Do you see goats on the trees in Morocco near the highway that goes from Marrakech to Essaouira? Yes, there are goats climbing trees in southwestern Morocco, in the Sous valley.
Only in places where the argan tree grows a lot do Moroccan goats like to climb trees. In the world of cosmetics, argan nuts are very valuable. They come from trees called argan trees. However, there is one animal that likes those nuts even more than the Moroccan tree goat: it eats them.
In Morocco, goats like to climb into trees in order to get to their favorite nuts. In reality, they are farmworkers who help the farmers in their area. There are Berber women who live in the area who collect the rest of the nut and use it to make the world’s most expensive oil, which is worth millions of dollars. They only eat a small part of the nut.
People in Essaouira have a lot of trees that the goats climb on. I’ll tell you more about the Essaouira tree goats in a second.
Interested in a tour to the Moroccan goats? Contact us now!
Argan Trees
The argan tree is a prehistoric tree art that only grows in Morocco, and it only grows in certain parts of the country, like Essaouira, where it can be found in the mountains. It is a tree art that only grows in Morocco. They can grow in a harsh desert environment, but most plants can’t. There is a very hot Sahara climate between Marrakech and Essaouira, so even though they are strong enough to withstand the heat, their environment is very hard.
Argan trees are in critical need of help and protection, and there is a campaign going on to save them. Large parts of the forest have been cut down by locals, and hungry Moroccan tree goats have also taken some of the harvests as well.
However, the trees would be very important to Morocco’s economy, which would be very good for the trees. People want argan oil, which is made from nuts that are rich in vitamins and minerals and that can be turned into valuable oil.
An oil that comes from the argan tree.
If you want to stay healthy, use argan oil. It can also be used as a cooking oil in some recipes. People in Morocco use olive oil for salads, to make tagines, and as a dip for bread.
They also use argan oil for medical reasons, like treating almost any disease. This isn’t the only reason they use it. As a result, argan oil has become a popular cosmetics ingredient all over the world in the last few years. Cosmetic companies use it to make lotions for the skin and creams to fight wrinkles.
Argan trees have twisted shapes and look like olive trees. As a result, they are thorny and very sticky. Olive trees aren’t like this. Both trees stay at a low height, with the tallest one reaching about 6 meters. Even the fruits of argan and olive trees look the same to each other.
In fact, the Moroccan tree goats don’t like olive trees. Instead, they like the argan tree. You can see them in an argan tree, where they eat the leaves and nuts.
They spend their days under argan trees, where they eat leaves and peels of fruits they love, like almonds. The trees provide the goats with 70% of their food needs.
The goats on trees in Morocco do not eat all the nuts!
The goats, on the other hand, only eat the peals and leave the seeds inside. In this case, it is the Berber women who come and pick up the seeds after they have been thrown on the ground.
It is also possible that the goats eat all of the fruit. And after that, they poop out the seeds, which are not collected by the women.
Berber women, no matter how they get the nuts from the ground, bring them to their homes. They are taking the oil out of them, which is a hard job. Women’s cooperatives, where these women work, are set up for this very reason.
We went down the road to one of those women’s cooperatives to learn more about how it all works, so we could understand it better.
Argan oil is made in a very complicated way
This is how it works: the first woman in the row cracks open the seeds in order to get the nuts inside. The seeds look a lot like almonds.
The next woman in line roasts the nuts. The last woman in line grinds them with a stone mill.
As a result, everything is done the old-fashioned way. Because the manufacturing process is very labor-intensive, it takes a lot of time.
It takes about 30 kg of nuts to make one liter of oil. In order to do all of this, you’ll need to work a lot. This is how they’ve always done things, and it’ll be how they do things in the future, too.
At least they have a group of tourists who are interested in them and are asking them questions, which could make it a little more interesting.
People other than women work for this women’s cooperative. This man gave us a great presentation in English that was easy to understand. He also let us try and compare different oils.
Food and skin oil are both important.
When oil is cooked, it turns into food oil, but uncooked oil can be used as skin oil. They add lemon or other scents to the skin oil so that it has a lot of different smells.
