Blogs from Meknès-Tafilalet, Morocco, Africa - page 3

Heute war wieder Zu-Fuß-Tourist angesagt. Die Altstadt ist gleich nebenan. Wieder stellte ich fest, dass die Medina ein undurchdringliches Gewirr von Gassen ist und man manchmal nicht mehr heraus findet... Es war ärgerlich, weil alle Sachen, die ich besichtigen wollte, wegen Bauarbeiten geschlossen waren. Aber dafür sah ich Teile der Stadt, die sonst nur wenige Touristen sehen. In Marokko herrscht offiziell Gleichberechtigung der Frau. Gesetzlich. Schafe hüten ist reine Männersache, nur im Süden sah ich zweimal Frauen bei den Herden. Das waren garantiert Witwen, die einfach kein Mannsbild für diese anstrengende Arbeit auftreiben konnten. Die Männer liegen dann auf der Wiese und schauen meditativ in die Ferne. Oder es stehen drei Männer zusammen und hinter ihnen fressen fünf Schafe. Dass dies ein Knochenjob Ist, liegt auf der Hand. Und es ist rührend, dass die Frauen sich ... read more

Today was an ideal touring day after the hectic pace to date & a big day set for tomorrow. A late breakfast was followed by a gorgeous 2 hour hike in sunny temperate conditions & the outlook of the changing autumn colours along the Todra River. The valley is farmed by local Berbers with a huge diversity of fruit & produce & the clever use of irrigation channels for water during the dryer months & larger channels to prevent flooding after the winter melt. At the end of the walk the gorge narrows to little more than the width of the road alongside the river & flanked by enormous cliffs each side. AHfter today's food tasting of goat targine for lunch we went to a woman's carpet/ rug weaving/embroidery/knotting Cooperative supported by Intrepid. Absolutely beautiful hand ... read more

The anticipation of the Sahara experience made the uninteresting 5 hour drive to the end of the road frontier settlement of Merzouga worthwhile. A typical mud brick Berber hotel was the staging point for our stay at a Berber camp in the Sahara Desert. On the way we crossed from the middle to the anti Atlas at 1907 mtrs but mostly signified by a barren rocky outlook with occasional knarly juniper trees which can happily survive in the harsh environment. Further along the river valleys the scenery changed to lush date palm valleys. Most of our luggage was stored for the night at our staging point (Auberge Salama) with only basic necessities able to be carried via a one-hour camel ride to a Berber desert camp under the stars. Timed to arrive near sunset the slog ... read more

Today we took a short train ride to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. The train system is surprisingly good. Like Casablanca, Rabat is also not high on the must do tourist route, despite its long and colourful history. Rabat has been a Roman Empire outpost, a pirate haven and now a clean modern city home to the parliament. We spend a few hours strolling through the city's old walled quarter, and then walked up to Kasbah des Oudaias, The Kasbah is a quaint area with narrow winding streets lined with whitewashed houses, distinctive blue doors and commanding views over the Atlantic Ocean. We then walked to the Hassan Tower, the minaret of a vast incomplete mosque due to construction stopping on the death of the Sultan in 1199. Alongside is a modern white marble mausoleum where ... read more

The parents did eventually make it in to the town of Chefchouen, as the rain had lightened in the afternoon. They planned to buy water,eggs and bread. They bought a pasta strainer and a couple of other bits, but they forgot to pick up the bread and water. The next morning started off with a shower (surprise surprise), but had stopped after breakfast so we packed up, and headed for our next destination, the Volubis ruins near Meknes. On the way we stopped at a cafe and it had the film White house down playing on the tv. This was quite a distraction as we found ourselves just sitting there watching it. For Lunch we stopped in another small town and had an egg and salad sandwich which was really good, then just as we were ... read more