Watch this space for our upcoming trip to Morocco, Tunisia & Algeria, May/June 2024

June 07, 2024

We are about to embark on an expedition to Morocco, Tunisia & Algeria, travelling with friends whom we originally met on the Trans Siberian trip in 2007.

We are travelling by private vehicle with local English speaking tour guides. Our itinerary has been customised to suit our group and is quite varied including visits to ancient cities, Roman ruins, UNESCO World Heritage sites, interesting museums and temples, camping in the desert, the Star Wars film set, a fishing village, beaches, mountain oases, architecture, iconic landmarks, markets, a tannery, restaurants and camel rides. Our tour includes some time to relax…. all with camera(s) in hand.

Watch this space to follow our adventures although updates may be spasmodic depending on access to the internet.

DAY 1: Tuesday 30th April - Wednesday May 1st 2024 MELBOURNE – CASABLANCA

June 06, 2024

We spent two days in Melbourne and celebrated our son Marcus’ 48th birthday on the Tuesday 30th April morning prior to heading to Melbourne airport to embark on our Qatar flight to Doha.

The queue for Qatar Airlines was exceedingly long and it took well over an hour to complete the check-in. Fortunately security and customs formalities were completed with minimum delay.

The thirteen hour flight to Doha was with a Boeing 777-300 and we departed on time at 15:15 Melbourne time. The plane’s seating was comfortable with ample leg-room and the food and drinks service was excellent. True to form, on overseas trips we order Bloody Marys which are a holiday commencement catalyst!

The 11989 km journey to Doha involved crossing from Melbourne towards Perth and then heading northwest towards Christmas Island and then across Sri Lanka to the Arabian Peninsular.

We landed at Doha’s Hamad International Airport at 22:45 local time and after a lengthy walk were checked through security and commenced a search for gate C93, the departure gate for our next flight to Casablanca in Morocco.

The Doha Airport is a very modern mega structure with airport lounges radiating from a central glitzy shopping precinct surrounding an internal garden area with tall trees! The airport lays claim to being the number one airport in the world having won the Skytrax award in three of the past four years.

Even at midnight the airport was saturated with humans and we felt lucky to find seats in the departure area as we had a three hour wait before the Casablanca flight at 01:30 on May 1st.

At just on 02:00 our ‘Royal Air Moroc’ Boeing 787-9 departed Doha and commenced the eight hour flight to Casablanca.

Our flight path had us crossing Saudi Arabia and then flying over Suez towards Cairo. The track then followed a mid-Mediterranean path towards Malta and then over Sicily. We skirted Southern Spain before crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and heading south west across Morocco to land at Casablanca at 08:00 on Wednesday. The air travel and associated airport waiting time was just on 30 hours total since having left Melbourne.

Passing through customs and security at Casablanca was slow partly due to the number of Islamic pilgrims on the flight returning from visits to Mecca or Medina. Many of the pilgrims had vast amounts of luggage plus duty free goods and were slow and blocked access to lanes.

On exiting the Mohammed V International Airport we were delighted to find Chahine our driver and guide whilst in Morocco.

Chahine greeted us warmly and escorted us to his fairly new Mercedes van and then drove us the 15 km into central Casablanca.

As it was too early to access our hotel Chahine (Arabic for hawk or falcon) suggested we visit the King Hassan II mosque for a couple of hours.

This magnificent mosque was built on a man-made platform jutting over the Atlantic Ocean. Its Moorish style architecture is awesome in both size and detail. The minaret soars 200 m upwards making the Hassan II mosque the tallest religious building in the world.

Jak & Corinne inside King Hassan II Mosque

Built over a period of only six years in the 1990s, it incorporates 20th century innovations such as an opening sliding roof and lasers that shine east towards Mecca.

Opening ceiling inside King Hassan II Mosque

The construction involved 35000 craftsmen and everywhere one looks one sees exquisite mosaic tilework, decorative marble and granite columns, carved stucco, huge chandeliers and especially impressive is the cedar panelled timber work in the high dome.

The main prayer hall measures 100 m by 200 m and can accommodate 25 000 men. Women use an upper gallery mezzanine area for prayer.

Women’s mezzanine and central dome inside King Hassan II Mosque

We spent some time in the Museum of Islamic Crafts before heading for our hotel and some well earned sleep after two strenuous days of air travel.

Our hotel is the Val D’Anfa and it is comfortable and located close to the Atlantic coastline. In the late afternoon we enjoyed a meal and drinks on the terrace overlooking the hotel’s pool.

Dinner by the pool at our hotel, Hotel Val D'Anfa

Pre dinner drinks by the pool at our hotel, Hotel Val D'Anfa

We then had a brief walk down to the nearby beach which was crowded despite the approaching sunset. The gritty sand was a coffee colour and the beach goers were either resting, chatting or playing soccer. Only one or two people were actually swimming in the surf.

Tomorrow we will visit sites in and around Casablanca.

DAY 2: Thursday May 2nd 2024 CASABLANCA MOROCCO

June 05, 2024

Having had eleven hours of good quality sleep we were now internally time-zone adjusted and ready for a hearty breakfast and a day’s site seeing in Casablanca. Before breakfast we face-timed family back in Australia.

Casablanca was originally established as a small Amazigh settlement in the 7th century and named Anfa meaning hill. In the 18th century it became a major trade centre for Morocco due to its rich agricultural hinterland and its harbour. Casablanca was then a significant provider of sugar, tea, wool and cereal grains to European markets.

It was in the 20th century, under the French Protectorate that it adopted the Spanish name Casablanca meaning “White House” and was transformed to become a major economic hub with innovative architects involved in a huge building project. This economic development has continued unabated since independence from France in 1956 and today the city of Casablanca is number nine amongst the ten largest cities in Africa with a population of just under four million.

We met Chahine at 10:30 and then walked along the coastal promenade to the nearby tram terminus.

Our travels on the very comfortable and modern tram and subsequent walking tour took us through the various quarters of the city with an opportunity to observe the many styles of architecture in Casablanca.

The dominant architectural style is Mauresque or classical French from the 1920s. Architects of that time drew upon the repertoire of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Neo Classicism with avant-garde tendencies moderated by a more traditional Moroccan style.

Many of these stately buildings today are showing signs of their age but are now undergoing progressive refurbishment although the street facades in most cases are to be retained by law to preserve the architectural splendour of times past.

A striking example of the fusion of Neo-Gothic and Art-Deco architecture is the twin towered white concrete Sacré Coeur Cathedral. Since 1956 it has no longer been a church but now serves as an art centre.

In addition to the Mauresque period there is today a dramatic building project underway with new multi-storey office blocks being established in what were previously peripheral regions of the city. The new structures we observed included a broad range of developments including hospitals, commercial buildings, universities, schools, mosques and an opera house plus numerous expensive residential units.

It was pleasing to encounter parkland regions during our walking tour. We particularly enjoyed spending time in the extensive Parc de la Ligue Arabe with its impressive lawns, flowerbeds and fountains.

New Opera House & fountain in public square

During our city tour we visited the central market area. This bustling hive of human activity was fascinating with every conceivable commodity on sale. Especially colourful were the vegetable and spice tables but most interesting was the fish market with unexpected sea-foods such as barnacles and large swordfish plus a very broad range of scale fish for sale.

Chahine kindly bought us a coffee and corn fritters for a lunchtime snack and we then headed back to our van that was parked nearby.

For our drive back to the hotel Chahine took us through some of the more up-market residential suburbs where the homes were super impressive and equally expensive. Noteworthy were the King’s Palace and the Anfa residential quarter. Anfa is the “Beverly Hills” of Casablanca with wide avenues lined with floral decorations and luxurious villas with terraces, swimming pools and beautiful gardens. In this precinct was once the Hotel d’Anfa, now demolished, where in January 1943 President Franklin Roosevelt met with Prime Minister Winston Churchill to decide upon the date of the Allied landings in Normandy (D-Day). The Germans were misled by the translation of Casablanca into thinking the meeting was in the White House in Washington and failed to gain vital intelligence information.

Zevaco Dome & Clocktower of the Old Medina above underpass at centre of city,

We arrived back at our hotel in the mid-afternoon giving us time to catch up on the diary and down-load photographs.

For our evening meal we went to Rick’s Café which has claim to fame as the café suggested in the Hollywood 1942 movie Casablanca. In fact the movie was not filmed in Morocco at all but Rick’s Café in Casablanca was designed and specifically decorated in 2004 to recreate the bar made famous in the classic Bogart ~ Bergman movie. It is presently owned by the ‘Usual Suspects’ company!

The restaurant is housed in a traditional Moroccan three storey mansion built in 1930 with a central courtyard and a distinctive street front entrance with heavy wooden doors as in the movie. Internally there are curved arches, a sculptured bar, balconies and balustrades as well as beaded brass lighting. The décor is full of tile and woodwork representing Morocco’s craft industry. The 1930s Pleyel piano used in the movie has been upgraded to a Yamaha Grand but “As Time Goes By” was nonetheless still a popular request.

Both our fish meals of salmon and bass were superbly presented with the taste and accoutrements including wines of an equal excellence. The service, atmosphere and overall dining experience were quite outstanding and will be remembered for years to come!

We left Rick’s Café at 20:45 and Chahine was waiting to pick us up with the van and return us to our hotel.

We’ve had a most informative day learning a little more about this great city culminating with an intriguing and memorable dining experience.

Tomorrow we depart Casablanca and venture northwards to visit the Moroccan capital Rabat as well as the blue city of Chefchaouen.

DAY 3: Friday May 3rd 2024 CASABLANCA - CHEFCHAOUEN MOROCCO

June 04, 2024

After breakfast we were ready to depart our hotel at 09:00 but having just fixed up our room account at the main desk we turned to see our bags had disappeared. With minimum panic we rushed outside to see our bags being loaded with lots of other luggage into another tourist bus which had a group leaving our hotel at the same time.

