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Africa & Middle East > Morocco > Marrakech > Marrakech > Articles > Morocco and the positive force of change

Morocco and the positive force of change

by Rory MacLean

The bohemians, the Beats and the designers, among them Bill Willis, Charles Boccara and Meryanne Loum-Martin -- popularised the country, propelling it into our collective conscious and sowing the seeds for its transformation

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Travellers transform places, for better and for worse. Tourism has ruined miles of Britain and Spain¹s southern coasts, as well as countless fishing village between Paphos and Ko Samui. At the same time it has revived the fortunes of St. Moritz, Cannes, the Bahamas and over the last thirty years many a crumbling Tuscan and Provencal hamlet. We come, we see, we make a place our own.

Although long on the jet-set's radar, Morocco is a late-comer to large-scale tourism. Since the 19th-century independent souls have been drawn to North Africa. Flaubert, Matisse and George Orwell were followed in the Sixties by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were photographed by Cecil Beaton beside the pool at the Hotel Es Saadi in Marrakech. Yves Saint Laurent, the Rothschilds and a host of celebs busied themselves house-hunting in the Medina. The bohemians, the Beats and the designers, among them Bill Willis, Charles Boccara and Meryanne Loum-Martin -- popularised the country, propelling it into our collective conscious and sowing the seeds for its transformation.

Hence parts of old, red Marrakech are today unrecognisable, yet most of the changes have been beneficial. The tourist police have clamped down on hustlers. The Palmeraie has been gentrified. Amongst its groves at Jnana Tamsna, the original boho-chic Moroccan villa hotel, guests (including of late David Bowie and Brad Pitt) dine on inspiring French, Moroccan and Senegalese dishes. At Vanessa Branson's trendy Riad El Fenn 24 sumptuous rooms are arranged around three mature courtyards, two heated swimming pools and a home cinema. Its rooftop terraces boast one of the finest views of the Medina, towards the Koutoubia mosque and the snow-capped Atlas mountains. At Ministero del Gusto, a former Italian Vogue editor and her partner sell glamour and retro furniture from their eclectic art-gallery-cum-design consultancy. Behind myriad Old City doors Morocco¹s famed artisans are now resurrecting decrepit riads for Paris couturiers and London book editors.

The city continues to seduce visitors with its sunshine, its effortless flair, its palm groves rising from the desert and swallows swooping through the dusk above broad Djemaa el Fna square. In turn Marrakchis let events unfurl as fate decrees, enjoying the new opportunities, acknowledging foreigners role in the revitalisation of traditional crafts. This equitable exchange, so rare in modern tourism, is magnificently illustrated forty miles out of town at the Kasbah du Toubkal .

Beyond Asni, dusty cumin-coloured hills rise above the Mizane Valley. Berbers in hooded, Hobbit-like burnouses work on narrow terraces above the racing, glacial river. Mule paths cut back and forth across the steep upper slopes. The long, winding corridor opens onto a valley of quince, walnut and wild cherry trees ringed with looming, jagged peaks. Sunlight flashes off the ice sheets. Crevices lie deep in snow. Choughs wheel over Imlil village above which towers Morocco¹s most spectacular mountain retreat.

As an eager young British climber, Mike McHugo fell in love with the High Atlas. In 1989, he bought the abandoned summer home of a feudal chief and in a unique partnership with the local community transformed it into a secluded, luxurious getaway. From the outset his priorities have been collaboration and sustainability. All workmen and materials come from the local Berber community, as do its kind and attentive staff. Water is spring-fed, not trucked in bottled. Towels and sheets are changed only when necessary, not every day. Fruit, vegetables and meat are locally-sourced.

A five percent levy added to all guests accommodation bills has financed the valley¹s first ambulance and community hammam, as well as supporting the school and enabling local girls to continue their education in Asni.

Guests are truly welcomed with splashes of rose water, then ushered onto the lofty, many-carpeted roof terrace and guided to simple yet stylish bedrooms. Accommodation ranges from traditional Berber salons, which sleep groups of trekkers and extended families, to the beautiful Garden House, a self-contained, double-level sanctuary with two balconies. All the rooms have been decorated with the utmost care, in rich colours and with hand-carved wooden beams (no power tools were used during construction as electricity only reached the valley in 1997). At night hot water bottles are secreted into beds, open fires lit and the lamps of the surrounding villages glisten like stars fallen to earth.

As well as the sincere hospitality, it is of course the mountains which make the Kasbah so special. Walks range from easy ambles to the two-day ascent of Jebel Toubkal at 4,165 metres the highest peak in North Africa and are led by personable local guides. Its remote trekking lodge with solar-powered under-floor heating and en suite bedrooms allows guests to stay in comfort even higher in the Toubkal Massif.

To imagine a project like the Kasbah would not be possible without close and deep local ties, said founder McHugo recently. He also believes that by our correct behaviour and respect for the local population, hopefully they have come to respect us and also accept some of our differences.

Travel opens new horizons, for traveller and host alike. Without tourism Imlil would be a poorer place, its Kasbah still a ruin, its girls denied the chance to attend high school, its entire population reliant on subsistence agriculture. The Kasbah du Toubkal like many gentrified corners of Marrakech set a standard for responsible, collaborative tourism that is a positive force for change in the region.