Inland, argan trees cover the hills and plains as far as the eye can see. Their trunks are so gnarled that some seem to have frozen in a storm. I would later learn that these trees only grow in Morocco and Algeria, and serve as a protection against the encroaching desert.

La Maison des Arganiers, the first stop on the journey, is located in a tiny douar built on a hill in the middle of orchards.

At the entrance to this superb massive stone residence, an enormous wooden chest is filled with argan nuts, as if to suggest the opulence of the place.