Blogs from Morocco, Africa - page 38

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 was a memorable experience with a full day in & around the unique Medina of Fes, an old medieval city with a walled labyrinth of lanes and alleyways alive with craftsmen, markets, tanneries and mosques and a feast for the senses. The city is over 1200 years old & supports 300,000 residents but is fully functional with water, power, street cleaning, the oldest university in the world, many ornate mosques and eleberate homes & is unquestionably the spiritual and cultural heart of Morocco. The City is unique in the world in that Muslims, Christians & Jews live in perfect harmony & are recognised as equals by the government (along with the Berbers who live elsewhere within Morocco) all these factors helped the city achieve World Heritage listing. The lanes are only wide enough for walking ... 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

Co urcite videt Saharu - fakt uplne nejlepcejsi zazitek z nasi cesty Udoli Dades - hezky rozmanite, moznost pesich vychazek Fes - aby clovek pochopil, co to je vlastne ta medina Ouzoud - krasne vodopady Co bylo OK Chefchaouen - ano, je to modre, ale to je vlastne vsechno Essaouira - hezky pristav, arganove orechy, kam se podivas Ait Ben Haddou - prekvapive male, ne moc odlisne od klasickych subsaharskych vesnicek Todra - samotna souteska impozantni, ale je jen cca 500 metru dlouha Filmove muzeum Ouarzazate - hezke kulisy, nizke vstupne. U atelieru pak kulisy Jeruzalema, ty jsou velkolepe. Kam uz nemusime Marrakesh - takove spinave mesto, plne mopedu, smogu a vlastne nenabizelo nic, co bychom neznali uz odjinud. Termin Konec rijna byl super. Pocasi bylo trochu promenlive, ale turistu bylo vsude relativne malo, zadnou velkou ... read more