Travel : Morocco

Marrakech

We arrived in Marrakech from London and the heat hit us all like a physical blow.It really is HOT in central Morocco. We made our way through theincredibly busy streets to Hotel Ali and by the time we got therewe still hadn't worked out whether they drove on the left or rightside of the road, or whether horse drawn carts and bicycles had automatic right of way over anything else on the road! One thing is for sure and that is that the pedestrians of Marrakech have an unsuppressible trust for their fellow road users!

Our first night in the ochre coloured city was spent under the impressive Koutuobia Mosque eating exotic dishes (like whole fishes...) in the Djemaa al-Fna (open air market)
Since it was Justin's birthday we celebrated before dinner with a bottle of champagne before we headed out to explore the souks of Marrakech by night.

Our next two days in Marrakech were spent exploring the souks, declining offers to buy carpets and arranging our trips and transport for the next month. It was a great city an luckilty we were coming back in a week or so as there was still so much left to explore...
more pictures...

Jebel Toubkal

From Marrakech we will travel to Imlil with Justin and Penny from where we will do a trek into the high Atlas mountains. We plan to summit Jebel Toubkal which stands at +-4200m and is the highest mountain in N/Africa. Justin and Penny will probably leave us after three days in the mountains as they have limited time in Morocco and will want to get around a lot quicker than we need to. After summitting, we will probably hang around the Toubkal National Park and do a few walks into the hills and surrounding mountains.
more pictures...

Merzouga

After the mountains, we will head across the Atlas range to Merzouga, home to some of the largest Saharan "Ergs" (sand dunes). Some of these monsters are 170m high - we will hopefully find some sand boarding enthusiast here and give it a go... Mouthful of Sand anyone?? Incidentally, The horror film "The Mummy" was filmed here...(This was based on fiction - I hope!!)

Also at Merzouga is a large water pan and it is one of the best places to do some desert bird watching. From Merzouga, or further south in Zagora, we will join a caravan and go into the desert for 4-5 nights on Camels. This is supposed to be excellent and the sunlight on the dunes is meant to offer some spectacular photo opportunities. Have seen a friends photos of this and sleeping on carpets on the desert with a troupe of Berber guides really looks very relaxing.
From here we will head back to Marrakech - via the Todra & Dades Gorges - and then probably head North to the Ancient city of Fez and the Roman Ruins at Volubulis. Fez offers more of the same Moroccan architecture and hospitality (and hawkers) as Marrakech but being the oldest of the imperial cities is the symbolic heart of Morocco.

Essarouira

After the cities, desert and mountains, it will be time for some real R&R and so we will head of to the East coast and Essarouira for 5-6 days in the sun and sea. Essarouira is a great spot for windsurfing so I will hopefully get back onto a board after about 10 years.

Morocco

For those of you who don't already know, Niks and I are planning a trip to Morocco from 7th August to 5th September 2001. We leave London ad fly direct to Marrakech which will be our base for the first three weeks.
Our plans, outlined below, are a guideline only as we will probably leave most of the finer details until we get to Marrakech. Talking with other travelers usually provides the best information and we will probably do other side trips recommended by new friends.

At the very least we hope to climb Jebel Toubkal, ride camels in the Sahara, Kite Surf at Essarouira and eat loads Cous cous at every opportunity!

The arrival should be interesting as August is the hottest time of year so I think our bodies are in for a huge shock when we get out of the plane. The first two days - after the hangover recovery - will be spent discovering Marrakech and by the sounds of things, dodging hawkers and hagglers. The street traders in Marrakech are reputedly the most "persistent" in the world - aside from Tangiers - so I think dressing up as paupers will go a long way to ensuring our anonymity and peace of mind. (Just have to hide the cameras and take quick photos!)