broadcasting occidental music.

Hit Radio, Morocco
Radio station in Morocco broadcasting hit radio.

Web-Maroc
Moroccan contemporary music.

Maroc Station
Links to a number of online Moroccan, Arabic and French radio stations.

Radio Yabiladi
Moroccan online radio. Playing non-stop music Chaabi, Amazigh, raï, rap, Andalous and more.

Radio Casablanca
A Moroccan Radio Station broadcasting French music and news.

For frequencies please visit: Moroccan Radio Frequencies

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Fez Medina Gossip #3508

The Great Wet.

The rain, the rain and then the rain - that's the chief topic of conversation around the damp walls of the Medina at the moment. The weather has been so dismal that one well known Fez identity has taken off for a sojourn in foreign climes where a glass of Bordeaux with magret de canard is expected to have a warming effect (at least internally).

However, for some the weather has been more than something to grumble about. A number of recently restored houses have revealed themselves to be prone to leaks and it is expected that there will be a number of maintenance jobs on offer to people capable of actually waterproofing terraces. The sun is expected to break through on Sunday morning with temperatures rising to 13 degress Celsius.

Sidi Slimane

Spare a thought for those worse off. Three hundred adobe houses were swept away on Tuesday night by flood waters from the Oued Beht river in the northern region of Sidi Slimane. According to our sources there were no casualties.

Maghreb Arabe Presse reported that a total of 1,800 houses were submerged by floodwaters, and 1,500 victims were rescued in the disaster-stricken area. The flood victims received food and blankets.

The early warning given in the flood-threatened regions spared the lives of many people,as local police, the Gendarmerie Royale (rural police), the auxiliary forces and rescue and emergency units joined efforts to help the victims.

After heavy rains that recently hit the Gharb region, El Kansra dam overflowed into Oued Beht. Eight people were killed and two others were injured Tuesday as a result of the harsh weather which is currently hitting Morocco.

Princess Lalla Salma

For a while the most searched for name on The View from Fez was a certain Lebanese pop princess - but now Morocco's popular Princess Lalla Salma has toppled Haifa Wehbe and is the subject of a huge amount of interest.

A sudden spike in searches for the princess had a few web-addicts looking for the cause and one Moroccan friend reckons it is because of Facebook! So we cruised over to check it out and discovered a Facebook page called simply: Princess Lalla Salma. Now, while we doubt that the Princess has time to do much websurfing, we can report that the page has attracted 21,480 fans. There is also an album of photographs - enough to keep avid royal watchers happy.

We suspect that the page has not been created by Princess Lalla Salma, but it does remind us that today is the anniversary of a famous controversy. On Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, Fouad Mourtada was arrested on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid and creating a false profile on Facebook.

You can check out the fan page for the princess here: Princess Lalla Salma

And talking of Haifa Wehbe...


Haifa Wehbe's is appears to be on a big promotional drive at the moment with appearances scheduled in Oman, Jordan and... Morocco. Haifa recently performed in Oman's capital Mascat where she held a charity concert in the Intercontinental hotel for the benefit of Bank Oman. The concert, which lasted around 2 hours, was attended by about 2000 people. (We did think the financial crisis must really be hitting hard when a pop star performs to benefit a bank in Oman.)

Haifa then returned to Beirut, where she visited 'St Jude' centre for children who suffer from Cancer. For those who follow the pop diva, she is scheduled to hold a concert on March 30th in Jordan as part of the Aqaba Festival.

And as for Morocco, the Haifa Wehbe concert will be part of the festivities marking the launch of a new radio station, Radio Cap, on April 7th.

Her new album 'Baby Haifa', which will be solely for kids, is in the final stages of production. Haifa's single 'Naughty' will also be part of the new album.

Finally, Haifa will be the guest on Star Academy 4 along with famous Algerian Rai singer, Cheb Khaled.

More Mo-rock'n'roll?

Maybe it was the influence of U2 recording in Morocco, but whatever the cause, there is certainly something happening. The latest rock star to slot "Morocco" into the title of his album is Ian Gillan. Ian who, you ask? Shame! This is THE Ian Gillan, the legendary Deep Purple singer.The album is called One Eye on Morocco and according to industry insiders... "Ian Gillan's unique style draws you in. One Eye To Morocco goes deeper into the roots of rock and roll, soul and blues, than any other Ian Gillan solo album.


The CD is the most adventurous and complete album Ian Gillan has recorded in his long career. His distinguished style admired by generations of DEEP PURPLE fans is showcased, as well as his musical versatility."

More Mobile Phone Choice.

On Wednesday it was announced that Wana, the telecoms arm of Morocco's biggest conglomerate, ONA had won the country's third wireless phone network. This comes as part of a government drive to liberalise the telecoms sector and cut prices.

Wana, which currently offers limited-range mobile, fixed-line and Internet services, will now join Maroc Telecom (IAM.CS) and Meditel, which operate the two existing mobile networks.

The Telecoms National Regulation Agency (ANRT) commented... "Wana Corporate" presented a "clear, high-quality" bidding, an ANRT statement said adding that WANA pledged "significant investment" and innovative services likely to meet the market's expectations and contribute to upgrading telecoms services in the country.

Wana has said it would detail its investment strategy early this year after ANRT decided on the third licence.

The government expects the telecoms industry as a proportion of the country's gross domestic product to grow from about 7 percent currently to 10 percent next year on the back of more liberalisation and greater competition.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Moroccan children's book makes top ten list.

The Moroccan children's book "Ahki li ez-zellige" (Tell me about zellige) by Nadia Benmoussa has been included in the Anna Lindh Foundations top ten children's books.

The book takes the reader in an immersion in the art and history of the Zellig (traditional tiles) through the journey of a hero, Ali, and his master.

"Tell me about Zellige" sends young readers in a marvellous travel in Fez, Marrakech and back in Andalusia, to discover the splendour of this Moroccan architectural art.

Written initially in French (Raconte-moi le zellige), the book was recently translated into Arabic by Mohamed Belmlih, and appeared in Casablanca’s Yanboe Livres Publishing House.

The Anna Lindh list, which grants awards on the occasion of the ongoing Cairo International Book Fair, includes works from Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as Arabic versions of two Swedish books.

The list books are highly educational, and explore lofty themes as friendship, integrity, respect and competitiveness. Some books were awarded for fostering creativeness, encouragement and self-confidence in children, the Alexandria-based Foundation announced.

The selection of these books was made during the “Hundred and one books” fair, held part of the programme “children’s literature” of the foundation, an event that presented a hundred Arabic books for children in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.


Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news