How This Berber Retreat in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains Rose From the Rubble

Experiencing local traditions and knowing the community stories is interwoven with a stay at Kasbah. The same year Branson purchased Kasbah, his late mother Eve established the Eve Branson Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of local people. There are three craft centers for local women where they train in and practice artisan skills including weaving, woodworking, and embroidery. I visited one, where women work the looms, and I purchased a fringed chocolate brown rug with a lozenge symbol, which represents womanhood and feminine strength.

The following day, I hiked with a local guide and visited a small town nearby. The devastation of the earthquake is still shocking, but even showing up unannounced, a local family warmly welcomes us into their home for tea, fat discs of warm bread, apricots, and soft j’ben cheese. It was an affecting experience, even if we were only able to communicate through broken French and English.

Meanwhile, Kasbah’s spa takes its name from the Berber word for relaxation, “Asounfou.” I had a traditional Hammam experience, a cherished, centuries-old tradition with purifying black beldi soap and argan oil to cleanse the skin and hair, a full body exfoliation, and a cooling quartz crystal massage. I emerged feeling more or less reborn, and so that a magenta sunset over the mountains, donkeys yodelling nearby, made me a bit teary.

Photo: Jack Brockway