Blogs from Morocco, Africa

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ernest Hemingway Our last day on the road today and I'm kinda glad, as is our Driver Mohammad who has put up with Leanne whinging "Are we there yet, Are we there yet?". Its not a long drive today but we are stopping at a few places along the way. Our first stop is Atlas Studios. Apparently a movie studio whose sets have been used for countless movies from Cleopatra to Return of the Mummy to Gladiator. Leanne thinks its all fake, yep every thing is fake! Why would anyone go to the trouble of creating a fake movie studio (where all the sets are fake anyway!) Mick wonders?? We venture on to our next ... read more

Deze trip beloofde een geheel nieuw avontuur, een nieuw continent en spannende momenten. Erik en ik hadden een leuke topo gevonden: "Morocco Rock". Deze topo omschreef een prachtige omgeving in de Anti-Atlas, kleine 4u rijden van Agadir. We besloten onze kans te wagen. De route-openaars zijn allemaal welbekende Engelse klimmers die geschiedenis hebben geschreven. Erik, Kobe en ik wilden ons in hun voetsporen wagen... Op 1 mei 2013 vertrokken we op de toeristische vlucht richting Agadir. Na een kleine 4u waren we verlost van de bendes zonnekloppers. We regelden ons gewaagd autootje, een Suzuki Alto, een ruim autootje van zeer klein formaat. We kregen er juist alles in. Met dit autootje hebben we heel wat bergen, dalen en scherpe bochtjes afgelegd. Het was ruim 3u30 rijden tot Tafraout. Het hotel, The Kasbah Tizourgane in Ida Ougnidif, ... read more

I went out alone before dinner yesterday, to look at the craft area of the souk, and got caught by one of the "guides" (there are very few here compared to the bigger cities) and taken to a rug merchant. I decided to go along with it for awhile, but then got a bit stressed when it was clear the rug merchant knew my hotel. I was afraid he'd show up here! (He didn't and I didn't buy anything...) We arrived "home" last night after diiner to find the hotel staff sitting in the passageway outside the riad, and they invited us to have tea and sit with them. Pretty soon most of the guests had wandered home and joined us! Today we took a shared taxi to the seaside town of Martil, 10 kilometers away, ... read more

We were invited last night to take a trip with the young French couple staying in our hotel. Silvain and Delphine are from Grenoble and are in their late 20s. They have a rental car and were going on a hike to a natural bridge up in the mountains an hour's drive from here, in the Talassemtane National Park. We left around 9:30 and met the guide they had hired at the beginning of the trail. We could go on the mountain trail that came out above the bridge, or the river trail, where we had to cross by wading (we understood we would cross once...hahaha....). We decided on the river trail, and hiked above the Gorge de Farda, then beside the river, then in the river...really in the river....! At times we were thigh-deep in ... read more

Birthday Hammam experience , dinner with Mel and her folks in Marrakech, reuniting with Kate and Robbie, to adventures through the Sahara desert. After a long yet hassle free travel day from Cairo to Fes (via 1st class train, thank you Marie) I arrived at the Bouland Boush (Blue gate) of the Medina to be met by my Riad host Karim. Karim had previously emailed me to inform me which cab to take when I got to Fes, as there are some pretty dodgy people about. I made it to Karim safe and sound eventually, after trying out a few taxi services. Later Karim told me, that the original taxi driver I called, was going to take me to another Riad, but because he knew Karim decided ( lucky for me), not to do that. So, ... read more

We hiked up to the second mosque on the hills outisde town today....all alone on a trail with wildflowers, olive trees, and the occasional goat. I will go to a private hammam tonight for a bath and skin rub. I have been told the public ones are often dirty, and this one costs only $20 for an hour....so I took the chicken route.... It's hot here today, but still cooler than Seattle! Later: the hammam was wonderful....I entered and was greeted by Zara, who didn't speak much French or Spanish (many people here speak Spanish rather than French), but had me understand that I should strip down to my panties and come in and lie on the heated tile floor. She proceeded to wash, scrub and massage me for the next 40 minutes, and then rubbed ... read more