After this minor drama was rectified we were soon on our way to Rabat which is approximately 100 km north of Casablanca.

The majority of the trip on the main A1 highway was following the coast road with the Atlantic Ocean much in view most of the way. On either side of the highway for most of the trip we could see extensive housing development with literally hundreds, if not thousands of residential blocks of units either already occupied or being constructed. Chahine said that this accommodation was principally for workers involved in the manufacturing industries for which Casablanca is renowned; namely car production, textile industries, glass production plus food processing and packaging. Most of this new urban housing and industrial development has occurred through encroachment onto land that was previously a rich agricultural region.

On arrival in Rabat we commented on the change to a cleaner and greener environment compared to that in and around Casablanca.

Rabat was established by Yacoub el-Mansour in 1195 and probably due to its complex historical struggles it wasn’t until 1912 that Marshal Lyautey made Rabat the political and administrative capital of Morocco.

Our first tourist site visited in Rabat was the Mausoleum of Mohammed V who is regarded as the father of Moroccan independence. The building was commissioned by Mohammed V’s son Hassan II and guards on horseback watch over the entrances to this sacred building.

The burial vault is located beneath the main visible floor level but its positioning is made apparent by a large white marble sarcophagus above. This sarcophagus was carved from a single block of marble and rests on a slab of granite.

The main building is intricately decorated with exquisite tile and gold painted timber work and the high twelve sided dome of mahogany crowns the burial chamber. Apart from the burial chamber the mausoleum includes a mosque and a museum devoted to the history of the Alaouite dynasty.

Close by to the Mausoleum is the Hassan Tower built by Yacoub el-Mansour in about 1196. This prestigious monument stands on a hill overlooking the river Wadi Bou Regreg. It stands adjacent to the remains of the gigantic Hassan mosque that was never completed and fell into disrepair with the death of Yacoub el-Mansour in 1199. All but the mosque’s minaret (the Hassan Tower) was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755.

From the elevated position of the Mausoleum we could see the city below with two buildings that were especially eye-catching being the the fifty-five storied, tapered Mohammed VI tower and the new opera house. The opera house takes the form of a huge, white coiled cobra and the architectural design is delightfully imaginative and visually stunning.

Trams crossing Hassan II Bridge across Oued Bou Regreg River

Our visit to Rabat then took us to Bab Oudaia Kasbah with its monumental city gates and walls built in the 12th century.

The fortress or kasbah was formerly the palace of the original Alaouite Sultan and towers over the cliffs that line the Bou Regreg river. Within the fortress now are public gardens, souvenir shops and exclusive private homes many of which are painted white and the overall effect is to offer a resemblance to a Greek coastal town.

The view from the high point of the fortress showed the surf beach below, the river mouth and the newly constructed river rock walls and protective groynes.

Lighthouse & cemetery at Bab Oudaia Kasbah

Surf beach area & breakwater from Bab Oudaia Kasbah

Being now early afternoon, it was time for us to commence a 200 km journey northwards towards Chefchaouen.

The route took us along the coastal plane for the first half of the trip towards Kenitra and then we headed north-east to Souk el Arba. This was extraordinarily flat agricultural land with the dominant crops being canola, wheat, barley, sugar cane, sun-flower and vegetables. Stork nests atop high poles and towers were a common sight along the way.

Then from Ouezzane to Chefchaouen the road became hilly and the scenery changed to mainly olive groves and low forested slopes with eucalypts being common.

Salt mining on route between Rabat & Chefchaouen

Olive groves en route from Rabat to Chefchaouen

Bee hives on route between Rabat & Chefchaouen

Wheat crop en route from Rabat to Chefchaouen

On arrival at Chefchaouen we drove up through narrow streets and laneways to a steep point where we alighted with bags and met Mohammed our hotel manager. He assisted by carrying our big bags up numerous steps to our accommodation in the Dar Meziana boutique hotel.

After settling into our very cute and petite maison, we had dinner prepared and served by Mohammed. The meal entailed a cold tomato-based soup and a main course of lamb meat balls tajine cooked with cheese in a spicy sauce. Dessert was a semolina made from maize topped with nuts, sultanas and local honey.

Tomorrow we will explore this intriguing mountainous part of northern Morocco and specifically this fascinating village of Chefchaouen with its famous blue buildings. A ten kilometre walk in the Rif Mountains to a waterfall is also on the day’s agendum.

DAY 4: Saturday May 4th 2024 CHEFCHAOUEN & SURROUNDS, MOROCCO

June 03, 2024

After a very good night’s sleep we had a genuine Moroccan breakfast including four different types of bread plus olives, cheeses, fresh fruits, yoghurt, eggs, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. The so called ‘snake’ bread is served as an annulus of croissant choux pastry and this was particularly tasty when dipped in the local honey that has a strong and yet pleasant taste.

We then headed down from hotel Dar Meziana through the blue alleyways to the turning circle where Chahine was waiting with the van.

He then drove us about thirty kilometres towards Tetouan where we parked at the main entrance to the Talassemtane National Park. Talassemtane means ‘cold spring’ in Berber and is the starting point for many walks in the Rif Mountains nearby. On arrival at 09:30 the car park was nearly empty and waiting for us was our walking guide (another) Mohammed.

Poppies in field en route to the Talassemtane National Park

Our van en route to the Talassemtane National Park

After introductions, we commenced our walk which for the first hour involved a fairly steep climb on a stony narrow pathway past small terraced farms growing onions and large amounts of kif (cannabis).

The sale of cannabis underpins the Riffian economy of the region and although growing and smoking cannabis are tolerated on a localised basis, its commercial exploitation is illegal. This has led to a major smuggling trade which the Moroccan authorities are fighting with assistance from the European Union. We were advised not to take photos of the marijuana farmers or their crops.

The path then became steeper and narrower which didn’t deter our guide Mohammed who clambered seemingly without effort despite wearing very old and worn-out slippers. At the highest point of our track, we could look down into the deep Akchour river valley below and see ‘God’s Bridge’ which is a naturally formed huge stone arch.

God's bridge, Talassemtane National Park

At this point we headed downwards to the river on a track that was exceedingly steep, narrow and slippery due to loose gravel. On arrival at the river we then walked two kilometres back up following the river towards the arch but could not make the full distance due to the track being closed.

Picnic area and bridge over Akchour River

We then turned around and walked back to the car park which by 13:00 was full with correspondingly huge crowds at every vantage point.

Jak & Corinne with zigzag path we walked down in the background

We thanked Mohammed and then faced a traffic jam in our attempt to leave the national park. Chahine said Saturday is picnic day for Moroccans and this was certainly a popular picnic spot.

Once back at Chefchaouen we had the afternoon to explore the ‘blue city’. We had a local guide who for two hours led us through the blue alleyways offering information on the origin and history of Chefchaouen. We took the opportunity to get lots of photos of the alleyways and open areas with their numerous souvenir markets and had particular joy photographing the many styles of doorways.

Bridge of the Sabbanin Valley, Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen nestles in the hollow of two mountains (ech-Chaoua), the name meaning ‘horns’. It was founded in 1471 by Idrissid shorfa, descendents of Mohammed, as a stronghold against the Portuguese.

The 15th century kasbah (fortress) with its crenellated walls of red-beaten earth forms the heart of Chefchaouen and the Wadi Laou river flowing right through the city provides it with the ‘life-blood’ of copious amounts of crystal clear mountain water.

Although founded in 1471, Chefchaouen did not take on its distinctively blue colour until 1492. It is suggested the blue colour was possibly due to an influx of Jewish people fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. They brought with them the tradition of painting buildings with indigo blue because it is said to mirror the sky and thus reminds them of God.

It now approaching 17:00 we decided to have a meal, not having eaten since breakfast. The Riad Hicham offered excellent meals at very reasonable prices with couscous being a common inclusion.

We returned to Dar Meziana for an opportunity to catch up on our travel blog and the downloading and the labelling of photos.

We have spent over six hours of walking today with the temperature in the high 20s and another good night’s sleep is due. Tomorrow we leave Chefchaouen and head via Meknes and Volubilis to Fès.

DAY 5: Sunday May 5th 2024 CHEFCHAOUEN, VOLUBILIS, MEKNES & FÈS, MOROCCO

June 02, 2024

After another superb breakfast we said farewell to Dar Meziana and with the manager’s assistance took our luggage back down the blue alleyways to find our van and Chahine waiting for us. At breakfast in our tiny hotel we chatted with a couple of about our age from Cygnet in Tasmania! They were about to embark on a three day hike in the Rif mountains.

Mohammed (Manager) in dining area, Dar Meziana Riad

We loaded our luggage into Chahine’s van and headed southwards, retracing the road through Ouezzane we’d come to Chefchaouen on two days ago.

Once at Souk el Arba we followed the road through Sidi Kacem towards Meknes. The area we passed through is a very extensive and rich agricultural region with grain crops (wheat and barley) being the main produce. The hilly regions are typically olive groves whereas the plains have rich alluvial soils and have become the main grain production zone for Morocco.

About fifteen kilometres south of Sidi Slimane we turned off the main road and drove a small distance to a parking area at Volubilis.

Our first sighting of Volubilis Roman ruins

Founded in the third century BC, Volubilis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mauretania. Mauretania was annexed by the Romans in AD 45 and subsequently became one of the most important cities in the province of Mauretania Tingitana.

During its heyday under the Romans, Volubilis was an affluent city and this extensive archeological site has some of the finest Roman ruins in Morocco.

Our guide showed us around the ruins and we could imagine from his descriptions the splendour that existed. The remains that were most striking included the 2nd century forum, the basilica, the triumphal arch and the town houses paved with extraordinarily well preserved and colourful mosaics.

