goats on the trees
On the dusty road from Marrakech to the coastal town of Essaouira, argan trees pepper the reddish-brown-colored countryside. The contorted, sharp plants raised particularly in southwestern Morocco and western Algeria may not be good-looking, but they bring lots of fans. Herds of hungry goats pose in their nefarious branches, sometimes more than 10 in a single tree.
There’s an answer to the strange phenomenon. Argan trees provide a fruit that looks like a shriveled olive and ripens each year around June. The resourceful goats crave the bitter taste and aroma, climbing up to 30 feet above ground to get their difficulty. The goats eat the whole fruit, even though it’s the pulp hiding under the thick peel that tastes so good. The pulp covers a nut that humans desperately covet. So what happens next?
Given the valuable opportunity, some farmers purchase even more goats which ultimately pose threat to the sustainability of the trees. On the flip side, the process opens jobs for local women and draws tourism to the area to witness the unusual sight.
Women’s cooperatives seem to make argan oil on every hill in the region. Many places like the Marjana cooperative near Ounagha, lead tourists through the production. The windy city of Essaouira offers plenty to do for style-seekers or beach bums with time to spend. But even those tourists just passing through can see the bizarre tree-climbing goats from the road.