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 that they call the “Hippie Place”. Orson Wells has a park named for him as he premiered a movie in the name of Morocco and won an award, the first and only for Morocco. This ... read more

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. Many American and foreign films have be made here. Lawrence of Arabia, Black Hawk Down, Jewel of the Nile, Gladiator, The Passion of Christ, and and currently getting ready to remake the movie Ben-Her and ... read more

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 up to the Kasbah and a sand storm hits us as we run for cover. What an unexpected greeting. We are stowing our luggage here and only taking our day packs with us on our ... read more

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. We walked through the crowded Medina and the souks but not time to do any shopping, our guide is practically running. They were selling everything, There were large bowls of green and black slime, goo, ... read more

HELLO EVERYONE!!! WE ARE ON OUR WAY ONCE AGAIN. BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT--HOW ABOUT A REVIEW OF THE LAST TRIP. WE DIDN'T SEND ANY PICTURES OUT WITH OUR EMAILS AND WITH COMING HOME WITH OVER 5000 PICTURES IT WAS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING TO SAY THE LEAST. BUT FOR THE NEWBIES, THE OLDIES AND JUST PLAIN FORGETFUL FOLKS, FRANCINE AND I STARTED OUT IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS AND MAINLAND ECUADOR FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE WITH THE SEA LIONS, TURTLES, TORTOISES AND TEXANS. THE YOUNG COUPLE FROM ENGLAND WERE DELIGHTFUL AND THE 3 CO-WORKERS FROM ENGLAND ON HOLIDAY WITHOUT THEIR WIVES WERE A REAL HOOT. (BIRD WATCHERS - THEY WERE) AND I FOUND MYSELF LOOKING AT BIRDS DIFFERENTLY AND WITH A GAINED RESPECT ( FOR MY NECK MUSCLES) THEN OFF TO THE AMAZON JUNGLE FOR 3 ... read more