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00:01Over 20 years ago, I was based in South Africa,
00:04reporting from across the continent for the BBC.
00:08It's Big Papa, here's the news.
00:10It was an unforgettable experience.
00:13Roll up, roll up, the best lamb in Marrakesh.
00:16But I've always wanted to come back.
00:19He'll turn.
00:21And find out more about the Africa we rarely see on TV.
00:26One mistake, a club here.
00:28Oh my word, I better not make a mistake then.
00:31Now, I'm travelling across this vast continent
00:35to discover why life can feel so much bigger and bolder here
00:39than anywhere else on Earth.
00:41I'll be uncovering some deep family roots.
00:44You are from Africa.
00:45I knew I was a warrior god.
00:48And getting the chance to live life local style.
00:54As I experience the speed.
00:57The sights.
00:59Check out that view.
01:01And the soul.
01:04Of this vibrant and varied land.
01:07Oh, look at that.
01:08Animals crossing the road.
01:12Join me on my African adventure.
01:23Morocco is a country of dazzling diversity and history.
01:28Controlled by France in the early part of the 20th century,
01:31French is still widely spoken here, alongside Arabic.
01:35Hello, sir.
01:37Salaam.
01:37BBC.
01:38BBC.
01:39That's right.
01:40The fella's got good taste.
01:42I have to say, it's been more than 20 years since I was last here.
01:45Right in the heart of Marrakesh, in the market area.
01:49And nothing's really changed.
01:51It's as vibrant.
01:52Hey, buddy.
01:52Hi.
01:53It's as vibrant, as much fun, as colourful, as magical.
01:57As it's always been.
01:59My next stop is Marrakesh, 140 miles south of Casablanca.
02:04It lies near the foothills of the Atlas Mountains and on the edge of the Sahara.
02:09Its spires and ramparts of okra clay have earned it the nickname, the Red City.
02:17While I'm here, I'll be making some new friends.
02:21What's her name?
02:22Bella.
02:23Okay, okay.
02:24And getting put to the test in a traditional tile-making workshop.
02:29It's like completing a round of Only Connect.
02:33But first, I'm off to discover the best flavours of the Medina.
02:43If you're a foodie, Marrakesh is heaven, offering a wide variety of culinary delights.
02:51And the bustling street food stalls are definitely not to be missed.
02:56So anyone can get a feast here.
02:58You just turn up, take a ticket, wait your turn.
03:01You get a couple of baps, a bit of bread, and a chunk of lamb.
03:06Wow.
03:07Lamine Hajj Mustafa is a former chef to King Hassan II, who ruled the country from 1961 to 1999.
03:16Lamine's lamb has been attracting crowds for decades.
03:23And tasting the food here, I understand why.
03:27It's piping hot.
03:31Gorgeous.
03:32Lovely.
03:44Good to see you, sir.
03:46You're famous.
03:47Yes.
03:48You're famous.
03:49Everyone wants your picture.
03:53So, Clyde, that's the oven where we cook the mouton.
03:58Yes, yes.
03:59So that's where you cook all the food?
04:02Yes.
04:03Oh, my word.
04:06There's the fire, the fire first, when there's the cendres, we make the cendres down the
04:12mouton, here, two hours, two hours to cook.
04:15Two hours?
04:16Two hours to cook?
04:17Yes, yes.
04:19And how long have you been cooking lamb like this?
04:22My grandfather was here.
04:24Ah.
04:25Yes, my grandfather.
04:26So your grandfather did it, your father did it, and you're now doing it.
04:30And me, and now my son.
04:36So how many lambs do you have down there per day?
04:44Between 18 and 20 every single day?
04:50Yes, yes, yes.
04:51Oh, you're going to get one out?
04:54Yes, yes.
04:59Oh, my word, look at that.
05:00Oh, look at that.
05:07That's the mouton, yes.
05:09Okay, my word.
05:12It's good.
05:15You've got a lot of clients out there.
05:17It's all the world.
05:18I was going to say, from all over the world.