Decumanus maximus (Three Arches), Volubilis Roman ruins

The site also includes baths, oil presses, bakeries, aqueducts, shops and many standing tall columns with Roman carved capitals. One intriguing artefact we identified was an ancient sun-dial near the Basilica.

After Rome withdrew from Mauretania in the 3rd century, the city declined and in 788 AD became an Islamic settlement under Idriss I. By the 11th century Volubilis was abandoned as the seat of power had now transferred to Fès.

Many of the ancient ruins were badly damaged during a major earthquake in 1755. Excavations and restoration began in the late 19th century and is continuing today with extensive areas of the old city yet to be explored.

Our relatively short visit to Volubilis was certainly the highlight of the day but as it was early afternoon we were forced to move on the Meknes.

This modern day city of around one million people was just a small settlement until the reign of Moulay Ismail began in 1672. From that time on, Meknes was to rise to the rank of an imperial city. The sultan ordered the building of fortress walls, gates, ramparts, mosques and palaces and this ambitious building programme continued throughout his reign and involved robbing from the ruins of Volubilis.

Meknes is now a dynamic city being the economic centre of an extensive agricultural region renowned for its produce of olives, grain, wine and vegetables. It is now classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Our visit to Meknes gave us the opportunity to see the imperial city protected by three stretches of incredibly impressive walls several kilometres long. The medina has the appearance of a sturdy fortress protected by high and thick walls and imposing gates.

Our final destination for the day was Fès (or Fèz) forty or so kilometres north-east of Meknes. We visited the palace square and viewed the magnificent seven doors to the palace grounds and then we had a brief visit to a pottery factory that specialised in ceramic and mosaic tiles.

Craftsmen at work in the pottery factory. Fès

At this stage we decided we’d had enough sight-seeing for the day and headed for our accommodation at Riad el Medina.

To end the day we had dinner at a nearby hotel where apparently we’ll be staying tomorrow night.

DAY 6: Monday May 6th 2024 FÈS MOROCCO

June 01, 2024

Due to a minor booking issue we were supposed to have been accommodated last night at the nearby Riad Myra which will be our hotel for this evening. As the Riad el Medina had no facilities for meals, we were required to move hotels before breakfast. This occurred effectively and we were ready to start our day’s sight-seeing in Fès by 09:30.

Our guide for the day was a delightful, friendly and excellent English speaking man, Said (pronounced Sigh-eed). He commenced our tour giving us a potted summary of the history of Fès.

Fès is located between the fertile lands of the Sais which we passed through yesterday and the forests of the Middle Atlas Mountains. Fès is the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities and is regarded as its religious and spiritual capital and as such was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1981.

The city was founded by Idriss I on the banks of the Fès river in 789 AD. The initial residents were mainly Muslim refugees expelled from Córdoba and Kaiouan in Tunisia.

Fès’ status as an intellectual centre was largely initiated by the founding of its university (University of al Qarawiynn) in 895 AD making it the oldest university established in the western world, being older than Oxford, Cambridge or the Sorbonne according to the Guinness Book of Records! The university was founded by a woman, Fatima al-Fihri who had inherited a vast fortune from her family’s business doings. She used her inheritance to build a mosque and educational centre as well.

By the mid-11th century Fès had become the centre of Islamisation in Morocco and in 1145 after a long siege, Fès took on the status of the country’s foremost cultural, intellectual and economic metropolis.

There is so much to see in Fès and in the ancient Fès medina (walled city) the many kilometres of networked alleyways together with the shoulder to shoulder crowds mean it would be very easy to get lost. Consequently we kept pretty close to Said for the next five hours of sight-seeing.

Our entrance to the medina was via the Blue Gate (Bab Boujloud) a triple arched Moorish gate decorated with many thousands of blue mosaic tiles.

The souk (market) on the inside of the gate was one where everything in the way of foodstuff could be purchased. Fresh fruit and vegetables of every imaginable type plus spices, nuts, eggs and meats (except pork!) were all on sale.

We tasted some small mulberry like fruits that had a distinctive strawberry flavour.

Rose petals for making jam or for their odour were for sale too.

A woman making thin crepes on a gas heated circular steel plate showed extraordinary dexterity in her high speed production line.

Butchers with cages of live chickens were be-heading the poor birds, plucking them and preparing them for sale once a customer had selected their poultry choice.

Of particular interest was the 1385 ‘water-clock’ high on the side of an alleyway building with twelve in-line windows. Hemispherical dishes that are now removed had cascading water filling each container per hour and a window representing the hour would open; somewhat like a hydraulic ‘sand-timer’.

We then visited the Bou Inania Medersa, a 1350 AD residential college for Islamic students. The courtyard was decorated with very fine zellij tile-work, intricate wooden carvings and stucco work. We could observe the elaborate mosque area but were not permitted to enter.

A most interesting event then occurred. Said took us through very narrow and dark alleyway where we ended up in a tiny ‘community bakery’. A man with a wood fired oven cooks bread for people who have prepared the dough themselves but don’t have the cooking facility. The baker, who was very keen to show us his craft, had long wooden handled bakers’ ‘shovels’ for adding and removing the cooked bread from the oven. He works and lives alone in this dark, back room and according to Said he is overjoyed when visitors stop by and see him at work.

After passing numerous shops selling, jewellery, shoes, clothes and sewing materials we arrived at the Fendouk el-Nejjarine, one of the most renowned buildings in Fès. Built by the provost Adeyel in the 18th century, this former caravanserai is now a museum. Classed as an historic monument in 1916 it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The three floors of the museum house displays of wooden arts and crafts. Amongst the many items were musical instruments, furniture, wooden locks, children’s toys and old artillery equipment. The view from the upper, open level offered a panoramic view across the old medina and the very prominent Dar-el-Makhzen Royal Palace with its tall green capped minaret.

View from the top of Fendouk el-Nejjarine

One can’t visit Fès without going to the Derb Chouara or the Tanners’ Alley. The leather hides are traditionally tanned in numerous vats containing noxious chemicals including colouring agents, sulfur compounds and pigeon droppings. Not surprisingly, the smell is unpleasant and strong. The hides are mostly goat or sheep but cow and camel are sometimes processed too. Above the open vats’ area is a terrace with a large collective shop selling leather goods such as bags, coats and slippers. Men traditionally wear yellow leather slippers where the tanning process involves the leather being repeatedly softened in vats with saffron as the dyeing agent.

Carting leather from Derb Chouara (Tanners’ Alley)

A refreshing pure orange drink in the brass workers’ area was needed as the temperature hit the high 20s. We had a final visit for the day to a weaver’s workshop where we saw an intricate pattern silk material being made by a happy craftsman working on an old-fashioned hand and foot operated loom. Corinne bought a blue and white scarf woven from ‘silk’ extracted from the blue agave cactus plant.

We said farewell to Said after a superb day visiting some of the sights of Fès and then returned to our hotel, the Riad Myra.

For our evening meal we went to the nearby ‘Cinema Café’ and had a pleasant repast before heading back to Myra.

Tomorrow we head south to the Middle Atlas Moutains and then on down towards the Sahara.

DAY 7: Tuesday May 7th 2024 FÈS – MIDDLE ATLAS MOUNTAINS – ZIZ VALLEY, MOROCCO

May 31, 2024

At breakfast we took photos of the dining hall at our hotel Riad Myra. The level of splendour is exquisite with the furnishings, décor and timber panelling of the highest imaginable quality. The three storey main area is surrounded by sixteen high columns each decorated with colourful mosaic tiles.

Riads are homes within the medina that were in many cases the abodes of the ultra wealthy. The home is typically hidden behind thick, high and austere walls with the only sign of opulence being the impressive doorways that are usually made from polished cedar and have elaborate brass hinge fittings and door knockers. The main large door often has a second smaller door hinged within it. The smaller door is for everyday entrance whereas the larger one is used only for formal occasions and/or special guests.

Typically within the riad would be gardens, a swimming pool and fountains with no expense spared in the purchase of fittings often from exotic locations.

The cost of maintaining these private palaces has in many cases become prohibitively expensive and as such many riads are now being used as five-star hotels such as the Riad Myra we stayed in. The tariff is eye-watering and as an example of costs, a small glass of red wine cost us 100 dirham or about $16.

We departed the Riad Myra at 09:30 and went southwards towards the Middle Atlas Mountains. After half an hour of driving through the southern suburbs of Fès we entered a rich agricultural area where the dominant produce was stone fruits and vegetables.

We then commenced the climb into the more mountainous region and made a stop at an enchantingly attractive village called Ifrane. This is snow country during winter and the tiled roofs are steep to prevent the accumulated weight of snow.

This village is a popular ski resort centre and is affectionately known by locals as the ‘Little Switzerland’.

A few kilometres south on the P24 highway, we turned off and drove a short distance into the Ifrane National Park, famous for its spectacular cedar forest.

We spent half and hour wandering around under the canopy of these giant and majestic trees. The forest is extensive and the cedars are huge and presumably very old. We attempted to photograph some woodpeckers but these flighty birds were difficult to capture photographically.

Young macaque in cedar forest, Ifrane National Park

Apart from the magnificent cedars it seems tourists gain amusement from feeding the numerous macaques that hang about the public carpark. These monkeys are famous for snatching drinks, food, hats and even cameras from unsuspecting tourists. We avoided these potential thieves as apart from their robbery skills they are also carriers of rabies!

Then for many kilometres we followed P21 highway south towards Midelt and passed across an extensive rocky plateau with the Middle Atlas mountain range as a backdrop. Elements of erosion over the millenia had created a number of mesas (flat top mountain blocks). This alpine region becomes the summer grazing area for the nomadic Berber tribes with their individual herds of sheep and goats. Their lifestyle is reminiscent of the Mongolian herders we’d met in 2007 except that the Berbers use donkeys and mules compared to the Mongolians’ camels and horses. The nomads have transportable homes that are canvas covered rectangular wooden frames quite different from the gers of Mongolia.

