Water,
water, water. Fertility, growth, wealth. But what about those less
enticing aspects of bodies of still water? Those dangers and diseases.
As we hopped across the not so friendly bacteria infested waters of
the Ziz (or so say our guide books), we remembered Leo's fantasy tales
of travelers dancing by rivers so as not to catch mortal swamp diseases.
"Next
to town, there is a ridge that all caravan travelers must climb while
dancing, to avoid catching a mortal fever. I myself saw people dancing
as they passed, for fear of catching this fever."
(Leo,
316)
Little
did Leo know that the real reason for this odd behavior was to avoid
mosquito bites, as mosquitoes are less likely to bite if you move
around swiftly. The fever was indeed a form of malaria that still
exists in some regions of Morocco.
To be
safe, we hopped as well. And stayed out of the water!
Water,
water, water. Fertility, growth, wealth. But what about those less
enticing aspects of bodies of still water? Those dangers and diseases.
As we hopped across the not so friendly bacteria infested waters of
the Ziz (or so say our guide books), we remembered Leo's fantasy tales
of travelers dancing by rivers so as not to catch mortal swamp diseases.
Little
did Leo know that the real reason for this odd behavior was to avoid
mosquito bites, as mosquitoes are less likely to bite if you move
around swiftly. The fever was indeed a form of malaria that still
exists in some regions of Morocco.