Valley of the Casbahs: A Journey across the Moroccan Sahara by Jeffrey Tayler: book review

In Valley of the Casbahs (2004) Jeffrey Tayler describes an epic and unique journey following the Draa River in Morocco in 2001 from the source to the sea. He travels in nomadic style with stubborn donkeys and camels and argumentative Berber guides – archetypal wanderers and co-originators of the Islamic civilization.

His previous attempt, fifteen years earlier, after reading Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian Sands, had resulted in near death stranded in a desert storm with no water, food, maps or radio. His predecessor died from lack of water. Determined to follow his dream, he conquers the desert and relates the history of the desert Arabs and the decline of the nomadic way of life: “I found, in the Draa Valley and the Western Sahara, not modernized Bedouin but future residents of tin-shack slums and proud sheikhs humbled by the politics and police of nation-states.”

Much of the book is about the Sahara desert and its barren terrain. Here he learns of the various desert terminology: empty land was khla; flat sandy land was ragg; totally flat and empty country was mham; empty rolling country covered with rock was hidban; dunes without vegetation was uruq; dune with mottled scrub was nibka; dune with more than three trees was ghaba (forest); a patch of smooth land where a camel could kneel was mliss and a patch of land where a camel could not kneel was harsh.

Stories of the virtues of simplicity, hospitality and comradeship throughout his journey make this more than a description of captivating casbahs (Arabic citadels), fortressed villages, labyrinthine corridors and courtyards, and debilitating deserts. After three months traveling the moonscape gorges of the Anti-Atlas Mountains and the denuded dunes, he reaches the silver and white ocean foam of the Atlantic. His Berber companions reflect on their remarkable feat and the strength of his ancestors: “we Reguibat could once walk a hundred kilometers a day without tiring, drinking only a litre of water and eating only a handful of dates. By God, our ancestors were strong! Why, in the old days we walked all the way from here to Mauritania!”

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

Independence statue, Phnom Penh

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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