We then ventured higher into the Atlas Mountains with a high point of 1946 m above sea-level.

Sheep at highest point of the road (photo taken at 1920m), Middle Atlas Mountains

We continued south and made a ‘stretch the legs’, drinks and luncheon stop at Midelt. This is a comparatively large city which in the early 20th century under the French protectorate became a garrison town. Since then it has gained prominence as the ‘apple city’ of southeast Morocco. Large apple orchard abound and many are partially covered to provide protection to the fruit from the severe frosts that are common in this continental climate zone.

Apart from apples, Midelt has shops specialising in fine carpets, blankets and high quality embroidery. The embroidery skills were taught to the local Amazigh women by Franciscan nuns during the protectorate times. Along the roadsides on the outskirts of Midelt one sees ubiquitous canary yellow taxis typical of this region plus stalls selling mineral specimens and fossils.

Proceeding south, further towards the Algerian border had us entering steep gorge regions where artesian water brought up from below a seemingly desert setting provides a basic lifeline for agriculture. Compared to the surrounding hills, this extensive irrigated valley is so green due principally to date palms, olives and other crops. The mountain backdrop behind the greenery had fantastic geological features with folded rock patterns with jagged outcrops and spires of different coloured rock.

Now back down to an altitude of 1200 m we came across the remains of a former Jewish settlement. The town was originally in the form of a city fortress (kasbah) but in the ensuing two hundred years since its abandonment, some of its adobe brickwork has fallen into a chaotic collection of collapsed walls and buildings although the remaining and standing structures suggest a most impressive city exited here in bygone times. The cause of this demise of the Jewish town is subject to speculation these days.

We passed through a short tunnel and emerged into the Ziz Valley where a dam has been built to collect the snow melt from the Middle Atlas Mountains. A 50 km long lake now exits although at present it is only about one third full. This dam is part of a major government project to instigate further agricultural development in this region. Apart from the dam, there has been a financial incentive offered to farmers to help find artesian water on their land.

The water table is often encountered by drilling no more than fifteen metres below the existing ground level. These irrigation initiatives offer an attempt to provide new employment and prevent the tendency for young Moroccans to leave the farmlands and countryside and head to the big cities on the coast.

The major irrigation central city is Er Rachidia, a town built by the French in the early 20th century. Since then, it has been a prominent mining centre for gold, silver and copper and is now a military training hub. During former times, this roadway would have provided the path for the merchants from Algeria, Mali and Mauritania to bring their wares north to sell. Remnants of several caravanserai exist in the area around Er Rachidia.

Er Rachidia is also recognised as the northern starting point of the Ziz and Tafilalt valley oases. For the next hundred kilometres or more, date palms dominate the green oases adjacent to the road we were following south.

The vast, barren, rocky, sandy and undulating areas away from the green valley are reminiscent of a lunar landscape and were sometimes used as part of the former Dakar Rally before it moved to Saudi Arabia.

Our final stopping point for the day was at the Ziz Valley Hotel where we relaxed with a fantastic evening meal served by very friendly staff.

Ziz Valley Hotel (our room is on the right on the upper floor)

Tomorrow we head even further south and will end the day at Merzouga, practically on the border of Algeria.

DAY 8: Wednesday May 8th 2024 ZIZ VALLEY - MERZOUGA, MOROCCO

May 30, 2024

We had a leisurely start to the day with a sumptuous breakfast and no great need to rush as our travelling distance today will be comparatively small.

We continued south to Erfoud, a city populated principally by Berber, Amazigh and Saharan tribes. The Saharan women wear black clothing while the Berber women’s clothing is beautifully embellished with the most decorative and multi-coloured embroidery. Erfoud’s existence is assuredly linked to the adjacent fertile Ziz valley with its swathes of lush palm groves.

We then spent some time at a factory specialising in the cutting and polishing of fossils. We observed big blocks of limestone being sliced with a large diamond saw producing slabs of rock where fossils were now evident. The fossilised rock comes from a nearby region and provides a most impressive collection of fossilised plants and animals from two hundred or more million years ago. Some of the fossils we recognised were ammonites, trilobites, fern leaves, sea stars and crinoids.

Factory for cutting and polishing fossils

The display had an expansive collection of fossilised animal teeth, bones and skulls. The manager offered Corinne a small ammonite fossil as a gift.

Display in Factory for cutting and polishing fossils

The next three hours were spent in the town of Rissani, right on the edge of the Sahara. The town has an impressive entry gate with a brightly coloured mosaic archway.

We spent some time visiting the main Mosque and Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, the founder of the Alaouite Dynasty here in the 16th century. Being non-Muslim, we were not permitted to visit the burial chamber but were allowed to look across the neat garden to the entrance!

Our guide Abdelali telling Jak he is not allowed in to the Mosque and Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif

Entrance to main Mosque and Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif

For the rest of the time in Rissani we followed our guide Abdelali through the alleyways where homes, mosques, schools and souks were encountered. Children aged between three and six are encouraged to attend not only normal school but to spend extra time in the Koranic schools adjacent to each mosque.

We were saddened to see the amount of plastic waste that’s been thrown onto the ground and has collected and now fills the ditches along the pathways.

Within the souks there was comparatively little activity as today is not a ‘market’ day. However, the spice stalls were open and offered a colourful display of every imaginable spice type. Dates, as expected are a specialty, and we tried some that were offered to us by a local store owner. Verdict; the taste was delicious!

We had time to see the local sheep market and then observe a communal bread bakery inside a dilapidated tent in an open dusty area. The bread looked good despite the less than attractive location.

One alleyway was the centre for sewing clothes. The operators were all men and one of the sewing machines was a Jaki brand and the man sewing labels onto material was super friendly and happy to be photographed.

We cautiously entered a shop hidden behind an old and well worn curtain to find a second-hand dealer next to a carpet and rug shop. The collection of items for sale in the ‘junk’ shop was extraordinarily wide-ranged and involved lots of ancient bits and pieces covered in dust and stacked on multiple shelves in a completely random fashion. We found an old bronze pipe that may have been an opium pipe and we managed to purchase it for a good price although we suspect it was still too expensive despite getting it for one tenth of the original asking price!

We thanked and said farewell to our guide Abdelali but before leaving Rissani we had a long, cold, pure orange drink as the temperature was now 32°C and the air dusty.

As our day’s activities were drawing to a close, we drove across about thirty kilometres of the Sahara on a road that could have been on Mars! We visited Ganaoua village and listened to a group of five Saharan musicians who played rhythmic tunes on a three stringed guitar-like instrument called a ganbri. Percussion was provided by metallic castanets and traditional leather and wooden drums. The chanting from the musicians had a flavour of the Caribbean and one of the drummers had a definite Bob Marley appearance.

We ended the day at Merzouga famous for its location at the foot of the Erg Chebbi dunes. Camel rides into the Sahara were on offer but with the extreme heat we decided a cool shower was preferable to venturing out into the Sahara. We’ll probably do that tomorrow morning before the heat of the day becomes too oppressive.

We were interested to hear that this parched and dusty area usually relinquishes its arid reputation after winter rainfall and then the Dayet Srji lake forms attracting hundreds of pink flamingos, storks and other migratory birds.

We took photos of the sunset tonight with the sky striped with red flashes and the distant Sahara dunes dappled in pale pinks and creams.

Our accommodation tonight is at the Riad Madu slightly south of Merzouga near the village of Hassilbied. We had a spacious and well appointed hotel room to spend the night in after an interesting and enervating day’s introduction to the Sahara.

DAY 9: Thursday May 9th 2024 MERZOUGA – TODRA & DADES GORGES – SKOURA, MOROCCO

May 29, 2024

Our overnight hotel, Riad Madu was slightly south of Merzouga near the town of Hassilbied so after breakfast we retraced our path to Erfoud where we had a brief stop to photograph the sheep souk and then we turned left and proceeded westwards along highway P32.

The landscape was very flat, barren and quite dusty with the wind blowing Saharan sand onto the road and covering it in places, resulting in the need for very cautious driving.

These barren dunescapes with their parched and lunar appearance are interspersed with lush verdant valleys such as the Ziz we visited two days ago together with the Todra and Dades valleys we’ll visit later today. These havens where life thrives in abundance, only exist where there is a plentiful availability of water. The lifeblood of water results in pockets of civilisation with extensive lush date-palm oases occurring unexpectedly within this otherwise arid and uninviting terrain.

The ancient trade routes that linked the imperial cities of Fès and Marrakech to Timbuktu, Niger and beyond, followed this water reliant pathway and resulted in several caravanserais being established throughout this Southern Atlas region.

Apart from the water supplied from rivers flowing down from the mountains, it was also accessed from the underground/artesian water table. Water rises naturally at the foot of dunes or as was done in earlier times, pumped from artesian wells and then allowed to flow by gravity along underground channels known as khettaras or draining galleries.

Our first tourist stop for the day was at a vantage point in the desert where one of these khettaras was observable.

We clambered down rough hewn stone steps, through a narrow tunnel to a point about ten metres underground and saw the three metre diameter circular channel that was dug many centuries ago for the water to flow through. Every fifty or so metres along the water course was a small vertical shaft down to the water channel below, allowing buckets to be lowered to bring water up to irrigate the ground above.

Our delightful local guide inside Khettara

This ingenious and ancient network of channels covers large distances and it’s hard to reconcile the time and effort that was put into establishing this underground waterway, built only using primitive tools and human labour.

As might have been expected, this khettara network is no longer in use having been replaced by plastic pipes, electric pumps, aqueducts and concrete water storage towers.

After a lunchtime cold drink we drove to Tinehir and then turned right off the main road and took time to observe the incredibly productive oasis associated with the Todra River valley’s water availability. Apart from the vast number of date-palms there are large areas of walnut and almond groves together with extensive horticultural operations involving vegetable production.

