Word: berbers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...inclusion of unprecedented footage of the modern Hajj, and invoking National Geographic as its chief patron—there is little about the film that aspires to an insightful portrayal of actual events. Instead, viewers are subjected to skeletal dramatic summary of the first voyage of Ibn Battuta, a Berber from 12th-century Tangiers, whose journal chronicles a lifetime of travel the scale of which outstrips the expeditions of Marco Polo three times over. Neibaur’s film covers Ibn’s departure from Tangiers, his travels across Africa and the Middle East, and his arrival...
Life is slow in the breathtakingly beautiful Egyptian oasis of Siwa, nine hours drive from Cairo. Palm and olive trees seem to float on vast expanses of salt lakes surrounded by serene sand dunes enveloping warm water springs. Siwa's inhabitants are of Berber origin, and live according to centuries-old traditions. But the forces of globalization and economic development have started a slow-motion social revolution in this remote oasis...
Built on the ruins of an old fortified home and surrounded by walnut groves, the Kasbah is a beguiling mix of upscale comfort (don't miss the hammam) with social and environmental sensibilities. Spacious rooms come stocked with Berber robes and slippers, but if you need to clean your clothes, the staff - all of whom are employed from surrounding villages - helpfully show you the washbasin and iron. Visitors are encouraged to remember they are "guests of the local inhabitants." Indeed, the Kasbah's quiet, natural setting either makes it, as one visitor wrote in the guest book, "a great place...
From Imlil, any number of mule trails lead into the park's rugged inner regions. Some Berber families now offer half-board lodging for as little as $12 a night. But for those looking for a bit more pampering, the Kasbah recently opened a cozy three-guest-room lodge, the first of its kind in the park, where host Omar welcomes hikers with a hearty handshake and a basin of rose water. A simple refuge overlooking a traditional village of flat-topped mud and stone houses, it was a perfect overnight stop on a two-day hike into...
...peak baggers wanting to summit, overnight treks can be arranged up the Djebel Toubkal. On our final day we opted for an easier vista onto a vast mountain desert bowl, before returning to lunch at Samra, a candlelit guest douar (Berber dwelling) run by an energetic Swiss woman and a local female staff. The vegetable tagine and coriander-spiced eggplant was outstanding. Six hours later, I was back in Paris, my boots still spattered with mud, my hands smelling faintly of rose water...