Yup still cats aplenty

Driving to Taroudent yesterday with a stop at a valley of share-cropping fields, then a real souk for the local people, was an insight into working daily life here. The tour has generally been well paced, if moving a lot for the last few days. Yesterday however, they really got the itinerary wrong, by changing … Continue reading Working Morocco, around Taroudent →

We travelled from Tata to Mirleft today, around 6 hours of driving with one stop only at a small village to walk through the day palms. It was a tough day, and must have been so hard for Lassen our driver, as we drove for a couple of hours through a thick sandstorm. After a … Continue reading From desert to ocean through a sand storm →

A couple of days of driving, sealed road then into the desert again with 4WD to see some amazing scenery. Another night in a desert camp then the long drive out to Tata where we are staying tonight in a rather lovely simple hotel with another beautiful pool. The scenery has been amazing, spectacular mountain … Continue reading Desert views to Tata →

A market purely for the locals, on our way to our overnight stay in Ouarzuzate. Lunch at our drivers house, a real privilege to be invited in to meet his mother, wife and son. Ait Ben Haddou, an amazing casbah in the side of the mountain, by a river. So many films have had scenes … Continue reading A market, Ait Ben Haddou & Ouarzuzate →

I’m sitting on our bus, yet again, watching the arid Moroccan scenery slowly unspool through the windows. The colour pallet is similar to the Australian bush, although the contours utterly different with the Atlas Mountains on one side and the Ante Atlas on the other side. The detail is acacia, or almond and olive trees … Continue reading Travel →

Almond trees, towering gorge walls, Berber carpet workshops, irrigated fields at the base of the gorge. A complete lack of water, some water is flowing in the river but a fraction of what should be flowing from the Atlas Mountains at this time of year. A hotel of faded glory on the top of a … Continue reading Todra Gorge →

Two days without internet and camping in the desert has been a real break, although the first Moroccan coffee on driving out today was very welcomed. Erfoud is a hotspot location for fossils, and there was a truly amazing amount being worked at a local workshop. I was conflicted, while the tables and slabs being … Continue reading Back to civilisation →

A very long drive today, across the Middle Atlas with snow on the ground, visiting a nomad family, then descending to the valley floor where dates are grown and the temperature increased by maybe 25C. We are now in a casbah hotel and about to have the first beer for a few days.

It’s been an amazingly wet and cold day here, and the rain coat has been very valuable. I’ve been soaked a couple of times, while doing the Medina tour then later on the way back from a lovely relaxing hammam experience. I knew Morocco could be cold this time of year, just hadn’t realised how … Continue reading A rainy day in Fez →