Goats in trees

So on July 2, we headed to Essaouria and stopped at an Argon Oil Women's Cooperative. Argon oil is used in cooking and cosmetics, and as you will see from the pictures, not so easy to produce.

First, the argon tree:

Yes, those are goats in the tree. They like to eat the argon nut.

Once the nut has dried well, the outer shell must first be removed. This outer shell is used as a fire fuel. Then the second layer is removed. This layer is used as animal food. (sorry no close ups of this, but I am bringing home an argon nut!) All the ladies do it by hand with a stone...

Then you finally get to the meaty part used for the oil.

This last pic is of the nuts being ground (by hand and a heavy stone, you'll notice... the nuts are dropped in the hole in the middle and as the woman turns the stone the nuts get ground up).

And this was just a random donkey on the street waiting for his owner to finish lunch. Aren't those the fuzziest ears EVER? Too stinkin' cute!