Blogs from Rissani, Meknès-Tafilalet, Morocco, Africa

We rouse from our sleep deprived night, most of it spent in futile attempts to cool down by lying on wet towels in our tent oven. I have an early morning chat to our “guide” Ouma and ask her how she slept. She says fine. OK I suppose she’s Moroccan so maybe she’s used to the heat. I tell her it was way too hot in our tent and we hardly slept at all … and her response… “even with the air conditioner?”. Huh? So we paid for the best tent money could buy, but the “guide“ got air conditioning and we didn’t? I’m ready to kill someone and Issy‘s sensing I might not be too fussy about who it is. I take a deep breath and launch into my next chat … with the young ... read more

ALGERIA, BEYOND THE DUNES Leaving my B&B Riad Dar Kamar concealed within the tangled lanes of Kasbah Taourirt in the village of Ouarzazate, I boarded the local bus, filled with Moroccans. Drawn irresistibly to the vast panoramic potential of the desert, I began my second foray on dromedary into the Moroccan countryside, the Western Sahara. Without prior arrangements, I planned simply to arrive at Rissani, an implausibly conservative village. Meandering tortuous sandy lanes, dodging horse-and mule-drawn carts and black ghosts - women cloaked in the abaya, with only hands, feet, and the occasional face visible, a statement underlining their modesty not their religion - I would be sought and hailed by hawkers bidding desert safaris. A lanky black-leather-jacket-clad traveler wearily slouched upon the seat opposite me, gazing outward. A stark white Moroccan turban accentuated... read more