MOLLY WALKER HIT BY TOMATO

By Bob Van Leer

  (MARRAKESH, MOROCCO, Tuesday, June 30, 1992) - The Atlas Mountains divide Morocco into the relatively green and productive Atlantic slope and the Sahara Desert region.

  The Atlas starts on the Mediterranean near the border with Algeria and runs southwest to the Atlantic Ocean.

  Our 480 kilometer route from Fez to Marrakesh today ran generally along the foothills of the Atlas.

    Most of this region is irrigated with water from reservoirs on the streams coming from the Atlas range and the Oum er Rbia, Morocco's largest river. The river also runs parallel to the Atlas and is fed by all the streams coming out of the mountains. 

  Our guide, Assam, said reservoirs store two year's supply of water. The combination of water and hot, sunshiny weather makes the desert bloom. 

Like Central Valley

  It's a lot like the Central Valley in California. There are grains, sugar beets, truck crops, vineyards, orchards and always olive groves.

  On the valley floor agriculture is mechanized. Big tractors and John Deere combines do the work, not women with sickles. But on hill farms, it is still hand labor. Grain is cut and shocked by hand and carried away by men with a cradle on their backs.

  On harvested land and the hills behind small herds of goats and sheep and a few cattle are pastured. All flocks have a herder. Herds vary widely in size, but a guess is that one person follows around a couple dozen animals all day.

  We passed through Meknes, one of the four Imperial Cities. The others are: Fez, Marrakesh and Casablanca.

  We made one stop only there, on a viewpoint overlooking the Medina. Trash was everywhere. If nothing else, viewpoints should be kept clean.

Small Sawmills

  Along the way I saw two small sawmills cutting local trees, most appeared to be eucalyptus. Assam said agriculture is the second largest income in Morocco. I asked him what was first.

  He said the remittances from 2 million Moroccans working overseas. This is the largest source of income and also the largest source of foreign exchange, hard currency. 

  A major political problem for Morocco may be resolved in September according to Assam.

  Morocco annexed Spanish Sahara south of Morocco when Spain pulled out. But Polisario guerillas, backed by Algeria, have been fighting to form an independent state.

  Assam said Algeria's motivation is a shorter route to the Atlantic for Algerian oil. An election in September may approve an autonomous state as part of Morocco.

  A current political problem is that yesterday Muslim fundamentalists assassinated Mohammed Budiaf, president of Algeria, Morocco's eastern neighbor.

  A story on British TV speculated the unrest may spread to neighboring countries.

  We will want to keep an eye on this but news is difficult to come by in the interior. There are no English language newspapers and not all hotels have TV sets in rooms. When they do have sets, it is difficult to find a news program in English.

Berber Country

  As we traveled further south we entered into Berber country. These are the mountain people who inhabited Morocco before the Arabs arrived. They are reputed to be some of the finest horsemen in the world. The Arabian horse is the symbol of the tribe.

  The government is attempting to entice the Berbers to give up their nomadic ways and move into new towns where services such as schools and hospitals are available.

  The land is red and Berber towns are finished in red. We passed a Berger cemetery and Assam explained their burial customs. Berbers are Muslims and the simple ceremony is based on the principal that we came into life with nothing, not even a name, and nothing is brought to the tomb except the body.

  The person has gone back to God. The corpse is washed and wrapped in a white cloth and lowered into a grave the same day as death. The grave faces east toward Mecca. Unmarked stones indicate the head and foot of the grave.

  Berber warriors wear a turban. This is the grave cloth they will be buried in if they die in battle. After 5 p.m. we arrived at Marrakesh, the Berber capital and the gateway to the Sahara on the other side of the Atlas Mountains.

  We stayed at the Palmariva, a resort hotel north of the city. After dinner we went into Marrakesh and were treated to a carriage ride around the new city and through the Medina, the old, walled city.

Hit By Tomato

  There we had the first trouble of the trip. Our party was in five or six carriages. Jim and Molly Walker and son Rob Johnson were in the last carriage which kept getting separated from the rest. The streets in the Medina are narrow and crowded and alive with people.

  Someone attempted to spit on their carriage and Molly was hit on the head with an over-ripe tomato which bounced off her and splattered on Rob's arm.

  After the carriage ride we were taken to a club for an hour or more of traditional Arab dancing. Tomorrow we will tour the city and attend a Berber celebration in the evening.