A Small World - Tamnougalt, Morocco

…Several films have been shot in Tamnougalt, Alami tells us, including “Babel”.
“I loved that film”, I say. “Cate Blanchett is Australian, you know? I met her at a barbeque once.”
“It is a quite small world”, Alami says, “my cousin was an actor in that “Babel”…

As we bump down the rocky track toward the Kasbah, A figure emerges from the shade of a tree and waves lazily at us. Bill stops the traumatised hatchback outside the Kasbah gate. The man who waved ambles over to us as we stretch our legs and squint in the glare. He smiles easily, and offers a strong, brown hand.
“You are welcome my friends to Tamnougalt. My name is Alami.”

(Above: Alami in the courtyard of his house in the Tamnougalt Kasbah.)

Alami chats with us for a while and offers to show us around. He walks us through the narrow laneways of the partly ruined Tamnougalt Kasbah.
Alami’s family are long time residents of Tamnougalt. He divides his time between farming, study, and tour guiding. He shows us the courtyard of his family home and explains how
the timber and mud fortress was built.

Like the Kasbah at Ait Ben Haddou, Tamnougalt was constructed using stones, mud and unmilled timber.
Starting in the twelfth century, it was built over hundreds of years, a sprawling, diverse city housing Jewish merchants, mountain tribes and Arabs. The camel trains passed through the valley, following the river to the plains, and Europe, beyond. The Bedouin rested and re-supplied in the Kasbah, and the merchants traded with them for exotic commodities imported from central Africa.

Alami takes us to the fields in the river valley. Tens of thousands of date palms grow across the delta. Alami climbs effortlessly into one of the trees and throws down dates to me. They are sweet and plump, warm from the sun.

The Ouarzazate region, rich with spectacular scenery and medieval architecture, has long been a favourite location for film production. Several films have been shot in Tamnougalt, Alami tells us, including “Babel“.
“I loved that film”, I say. “Cate Blanchett is Australian, you know? I met her at a barbeque once.”
“It is a quite small world”, Alami says, “my cousin was an actor in that Babel. You remember in the beginning, the boy shoots Cate Blanchett with a gun?”
“Yes”, I reply.
“That boy is my cousin”, Alami says proudly. “Now he is at acting school.”