05:20From all over the world.
05:21Yeah, yeah.
05:22The lamb here is so popular, some of the world's most renowned foodies have stopped by to try it.
05:28You see, there are a lot of chefs coming to me.
05:33Mary Berry.
05:34Mary Berry.
05:35Mary Berry.
05:36Gordon Ramsay.
05:37Gordon Ramsay.
05:38Yes, yes.
05:38Oh, my word.
05:40And this is Elisabeth.
05:43Elisabeth with Hassan II.
05:45So the queen dined here.
05:47Yes, yes.
05:47The later Elizabeth.
05:52So not only have you cooked for the king here, you've cooked for Queen Elizabeth II.
05:57Yes, okay.
05:59Elisabeth.
06:00That's a pretty good customer list.
06:02Not bad, and I'm not surprised, because it tastes delicious.
06:06Delicious.
06:07It's really very good.
06:08Delicious.
06:13This place serves hundreds of people a day.
06:16And as it's the lunchtime rush, I'm going to help them out.
06:21Roll up, roll up.
06:22The best lamb in Marrakesh.
06:24I'll give you a little bit.
06:25A little bit on the end there.
06:28There you go.
06:29What do you think?
06:30Natural, just a little bit of cumin, a little bit of salt.
06:33Nothing fancy.
06:34Oh, amazing.
06:35Amazing.
06:36Well, enjoy your lunch, man.
06:38Thank you sir.
06:39Enjoy.
06:40Next.
06:45Marrakesh's Medina has been its social and commercial hub for a thousand years.
06:50These days, it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
06:56Art expert Hassan Aloui has offered to be my guide to the architectural and artistic delights
07:03it has to offer.
07:06And while there's plenty on display in the market to catch the eye.
07:10Oh.
07:11Handmade.
07:12Everywhere you will go.
07:13It's got a hand loop.
07:14Everywhere you will go, you will see something in the Medina.
07:16Beautiful.
07:16Those artists and people, those handmade crafts.
07:21There are hidden treasures to be found, if you know where to look.
07:24Now that's a doorway.
07:25That's a doorway.
07:26That's a guest house.
07:27That's a palestinous band.
07:28Beautiful.
07:29Beautiful house.
07:30My friend, you're first, please.
07:31You're first.
07:36The perfect place to see traditional Moroccan craftsmanship is in one of Marrakesh's famous
07:43Riyads.
07:43Oh my God.
07:45Very welcome.
07:46Riyad.
07:47Welcome to heaven.
07:48Or paradise.
07:50It's just all so powerful.
07:54How old is this building?
07:5518th, 19th century.
07:57It's not very, very old.
07:58Yeah.
07:58But at least we can witness here the handcuffs of Moroccan artisan people.
08:06Look at this.
08:08Another slice of heaven.
08:09That's the real original house.
08:11That's beautiful.
08:12That's wood, right?
08:13That's a cedar wood.
08:14Cedar wood.
08:14That's a cedar wood coming from the mid-atlas of Morocco.
08:17Look at the ceiling.
08:18Oh my God.
08:18It's stunning.
08:19It's where we witness the real Moroccan artisan handmade crafts.
08:25I'll tell you what I find so amazing about these Riyads is the attention to detail.
08:31I mean, the tiling is just incredible.
08:35Thousand Moroccan artists, they left their mark.
08:37The size of the courtyard, the amount of decoration in the courtyard.
08:41The intricacy of it shows how wealthy you are.
08:44The statue and the wealth of the owners.
08:48These are Zelige tiles.
08:51The word Zelige comes from the Arabic al-zuleja, meaning little polished stone.
08:57Because you can see they're glazed and smooth on the surface.
09:02Five miles outside the walled city, the Fikara complex is one of the main tile-making centers in Marrakesh.
09:10Clyde, someone that I want you to meet.
09:13Ah.
09:13It's our master, Mr. Brahim.
09:16Hello.
09:17In Arabic, it's mellam.
09:19Mellam.
09:19Mellam.
09:20Mellam.
