DAY 21 Yella (Let's go) we are off to the Pyramids today. We take a private van with our guide and the sight of the pyramids from a distance are amazing but as we grow closer it is unbelievable how big these are. Francine has been here before but Angie is in total amazement. We have a great time taking photos and climbing on the bottom area of the largest one. We are able to go into the the middle one and the steep incline down and up is done 90% of the time in a bent position because there is [View Full Entry]

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DAY 19 The flight from Casablanca takes about 5 ½ hours and 3 hours ahead in time. So we got little sleep. We arrange the taxi to the hotel in Cairo and the amount written down so there is no problem with the price. It takes 30 min. to get to the the hotel and Francine and I sleep the entire way there. If this was a metered taxi we could have been taken for a small fortune. Once in our room we both collapse on the beds and slept for about 4 hours. We did finally get up so we [View Full Entry]

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DAY 13-15-tour DAY 16-18-independently We take a public bus to MARRAKECH about 3 hours. We are staying in a very nice hotel but poor service and the staff are not very helpful. This city feels more like a French city than a Moroccan one. Our first visit is to the famous DJEMAA EL FNA, a large market area with everything imaginable. Tonight we are dining al fresco in this carnival atmosphere, the food is okay but the ambiance is unbelievable, There is all manner of food from seafood, chicken, beef, salads and boiled goats head. The meat from the cheeks are [View Full Entry]

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DAY 11-12 We leave the valleys of the High Atlas Mountains and head westward toward the windswept Atlantic Coast and the old fishing town of Essaouira, about a 5 hour trip. The name Essaouira means image, and this is very appropriate since the city has a lot a charm and very distinct and picturesque areas. We embark on a city tour with a local guide: The harbor, the beach, the Medina, the souks, and many famous musicians have called this place home for a time, especially in the 60's, from Jimmy Hendrix to the Rolling Stones. They even have an area [View Full Entry]

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DAY 10 --SORRY OUT OF ORDER DUE TO LACK OF INTERNET ACCESS-- OR BECAUSE WERE BLONDES ON HOLIDAY--TAKE YOUR PICK Today we journey over the spectacular Tizi nTichka Pass (2260m) to the scenic Toubkal National Park about a 5 hour journey. We are leaving the area of the Kasbahs and the Sahara and passing over the desolate high altitudes of the Tichka, before traversing some lush valleys and winding our way to the end of the road at Imlil. We store our large packs and take day bags up for the night in the peaceful village of Aroumd. In order to [View Full Entry]

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DAY 9 Oh my goodness. Fran has stiff legs. Bit of shuffling going on. Angie is okay as her pace was a bit more slower. Today, we travel south for about 4 hours in the private mini van to the Kasbash country of Ait Benhaddou. The drive is filled with ruins of ancient Kasbahs that were once colonial military desert outposts. The scenery is that of austere mountain, wide open spaces, valleys of palm tress and irrigated fields. The homes are mud houses and the people are poor. We eat lunch in Ouarzazate and get to visit the Atlas Movie studio. [View Full Entry]

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DAY 7 and 8 We board our mini bus and head off to Todra Gorge; about a 4 hour drive. The landscape changes from sand dunes to rocky dry rolling hills to lush valley then to mountains. (We later rename it Torture Gorge) We stop at a place where they manufacture items from stone with fossils in them. They make beautiful table, sinks, and various small items. Very expensive. Angie buys a small stone fossil and a small gypsum crystal piece. Fran bought a small polished fossil stone. Our hotel is nestled in the palmeries and built upon the mountain side. [View Full Entry]

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DAY 6 We take a fantastic drive this AM about 5 hours towards the mighty Sahara Desert. We see the rocky mountain to lush palmeries (valleys with date palms, fields and orchards.) Our excitement builds as we see the huge sand dunes in the distance that get closer and closer to the right of us but on the left there is a storm building with dark blue clouds and lighting in the distance. A contrast for sure - certainly we did not expect to have rain in the desert. Our destination is a small village of Merzouga. We no sooner pull [View Full Entry]

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DAY 5 We are once again traveling by private mini van up to the Middle Atlas Mountains (about 4 hours) and the area is populated with nomadic shepherds attending to their flocks. We travel through cedar forest and saw the Barbary Apes, North Africa's only monkey. We travel through the scenic valley between the Middle and the High Atlas ranges. We stopped for tea/coffee in a very modern European Swiss village that caters to the Moroccan Winter Ski Season. We stopped just outside the town of Midelt in a very remote but beautiful hotel that was fashioned after a small castle [View Full Entry]

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DAY 2 We take the train to Rabat this morning about 1 hour. The good thing is we have paid a little extra about 2-3 dollars more to travel 1st class, that only means we have a seat and don't have to stand all the way there. We took our food with us - things that we bought in the market yesterday - strawberries, raspberries and dates. We played GIN and Francine won most of the games. We ate lunch at a restaurant that had a lot of local character with very good food, we had turkey brochettes and veggie tajine. [View Full Entry]

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