Stinky Tanneries, Impressive Ceramics, and Berber Carpets

Let's face it... This is the Morocco post you were expecting.

On Sunday, we woke up and went directly to the tanneries. Fes is known for their leather tanneries and particularly for the stench of them. We chose to go first thing in the morning hoping to avoid the heat and maybe lessen the intensity of the smell. Seemed to be a good decision. Navigator Dan got us there and we picked one of the many leather shops to go up and get a view of the tanneries. Working in the tanneries is a generational gig, so it’s passed down through families. The white vats in the back are made of limestone and filled with water and pigeon poop (hence the smell). Apparently, pigeon poo is very acidic which eases with the removal of hair from the animal hides. 

Once treated, sometimes for weeks depending on the animal, the hides go to the colored vats to be dyed. The colors are all natural coming from spices or natural occurring elements (ex. Yellow is saffron, blue is indigo, brown is cedarwood, red is poppy, etc.). The gentleman was very nice and knowledgeable. After browsing the shop’s offerings, Dan and I picked out a nice “poof” made of camel skin in black and brown colors. (We learned that camel and cow should be the poof material of choice since it is more durable whereas sheep and goat should be your selection for handbags or jackets since it’s softer.) They sell the poofs unstuffed for ease of transport but we will stuff it when we get back to Ghana to make a nice ottoman for extra seating in our living room.

The mess we created while trying to pick out our poof

After the tanneries, we were picked up at our riad by Mohammed, who was to take us on a tour of the sights outside the medina itself. We saw the Jewish quarters, the palace, went to a museum, a garden and a school where artisans learn to make the ceramics and mosaics that Morocco is so famous for. We were in awe of the handiwork. Sarah and I actually got to sit at a potter’s wheel and play with the clay. Then we were shown how the designs are drawn onto the pieces by hand and painted before being fired and glazed in a kiln. 

The mosaic work was truly impressive as each tile is cut by hand using a sharp hammer and done solely by eye (with no pattern). Once the pieces have been cut, the mosaics are assembled FACE DOWN and cemented on the back to fasten the work together. It’s quite impressive work and probably quite nervewracking when you flip over a sizable piece and pray you don’t have a yellow tile where a blue one should have gone. We chuckled that it would be like cutting out a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle by hand and then assembling it upside down without looking at the picture. Dan and I had some ideas of what we wanted to purchase but the items were quite expensive. We settled on two coffee mugs painted in the Fes blue-and-white color scheme and a ceramic slipper that said Fes as our Christmas tree ornament.

Handpainted tagines in the store

Mohammed dropped us back at the riad so we could put away our purchases and we set out in search of a place for dinner. Dan found a nice riad in the center of the medina that had a nice restaurant that we had read about on some travel sites. We made a reservation for a late dinner and went to the last stop on our medina shopping store… the Berber carpet shop. The gentleman in the shop was very kind and spoke good English but I have to admit I was quite overwhelmed at the selection. The sizes, the craftsmanship, carpets vs. killams vs. embroidery, 47 different Berber tribes that all craft differently, geometric patterns vs more organic ones and in all different colors. Dan and I got things narrowed down to two, a carpet in red and black with a more square shape and organic pattern and a killam in orange, red and cream in a more geometric pattern that was a bit more rectangular. Dan negotiated with the man on price and shipping to Ghana and voila! We bought two rugs in Morocco. The shopkeeper even threw in a small rug as a hospitality gift. The cherry on top was that while checking out we noticed business cards of people who had visited "Coin Berbere". There, in all its glory, was a business card for a Professor of African Studies from the University of Florida. The Gator Nation is everywhere.

 Obligatory photos of Moroccan architecture 

(Left: entrance to a mosque, Right: inside a former school)

We left aglow of our final purchase of Moroccan souvenirs and walked back to dinner. The four of us shared wine and a nice dinner for our last night together in Fes. Topped off the night with a walk back to our riad that included getting lost (since all the storefronts were now closed up and all looked the same) and the assistance of a young boy to get us back to an area we recognized. 

On Monday, we left Fes and took the train back to Casablanca to spend the night. We intended to go to a mosque when we arrived but traffic was a disaster and we were all pretty wiped out from our adventures. We walked to a French restaurant for dinner and  said our goodbyes. We had a fantastic trip with great memories, comfortable and affordable accommodations and a genuine appreciation for the handicrafts and life of Fes. We highly recommend it!