Between the Tigris and the Euphrates, in the far south of Iraq, lies a world of water, reeds and sky: the Mesopotamian Marshes, home for thousands of years to the Ma'dan, the Marsh Arabs, who build houses and great arched guest halls, the mudhif, entirely from reeds, travel by narrow boats called mashoof and keep herds of water buffalo. The Central Marshes are one of the main areas of this wetland, listed in 2016 with the archaeological cities of Ur, Uruk and Eridu as the Ahwar of Southern Iraq, a World Heritage Site that joins nature and the earliest cities of Sumer.
The marshes were almost destroyed in the 1990s, when the regime of Saddam Hussein drained them with canals and dykes, partly to punish the people who lived there, and most of the Ma'dan were forced out. After 2003, local people broke the dykes and water returned to large areas, though drought, upstream dams and falling river flows now threaten the marshes again. In wet years the reed beds teem with birds, fish and buffalo; in dry years, much of the water vanishes.
Chibayish, on the edge of the Central Marshes, is the main base for visits, and local boatmen take visitors out through the channels to see reed villages, buffalo and birds. The light at dawn and dusk, when mist lies on the water and the reeds glow gold, is unforgettable.
Getting here involves long, flat, hot roads across the alluvial plain from Nasiriyah or Basra, with checkpoints, trucks and the occasional sandstorm. Summer temperatures often pass fifty degrees, making midday travel dangerous; winter is mild and the best time to visit.
Travel in Iraq requires careful planning: many governments advise against travel to parts of the country, and visas, permits and security arrangements can change. Fuel is cheap and available in the towns, including Al-Fuhud, thirty four kilometres away, and Nasiriyah. Try masgouf, carp split and grilled beside an open fire, and the buffalo milk cream, geymar, eaten with bread and date syrup for breakfast.