A man's best friend is his donkey

Posted Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 6:53 PM by Lonely Planet

Sylvia Dubery continues her journey and meets a few donkeys on the way...

Today we escaped the narrow lanes of the Medina and took to the hills. Wide boulevards lined with olive groves and bougainvillea-draped walls lead to the High Atlas Mountains which rise dramatically out of the flat landscape, a sheer wall of white.

En route we came across a little oasis and a scene that could have come from The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights. Beside a stream, camels and decorated horses grazed while the valley rocked to a group of Berber women playing drums. Dressed in their thick brocade jellaba, designed to protect them from the stares of men and the crisp mountain air, they shimmied and sang - audience participation encouraged. With their kohl-lined eyes and beaded headscarves, they were cheerfully lost in the rhythms of their music, albeit with a keen eye for making a quick dirham from curious tourists.



Star of the oasis, however, was the best-trained donkey in Morocco who played dead while his owner enchanted the crowd with his storytelling skills. He spoke quietly to the donkey, shared jokes with the crowd and spun his tale with extravagant gestures which could only leave us guessing what the story was all about. Perhaps, 'There was once a very lazy donkey...'



At last we reached Imlil high up in the hills and took a breathless walk up to the kasbah where the early white blossom framed the view of the last snows of winter. While we paused to catch our breath little children confidently hurried past on donkeys, already demonstrating the Berbers' unique relationship of trust between man and beast.

Labels: Africa, Bluelist Winners 2007

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