After breakfast Avis brought our hire car to the hotel. David had been worrying our route out of town might take us through the inner city, but Google Maps guided us onto the highways and we reached Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in about 15 minutes. The gardens sit nestled at the foot of the rear of Table Mountain in what must be the most stunning setting for any gardens. They were inevitably a Victoria creation, initially managed and directed by a gentleman from Kew Gardens. The weather had finally picked up and it was warm and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. We wandered around for over two hours, taking in the huge variety of Cape and fynbos vegetation. There are six broad regions of flora in the world, and the Cape is by far ... read more

We left London in 33 degree heat, packing our sweaters in the cases as it was far too hot to wear them. 11 hours later we arrived in Cape Town to find it was 13 degrees with pouring rain and a howling gale. Hmm, aren’t you meant to go on holiday for better weather…..? The rain subsided enough to allow us to don sweaters and waterproof jackets and go for a walk round the V&A waterfront. Back in the hotel, we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a beer in the hotel bar, watching the locals celebrate South Africa thrashing Scotland in their first match of the rugby World Cup, and had an early dinner before heading to bed to catch up on sleep after our night flight. Next morning we’d booked to visit Robben Island ... read more

The sun rose over the pink cliffs surrounding Tafraoute, though the beautiful view was somewhat marred by the roofs of the town below and the rubbish lying in the streets. We set off in the car once more, for our longest driving day. The first 2 ½ hours took us to Tiznit, with the first 90 minutes spent ascending and descending the mountains on a hair raising road that was essentially single track, but with wide enough unmade verges to allow another vehicle to squeeze past on the mercifully few occasions that we encountered one. The land to either side looked as if it had been terraced, but with nothing being grown on it we wondered if it was, in fact, natural. Houssain told us that it was man made, but that the land has fallen ... read more

Today we drove from Ouarzazate to Taroudant, a 5 hour drive through the Anti Atlas. We thought this might become boring, but the scenery changed constantly. One minute we were driving through blackened outcrops of rock, eroded into layers and small boulders, next we were crossing semi arid plains with the occasional mesa rising above the level. It was dry, but there was scrubby vegetation in even the most desolate places. We passed ashepherd tending a small flock of sheep, and wondered where on earth he lived, given there was no sign of habitation for a good ten miles in either direction. We saw an old movie set of a gas station as seen in innumerable American films and TV series. On the other side of the road was a coal mine, who knew they mined ... read more

We breakfast on the roof terrace in Marrakesh, a typical Moroccan breakfast of coffee, yoghurt, orange juice, with Moroccan pancakes (disappointing as usual) and bread. As we are getting up to leave “You like omelette?” so we sat down again. We eventually set off with our driver and our guide Houssain, driving through the posh end of town and heading south east under a leaden sky across a fairly arid, flat landscape dotted with scrubby trees, the Atlas mountains rising up in the distance. There are numerous part-started developments for resorts and housing estates, all semi-abandoned. Everything is terracotta or ochre coloured, all building are square and angular. After an hour or so we start to climb and twist our way up the road. It starts to rain a little and the wind is really strong. ... read more