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| Ketama Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages |
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RIF MOUNTAINS
From Chefchaouen, eastward through the densely-wooded alpine landscape of the Rif Mountains, highway P 39 leads to Ketama (105 km/63 mi). The road first winds its way up from Oued Lahou Valley to the village of Bab Taza. From now on the Route du Rif, built after the Spanish pulled out in the 1950s runs along the ridge of the Rif-Atlas, winding its way over 300 km (180 mi) from Tangier to the Algerian border. After 12 km (7 mi), the thatched houses in the charming mountain village of Cherefat come into view. It is said that the village mosque is the oldest in the Rif region. High above the village, water-falls and mountain streams splash and ripple down the side of the mountain. Visitors enjoy walking here, especially in spring, when the meadows are covered with flowers. Elms and various kinds of oak trees line the road. The mountain passes of Bab Ternen and Bab Berret (1,240 m/3,968 ft) succeed each other on the spiraling road. The CT 8310 leading to the fishing village of El Jebha (43 km/29 mi) branches off at the foot of Bab Besen (1,600 m/5,120ft). Four kilometers (2.5 mi) beyond the Besen Pass summit there is a beautiful view of the Mediterranean coast. At such altitudes in the Rif Mountains' alpine regions, with their ancient cedar forests, it can snow as late as April. There are often extreme drops in temperature in spring.
Farther east the road finally reaches Ketama (1,520 m/4,864 ft). Cool summers and winter sports await one at the foot of Jebel Tidiquin (2,448 m/7833 ft), the highest of the Rif-Atlas mountains.
The obvious affluence of Rif farmers is certainly not based on the production of corn alone. All the roads leading to and from Ketama are notorious for the sale of hashish to tourists by the locals. Hemp (cannabis sativa indica) has been grown in the remote Rif valleys for hundreds of years. Originally, this uncultivated species of the hemp plant comes from the
arid regions of the Middle East. The oneyear old plant requires a lot of sun and produces both male and female shrubs which grow to a height of one and a half meters (5 ft). Only the blossoms from the female plants produce resin. Dressed in leather aprons, the farmers walk through the hemp plantations when the shrubs are in bloom, collecting the resin on their aprons as they go. Afterwards they scrape the resin from their aprons and then press it through a muslin filter. It is either sold in brown cubes or plates as hashish or it is made into majoun jam and sold at the market. Kif, the dried blossoms and leaves of female plants, is easier to obtain and somewhat milder than hashish. It is smoked in a long pipe called sebsi.
Officially, cannabis plants are grown in the Rif for use in the pharmaceutical industry and it actually does help to relieve dysentery and psychosomatic ailments. It also helps those suffering from glaucoma, a condition painfully afflicting the eyeball, a fact that has caused some legal confusion in western countries. Throughout the Orient from Morocco to Kashmir its healing powers are well-known. Nepalese Shiva worshippers even consider it sacred.
Of course, most of the hashish is sold as a narcotic drug throughout Morocco. The "dope" is transported by boat from the small bays along the Rif coast to Spain and to some other European countries. There are rigorous laws against the possession of hashish in Morocco and visitors are warned not to be caught by the police in possession of a piece. It would be far from pleasant to end up in a Moroccan prison. Spanish ports serving Moroccan ferries are also patrolled by police with specially trained dogs - 24 hours per day!
The highest of the Rif mountains, Jebel Tidiquin, lies to the southeast of Ketama. This mountain is frequently covered with snow until the early weeks of spring. A bumpy track leads from Tleta Ketama (8 km/5 mi south of Ketama, on the S 302 to Fes) up to the cedar forests close to the summit. It is well worth taking the turn off to the villages at the foot of Jebel Tidiquin. Here one can enjoy the magnificent mountain scenery and the picturesque villages where so many traditional crafts, especially leather work, are still carried out today. The craftsmen in these villages have such a good reputation all over the country that they make up the greater part of the workforce in the tanneries and leather factories in Fes. Tourists who are solely interested in sightseeing and not in purchasing drugs are not very welcome in the entire hempgrowing region, the historic center of which is the Asilah Valley.
Those traveling as far as Fes are advised to take the impressive zigzag scenic Route de L'Unite (S 302). Construction of the winding road was started in 1957 with a lot of volunteer labor from all over Morocco in order to unite the former Spanish and French zones. The Spanish had greatly neglected the infrastructure in their "protectorate." The trip along the gravel road 4304 from Ain Acha to Qued Querrha Valley is worth taking (90 km/54 mi; 11 km/6.5 mi after Taounate). The Holy Spring of Fertility is located in the village of Bouadel, just beyond the quaint weavers' village of Oulad Azame. Olives, figs and pomegranates grow well in the surrounding village gardens. |
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