2010 North Africa

Tunisia and Morocco

Remember Peter O'Toole's beautifully intense face as he demonstrated how to ignore physical pain by snuffing a candle with his forefinger and thumb slowly? And then, right before it went out, the flame metamorphosed into a blazing sun punishing Lawrence of Arabia and his Arab guide as they desperately struggled up to a well in the middle of a vast desert emptiness. Water! At last! But out of the blindingly bright distance, a dark figure began to take shape and the Arab guide became unaccountably frightened. It was not clear to Lawrence why the guide was so terrified. But when Sharif Ali reached the well, the guide's behavior became understandable. Sharif Ali coldly announced that this was a Harith well and summarily shot the guide dead. He discounted Lawrence because he was not an Arab and did not know that tribes do not use one another's precious water! Then he wheeled his beautiful black Arab steed around and rode back into the haze, leaving Lawrence to his fate.

That magnificent scene in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” fascinated me when I first saw it. From that time on I studied T. E. Lawrence as a writer and as an historical figure. I even wrote my Master's Thesis on his book, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom,” I knew that one day I would have to see that desert panorama in person, to experience the vast reaches of the rolling golden waves on that gorgeous desert ocean. Middle Eastern politics and fundamentalist Islamic cultures have rendered Saudi Arabia & Syria where Lawrence's real-life adventures transpired very unattractive to an American woman. But the movie was made in Morocco and there I knew I would be able to ride a camel through the desert which starred in David Lean's film.

So that was my primary motivation for this visit to North Africa. Our group of four seasoned travelers had explored Buddhist and Hindu countries together in the past so wasn't it natural we would want to experience Islamic cultures and nations next? So we decided to choose places that seemed stable and safe for American tourists and learned quickly that Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa were obvious choices. And who knew? Maybe we would even climb at least a couple of those “pillars of wisdom” and understand something of Islamic architecture, history, religion, and philosophy.

However, we got more than we anticipated! Certainly, we rode camels in the desert and learned quite a bit about the two countries. But our visit was rewarded with much more; a deeper understanding of how these areas were entwined with the history of the Roman Empire and a glimpse into Arab and Jewish relations before the First World War.