We continued up this road for about fifteen kilometres to the Todra Gorge.

This spectacular and narrow gorge has been formed by the erosion of river flow over the millennia leaving an incredibly deep cutting through sandstone and limestone rock. The walls of the gorge would be about 200 m high and the river base probably less than 100 m wide. We were informed that this is a particularly popular rock climbing location but it looks to be certainly for experts only. Inevitably, the gorge area has become an accumulation point for numerous locals wishing to sell t-shirts, scarves, trinkets and the many other tourist items.

Restaurant damaged by rock fall, Todra Gorge

As we’d seen in other locations recently, there are a surprising number of ancient kasbahs (walled castles or fortresses) that have been vacated and have now partially collapsed. Some apparently were former Jewish establishments and were vacated when their occupants moved to Israel in 1948 or thereafter.

For the remainder of the afternoon we continued westwards and then stopped for ‘stretching the legs’ and some photo opportunities at Boumaine du Dades. The Dades River Valley is another classic example of a glorious green and healthy productive oasis surrounded by a dusty brown and incredibly arid desert plateau.

The juxtaposition of these two adjacent, utterly different environments is hard to reconcile.

At El Kelaa des Mgouna we passed through extensive rose plantations. The rose petals are harvested for extracting the essential oil and also for making jam.

There were lots of children standing by the side of the road waving at us and desperately keen to sell us heart shaped bouquets of rose petals.

We then encountered a major traffic jam. A huge army low-loader carrying an army tank had come to grief somehow and was blocking the road. Our van was sufficiently small to utilise a rocky two kilometre detour, whereas larger vehicles apparently were delayed for hours.

We ended our day’s travels at a small village called Skoura and went to our next two night’s accommodation at Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette. The proprietors are a French couple, Sophie and Erwin Ben Damiette and we were greeted warmly and have a very comfortable room at the top of ‘the stairway to heaven’. The final climb to our high bedroom involves steps more like a ladder than a staircase. Thankfully, Salah our waiter and porter took on the task of delivering our bags to our top-floor room.

View from our room, Ben Damiette Riad, Skoura

We had a most enjoyable meal next to the swimming pool and enjoyed a beer and a G&T; the first alcohol for quite some time.

Poolside dinner, Ben Damiette Riad, Skoura

Tomorrow morning we will have a guided walk in Skoura’s old kasbah section and then visit ‘The Atlas Movie’ site at Ouarzazate.

We’ll then spend a second night at Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette which is pleasing news!

DAY 10: Friday May 10th 2024 SKOURA - OUARZAZATE - SKOURA, MOROCCO

May 28, 2024

Overnight we were the only guests staying at Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette and consequently it seemed a little odd being on our own at breakfast time.

After a wholesome petit-déjeuner, we met up with our driver Chahine and he drove us to a meeting point in Skoura where we were introduced to Ayoub, our guide for the morning’s walking tour through the Skoura Oasis.

We commenced the walk by following along a disused khettara (underground water channel) where the open sections allowed us to look down and see the depth of the water course tunnel below.

Disused khettara (underground water channel), Skoura Oasis

This ancient irrigation system has been replaced by modern day artesian bores, pumps and concrete aqueducts. Some bores go down to a depth of 70 m.

Ayoub informed us that the major expenses for the drilling of the bores and instillation of the pumping infrastructure are covered by some local, wealthy kasbah owners who then charge a small fee for oasis people to access fresh water for their homes and farm plots.

The plots we observed were on average, about the size of a tennis court and were growing barley, wheat, alfalfa (lucerne), pomegranates and assorted vegetables. Surrounding the plots are many date palms, olive trees and tamarind trees.

Date palms have separate male and female trees and their reproductive flowering parts are quite distinct.

Tamarinds are medium sized leguminous trees that bear pods containing an edible fruit that is often blended with salt and chilli, resulting in a refreshing taste. Ayoub said the most valuable thing about tamarinds is their wood which is highly prized due to its density, durability and termite and fungal resistance. It is used extensively within this Skoura Oasis for making doors, furniture, carvings and kitchen utensils such as chopping blocks and mortars. The tamarind heartwood is reddish brown and sometimes with a purplish hue.

We meandered along dusty paths past many 17th century kasbahs (fortress homes/castles). Most were unoccupied and dilapidated due both to the passage of time and some as a consequence of the September 8th 2023 catastrophic earthquake.

The word kasbah (sometimes qasba) is a little confusing as it could have several meanings. It is normally understood to represent a fortress of any shape or size and this could be a whole town or possibly a single home occupied only by one family and relatives.

Typically, Moroccan villages have a kasbah where a person of prominence such as a sheik, king or family chief would reside. Kasbahs have high outer walls and towers at each corner providing vantage points for observation and maintaining security.

The most common construction material for the 17th century kasbahs we visited today was compacted mud, sometimes with straw blended in with the clay soil.

The outer walls are drab and have few windows although there are inspection holes for firing guns at unwanted visitors.

The kasbahs in the Skoura Oasis were either home to Jewish or Arab families where the Jewish building style is recognised by the corner towers having prominent crenellations and points along the upper tower edges.

Jewish kasbar with hole caused by earthquake on 8 Sep 2023, Skoura Oasis

An interesting interlude occurred when we were invited into a tiny stone enclosure next to a small family home to observe bread making. The baker was a local primary school teacher who was preparing and baking the daily bread in a wood burning, tandoor clay spherical oven. We chatted to her via our guide and when the bread was baked, we tried small pieces of this naan type local specialty; it was hot and delicious.

One of the few remaining kasbahs that is open to the general public is the four hundred year old and imposing Kasbah Amerhidil which was once owned by the Glaoui family and since its restoration now serves as a museum.

This kasbah dominates the wadi (presently dry river bed passing through the oasis) and is rated amongst the most beautiful kasbahs in southern Morocco.

We spent an hour or more inspecting the artefacts on display throughout the four levels and were interested to see where recent earthquake damage had been repaired leaving minimal trace of the cracks formed in September 2023.

Artefacts (structure for making walls), Kasbah Amerhidil, Skoura

Artefacts (olive press), Kasbah Amerhidil, Skoura

Jak and Corinne at location used in filmset for Game of Thrones

View from roof, Kasbah Amerhidil, Skoura

At this point our tour of the Skoura Oasis we said farewell to Ayoub and met up with Chahine again who drove us about 40 km southwest to the city of Ouarzazate, famous as a centre for film/movie making.

On the outskirts of the town, we visited Atlas Film Studios and had a most interesting couple of hours and were particularly impressed with our studio guide’s knowledge and enthusiastic presentation style.

Part of fIlmset for Gladiator I, Gladiator II and several other films, Atlas Studios, Ouarzazate

Part of filmset for Kundun, Atlas Studios, Ouarzazate

Our guide Abdelaziz showing us clip from Cleopatra filmed in this set at Atlas Studios, Ouarzazate

Back of film set, Atlas Studios, Ouarzazate

The Atlas Film Studio site has a large number major sized film sets used to represent scenes of ancient times in Egypt, Rome, Greece and elsewhere. As expected the main films (partly) produced here have been historical ones such as David Lean’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, Oliver Stone’s ‘Alexander’, Scorsese’s ‘Kundun’, Mankiewicz’s ‘Cleopatra’ and Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator’. The James Bond movie ‘The Living Daylights’ and numerous television series such as ‘Game of Thrones’ have had part of their production here.

The reason this location has become so popular for film making is the reliable dry weather, blue skies, the low cost of extras from the Ouarzazate town, few noise and visual problems due to planes, trains etc and the fact that the local town’s people have skin colours appropriate for Egyptian and Roman movies.

Our studio guide used iPhones to make several short videos using our group as extras. This was fun and most enlightening.

On our way back to Skoura we spent a brief period at an old building that was formally a caravanserai. In four large rooms it had a vast collection of silver, wooden and pottery items for sale, plus masses of old and interesting jewellery.

Inside Labyrinthe du Sud caravansarai, Ouarzazate

We were keen to return to our hotel for rest, so did not stay long despite the amazing collection of artefacts, apparently gathered mainly from North Africa.

We returned to Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette for showers, cold drinks, dinner, rest and time to label photos and record the day’s events in our diary.

DAY 11: Saturday May 11th 2024 SKOURA - OUARZAZATE - MARRAKECH, MOROCCO

May 27, 2024

Our two nights staying at Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette had been so enjoyable and the staff so friendly and obliging, it was with a touch of sadness that we had to say farewell and start our day’s travel towards Marrakech.

Saying farewell at Kasbah Ait Ben Damiette, Skoura

We drove westwards from Skoura on the P32 and headed to the town of Ouarzazate. On the eastern outskirts of Ouarzazate we could see to the south, a very large lake. This very substantial 30 km long water storage has been formed by building the Mansour Eddabhi Dam on the Dades River which brings water down from the High Atlas Mountains. The Dades and Todra Valleys now have a reliable water supply even during dry summer times like the present. The increased area of irrigated farming land in these valleys is a direct consequence of this new dam.

About 10 km north of Ouarzazate is an amazing ‘renewable energy’ project, the ‘Noor Solar Complex’ which is the world’s biggest concentrated solar power facility with a power output to exceed 580 MW when completed. The initial developmental phase of the system utilises an array of 184 000 parabolic mirrors that are mobile and keep directing the sun’s rays to a central 250 m high energy absorbing storage tower that looks like a giant Apollo rocket! The mirrors cover an area of about 450 hectares. The energy is stored in the form of molten salts at temperatures of over 1000°C. The hot liquid salt is then used to produce steam for electricity generation. The energy output is around 3 TJ (terrajoules) annually because this area has such a high percentage sunny days.

Noor Solar Complex in the distance, north of Ouarzazate

As part of this ongoing, massive energy project, a direct transmission line is being developed with 4 km of line under the Straits of Gibraltar, so that Morocco can sell energy to Europe. Great Britain is contracted to become one of the major potential customers for Noor Solar Complex.

