Morocco to Timbuktu: a series follows historical salt road

CAIRO - 16 May 2017: Starting from coastal Tangier, north of Morocco and Europe's gateway to Africa, Alice Morrison travels 2,000 miles across some of the most dangerous landscapes in the world, digging deep into the history, culture and civilization of both ancient and contemporary North Africa, until she reaches Mali’s famous city of Gold, Timbuktu.

“Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure” is a new factual program which started on May 11, aired on BBC2, and presented by Alice Morrison, who is an Arabist, explorer and Marrakech resident, about her journeys along Africa's legendary salt roads.

The salt road’s fame and wealth comes from two main crucial commodities – salt and gold. For centuries, caravans with thousands of camels have passed back and forth between Timbuktu and Morocco.

In her exotic journey, Morrison takes cabs, trains, rides camels and walks on foot. She goes through snow and storms across the great Atlas Mountains dotted with Berber villages; the Berbers, (also known as Tamazight) are the indigenous people of Maghreb region. On the other side of the Atlas, she explores ancient caves of salt, the commodity which the salt road is named after.

On May 18, the second episode of the series shows Alice Morrison as she is heading west to Guelmim. It was once the camel capital of the trading world, but now, only a few remain and are sold mainly as a food source.