Author: Ella

Long drive on Saturday. Diverse scenery. From mountains to dry plains to stretches of date palms to scrubby desert to the orange dunes of the Sahara. Through the longest valley in Africa which stretches from north of here to the Atlantic Ocean. The river is bone dry.  We had a break for tea, stopped to…

We arrived late afternoon yesterday, enjoyed a sunset from atop a high dune and this morning’s sunrise atop a small dune with our coffee. But more later. This morning we are off for a camel ride and then a visit to a nomad family. This afternoon, we chill and will catch you up on our…

Today’s journey is from Dades ( blue dot near top) to the desert camp at Erg Chigaga (red balloon near bottom). I don’t know the exact route yet as Ali is fond of taking the road less traveled. I do know it will take about 7 hours plus stops. The thin, squiggly black line near…

Little did I realize that I’d be leaping across gaps like a goat, sliding down crevasses, walking tremulously along ledges less than a foot wide. With Abdul as our guide, “I got you, don’t worry”, “Yes, I love you Ella, you strong woman”. But, that’s how our much anticipated hike in the gorge went. At…

Ali pulled his Toyota Land Cruiser up to the hotel at 8am sharp. We loaded up, strapped in and then his “cousin” called. She’d left her wallet in the car. No way she could be without it for the next 10 days. Who could blame her? We detoured, did a quick handover and THEN we…

Here is our tentative route for today. And just because it looks cool and I forgot to post with yesterday’s entry. The Fes train station. You can see Grubb on the right, sort of.

Up relatively early, we went downstairs for breakfast to find our young Hassan (the staffer who has attended us for breakfast and dinners), sound asleep on a sofa, all lights off, no one in the office.  Uh oh. We cleared our throats to wake Hassan up. He popped up, sprang into action, and in 15 minutes…

Breakfast, I guess it happens everyday but for someone who doesn’t usually eat this morning meal, I’ve been chowing down. I’ll spare you the details today but here are a couple of photos of our view whilest dining. The Riad manager spent some time with us after breakfast helping to organize our day. We wanted…

Monday. Oct 25. All the staff at our Riad are young and super friendly. Hanna, who seems in charge, said they are trying to make this an unforgettable experience. Great so far! I’m lounging on a sofa in this sitting area as I write. Breakfast: traditional Moroccan pancakes, sweetbread, homemade yogurt, cheese omelet. Coffee.  Dinner:…

Sunday. We started the morning with a Moroccan breakfast  (included with our room). Three kinds of bread. One a flat round made with semolina, one a sweet bread – like a light pound cake, and the final a thin round, looks like a bagel but flatter, almost cracker-like bread. An array of  jams, marmalade, and butter..Fresh squeezed…

On the train, one of the women told us “Casablanca, it is nothing”, with a flick of her wrist as one would do to shoo a fly. “Fes is the real Morocco.”  Keep that in the back of your mind and let’s see what unfolds. I mentioned there were four women in our compartment. All young…

Boy, for a travel day, the adventure expanded exponentially. Is it easy to take a train in Morocco? Sure. Quick taxi to the new Casa Voyeuger station in Casablanca, trains clearly listed on the big airport style display…well, anyway, there was no confusion. We got on the train, shared a first class compartment with 4…

After a refreshingly good night’s sleep, we went down to the breakfast buffet this morning. What a huge selection. Moroccan specialities along with some European standards. I wanted to try the famous Moroccan mint tea. Normally super sweet (I’ve heard), I took the no sugar choice. Delightful. Then off to Casablanca’s Medina (ancient market). A…

Our flights were thankfully unremarkable. Touch down in Casablanca and then the slow movement through passport control. We were overly confident that finding an ATM to withdraw a wad of Moroccan Dirham would be a snap. Not so much. I was vaguely surprised to see a Bank of Africa ATM.  “Unusual “, I thought. Until my…

We arrived in the crazy (so described by the locals) city of Casablanca this morning. As the sun was rising, our aircraft was descending into the Mohammed V airport located about 20 miles from Casablanca. And that my friends, is all I’ve got in me today. I promise tomorrow Grubb and I will regale you…