Our first main stop for the day was at Aït Benhaddou where a fortified cluster of red clay kasbahs exists above the banks of the Wadi Mellah. This grouping of 11th century kasbahs is one of the most striking and best preserved in Morocco.

The village has been designated a UNESCO world Heritage Site.

Our guide, Aït Malik Ali led us across the Wadi Mellah’s stepping stones to the main entrance of Aït Benhaddou where we watched a farmer redirecting water from one irrigation channel to another section of his small plot.

Jak stepping across stones over brackish water to Aït Benhaddou

Farmer redirecting irrigation water, Aït Benhaddou on banks of Wadi Mellah

We followed Ali through the walkways and up the stone steps amongst the kasbahs and plain earth houses inhabited today by fewer than ten Berber families. Up the pathway to the peak, there are dozens of stalls selling tools, trinkets and artwork.

At the very top of Aït Benhaddou are the remains of a partially collapsed kasbah and from this high vantage point the panoramic view is glorious.

View through wall at the top, Ksar Aït Ben Haddou

It seems that movie directors the world over are drawn to the dramatic, thousand year old scenery of Aït Benhaddou, with the town featuring in numerous film and television productions. The ‘Game of Thrones’ was partly filmed here as were several scenes from ‘Gladiator I and II’. Ali our guide, reeled off at least twenty movies that had scenes filmed on this ancient site. These movie productions are linked to the sets we saw yesterday at the Atlas Film Studios in Ouarzazate.

Arena used for filming Gladiator I, Ksar Aït Ben Haddou

Poster showing movies filmed at Ksar Aït Ben Haddou

After some cold drinks, we began the drive up into the High Atlas Mountains on a minor and very twisty road, before pausing at the Kasbah of Telouet. This was one of the homes of Al-Thami el-Glaoui, pasha of Marrakech whose fiefdom covered a large part of the High Atlas. Although we didn’t enter, we were informed that the opulence of the kasbah is still apparent in some of its rooms despite neglect and the passage of time since the family were exiled in 1956.

Section of highway over High Atlas Mountains

Our driver & guide Chahine in our van on highway over High Atlas Mountains

Boulders fallen from bank on section of highway

Boulder damage to houses, High Atlas Mountains

The highest point on the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass over the High Atlas range occurs at 2260 m where we stopped to look way down into the valley below and observe the numerous ‘S’ bends in the road we’d just ascended.

Highest point on the highway over the High Atlas Mountains

This high area was a region that suffered dramatically from the September 8th 2023 earthquake. There was ample evidence of destruction and damage in the houses we could see along the roadway, especially those made from mud and clay bricks rather than concrete blocks. Landslides associated with the earthquake resulted in massive boulders rolling down the steep mountainsides and crushing homes and blocking roads.

Repairing landslide damage to the road on the High Atlas Mountains

We joined the main highway P31, near Col du-Tichka and began the descent into Marrakech which took us about another two hours.

The traffic on Saturday afternoon at 17:00 was horrific, especially with hundreds of motorcycles weaving dangerously at speed in amongst cars and people with little concern for anyone’s welfare.

The crowd and car density made it very difficult to find a place to park anywhere near our hotel, so Chahine phoned for a porter to come and collect our luggage in a hand trolley. He then led us through the crowded main square and along several alleyways where eventually we found our hotel; Riad Palais Des Princesses.

We have first floor room with narrow and steep stairs but the room is ideal and comfortable with excellent lighting. At the hotel we chatted with another guest from Austria whose daughter worked for four years as an ENT medical specialist at the Launceston LGH before returning to Austria. He had visited his daughter several times and commented on how much he enjoyed his times in Tasmania.

A meal in the hotel’s dining room entailed a superb Moroccan soup, tasty chicken kebabs and fairly forgettable lamb chops!

Tomorrow is a full day taking in some of the highlights of this extraordinary tourist Mecca of Marrakech, the ‘southern pearl’ of Morocco.

DAY 12: Sunday May 12th 2024 MARRAKECH, MOROCCO

May 26, 2024

Marrakech was founded in 1062 by an Amazigh Muslim dynasty of warrior monks from the Sahara but it was not until the 16th century that the city was reinvigorated by the arrival of Saadians, the first Arab dynasty to rule Morocco. Amongst these Arab arrivals was the exceedingly wealthy Ahmed el-Mansur who financed major building projects including the construction of mosques, palaces and Koranic schools, marking a golden age for Marrakech.

With a present-day population of just over one million, Marrakech is the country’s fourth largest city and is regarded as the southern capital of Morocco. It is the premier tourist destination in Morocco and the city is a tourist Mecca drawing countless visitors from across the world.

Hotels (riads) in Marrakech, having to provide for such an amazingly cosmopolitan visiting tourist group, means that breakfast and dinner menus have to cater for English, Continental, Asian and of course, North African dietary preferences. Our breakfast choices this morning were extensive.

At 09:30 we met up with our tourist guide for much of the day and unsurprisingly, his name was Mohammed.

He spoke excellent English and informed us that he had been working as a tourist guide in Marrakech for thirty-five years. We subsequently found that he knew the complex maze of Marrakech’s souks intimately and many of the shop owners too.

Our first tourist destination for the day was the Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance). The construction of this mid to late 19th century building was first begun in 1859 by Si Moussa, a grand vizier (high official or Muslim minister of state). The palace is famous for its decoration having four separate riads each with an open marble paved courtyard with fountain. The surrounding rooms have spectacular cedar timbered domes with ceilings featuring intricate patterned paintings and walls with stunning stucco-work friezes and beautifully coloured mosaic tiles.

Ceiling in riad, Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)

Fountain in riad, Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)

The fourth of the riads we visited within the palace complex was called ‘The Grand Riad’. It has a huge indoor garden featuring orange trees and palms surrounding three marble ablution basins. The Grand Riad includes a former mosque and Koranic school.

The crowd visiting this palace was huge and it was difficult to get photos without people in the foreground or someone pushing past at an inappropriate moment.

Queues at Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)

We then wandered through market alleyways and headed towards the Ben Youssef Mosque and Medersa (sometimes called a madrassa).

Traditional Berber woman with tattooed face

This 14th century Islamic school was for four centuries the focal point for Muslim worshipers within the Medina of Marrakech.

It is regarded as a masterpiece of Moorish design with its zellij tilework, stucco archways and intricately carved plaster work. There is an exquisitely decorated dome and the main entrance has a wide bronze door topped by a carved cedar lintel, with the door leading to a mosaic paved corridor. The opulent central courtyard features an attractive and long rectangular ablution pool decorated with checkered black and white tiles. The roof and minaret of the Medersa are attractively capped with semicircular shiny green tiles.

The Prayer Hall with Ablution Basin, Ben Youssef Medersa

Jak at door of student room, Ben Youssef Medersa (madrassa)

The sheer opulence of this school for training young imams is testament to its status as a ‘must see’ when visiting Marrakech. However, the grandeur of this Medersa does not extend to the students’ individual private rooms that are not only windowless, but tiny, dark and singularly uninviting, being hidden behind thick wooden doors.

For the next hours or so, we visited the souks of Marrakech in the northern half of the medina. These markets are located within a maze of narrow, winding and constantly branching alleyways. Apart from the crowd density, the main problem of movement was associated with a constant stream of high-speed motorbikes, bicycles and hand carts delivering people and goods to the shops.

Colourful spices and flower buds outside Souk

The range of goods on offer is extensive with leather goods being a most prominent item. As well, we encountered metalwork, ceramics, glass, clothing and wooden items for sale, together with all the types of fruits, vegetables, spices and meats for sale.

Mohammed then took us into the secluded, back room of a souk pharmacy specialising in herbal medicines. We were then given a most interesting and informative talk by the owner’s daughter who had an impressive knowledge of spices and essential oils. She gave us hot mint tea to drink while she informed us about their business. We were shown a range of familiar spices plus quite a few we knew nothing about.

Many of the blended plant oils and spices had interesting therapeutic values which included treatment for relief from pain, skin disorders, stomach complaints, tiredness, insomnia and several others. One of the blended essential oils mixtures guaranteed the alleviation of facial wrinkles, as our young pharmacist assured us. She was charming and keen to know about lavender farming and the oil extraction. There was no pressure on us to purchase any of the many goods on display.

We then traversed the Jemaa el-Fna, the main square in the Marrakech Medina. There were thousands of people and many more stalls in this open area selling typical touristy items like t-shirts, caps, toys and trinkets. Amongst the more unusual activities were men offering macaque monkeys to hold and snake charmers blowing noisy pipes to entice cobras to put on a display. One woman we saw, was holding a monkey when it suddenly bit her. We certainly hope she had had a preliminary rabies vaccination!

At the entrance to the main to the square is the Koutoubia Mosque built in 1147 with the intention of it being one of the largest mosques in the world. The dominant feature of Marrakech’s skyline is the mosque’s 70 m high minaret which is the tallest structure in the city and by decree, no new building can be higher than it!

Being non-Muslim, we were denied access to the Koutoubia Mosque and so instead, we caught up with Chahine who drove us to Majorelle Garden in the ‘new city’ part of Marrakech.

This small garden paradise is the legacy of expatriate French painter and garden enthusiast, Jacques Majorelle. In 1923 he created this beautiful botanical sanctuary to surround his art studio.

After his death, the gardens were neglected and fell into disrepair. Then in 1980, famous French couturier Yves Saint-Laurent bought the property and had it tastefully restored to its former glory.

We spent an hour wandering around the gardens that feature giant bamboo, laurel, geraniums, hibiscus, water lily, yucca, pomegranate, bougainvillea and cypress.

Most significantly, it is home to more than 400 varieties of palm tree and 1800 species of cactus. The art-deco home of Jacques Majorelle is aesthetically delightful as are the many ponds along the walkways.