09:21I'm trying.
09:22My Arabic is terrible, man.
09:23But I'm trying.
09:24Mellam.
09:24It takes at least ten years of training in order to become ammalam and be recognized as a true master
09:31of the craft.
09:32The skills needed have hardly changed in hundreds of years.
09:51So how long would it take you to make something like that?
09:54If you want to make something like that, you can make something like that.
09:56If you want to make something like that, you can make something like that.
09:58Jameel.
09:59Jameel Zoui.
10:00Jameel Zoui.
10:01Jameel Zoui.
10:01Magnificent, that means in Arabic.
10:03Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
10:05The process starts with the mineral-rich clay that is dug out of the ground in the region, shaped into
10:11squares and fired in the oven to form a base tile.
10:15Then one member of the small team of masters here will trace the tile.
10:19Jameel Zoui.
10:20You're just going round the edge of the shape you want to make with a bit of wood dipped in
10:28ink.
10:28It's looking beautiful already.
10:31You've made your shapes, then you cut them out, and then at some point, you'll connect them all together.
10:37Jameel Zoui.
10:39Jameel Zoui.
10:40Jameel Zoui.
10:41Jameel Zoui.
10:41Jameel Zoui.
10:43Jameel Zoui.
10:43Jameel Zoui.
10:45Jameel Zoui.
10:46Jameel Zoui.
10:48Jameel Zoui.
10:48Newtmu.
10:50Jameel Zoui.
10:51Jameel Zoui.
10:52Jameel Zoui.
10:52Jameel Zoui.
10:53So, you start with the star at the centre.
10:55And then you work out.
10:57Absolutely beautiful.
11:00Is it good to reach the results?
11:01Jameel Zoui.
11:01No really, no.
11:05Marlems use a combination of triangles, stars, diamonds, polygons, and crosses, to create intricate mosaic designs.
11:13so we've got four patterns out of this one tile that's it zero that's it what
11:23do you think not bad okay with the outlines drawn they need to be carefully
11:29chiseled out very intricate now you start understanding what behind the
11:36curtain of the Moroccan tides that's incredible so from one square tile marked out and then using
11:53only a hand and skill since really really really really brilliant bear in mind it takes years of
12:03training to perfect these skills okay right I couldn't imagine doing this for five six hours a
12:10day okay okay so we've got to the end of the first phase here so I now give it to
12:22the master okay and
12:26he will polish it up and make it look amazing okay that's good that means good I have to say
12:51I'm quite
13:00chuffed well I seem to have passed the basic training but my next test is to create a full
13:07tile mosaic and it's not that straightforward when we mix this up and you will make your own puzzle it
13:15how they work it is upside down okay and here we go this is why you you you're trying to
13:24achieve okay
13:25exactly the same so you start from we can start from the start in the middle start in the middle
13:30okay
13:31well there's our star in the middle there we go this is how they put the mosaics together it's all
13:38done
13:38upside down now that's cheating that's cheating it doesn't fit so I'm gonna make it fit there we go it's
14:00like completing a round of only connect and this is why it's put together upside down because the tile
14:08is set in place by pouring freshly mixed slip over the assembled pieces
14:13okay you're welcome to the back but the new job is in the new home during my secrets dear
14:18happy so yeah indeed God willing God willing look at that not quite a masterpiece but pretty down close
14:38that's amazing thank you so much I have I mean I've always loved the art of putting together Moroccan tiles
14:47but being here in the middle of it as you guys have worked has been amazing
14:57after completing that puzzle I'm heading out of the city towards the snow-capped peaks of the high
15:03atlas mountains they run for over 600 miles across Morocco separating the mild mediterranean climate of
15:12the north from the Sahara desert in the south the indigenous Amazaya people who live here call
15:19them Idreren Dreren the mountains of mountains my journey by car stops at the village of Imlil
15:28look at that amazing to reach my next destination I'm taking the traditional Salam in here and only root
15:40up what's her name okay okay you get mules like Bella all over the atlas if it wasn't for them
15:49life
15:49here would be pretty impossible I'm heading for the old casbah a 30-minute hike uphill but I've been
15:59promised that it's worth the effort the building is almost a hundred years old and was once the home
16:10of a local chieftain it's few it's breathtaking hey Mike good morning good morning to you but it was a
