Blogs from Morocco, Africa - page 20

Sara's knee swelled up nicely yesterday due to the serious amount of walking we did. We were going to visit the Musee Archaeologique but some more research reveals it is underwhelming and not worth the effort of getting there. We decide to go out of the medina and venture south into the ville nouvelle, built by the French during their occupation from 1912 to 1956. We negotiate our way through the medina much better this morning. The streets are less crowded as most of the shops and stalls have yet to open. Only the little corner shops selling the ubiquitous small single portion loaves and the juice and sandwich shops are open, and a few stalls selling fruit and veg. Parents are hauling small children to school, and the beggars are already out. The ville nouvelle ... read more

Enough of relaxation, it’s time to move on. Today’s highlight is Volubilis, the remains of a Roman city just outside Meknes. It started life as a Berber town, expanded and developed when the Romans, under Claudius in 43AD, annexed the province of Mauretania Tingatana and made Volubilis its capital. The Romans left in around 286AD but the town continued to be occupied long after the Romans left. A lot was destroyed in the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755, and it fell into disrepair when it was abandoned, but the French excavated and restored some of it and it’s now a Unesco World Heritage site. Once again, we haul our luggage through the alleys of the medina to where Hassan is waiting on the road for us. It’s very misty again, and remains so for all but ... read more

We meet our local guide for Fes, Kamal, with Aziz at 930am. We couldn’t start any earlier as our freshly baked baguettes for breakfast were not arriving till 845am. They were worth waiting for though! We assume everything starts a bit late in Morocco because the sunrise is late and it is freezing early in the morning. Don't come to Morocco at this time of year without warm clothing, and be prepared to have your skin dried out in the bone dry air. After about five minutes twisting and turning down alleys we arrive at a stout wooden gateway. Inside is a magical garden, part of a riad that is now owned by a Frenchman, and is run as a hotel. In here you really could be somewhere in the south of France. Then it's off ... read more

Getting out of bed to get dressed in our desert tent is definitely not fun. It’s bitterly cold, around or below freezing. But we have brought multiple layers to keep warm – thermal t-shirt, shirt, cashmere sweater, fleece jacket, shell jacket, hat, scarf and gloves. No thought of taking a shower, just put clothes on as fast as humanly possible and stagger up the dune to watch the sun rise, this time in perfect peace. We all head back to the main tent for breakfast, and huddle round the single patio heater, hands raised to the heat element as if worshipping a new pagan god of heat. We opt to return by 4x4 rather than camel, as David is keen to see what a 4x4 can do in the sand. The answer is impressive, though not ... read more

It is really cold at 815am for breakfast. The space heater is in the dining room. Sara manages a couple of cups of tea and then wobbles, so it's back to bed for her. David doesn’t want to abandon her and go on the 4 hour plus excursion to Ait ben Haddou as she seems really poorly. So it's a morning of relaxation on the terrace, at least once it warms up by about 930 or 1000. Unusually for him, David makes friends with the cats. There are at least five of them, and they enjoy reclining on the sofa together, leaving no room for human intruders. Sara seems to have perked up a bit by lunchtime and manages to sit outside, and eat some toast, fruit and a few nuts. She then declares she is ... read more