Dar KamalChaoui

Why would you open your lovely house to tourists in what you describe yourself as literallly a dead-end town? Kamal moved to Bhalil around 20 years. He had a plan. Give tourists to Morocco authenticity. But what could he offer, Bhalil being so close to Fes? His rationale was there is no point trying to compete with Fes and offer the same kind of services. Instead he focused on what not only makes his adopted town different, but what makes it truly unique. And at the same time, try and make a difference, not only to the citizens and town of Bhalil (e.g. by quietly promoting art, education and garbarge collection) but also to the people who work and live with him. I don't want to spoil what's on offer - that's part of the experience, you wake up not knowing exactly what he's arranged for you that day - but suffice it to say that in our 3-night stay with another couple of friends, we learned about Moroccan clothing and fashion (particularly female fashion), jewelry (basically the button-making cottage industry), live-in caves (nothing like the ones in Matera in Italy) and the extremely friendly and hospitable local people. Kamal is a never ending source of knowledge. Do you know why many towns in Morocco are laid out with a zigzag street plan (and house entrance plan)? Kamal tells you stuff you don't learn in the guide books, he opens doors (literally) into a life you didn't know. But just talking about Kamal would not be giving justice to his house. His young wife, Jelila, is an amazing cook and a truly delightful hostess. She is carving out her own niche as a proud Moroccan woman and is becoming a role model for the two young women she has employed to help in the cooking and running the house. They are called Somiya and Fatimazahrae, who at the time of our visit were 19 and 23 respectively. They too have their own stories ... essentially of a hard life ... which they tell through the interpreting work of Delila. If there is space at the table, you will have your meals with them too. From a Westerner's (clearly biased) point of view, we noted that Kamal is struggling slightly in relinquishing what was previously considered the man's role to the women in the house, and the occasional 'man comments' and behaviour slip through ... but hats off to him for moving in that direction. Our stay with Kamal and Jelila was the highlight of our tour - it beat everything we had done and seen in Fes, Tangier, Marrakech, Chefchaouen, Maknes, and Rabat.

Great and beautiful day spent with Kamal Chaoui, guide in Bhalil who shows us around his city and Sefrou. It begins with a long historical secular on Morocco, its history and in particular the recent history since the independence of 1956 and the green march of 1975, relations with Algeria , the economic development of the country. Exciting. He explains the differences between Berbers and riffains, from the same Amazigh strain. The day spent with him complemented and enriched everything we had heard before from other guides in Rabat, Meknes and Fez. His explanations of the medina of Sefrou , its history and its functioning put everything in perspective, connecting the whole tradition with the current evolution. In Bhalil, he regularly invites in his house for guests artists in residence who paint house facades and bring art to this small town in the Fez region. There, we visited cave houses with him and were able to converse with their inhabitants, without soliciting to buy trinkets for tourists. I cannot conclude this report without thanking his wife Jalila who welcomed us for a lunch supposed to be frugal to leave room for our busy, but hearty and succulent, program in their superb Bhalil guesthouse.

Kamal and his family were ready to host us at very little notice after our plans changed. They welcomed us into their home like old friends, introducing us to their small children. They offered us some bissara for lunch. Kamal then took us around Sefrou for an enlightening tour (for a charge). We then had dinner all together with two other guests, some delicious starters and prune tagine. We really felt at home throughout. It was definitely the most convivial and special day we had in Morocco on this trip. The facilities themselves are great: you will sleep upstairs in Kamal’s house, in beautifully decorated rooms full of artwork. The bed is amazingly comfortable.