I had the best day yesterday. I borrowed a Peace Corps volunteer;s bike and cycled through the valley from 10am until 4pm. I stopped at a %tourist attraction% called the %Maison Traditonelle% which is a traditional berber home with many of the kitchen and gardening implements still intact. I got a very long tour from the son of the family that owns it. They moved out in 1980, however he never actually lived there since he was born in 1981. They now live in a modern house nearby. There were no other tourists around for miles, so it was a private tour and quite interesting. The family lived on the level above the stables. The kitchen had a large chute in the floor so any kitchen waste could go down directly to feed the animals. The composter in me was pleased.
Tafroute and the Anti-Atlas mountains are a mountain bikers paradise. I could come back with a bike and spend a week here. The mule paths are perfect singletrack biking paths. The villages are nestled in the mountains, so you can climb up to one and then careen back down. The villages are quiet; the occasional man or woman works silently in their garden. Only one child found me and asked for a pen, bob-bon, or money. You don;t feel alone since you hear activity – and smell tangines cooking – from within the homes.
After 10 years as a techie in the United States, Rebecca Hunt joined the
Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. She taught computer skills and
business skills in a medium sized city. After 2 years in Togo, she
moved to Accra, Ghana to work in a internet and mobile telephone
startup.