It was my favorite to spray lemon oil on my skin right from the bottle. However, there are no argan oil sprays for sale in the cosmetics industry. People say that they only use a few drops of oil in their most luxurious creams. This is not true. A lot of high-end beauty products use argan oil because of its high vitamin E content.
It was also told to me that argan oil is good for your nails and your hair. People who want to use argan oil shampoo can either buy it or make their own by adding a few drops of argan oil to their regular shampoo.
Argan oil is also becoming more and more popular as cooking oil, which is good for your food. They say it tastes like a better version of olive oil, but it costs more.
Argan oil for cooking
When argan oil is used as cooking oil, it tastes like toasted hazelnuts. According to them, the oil helps to lower cholesterol levels and also helps to keep arteriosclerosis, rheumatism, and other diseases away from people who use it.
Then, of course, there was an argan oil shop to look around in, too. However, because the bottles were too big to fit in a carry-on bag, I could not buy them. The only thing I took home with me was the argan oil soap I used in my hotel room.
They live in trees and eat argan fruit. They also help make the world’s most expensive oil, so now we know the story of the Moroccan goats. People and animals help each other out when they can. This is a good thing.
How do goats manage to stay in trees in Morocco?
In Morocco, goats in trees are not a myth. Goats have struggled to survive in that country’s arid climate and have had to adapt to the harsh conditions. There are numerous photos of goats grazing on steep mountain slopes and in other incongruent locations. They appear to be balancing on their thin legs, but they are not.
The interesting and unusual structure of their legs, which are arranged differently than those of other ungulates, accounts for their extraordinary leaping ability. They don’t slip because their hooves are soft and rough. This makes it easy for them to grip and balance on thin tree branches without falling off. Goats in trees in Morocco, as evidenced by photos and videos taken by tourists, are not a myth.
The argan tree can reach a height of 8 meters and resembles a large branchy bush with many small branches. The goats’ keen eyesight allows them to detect even minute indentations and leap with precision, calculating the trajectory of their leap. A mountain goat, for example, has never been seen plunging down a steep rocky slope.
In fact, goats in Morocco graze on trees and eat the argan tree’s fruit not only because they are forced to do so by a lack of fodder, but also because they enjoy it.
The indigenous goats on trees in Morocco
What about the indigenous goats who, in the absence of grass, gorge themselves on the valuable argan leaves? Then there’s the fruit. Perhaps the ancient and unpretentious goat organism is unconcerned about the vitamin E and antioxidants found in argan oil. After all, goats aren’t attempting to rejuvenate themselves or lower their risk of heart disease! They simply desire natural foods, nutrient-dense greens, and delectable snacks.
In a single day, a herd of ten goats can consume an entire argan tree. The herdsman then leads them to the next tree, where they change to a new ‘dinner table.’ The goats begin to nibble on the lower branches in the pose of a dog begging for a handout after wandering around as if in contemplation. Then, one by one, they leap onto them and nibble on the next floor with a springy jump that even small goats can do. Surprisingly, as the lower branches are emptied, the rather heavy animals climb higher and higher, eventually landing on thinner and thinner branches that somehow support them: a magnificent instinct for balance is on display in all its glory here. They are thus raised to a considerable height and appear scattered over the crown of an argan tree from a distance.
The hoof of the goats
The structure of the goat’s hoof also plays a significant role in the enigmatic balance. This hoof has wounds around its edges and is bifurcate and can move apart. Goats can cling to any ledge in the rock, not to mention a tree branch, with these small projections. A soft pad rich in nerve endings sits on the sole,’ clinging to irregularities and sticking to their surface. Goats also have two strong rudimentary toes above their hooves that help them climb and jump on branches.
Goats usually make their way to a tree to get out of the way of traffic; strange as it may seem, these “fearless” animals are actually quite shy. However, some shepherds take advantage of foreigners’ fascination with the invisible species by offering to photograph you with an adorable goat in your arms against a backdrop that would capture a European’s imagination for a fee.
Leave a Reply