To conclude our visit, we spent time in the museum which features six hundred or more items illustrating aspects of traditional Berber (Amazigh) culture.

We then returned to our Riad Palais Des Princesses to relax and recover from a high-density tourist day in Marrakech. We’ve had fun, learnt a lot and enjoyed meeting different people within this fascinating city.

Our room (extending the length of the courtyard) from the opposite side of courtyard, Palais des Princesses

Courtyard from top floor, Palais des Princesses

DAY 13: Monday May 13th 2024 MARRAKECH – ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO

May 25, 2024

After breakfast, Ibrahim the riad porter assisted us by transporting our luggage in his hand-trolley, out through the souk alleyways to where we found Chahine waiting with the van in Jemaa el-Fna, the main square which he was able to access this morning, whereas two nights ago it was restricted entry.

Our direction of travel today is westwards, heading towards the Atlantic Ocean at Essaouira.

Olive grove destined for development as apartments, Marrakech

The terrain we drove through for the first hour was flat, sandy and desiccated to the extent that many of the trees and scrubby bushes seemed to be dying from the obvious drought conditions.

Olive grove with stone fence, en route from Marrakech to Essaouira

After a hundred kilometres of driving westwards, having passed through Chichaoua we made a stop at the busy township of Tafetacht. It was market day and the streets and market square were full of activity with seemingly everyone having either something to sell or needing something to buy. The main vegetable market had an amazing range of produce for sale and the animal market had sheep, goats, chickens and pigeons on offer.

Truck transporting gas bottles, Tafetacht

Vegetables for sale at Market, Tafetacht

Pumpkins & zucchinis for sale at Market, Tafetacht

A friendly man selling oranges attracted our attention and insisted he demonstrate his craft and skills in squeezing oranges. The large drink he prepared for us from four oranges was excellent.

A little further on, the terrain became more undulating and the ground quite rocky. We then entered an area where, rather than there being a domination of olive trees, we now had argan trees.

The argan tree, Argania spinoza is a twisted, spherically shaped tree having dark green foliage and reaching a maximum height of about eight metres.

It occurs naturally, only in North Africa and is common, especially in the Souss Plain area and through to this region inland from Essaouira.

There are now estimated to be well over twenty-one million of these trees, whereas at one time in the past, it was regarded as an endangered species. The reason for its amazing propagation increase is the demand for argan oil and its derivatives.

We stopped and visited a specialist ‘argan tourist centre’ near Ounara and were given a guided tour by a friendly and very well informed young woman.

Ladies processing argan at tourist outlet

When the nuts on the argan tree change from green to yellow to brown they are ready for harvesting and drying. The nuts are crushed and the kernels then separated, roasted and ground before being kneaded into a paste form.

At this stage the argan oil can be extracted from the gooey black paste. It takes about 30 kg of argan nuts and half a day of work to produce just one litre of argan oil.

Argan oil is rich in vitamins and has about eighty percent unsaturated fatty acids with linoleic acid, of the Omega-6 series, having well documented, medically beneficial use in combatting arteriosclerosis, chicken pox, eczema, psoriasis and rheumatism. The oil is used extensively in cosmetic preparations, especially for its anti-ageing properties. When the oil is mixed with powdered almond and walnut, the taste is like “Nutella” and very popular with Moroccans.

Apart from their specialty of argan oil and various cosmetic and medicinal products based on argan, the shop had a range of spices and essential oils for sale. We tested the lavender oil on display and found it to be of high quality.

Next door to the argan shop was a tourist shop selling beautifully polished timber items all made from the roots and burls of rare thuya conifer trees. The wood is difficult to find and comes from dry mountainous areas which makes the wood very expensive. Jewellery boxes seemed a specialty although several of the items on sale had been turned on a wood-lathe. The inlaying of different coloured timbers as well as mother of pearl was amazingly intricate and the overall quality of the marquetry products was exquisite.

We finally arrived in Essaouira at around 14:00 and after finding a parking spot we spent the next two hours sight seeing around the old city and harbour areas.

Essaouira, formerly Mogador, is a quintessentially Moroccan town and one of the most popular coastal cities in the country. It enjoys a pleasant, mild climate and although it’s a mecca for artists and surfers, it doesn’t suffer the overspill of tourism from Marrakech.

Essaouira was established on a site first occupied by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC. It then became a Roman city in the 1st century BC when it was the centre for manufacturing purple dye. Tyrion purple, known as ‘royal purple’, is the most expensive and precious dye that has ever existed. It was used by members of the royal family and court in classical Rome and the Byzantine. The Tyrion purple was extracted from several types of murex gastropods (shells) including Stramonita haemastoma and Bolinus brandaris both found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This rare and extraordinary dye is produced in the hypobranchial gland of these murex shells.

The Portuguese established a trading and military post here before eventually, sultan Mohammed III in around 1760 set up a naval base and developed the harbour and its fortification.

We strolled through Essaouira’s Medina, wandering along peaceful shopping alleyways where the pace of life was utterly different from our hustle and bustle experiences in Marrakech. We then ventured into the fish market and found not only lots of different types of fish for sale, but dozens of large gulls hopping and squawking above and around the trade benches, hoping for scraps from the fish being gutted and filleted.

A visit to the Maalem Ali, 1908 jewellery centre followed next. Corinne found an attractive triple stoned, onyx and silver pendant that she particularly liked and made her purchase without haggling as this would have been inappropriate in such a refined jewellery centre which was established to support disadvantaged local women!

Our meanderings then took us down to the Atlantic Ocean’s edge, where to the south of the harbour, gauging from the density of people, was a large and obviously popular surf beach despite it being so windy.

Within the protected confines of the harbour dock were hundreds and hundreds of about five metre long, blue, open wooden fishing boats. They were densely packed in to the dock and not at sea today as, apparently it was much too windy.

Fisherman resting near fishing boats, Essaouira

The old high stone walls around the harbour and their majestic archways are picture perfect and to add to the visual splendour of an ancient maritime port, we encountered a battery of twenty, equally spaced bronze cannon pointing out to sea as former protectors of this splendid harbour.

We’ve been delighted with our visit to this beautiful beachside city, albeit a short one. It has so much to offer and not only is it visually a gem, but the friendly locals seem to be less frenetic and more relaxed than many we’ve encountered in the big cities.

In the late afternoon we finally arrived at our Riad Mimouna, where we have a first-floor bedroom right on the water’s edge, with the stormy Atlantic Ocean waves bashing against the hotel’s sea wall and responsible for making our windows salty.

View from our room at Riad Mimouna overlooking Atlantic Ocean, Essaouira

We had our evening meal in the riad and were entertained by local musicians throughout our most enjoyable evening meal.

Corinne & Jak at dinner, Riad Mimouna overlooking Atlantic Ocean, Essaouira

Tomorrow, we head north and return to Casablanca for our final night in Morocco, before flying on to Tunisia.

DAY 14: Tuesday May 14th 2024 ESSAOUIRA - CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

May 24, 2024

We awoke to an amazing sunrise.

Sunrise from our bedroom window, Riad Mimouna overlooking Atlantic Ocean

Breakfast at Riad Mimouna overlooking Atlantic Ocean, Essaouira

Having checked out of the Riad Mimouna, it was very fortunate that the hotel porter had already communicated with Chahine and knew where to meet him with our luggage. The pathway we took to the van, involved a number of left, right and left again, type turns along the alleyways covering a distance of half a kilometre or more. At this time of the morning, 09:30 businesses were setting up goods for display and locals were breakfasting and discussing business plans for the day ahead.

Our travel for the day involved driving north along the coast road to Casablanca, a total distance of 378 km with plans to stop about halfway for a rest break and drinks.

The first part of the drive on R301, followed the coastline closely but from an elevated position which gave us an expansive view across the hinterland and the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

For many kilometres the road alternated between barren and rocky hillsides with no possibility of farming, to low lying, lush green areas where agriculture was thriving, no doubt due to the availability of artesian water. The crops in these oases were principally corn, alfalfa (lucerne) and wheat.

Thermal power station on road south of Safi

The first major population area we encountered was the city of Safi which has been an important Moroccan port since the 16th century.

The city is now a major phosphate processing and exporting centre producing ‘superphosphate’ from the phosphate rock brought in by rail in from eastern Morocco. In close proximity to this phosphate industrial plant is a relatively new but super large, thermal coal powered electricity station.

Safi was once famous as a fishing centre, specialising in the processing of sardines caught in the ocean adjacent to the port. Morocco used to produce half of all the sardines sold worldwide, but with changing climate conditions, favourable fishing areas are now located further south. Sardines thrive in warmer waters and in recent years the cold waters of the North Atlantic have pushed further southwards, causing the major shoals of sardines to be now found off the coast of Western Sahara.

Safi is also known as the centre for producing the best pottery items for sale in Morocco. The highly regarded quality of the pottery products from Safi is not only due to the exceptional workmanship but also because the clay used contains no measurable level of lead compounds. This makes the ceramic wares such as crockery and drinking vessels, safe for food handling.

A little further north we passed through the town of Oualidia, which takes its name from sultan El-Oualid who built an impressive kasbah here in 1634. The rather unattractive town centre leads through to a safe swimming and surfing beach on the edge of semi-protected lagoon attached to the Atlantic. The town also is an important centre for oyster farming although we did not stop to sample any of these aquatic local treats.

Further up the coast road we had a ‘pit-stop’ at the industrial city of El-Jadida which has a population of just under a quarter of a million. It, like Safi has a major phosphate processing plant and a coal fired thermal power station. Despite the hazy and smoky atmosphere, the harbour is impressive with its historic sea walls and the long groyne. This massive rock structured barrier extends northwards, parallel to the coast and, for the shipping and fishing fleets in the harbour, it offers protection from the prevalent and persistent swells delivered by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

We enjoyed a refreshing drink at a high observation point overlooking the Safi harbour and were able to count about ten large container ships waiting out to sea before loading with the processed superphosphate.