16:22ruin when Brit Mike McHugo arrived here in 1978 in the mid 1990s he turned it into a guest house
16:31that's
16:32the highest mountain in North Africa Jebel took cool and still snow-capped a little bit yeah that will
16:37probably stay till the end of May but you can hear the snow melt all this running water in there
16:41is that the noise we hear yeah that's the noise is the water water coming down and then all this
16:46vegetation here is irrigated yeah so how did you end up here in the first place because you are from
16:51Croydon right Croydon and you end up here yeah well I sort of opted out of life yeah my father
16:57commuted
16:58to London and I decided I didn't want to do that for my living yeah so I tried to earn
17:02a living out
17:03here and I ran adventure holidays for a little probably 10 years and we used to look up to the
17:08casbah as a ruin and in fact my brother on a trip out here had the idea of what saying
17:14why don't we see
17:15who owns it and can we purchase it the casbah provides comfortable accommodation for the many hikers
17:22who flock to this part of the world with an emphasis on sustainable tourism the garden here provides so
17:29many herbs and vegetables for the kitchen including mint for traditional Moroccan mint tea so how
17:36important is mint to Moroccan society well mint tea is hugely important if you went to someone's
17:42household the elder of the house would make traditional mint tea for you and if he had an
17:48honored guest he would might be asked to make the mint tea as a privilege or as an honor yeah
17:54waiting
17:55for our freshly picked mint is a local man hassan who's been working here since mike opened the place
18:03i'm assured he makes the best tea in all the high atlas so it's quite a ceremony you'll see
18:11that's green tea okay going in so green tea forms the basis of mint tea yeah all right you'll this
18:18will
18:18be made when they invite important people to the household i'm not that important trust me
18:25you'll see him swill it around and discard this bit so it's like washing the tea
18:30right okay for the bitterness to get the bitterness out that first flush out
18:36that's the mint that's the mint you picked down in the garden
18:39yeah yeah it's quite a ritual yeah now that's the sugar yeah this is that's one whole chunk of
18:48sugar sugar i said i had a sweet tooth yeah but come on
18:54so why are you pouring it from such a height well uh melange oh to mix it all up yeah
19:06oh it's lovely fresh invigorating sweet but luckily i have a sweet tooth sweet enough yeah sweet
19:15enough it's it's lovely
19:18that we're able to sit here at all is something of a mini miracle in september 2023 a devastating
19:26earthquake struck this region seriously damaging the casbah and killing nearly 3 000 people most of
19:33whom lived in remote areas in the high atlas so the earthquake was only what 18 months ago yeah it
19:40was september the 8th right 2023 on all this the tower and everything has been built by hand well yeah
19:49we had to it was sufficiently damaged that we had to demolish it the whole thing was demolished the whole
19:53of this old casbah was demolished the tower was demolished yeah it gave us an opportunity to
19:59more or less redesign the place but i had to get a donkey to get up here how did you
20:03get the building
20:04materials all the all the building material comes up by donkey or mule really and other very
20:10heavy stuff is carried on the shoulders of men and of course no machinery so what it's all hand
20:16handmade hand down so demolishing took a you know if you could get a big jcb in here you could
20:21have
20:21demolished it in a week a handful of days so 18 months on we you know we feel we're quite
20:28well
20:28placed quite well placed well yeah and tourism is booming it's incredible to think that only 18 months
20:35ago the casbah lay in ruins with mike and the locals here unsure of what the future held but today
20:42it's now busier than ever and mike is even more focused on sustainable tourism and sustainable tourism
20:49that's that i mean how do you achieve that to be sustainable tourism is really about everyone
20:55gaining as opposed to one person trying to take the lion's share of it so this place is entirely
21:01run by locals all they will walk to work right our clients pay a five percent levy into a pot
21:08of money
21:08that goes to the village association and it's done all sorts of things it's provided an ambulance rubbish
21:14clearance a hammam which is a steam bath collective steam bath
