It was both lovely and humbling spending time amid the Amazigh people of Zaouiat Ahansa. This is a place where motorised vehicles were absent, where people commuted by foot and donkeys carried goods, firewood and people. A rare extravagance might even be a rider on horseback.

When I say, “amid the Amazigh”, I do not mean in any interactive way. They were both polite and shy and seemed to flow around us going about their business as if we were not even there while the High Atlas mountain grades did not seem to bother man nor beast.

Alas we had to move on but the idea of lingering here for weeks or even months had a delightful, almost whimsical charm I will miss.