Semara Travel Guide

4 more images

Smara doesn't have a museum, but this place comes close, acting as a sort of museum of Sahraoui culture. Hidden away behind a military complex and not signposted at all, the ensemble artisanal is a collection of little workshops where Sahraoui crafts past and present are made by local Sahraouis. The most obvious place to start is by chatting to the cheery women weaving a traditional goatshair tent in the courtyard. As I entered, one of them began to "yuyuyuyuyuyuyu" loudly as she threw a ball of wool at me. At first I was a bit alarmed, but Tawfiq explained that this is a typical Sahraoui greeting...if the object thrown hits you, it means you are obliged to sit and chat for a bit. After a chat and a photo opportunity (I was only allowed to photograph from behind), we then moved on to see some of the other craftsmen hammering away at pieces of metal and wood. One was making daggers, another made teapots, a third invited us for a tea ceremony. Sahraoui tea is different to the standard mint tea in the rest of Morocco...to make a good cup of Sahraoui tea, you need to pour it several times into each cup from a great height, forming a froth on top. Maybe the froth makes the tea lighter somehow, but I definitely preferred this to the powerful and sometimes bitter brew served up in cafes.

It was all very interesting, and everyone was friendly and welcoming, but it all felt a bit sterile. They were keen to promote Sahraoui culture, but out in the streets of Smara, one of Western Sahara's bigger towns, there's very little evidence of anything Sahraoui...UN vehicles swoosh around town in big clouds of dust, Moroccan flags fly over Moroccan army barracks, the Moroccan king stares down from billboards, and most people in the streets are originally from Marrakesh or Agadir or other points north. Anything Sahraoui is kept firmly behind closed doors, relegated to ensembles artisanals like this.

2 more images

Cross the wasteground in front of the zaouia, trying to avoid any drunks who gather under the shade of the few scraggly diseased-looking trees, you'll find a tiny monument to a French adventurer. In 1930, Michel Vieuchange was apparently the first European to reach Smara (I've read things that contradict with this, as it seems the Spanish had been in the area much earlier, but for a few years at least, entry to Smara for non-Muslims was strictly forbidden). He endured a camel trek from the coast which almost killed him, all because he was slightly obsessed with reaching this desert outpost. The monument reads "I'll carry/put up with anything, I'll sleep anywhere, a single goal, to reach Smara". Well, he made it, not that it did him much good...on the jorney back to the coast, he became ill with dysentery, and died shortly after arriving in Tarfaya.

4 more images

Next door to the zaouia are the remains of Smara's Great Mosque, standing opposite a large military compound. Only the columns and a few arches remain, used nowadays as a public toilet and bike rack for the soldiers working over the road. you have to be careful where you point your camera here, but I managed to find a peephole from where to photograph the town including all the military bits and pieces. It's not a great photo, but does give an idea what the town is about...all domes and soldiers.

4 more images

Smara's main attraction, this modest little zaouia is named after a religious man called Sheikh Ma al-Ainein who set up a madrasa (religious school) here in 1895, making this the oldest building in Smara. Walking around on my own, I'd found my way to the entrance to the zaouia compound, but found the gate locked. From the outside, it really doesn't look much...just a black and grey stone wall with a small white dome just visible within, but it is worth trying to get in if you can. tawfiq took me back later in the day when the resident sheikh was in. We entered the gate and wandered through the ruins of the old madrasa classrooms before removing our shoes at a green door. Inside, the sheikh greeted us and talked a little about the history of the zaouia. I had been introduced as a teacher, so he began to quizz me. "How many kilometres between Smara and London?" Ummm....not sure. "Which is closer, Paris or Dakar?" Ummm.... The sheikh tutted, turned to Tawfiq. "I thought you said he was a teacher!". He looked thoroughly disappointed with my ignorance of distances, and busied himself with reading a holy book, while I was allowed to roam around the little prayer hall taking photos.

Outside, we bumped into the sheikh's wife who seemed like quite a character. She asked a lot of questions about me to Tawfiq in rapid Hassaniya, but for some reason he was reluctant to talk, and hurried me off to see the remains of Smara's great mosque next door. Apparently she likes gossip too much, whatever that means!

3 more images

Lurking in a back alley off the souq are a couple of strange houses. Corrugated iron domes that look very temporary, more like store rooms or maybe air-raid shelters...these used to be part of the barracks for Spanish soldiers, now transformed into private homes. I'm told they are very very hot in summer, and that Smara used to have dozens of these dotted around, but most have been demolished in favour of modern concrete houses.

Just behind these houses, a couple of blocks are roped off. Walking to the mosque, we passed the entrace to one of these streets, and I saw a few soldiers standing guard on a corner, chatting to some women in the doorway of a house, some kids playing football in the road. I asked why this area was roped off, and Tawfiq told me the women are "for entertainment, you understand?" I did, and we moved swiftly on to the mosque.

On the other side of the mosque are more old Spanish houses, this time more upmarket and painted pink. These used to house the army officers, and many still belong to the military, albeit that of another country. The row of houses in photos 3 & 4, each with its own individual dome to keep the sand off, are not owned by the military, so I was allowed to take photos. It's a good job Tawfiq was with me, as there is no real way of knowing...and taking a photo of a military building in a garrison town close to Polisario-held territory really would not be a wise thing to do!

4 more images

In between the souq and the red light district lies one of Smara's older buildings, a mosque built by the Spanish. It is currently undergoing renovation and is hidden behind bits of metal sheeting and barbed wire. That didn't stop us entering though, as Tawfiq happened to know someone working on the renovation project who let us clamber over the barriers and poke around inside. Moroccan mosques are usually off-limits to non-Muslims, so this was a rare chance for me to see inside a prayer hall. Smara's Spanish mosque is only small, but has some interesting features, like the brick arches and Spanish tiles around the mihrab (the alcove that shows the direction of Mecca), although most of the interior was covered in scaffolding. While the mosque is closed, the next door parade ground (another Spanish relic) is being used as a prayer hall.