21:21the tea is delicious but i see a whole feast here and i'm starving okay well let's have some
21:27traditional breakfast you've got here homemade yogurt oh wow in the lip pot with brown substance there is
21:34amlu it's called amlu yeah which is um made from almonds argan oil and honey
21:43okay so we just spoon this into here it's a homemade yogurt nuts argan oil and honey and honey
21:56it's delicious the fresh yogurt very nutty which is wonderful
22:04well what a wonderful way to spend a morning well you've enjoyed your breakfast i have in the shadow
22:10of jebel tubkul and hopefully you're ready to move on i'm ready for anything cheers cheers cheers cheers
22:25i want to find out more about how tourism is helping drive the local economy so i'm trekking
22:32back down the mountain to visit one of the village cooperatives salam art is at the heart of the amazea
22:40culture and most famous of all is the rug probably the only piece of art you can eat on sleep
22:46on and walk on
23:01how long has this region been famous for carpet making it's been for a long time because as you
23:09know here in the high atlas mountains you are in the capital of the carpet in whole morocco to have
23:15a loom like a vertical loom it's obligation all of our families they have the loom the loom to weave
23:22rags every family has a family in the house yes it is that yes because our woman here they use
23:30the
23:30designs and the pattern and color to represent their language this is what we call the secret language of
23:37our woman we used to have tourists here john july august so just in the summer months just in the
23:45summer
23:45peak season but since we have the casbah to call here the big hotel his british man the owner his
23:52name mike mike yeah i know mike he advised us to open like a showroom he said instead of weaving
24:01rags
24:02on your home it's much better if you weave your carpet close to the casbah our guests will come to
24:07visit you they will discover also what you're making what you weave rug making here is very
24:14traditional with women at the forefront of the design and weaving process it's labor intensive and
24:21intricate work to weave something like this it takes you over than seven months for two women sweet two
24:28women yes yes why seven months why put this together this is what we call the ship of ito protect
24:37you
24:38from evil eye so all the patterns are actually saying something of course if i see this one here this
24:44is what we call morocan tattooed whenever you see a lady in the atlas mountains painted this on her chin
24:51that means the heart is taken she has a husband she's already taken yes you're all right you're all right
24:58if you lie this one on the floor on the right direction i will look for the beginning of the
25:03rag once as i find the beginning this is east west south north if i want to pray i will
25:10find direction
25:12of right just if you want to pray in the direction of mecca this can help you find the direction
25:17yes
25:21this is how we weave our moroccan rug we use here like a vertical vertical like the rug
25:27that i show you downstairs we don't have like a single knot we have like a double knot double
25:33knots it takes four month for four women to wear this four months for four women to weave a carpet
25:39yes how long is this carpet the size of this one it will be like three meter by two it's
25:44beautiful my
25:44wife would love this one actually catherine would love this the pile of the rug is created by tying a
25:50length of yarn in a double knot and then beating them down so they tightly packed together in rows
25:56a rug this size could have over a hundred thousand individual double knots do you want to try how we
26:25see what you went around like that then you go through this knot in the middle yes yes and then
26:31that goes through two and then you pull it down okay yeah you got it yeah right yeah all right
26:40and then you
26:40cut this that's it okay yeah yeah so where did you learn to make rugs so your your family is
26:59a family of rug
27:00makers and you tell stories through the patterns on the rug
27:34yeah okay well rashida thank you so much it's gonna look wonderful even with my knots
27:49it's the sheer variety of the experience you can have in morocco that's
27:54so captivating from the bustling souks of marrakesh less than 50 miles away to the tranquility
28:01of the atlas mountains but wherever you are the generosity and warmth of the people never dims
28:10if you enjoyed that you can press the red button now to see all episodes of my african adventures only
28:17on bbc
28:18so
28:24so
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