Blogs from Fès-Boulemane, Morocco, Africa - page 2

Leaving the remarkable ruins of Volubilis behind us, thoughts about what we had just seen in the historic Roman city still rambled around in our brains but it was time to move on. Driving in an easterly direction, our destination was the city of Fes, once the capital of Morocco and an important trade crossroads. So far the landscape had been rather bland and sparsely populated with only a few unremarkable buildings and houses making an appearance. The most interesting sights for me were several huge stork nests perched atop spindly electricity/phone poles near small buildings.They were a nice surprise. Only 20 miles from Fes, the geographical monotony was broken when we unexpectedly saw a lake peeking out of the nearby valley with the Middle Atlas Mountains as a backdrop. Near the far end, the sky-blue ... read more

Feasting in Fes. First feast breakfast. Then it’s feasting for the senses as we negotiate the souks. Then it’s feasting time after I prepare our tajine chicken, smoked eggplant and tomato salad and our dessert of orange, orange blossom, cinnamon and mint. No surprise at our Moroccan breakfast, again deluged with fruit, yoghurt and small buns that I spread with goat cheese, honey or jams. Lee has an omelet that looked good and is significantly better for her than attempting to eat around the wheat based products. Our breakfast was bought to us in the courtyard which curtailed the number of glasses of juice I consumed but if that’s my biggest grumble things are still more than good. It was a very leisurely start as we weren’t at breakfast until about 9 o’clock and not finished ... read more

It's been all go go go since I left Tobago.. It can't be only 2 weeks ago! Toronto followed by Marrakech and now Fes. In transit Montreal I left a precious bracelet in the security bin, but I'm hoping it's in the lost and found on my return. I'll start right where I am now - Fes or Fez the very ancient spiritual capital of Morocco. Traveling with friends Robert and Fitz who initiated the trip. For me this is a very new experience to be moving at a pace set by others. I'm letting go in practice. We arrived in Fes after a comfortable but 6+hours long train journey from Marrakech past neat rows of olive trees and orchards of oranges and pomegranates and cactus plants. Olives are widely eaten throughout Morocco, and everywhere there ... read more

There is no queue at the gate of patience ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling northeast from Meknes to Fes. It was a wet afternoon in Meknes. Heavy rain fell from dark clouds shrouding the city, and a bitter wind swept the empty streets. We emerged from the medina and sheltered as best we could in the shadows of Bab el-Mansour (the city’s iconic gateway) until a taxi arrived. We jumped in, dropped by the hotel where we’d left our packs a few hours earlier and headed to the Meknes train station – we were about to embark on a one-hour train journey to Fes. Moroccan train travel is unbridled and anarchic, and you get to experience the gamut of Moroccan life in the cramped and chaotic confines of your designated carriage. We’d ... read more

Off to Fes today. Our drive takes us across the plain between the High and Mid Atlas ranges then over the Mid Atlas to another plain. As we climb up into the Mid Atlas, the scenery changes yet again. It’s still very arid, but no longer wholly devoid of vegetation, with small low scrubby bushes scattered across stony soil. The Mid Atlas range is volcanic, and the rocks are less red. As we gain altitude, the ground is covered with frost and there are patches of snow. We drive through what look like Alpine valleys, covered in frost. It’s hard to believe that in a couple of months they will be a sea of green. Here and there we can see small mud brick buildings of one or at most two rooms, barely big enough to ... read more