I have
always known Morocco as the Country on the Southern Continental fissile of the Southern
Mediterranean; the Western most of the Maghreb, host of one of the proverbial pillars
of Hercules in Jebel Musa or Mount Hacho and most of all, the Country
of famous globe trotter – Ibn Battuta.
As a lover
of Architectural & Urban Heritage and Monument Conservation, I sought to
join organizations with similar purview to my passion. One of such I found in
recent times was ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) which I
joined in March 2019 as an Emerging Professional. I hoped to rise through the
membership cadre of the organization as I progressed in my career. Interestingly, in June 2019, I was nominated
by the Emerging Professional Coordinator for the Africa Region, Olufemi
Adetunji to represent him at the ICOMOS annual general assembly holden at
Marrakech, Morocco between 14th and 18th October 2019.
As one who
loves international travels, I looked forward to attending, though travel plans
were called off at some point due to paucity of funds. I was however elated to
receive the news of flight ticket sponsorship from the Moroccan ministry of
African Affairs on 30th September 2019. Already resigned from the
long planned trip, I immediately reawakened my odyssey enthusiasm and hopped to
the Moroccan Embassy in Abuja to process my Visa. Thankfully, that process was expedited
and smooth after which I embarked on the trip to Marrakech.
My trip to
Marrakech was my longest ever flight experience. As there were no direct
flights from Abuja to Casablanca or Marrakesh, I was booked to fly from Abuja
via Dubai to Casablanca then Marrakech. The flight from Abuja to Dubai was 7
hours 15 minutes while the duration of the flight from Dubai to Marrakech was 8
hours 20 minutes. Adding two 4 hour lay overs at Dubai and Casablanca, the
total travel time was roughly 24 hours!
For a journey that could have been about 6 hours if there was a direct flight from Abuja to Marrakech or Casablanca. Though tiresome, the journey was loathsome fun.
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| Map of my 16 Hour Merry go round flight from Abuja to Casablanca |
For a journey that could have been about 6 hours if there was a direct flight from Abuja to Marrakech or Casablanca. Though tiresome, the journey was loathsome fun.
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| A tiresome me on the flight to Dubai from Abuja |
Due to the lateness of my flight confirmation, I could not get to subscribe to the group accommodation planned by other emerging professionals. I had to figure out an alternative. The plan was to stay in a ‘Riad’ – a Moroccan traditional house which was rather cheaper than staying in a hotel. It also afforded the opportunity to experience traditional Moroccan culture as most Riads were located close to the Souks and Medina which is the ancient part of the city. While the emerging professional group lodged at Riad Chennaoui, I lodged at Riad Al-Barad.
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| My Touch down at Marrakech Menara Airport. The beautiful Archtectural marvel of the edifice compensated for all the travel and stop over time |
I arrived Marrakech on 13th October and found my way to my Riad via taxi. My first scenery of Marrakech was demurring as I watched a City cohabiting the ancient and modern in harmony. On the flight between Casablanca and Marrakech, the Plane flew well below the cloud cover so one could see clearly the aerial view of Marrakech. Nearly all the buildings were of red adobe laid out in jagged order. Prominent of the characteristic harmony between the ancient and modern was in the transport system. Despite the abundance of automobiles on the sparkling paved roads, donkeys and horse drawn carriages were common sight and to my surprise, I did not witness a collision scene between the ancient and modern means of transport.
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| My first Impression of the streets of Marrakech- Rougey, Spick in Ancient and Modern Terms |
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| Fascinatingly, Donkey Haulage is common sight |
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| Horse Drawn Carriage is also a viable means of transport! Though mostly patronised by tourists |
The ICOMOS
General Assembly was held at the Mohammed V Cultural Centre. Assuredly, I knew
I would miss my way to the location as the meandering souk alley ways was
difficult to comprehend. Another baffling experience for me was how automobiles
meander the narrow alley of the Souks. The average width of these alley ways were
around 2.4m- 2.7m at the narrowest by my visual estimation.
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| Meandering the Souks was most Challenging for me |
After settling at my Riad, I tried mastering my environ but I knew it was a futile effort without mobile internet access to navigate me while out. The next day, I took a taxi to Riad Chennaoui where most of the Emerging Professionals lodged. That Riad is close to the Bahai’s palace so the taxi dropped me off by the palace and told me the Riad is just a stone throw from thence. I began to walk towards the description and at some point asked a fellow passerby for direction to be sure I was on track. The fellow cheerfully volunteered to go the extra mile by walking me down to my destination which I later discovered was less than a minute away. Arriving at the destination, the fellow began to ask me for money. In his view, he had just shown me around as a foreigner/tourist and so I should remunerate him for his time. I was embarrassed and quite disgusted. I ignored his overtures and booked marked that character never to fall prey next time.
I walked
down together with fellow Emerging Professionals to the Assembly complex. It
was a fulfilling time getting to meet sundry faces I had earlier been
communicating via email, and video-teleconference. For a start, I hooked up
with the Africa Regional Group meeting. There I met with Kuzooka Conrad, Dr
Tokie Brown, Matiyas Fantaye and other scholars. The meeting was presided by Dr
Alpha Diop – the Africa Regional Representative.
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| Arrival at the venue of the Venue of the ICOMOS General Assembly |
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| Photo shot after a Africa Regional Group Meeting Session |
I then
proceeded to join the Emerging Professional Working Group Meeting. Presided by
Stacy Vallis, the meeting featured presentations of the status- quo of the
Emerging Professional Working Group across the Continents/Regional make up of
ICOMOS. I presented for the Africa region, highlighting our astronomic growth
from 2 to over 20 persons within a year. I also highlighted our current pet
project which was a review/analysis of Heritage Policies across the African
continent- a project we are undertaking with our colleagues from the Arab
Region and hopeful to present at the next ICOMOS General Assembly in Sydney in
2020.
