Jun 23, 2017 - Marrakech, Morocco

June 23-24: Marrakech Accommodation: Riad Nesma-located at edge of medina; typical 3 story center courtyard; roof top pool and eating area, but too hot to enjoy; perhaps 20 rooms; ours large enough for queen sized bed, single bed to put bags on and small bath. Clean and functional. Friday, 23rd. Lovely breakfast this morning--crepes, fig jam, goat cheese, omelet, skinned and herbed fresh tomatoes; and figs and plums picked earlier on the grounds. Toured the beautiful terraced garden before departing: roses; lavender; succulents; fig,...

Jun 19, 2017 - Fez to Merzouga

June 19: Fez to Merzouga Middle Atlas Mountains Agricultural valley Midelt plateau High Atlas Mountains--eastern side Ziz River Erfoud village of Rissani--7th century; fossils 3000 year old wells Sahara Desert, Erg Chebbi Merzouga: small desert Berber village Last area for the French to occupy because of the fierce Berber warriors.

Jun 18, 2017 - Fez, Morocco

June 18: Fez, Morocco Travel: Leaving Chefchouen we traveled 3 hours to reach Fez. Stopped along the way in Meknes and visited the Vilubilis Roman ruins. Accommodation: Riad Tahra Fez One of Morocco’s oldest Imperial cities, founded by Moulay Idriss I in 789 AC after Muslim Arabs swept across North Africa following the death of the prophet Mohammed in 838 AD. After 70 years of fighting, the Muslim Arabs conquered the Berbers of the Maghreb and set about founding cities, towns. This is the first capitol of Morocco and the most sacred Muslim...

May 29, 2017 - Home

Tuesday 23rd May 2017, Frankfurt airport Left hot Morocco for cooler Portugal. Such a different atmosphere here. Picked up from the airport in a brand new Mercedes and delivered to a 3 star hotel we had stayed in five weeks previously. Off to the local garden and enjoyed it so much I relaxed .......then lost my camera. About two thirds of my pictures are gone. As you expect we looked and looked. Asked everyone, often greeted with the 'not a chance brother' expression. A pity but all is not lost as Chris has taken many of the same photos as...

May 21, 2017 - Marrakech to Essaouira

Copy and paste the link into your browser to see photos. https://goo.gl/photos/vbyUocuenfhoMcEC7 Saturday 20th May. Away from Marrakech on a fantastic and very cheap toll road to Essaouira. Easy for our drivers, but quite dull compared to the scenery on the way to Marrakech. The one completely and utterly amazing thing we did see (and we stopped on the hard shoulder as others had done in front of us) was goats that climb trees to feed....that was such an incredible thing to witness. We were all so so glad we had seen it and it's one of the...

May 20, 2017 - Essaouira to Casablanca

Saturday 20th May 2107, Essaouira to Casablanca Interesting..... lots of politics discussed as we travelled. Arab Spring vs African Spring. So many donkeys working which again provided a contrast as we heard about international affairs. Men harvesting barley or wheat by hand though this is not an unusual practice in this country which is trying to catch the 21st century. As we drive along the by roads, people are still trying to flag us down and get a lift. Men, boys, mothers with kids, anyone. We came across some villages having their...

May 19, 2017 - Essaouira

Friday 19th May 2017, Essaouira The Windy City was again ...... windy. We had a morning city tour and were glad to finish. There are lots of fishing boats here so I guess fish must be a local industry too. All boats were in and fishermen doing on shore tasks, as - you guessed, there was too much wind. Plenty of kite surfers out though. We thought of buying a carpet as a memory of our trip. There are more carpets here than grains of sand in the universe. We thought something traditional would be good. Too hard. We have no idea so spent...

May 19, 2017 - Ouarzazate and Marrakech

Copy and paste this link to see photos https://goo.gl/photos/7ygmP6uZ17Lhgmqf7 Tuesday 16th May This morning we left Tinehir on what was to be the hottest day of our tour. It hit 48° this afternoon and it was really unbearable. When we arrived at Ouarzazate it dropped to 42, but no way could we get comfy even with the air con struggling to get below 36°. Only low amp electrics here. Very plain site with only the basics. Jade had a brainwave. Get our loungers into the shade between our two motorhomes, wet our beach towels thoroughly so we...

May 18, 2017 - Marrakesh to Essaouira

Thursday 18th may 2017, Marrakesh to Essaouira This was an easy day. Late start, straight roads and plenty of stops. Each town we approach the guide gives us brief description of local activities and sights and then whether it is a poor or rich city. The city we had lunch in was described as poor. Chris and I are trying to give up lunch so we walked instead. Yes it was a very poor town. Beat up cars, so much dust, rubbish, dilapidated buildings and cars from 50 years ago that had not been maintained. People were friendly though. Nearly...

May 17, 2017 - Marrakesh

Wednesday 17th May 2017, Marakesh Off to the Ourika valley. We are to have tea in a village house and enjoy the company of a family. We are shown village life and talk about the impact of change. There is a lot of complaining about the lazy younger Moroccan generation. Part of the problem seems to be little opportunity for productive employment. We are then taken to a herb garden and lunch after a foot bath. Why? Back to the hotel and we are left to our own devices.... I am crook so it is a afternoon sleep for me. The sights, sounds and...

May 16, 2017 - Marakesh

Tuesday 16th May 2017, Marakesh Saw a garden, some tombs and a palace. Again too much history and culture to remember ever but wonderful to hear about it first hand in front of the actual things. Then after lunch we are left to our devices in the famous centre square of Marakesh. We are told it does not get to the famous frantic pace until about 8 or 9 pm. We will see it tomorrow night as we are toured out and managed just to sit in a cafe overlooking the square for about 2 hours. We head home bushed about 3pm, not before talking to some...

May 15, 2017 - Desert camp

Sunday 14th May 2017 desert camp The wind came up about 4am and I thought someone was going into our tent as the flap opened wide. No worries. Woke to sunrise and wind. So many tourists out with the same idea To watch the sunrise. It is a unique place to be in. Must be even more incredible without the tourists. That will never be possible by the looks of the huge infrastructure works going on now. We know a little of a sandstorm as the wind was not too bad but enough to fill our hair, teeth,clothes, shoes and hair with sand. Had an out of...