Mesopotamia Marshes, Iraq: November 6, 2025

Our rides into the Mesopotamia Marshlands

We left Nasiriyah early because we had a breakfast date in the Mesopotamian Marshlands 1.5 hours away. The Wandering Earl Team passed out keffiyehs for each of us to shade our heads. We all needed help getting them wrapped and secured correctly. Our bus dropped us on the bank above the boats and drivers.

Once in the boats we shot off into the marsh. The water isn't so deep as you can see by the cows cooling off in the water. We sped under bridges and past the daily commerce. Boats from inside the marsh transported cans of rich buffalo milk to be sold.

Our first stop was on one of the marsh islands where we had a light breakfast of tea, thick buffalo cream, bread, and tahini with date syrup. Abu Haider talked and Madhi translated. He has two wives, 16 children, and 70 grandchildren.

While we were visiting with Abu Haider, a couple of boats of police also stopped in. They were escorting someone from the tourism bureau and heard there were tourists in the area. Then we piled into our boats and headed out for a tour of the marsh. Abu Haider directed the boat drivers to cluster the boats together in a shaded area. Once we were all gathered, he sang to us.

We saw so many birds--especially Kingfishers. This would be a great place for birders to visit.

The marsh began to be drained in the 1950s to reclaim land for agriculture and oil exploration. In the late 1980s and 1990s Saddam Hussein ordered further draining in order to evict marsh people (and those who disagreed with his governing style) from the marshes. Hussein ordered all manner of junk to be put into the marsh to act as dams. By 2003 the marsh had been drained to just 10% of its original size. Although the marsh has begun to recover, water inflow is limited by a dam in Turkey and a drought. With the water level low, the salinity is too high. Abu Haider said that while they have water buffalo, they don't have the best type of buffalo because it can't survive in high salinity water.

Harvesting reeds is another source of income. The reeds are building materials. Our next stop was at the community reed house in the marsh. The structure is built only with reeds. The reed structure can last 50-60 years.

We were treated to a traditional lunch of rice, vegetables, and the national fish dish of Masgouf (seasoned carp, split and grilled next to an open fire). It was delicious.

Behind the community center, we found an Iraqi family traveling by campervan throughout Iraq. He had been building the campervan for several months and now they were using it. He said traveling by campervan was unusual but the checkpoints were getting used to the novelty of that kind of travel. He is documenting their adventures on instagram. His IG handle is 3ltriq

Then it was time to leave the marshlands and drive 6 hours back to to Baghdad. Tomorrow we'll see more of Baghdad.