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| Presenting the Report for the Africa Region at the ICOMOS Emerging Professionals Working Group Meeting |
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| Cross Session of ICOMOS Emerging Professionals at the Meeting |
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| Group Photo of the ICOMOS Emerging Professionals after our session |
There were various group café sessions featuring divers ICOMOS Scientific committees. I skimmed around these sessions for interest. At even, the Emerging Professional Working Group organized a dinner session. We congregated at the Koutoubia Minaret and walked across the Jemaa El-Fna square for the event at the designated restaurant.
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| Selfie at the Koutoubia Minaret while waiting for other Emerging professionals for Dinner |
It was a refreshing session as we bonded over divers
meal of choice. We hung out till midnight and while I was scared of making it
down to my Riad all alone, I asked to stay with other Emerging Professionals at
their lodging. However, I was surprised that the Jemaa El-Fna Square was
bubbling with activity. There were snake charmers, Berber dances, social
activities of all sorts and traders caught on the moment to do brisk business.
My expectation of Morocco as a Muslim Country to be devoid of night activity
was blown off.
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| Dinner was lit! |
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| I ordered for Rice Kebab while Asaf smouldered Tajine beside me |
The next day, I tried finding my way from my Riad to the symposium venue, I got lost navigating the Souks. In the end, I took a bus which to my surprise was driven by a lady and then a taxi to save my blushes but was surprised most taxi drivers I beckoned for a ride could not figure out my destination. Upon arrival at the Conference venue after a taxi got me there, I inquired about the colloquial name of the venue from a Moroccan local and was told the familiar name of the venue is ‘Babilahi- Norakab – Alawkaf.
I hoped not
to miss my way next time but wary of my naiveté, I made my way back to my Riad
before night fall and was not confident to walk back to the Bahai’s Palace for
the Opening dinner. For subsequent days, I could walk to and fro the venue but
not after being schooled about the City Layout by my Ethiopian Colleague,
Matiyas Fantaye. He did this by walking me around town from the conference
venue into the Medina and by-passing the Souks.
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| Selfie With Matiyas Fantaye (Centre) |
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| Marrakech Routing 101 by Fantaye: Know the entrance to the Medina! |
Marrakech evoked historical memories of Moorish architecture and ornamentation. The archetypal Syrian Arch and Horse Shoe Arc were Ubiquitous in every building. Most shops in the Souks had wooden doors! I was quite baffled at that. Additionally the environment was littered with felines. I personally don’t like cats but began to tolerate their domestic presence no thanks to Marrakech.
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| Asaf didnt mind the Felines nosing around. For me, I loathed them |
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| The Horse Shoe Arc-- very ubiquitous in the Architecture of Marrakech |
After series
of meetings and knowledge café sessions, the Symposium was closed with a dinner
at Chez Ali. We were treated to Moroccan culture and cuisine, featuring meal
sessions under Bedouin tents and Choreographic performance of horse and camel
rides. A colourful fireworks display closed the event.
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| At the closing dinner at Chez Ali |
18th
October was dedicated for tours. I stayed back to shop as my return flight was on
the 19th. However, my Riad attendant Soufian who is Berber lamented
my inability to visit his homeland on the Atlas Mountains. Fluent in French and
Arabic, he struggled for English words and we had a hard time understanding
each other. My spoken French was very basic and I struggled to sustain conversations
of more than 2 sentences in French. Driss was another fellow who waited on me
at my Riad during the early part of my stay. He is fluent in Arabic, speaks
little French and sparse English. Our communication was restricted to the
basics of food, though, he spoke better than Soufian. However, Khaled who is
the principal of the Riad is fluent in English and French and we had no qualms
comprehending each other.
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| My Riad Hosts - Khaled on the left and Soufian in the middle |
I shared the Riad with tourists. Most were staying for a night and I could not get to interact with them – I stayed for 6 nights. Nevertheless, there was a France based Argentine Couple – Cecile and Carlos who also stayed in one of the rooms at the Riad. We bonded over breakfast despite linguistic dichotomy. My spoken French was poor and same was their spoken English. However, Carlos’s English picked some basic fluency and we were able to interact. We bonded when we discovered we had similar likes for classical music. Carlos is a Basson player and I a Viola player - and we talked over a range of issues from music to general life.
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| With Cecile and Carlos after Breakfast at the Riad |
At even, I strolled out to hook up with some colleagues from the African Region Working Group for a farewell dinner. We met at one of the restaurants at Jemaa El-Fna Square. There was Kuzooka, Tokie, Chilangwa and me. We dined and shopped around the Souks before exchanging farewells.
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| My last dinner hook up From Left - Kuzooka, Chilangwa, Tokie and me |
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| Farewell dinner and shopping session with Tokie, Kuzooka and Chilangwa |
I made my way back to my Riad but then, another Moroccan characteristic struck me. I noticed from every eatry I had patronized, bread was offered for free after whatever menu was ordered. However, water was not free. My Riad landlord offered 4 loaves of Moroccan bread and a Tajine ceramic upon my departure. I then recycled my loathsome fun itinerary back home. Marrakech- Casablanca – Dubai – Abuja, 24 hours of flights and layovers!
Shams al-Dīn ʾAbū ʿAbd al-Lāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Lāh l-Lawātī ṭ-Ṭanǧī ibn Baṭūṭah
