HIKING IN THE RIF MOUNTAINS

DAY SIX (September 17, 2016)
On this day I venture on a hike with the Green Olive Arts staff members, along with their family and friends, and the other GOA resident artist. The Rif Mountains are ancient. Indigenous people of the region traveled and lived in these mountains. The Rif Mountains, in Arabic Al-Rif, mountain range of northern Morocco, extends from Tangier to the Moulouya River valley near the Moroccan-Algerian frontier. The Amazigh tribes led by Abd el-Krim (1882–1963) resisted Franco-Spanish occupation there in the 1920s. The view of the City of Tetouan from the mountain is amazing. The Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, and the tip of Spain can be seen from the top. Herdsmen move through the area with their baby goats, as sheep dogs bark out warnings of our approach. The air is crisp and clean. I take deep breaths, feeling grateful and refreshed by the beauty of this natural world.

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