One of the advantages of not travelling around on adventures in big groups, is that you get close to the real culture of the country that you are visiting. You have time to sit and talk about their lives and yours. You don’t even have to be able to speak the native language as gestures and good humour are always rewarded with an unforgettable moment of human interaction as we are all from the same beginnings.

Many years ago while I was travelling along a dry river bed in the Anti-Atlas, near the village of Akka Irene I noticed off to my right a man sitting near a newly dug well. I
always travel with my window open so that I can greet people openly and without the “barrier” of a closed car, which is very intimidating. We both waved and shouted “Bonjour” across the valley and I decided to turn off the track and drive up to where he was sitting to pass the time of day with him.

As I got closer I could see that not only was the well newly dug but some of the seemingly barren soil behind the well was freshly dug, and sitting proudly in amongst the fresh earth were a few rows of broad beans and wheat which had been hidden from the track as the garden was behind a rough mud wall.

I got out of my Range Rover and we shook hands warmly. He invited me to sit down in the shade of a date palm, where we spent a very pleasant hour or two talking in a mixture of French, English and Arabic about growing plants, our families and surprisingly world politics!! As you can see from the picture we also partook of the ubiquitous mint tea and a very succulent melon.

Each time I pass this garden I always stop and now some fifteen years after my first visit the garden has matured. To the side of the garden a mud house the same colour as the earth has been built where my friend now lives with his wife and two lovely daughters. We still enjoy a tea and a chat before I continue on my way, sweeping behind my clients who are enjoying the enormity and beauty of this part of the world.