Sheep's head and snail tales

Posted Tuesday, April 03, 2007, 8:58 PM by Lonely Planet

Baxter Jackson goes eye to eye with a sheep's head...

Come sundown in Marrakesh at the Djeema el-Fna you can get good sheep's head. Far from being the culinary Russian roulette that you'd think (the poor thing is nearly boiled to death), eating sheep's head not only gives you bragging rights back home but encourages sustainability abroad. How? Simply put: waste not, want not. Before filling your stomach with sheep's head, fire your appetite by uncoiling a boiled snail from its shell at one of the steamy stalls on the square. If you dare, your braggadocio will no longer be empty and neither will your belly.

With dreams of baying sheep and tales of snails still slithering through our heads we hit the ground running for the crisp and clean air of the High Atlas Mountains. At just an hour and a half to the south, access makes North Africa's roof top extremely popular for day-trips from Marrakesh.

The pink labyrinth of the souqs and the old medina soon gave way to palm trees and snow capped peaks floating in the distance like a desert mirage. These illusions of grandeur drew closer as the Mizane Valley grew greener and deeper. White apple blossoms filled the air with the scent of spring and the hope of life eternal.

At the end of the winding road slept Imlil, a small alpine village and the jumping off point for trekking expeditions into the higher Atlas. The big payoff for our small day's journey was the climatic moment when we climbed to the top of the hamlet's kasbah. There on the terrace we stood in the presence of the snow enshrouded giant of Mt Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa.

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