PHOTO TOUR TO MOROCCO

“I’m interested in where you put your eye,” said Antonio, as he downloaded my nearly 800 photos onto a pen drive. Antonio Martín led a landscape photography tour to Merzouga, in the south of Morocco. We were eight people on the tour—Antonio and his wife, Martina Reich, three Spanish guys and three American women—traveling in two four-wheel drive vehicles from southern Spain.

Where I put my eye seemed to be mainly on food! In kitchens, in markets, food on the hoof and fruits on the tree. I recorded every meal we ate on the eight-day trip, from Tangier to Azrou to Merzouga and return via Midelt, Moulay Idriss and back to the port of Tangier. 

One of our photo group has climbed part way up the Great Dune to capture the sunrise.

My eye also took in ravishing landscapes, from the escarpments and gorges of the High Atlas Mountains to golden dunes, from rocky desert to lush oases of date palms. Antonio took us on night photography expeditions and showed us how to photograph sundown silhouettes of a camel caravan. (Photos and recipes are in the previous five blogs.)

Bread and Pastries

Three kinds of breads served at breakfast with honey, fruit jam and olives. (Dar Zerhoune guest house in Moulay Idriss.)

Layered flat bread called rghaif, baked on a griddle. It is made with a yeast dough, folded and brushed with oil. (Kasbah Asmaa Hotel, Midelt.)

Fried cruller, for breakfast.

Flat bread rolled with spicy onion, sliced and fried.

Moroccan bread, baked in a round loaf, accompanies every meal.

A selection of Moroccan pastries. These were served on the breakfast buffet. (Hotel Les Dunes d'Or, Merzouga.)

Food Vendors and Markets

We buy apples from a roadside vendor.

Dried figs strung together at a stall in the souk of Moulay Idriss.

Sheep market at the big souk in Rissani. Lamb is slaughtered for special festivals and for wedding feasts.

Spices, grains and legumes at Rissani market.

Grilled brochettes in Rissani.

People of the Erg Chebbi Desert

"Farmyard" in the desert.

Open-air kitchen in the desert.

Antonio, a superb portraitist, delivers a photo he made last year to this elderly desert man. A gregarious, exuberant and always curious human being, Antonio makes friends with people everywhere he goes. He took us along to visit people of the desert whom he had met and photographed on previous trips.

The ceiling in the elderly man's desert home. Note the light switch and bulb, powered by solar panel outside.

Berber Villages

Hospitality--always a pot of mint tea. We leave our shoes at the door and are seated on carpets on the floor. The large room has no furniture other than the low table, a few cushions and a large flat-screen TV.

Seated outside her home, this woman cleans and sorts dried herbs.

All dressed up for a Berber wedding.

Antonio Martín--photographer, galleryist, biker, horse guy, world traveller. (http://antoniomartin.com/)

The Morocco trip was a privately organized tour with experienced guides, Antonio and Martina, who have been traveling in Morocco for many years. They usually make two photo tours each year for small groups. For more information, contact martina@antoniomartin.com.

Leaving Moulay Idriss, we needed three donkeys to transport luggage from the guest house to the cars.