Nalut Spring Festival - 2007

Everyone wants to know where I was off to last weekend. Well, I'm getting caught up with the laundry and back into my usual routine and now I can spare a few minutes to sit down and post about my recent adventure. (click on images to see them enlarged)

I was invited to visit Nalut for the Nalut Annual Spring Festival. Download brochure here This is the fourth year that the festival has been held and one of committee members who is an avid reader of my website and blog invited me to come for the festival.

Nalut on Google Earth

I was thrilled to be invited and I asked my friend Tara to come along. We had originally planned to have a weekend away from husbands and kids. Tara's husband said 'Have a nice time.' my husband said 'What? Are you serious? There is no way that you are going un-chaperoned! What will people think?' Aaahhhh... he's sooooo Libyan! Change of plans - we would have to drag along husbands. And then the day we were to leave Tara's husband had to stay in Tripoli and Mustafa got the great idea to take Jenna and Ibrahim in his place.... God forbid that I actually have some peace and quiet in my life... sigh...

The ride out was uneventful. It takes about four hours to drive there from Tripoli. We started out at about two o'clock, driving through rush hour traffic to the outskirts of the capitol. Soon we found ourselves in farmland and later in rocky, hilly areas leading to the mountains. We detoured to take a drive through Kabow. The road snaked back and forth through the mountains and the view was fantastic.

View looking down from the mountain in Kabow

Nalut is in the Nafusa Mountains and is approximately 2,000 feet (610 M) above sea level.Halfway up the mountain that leads to the city of Nalut a welcome station was prepared for travellers entering the city. A tent was set up next to a small mosque with a group of people serving dates, fresh buttermilk and ibsisa (a mixture of spices and nuts that are roasted and ground into a fine powder. Oil and water is added and it's mixed into a paste). Clean bathrooms, fresh water and a sitting area were provided for women and men. The welcoming committee had answers to any questions that visitors might have and it was a lovely beginning to the generous hospitality offered by the people of Nalut.

The road leading into Nalut (looking down from the top)

We proceded up the zig-zag road to the town located at the top of the mountain to see the festival that was already in progress. The whole town had turned out to celebrate. We watched a presentation of camels carrying traditional baskets filled with grains and dried figs. After a while we met Abdulmonem, my contact from the organizing committee. He and Adel, another Naluti arranged for our accommodation and took special care of all our needs for our three-day stay. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the hospitality of Abdulmenom, Adel and all of the people of Nalut. They were simply the best!

Every aspect of the event was well planned. The entire city turned out and everyone volunteered their time and efforts - everyone from the Boy Scouts to the Red Crescent helped out as well as ordinary citizens. The committee members said planning for the event took about five or six months of hard work and everyone in the town helped out.

Libyan Boy Scouts

Libyan Red Crescent

Children were everywhere! Nearly everyone wore traditional clothing.

DAY TWO was a visit to the old city of Nalut where a traditional crafts market was set up. Then we toured the Qsar.

Man weaving baskets

The finished baskets

Olive oil!

Decorative handicrafts

Various handwoven woolen goods were on sale

Traditional snacks were sold

Examples of a camel driven oil press were shown as well as this simple method of using a large boulder and rolling it over the olives to release the oil.

In the old mosque the boys were learning to read and write Quran the old fashioned way using wooden boards and cane pens dipped in ink

In the past the people of Nalut stored their stocks of food in a well protected and fortified Qsar. The Qsar is several centuries old. The people survived by following their flocks to various grazing lands and they needed a safe place to store their food and supplies. Each family owned a small room in the Qsar. A maze of pathways leads through the Qsar and small roughly hewn wooden doors made from the trunks of date palms cover the openings of the rooms. Ladders and stairways reach to rooms high above and a system of ropes, pulleys and woven baskets helped move foodstuffs such as grain, olive oil, dried figs, dates and even dried and salted meats to the rooms high up in the Qsar. Rooms range from very small to quite large and many of them still have huge clay storage pots inside.

The entrance to the Qsar

The doors to each room are small

Detail of the doors

The system of ropes, pulleys and baskets used to move goods to room at the top of the Qsar

Clay storage pots were used to store food

Not only were people of Nalut represented at the festival but also neighbouring areas of Libya; a display of crafts and jewelry of the Tuareg's of the south of the country and also some musicians from Tunisia.

Tuaregs

Tuareg jewelry and handicrafts

On the third and last day we paid a visit to an exhibit of geological findings of the area. The fossil remains of a dinosaur estimated at being 70 million years old was found about one kilometer from Nalut on a site that was used for excavating sand for building purposes. This discovery has brought many researchers to Nalut from all over the world. [Washington University article] Some of the specimens were on display as well as documentation and pictures. Geologists were on hand to answer anyone's questions.



Afterwards we headed to see some troglodyte dwellings. These man-made caves were used as houses in the past because they offered perfect protection for the former generations of Nalut's inhabitants from the heat of the summer and cold of the winter. Inside were exhibits of traditional crafts, clothing, old documents and many different aspects of the ways the people lived in the past. There was also an art show of paintings, sculpture and pottery done by contemporary Libyan artists.

There are openings in places in the roof of the dwellings to allow light and ventilation

Examples of weaving traditional garments

Traditional jewelry was also displayed

Each room of the cave showed another part of life. Here is some examples of different games.

Some of the art exhibited by contemporary Libyan artists

Next was a visit to a traditional camping site set up at the bottom of the mountain. In each tent were shown different features of life, cooking, basket weaving, and clothing. All was accompanied by women and girls singing and beating on drums.

Looking down the mountain at the view of the encampment below

Details of the tent's structure

Women and girls singing and displaying various types of traditional foods

Tents offered dark shade and protection from the heat of the strong sun's rays

Examples of cooking and food

More dancing and music was represented by the Tunisians, including one who danced with ten clay pots balanced on his head!


Colourful Tuaregs danced and had mock battles.


Then we went to visit the natural springs. In the past this was the place where the girls would go to fill their supplies of drinking water. It's shady there with plenty of trees. The water is clear, cold and sweet.

A cool place to play!

I really want to thank the people of Nalut for the wonderful event, especially our guides and helpers; Abdulmenom and Adel, who were so patient with us, answering our millions of questions and providing us with a perfect weekend. Accommodations were super, the food was fabulous. I can't praise you enough. May Allah reward you all!

Our guides during our visit