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Moroccan rugs are having a moment. Look in any interior design magazine of late and you’ll see Beni Ourain rugs under many an interior designer’s coffee table. I prefer the less known and more colourful Azilal rug but if you do choose to buy a Beni Ourain make sure it’s real, as they are many fakes out there now to meet demand (You can tell by looking at the reverse of the carpet, if it has irregular knotting, it’s a sign that it’s genuine Beni Ourain). On a recent work trip to Marrakech I went with an empty suitcase. I was after a new rug for the living room and while it would have been far easier to buy online and have it shipped to my address, I love the thrill of rug shopping and saved a whopping 150% mark up. So how do you go about buying a rug with confidence? Shopping for a rug in Morocco is a fun yet often daunting experience for the uninitiated.  Before you do familiarise yourself with the different styles of rug sold in Morocco, made by one of the 45 distinct Ber...

Talk to anyone who’s travelled along the road from Marrakech to Essaouira and they’ll mention goats in trees. Dotted across the landscape between Marrakech, Essaouira and Agadir are thousands of squat yet mighty argan trees (argania spinosa) with twisted, gnarled trucks, its spiny branches often climbed by adventurous goats in search of a nibble of the olive-sized argan fruit. It’s quite a sight to see and one that ever fails to bring a smile to whoever notices. Argan oil products are becoming increasingly popular in the UK yet Berber women have been cultivating argan for centuries. During a recent trip to Essaouira, Morocco, I wanted to find out more about how argan was extracted and what qualities it has. I visited Afous Argan, an argan oil cooperative 20km from Essaouira on the Route de Marrakech in the Commune Ounagham, which employs only women to produce and sell cosmetics and foods made from locally sourced argan nuts.  What I noticed from watching the Berb...