In the remaining 75 km to Casablanca there was a significant change in coastal scenery with the soil becoming more fertile and water availability improved.

Seaside resorts & crops north of El Jadida

Seaside resorts & lagoon north of El Jadida

The horticultural emphasis was now on the growing of tomatoes, melons, cabbages and cauliflowers and we passed these small but highly productive farms for many kilometres. We then come upon a number of sea-water filled rectangular ponds that turned out to be evaporation areas for salt production.

Evaporation areas for salt production, south of Casablanca

Sand dunes, crops and salt ponds south of Casablanca

For the final hour of what was to be the completion of our fourteen-day circuit of Morocco, we drove in through the outskirts of Casablanca and eventually reached our hotel, the Val D’Anfa, which we’d stayed in two weeks ago.

An evening meal of seafood paella was absolutely superb as was the opportunity for a beer and a glass of wine after nearly two weeks of abstinence from alcohol.

Tomorrow, we say farewell to this amazingly interesting country and fly to Tunisia where we’ll meet up with our very good friends, Diana and Chris Penhall and continue this extraordinary North African adventure with them.

DAY 15: Wednesday May 15th 2024 CASABLANCA, MOROCCO - TUNIS, TUNISIA

May 23, 2024

We departed our hotel Val D’Anfa at 10:00 and Chahine drove us to the Casablanca airport which took significantly less than the hour we’d been told to expect.

At the Mohammed V airport we said our farewells to Chahine and thanked him profusely for his wonderful efforts over these last two weeks, making our holiday in Morocco incredibly interesting by introducing us to a diversity of locations. The result was an amazingly enjoyable fortnight.

Checking in for our flight to Tunis all went according to plan except that we missed currency exchange office, which unbeknown to us was located in an area outside the main terminal. We had an hour and a half before boarding our flight which gave us an opportunity to wander around the duty-free area, and yet the only purchase we made was a one litre bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin.

The flight to Tunis took just on three hours and had to follow a track that didn’t venture into Algerian air-space.

Our course took us up across the Mediterranean to the coast of Spain and then we flew eastwards towards the Balearic Islands, passing over Minorca. After having flown over the city of Cuglieri in Sardinia, we headed down to Tunisia and landed at close to 16:00 Tunis time.

Our flight path from Casablanca to Tunis

There was a very long wait to get through customs but after forty minutes of slow progress, we were through and to our delight, we realised in the queue, just across from us were Chris and Diana, our travelling companions who had just arrived from Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Corinne, Jak, Chris and Diana, meeting up at Tunis airport

The four of us made contact with our Native Eye representative Ali, and then were driven in taxis to our hotel Palais Bayram, where we’ll stay for the next three nights.

The hotel was originally a palace and our room is more like a one bedroom, five star palatial suite from the mid to late 19th century. The furnishings are mostly antique and the six metre high ceiling is decorated with the most elaborate painting and reliefs.

We had dinner in the hotel dining room and ended up being overloaded with delectable food, it being far more than we could possibly eat.

Tomorrow, we have most of the day in Tunis and are likely to visit ancient Carthage in the afternoon. How exciting!

DAY 16: Thursday May 16th 2024 TUNIS, TUNISIA

May 22, 2024

On our way to breakfast, we were informed by one of the Palais Bayram staff members, that our hotel had in fact been the official residence of a senior Islamic imam in centuries past. The breakfast dining area was hidden in an upper-level part of the ‘palace’ where we had a pleasant repast and then prepared for the day ahead.

Tunis is the capital and the largest city in Tunisia and was built on a gulf at the shallow end of Lake Tunis.

Tunis was founded by the Libyans, who in the 9th century BCE surrendered the site of Carthage to the Phoenicians from Tyre which is part of Lebanon today. During the third Punic War between Carthage and Rome in 146 BCE, both Tunis and Carthage were largely destroyed.

The city was then re-established and thrived under the Roman rule but its significance as a major focal point in the Mediterranean dates really only from the 7th century AD onwards, when under the Muslim rule of the Aghlabids it became the capital.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V took possession of Tunis in 1535 and in 1539 the city passed into the hands of the Turks.

It was then retaken by the Spaniards who were then forced in 1574 to yield it to the Ottoman Empire. It remained under Turkish control until the French took occupation in 1881 and this French Protectorate status remained until independence in 1956.

Our guide, Samir met us at the hotel and told us of the plan to spend most of the day wandering through the old city (Medina) of Tunis.

Alleyway outside Palais Bayram (yellow door is entrance to our hotel)

Our first point of interest was a visit to the royal mausoleum of Tourbet el-Bey. This mausoleum of the Husaynids was built by Ali Pasha II in the late 18th century. Although Islam normally calls for relatively simple burials, the Turkish Ottomans of the Hanefite school gained influence and introduced fanciful, opulent and richly ornamented mausoleums. Tourbet el-Bey is an entire architectural complex with different sized domes over several rooms containing the tombs of numerous princes, princesses and other members of the Husaynids’ royal family. Each burial place is surmounted by a white marble sarcophagus with inscriptions in Arabic giving details of the life of tomb’s occupant.

Hall of Princess Zulaykha, Royal Mausoleum of Tourbet el-Bey

Hall of Husainid Princes and the Prime Ministers, Royal Mausoleum of Tourbet el-Bey

The mausoleum has beautifully decorated walls and ceilings and some sarcophagi belonging to the highest royalty, have marble columns on the top with capitals designating turbans or fezs.

We then wandered through the complex array of alleyways in the old city, observing the architecture and of particular interest were the ancient doors, tile work and window boxes.

One doorway we passed caused us to stop because we could hear the bleating of sheep. We entered the small dark room to find three separate, concrete walled pens each containing a big ram. The rams had white bodies and black heads with large curved horns. Each ram was restrained by a short chain attached to the floor. The attendant informed us that they were Tunisian ‘fighting rams’ and that they participate in competitions where one of the rams has won a gold medal! Apparently ram fighting as a blood sport is permitted in many African countries and although it certainly involves animal cruelty, ram fights seldom result in the death of the defeated ram, as the loser is often allowed to flee the competition arena. The three rams we observed were keen to charge at us but fortunately the chains around their necks kept then at bay.

We meandered through the souks and watched woodworkers, tailors, brass-workers and other artisans at their trades. Spice, perfumery and leather goods trading appear to be common occupations. Most merchants were happy to demonstrate their crafts and to have photos taken.

There are numerous mosques in Tunis but certainly the Great Mosque, at the heart of the Medina is a specialty. Its 8th century structure towers over the neighbouring souks that crowd around it. The 44 m high minaret is a landmark that we used to help gain a sense of direction in the maze of winding alleyways. Just along the Rue Sidi Ben Arous from the Great Mosque, is the Sidi Youssef Mosque. This mosque has the oldest Ottoman-style minaret in the Medina and is dated at 1616. The octagonal minaret is crowned with a blue topped balustrade and a pyramidal roof of green tiles. It looked glorious in the mid-afternoon sun.

After more wandering with the old city’s Medina we then headed to the Dar Othman; one of the oldest and most stately palaces within the medina.

The façade is fashioned from black and white marble and the interior has a rich array of mosaics, wooden ceiling decorations, magnificent paintings and an attractive central courtyard and garden.

After further time in the souks we headed down to the Place de l’Independence and walked along the avenue towards the Cathedral of Saint Vincent de Paul built in the 1890s. The cathedral with its twin towers and its mix of Byzantine and Gothic architecture makes an impressive landmark in this section of the Ville Nouvelle.

After six hours of wandering around this fascinating city, we decided that it was time to rest so we headed back to our hotel for showers, cold drinks and a pleasant evening meal.

Tomorrow, the plan is to see a little more of this extraordinarily exciting and ancient city and to venture a little north and see some of the treasures of Carthage.

DAY 17: Friday May 17th 2024 TUNIS - CARTHAGE, TUNISIA

May 21, 2024

This was to be a very busy day with our first tourist location being the Bardo Museum located on the outskirts of Tunis.

This museum occupies a former palace belonging to the Hussenite beys (provincial governors). The museum has an unrivalled collection of Roman mosaics dating from the 2nd to the 4th centuries AD. These mosaics once adorned the homes of some of Roman Africa’s wealthiest citizens.

Mosaic in entrance foyer, National Museum of Bardo

As well as priceless mosaics, the Bardo contains a large number of items from other historical times. The collection includes Punic funeral masks, Punic pottery, Greek bronze statuary, Islamic tiles, ancient gold coins and a vast number of other treasures we found to be incredibly beautiful and overawing in their intricacy and style. Within the three floors of the Bardo we visited rooms with glorious mosaics depicting scenes involving farming, fishing, military and naval conquests and most interestingly, Greek and Roman mythology. The Dougga room has an intricately decorated ceiling with floral and arabesque motifs. In the nearby Sousse room is a spectacular floor mosaic depicting the Triumph of Neptune.

Our guide Samir pointing out a mirror with reflections on a mosaic from 5th Century AD, National Museum of Bardo

Ceiling decoration, National Museum of Bardo

Mosaic depicting finish of a race, National Museum of Bardo

Small mosaic tiles of ducks, National Museum of Bardo

Mosaic of referee between rich and poor gamblers, National Museum of Bardo

Mosaic of fish, National Museum of Bardo

Amongst the many hundreds of impressive visual images from the day’s visit was one that stands out as being special is the marble statue of Apollo, the god of music, song and male beauty.

Calendar with zodiac signs and days of the week from 3rd Century, National Museum of Bardo

Statue of Apollo, National Museum of Bardo

In 1907, sponge divers came across the wreck of a ship near Mahdia that sank during the 1st century BC. It contained an incredible collection of treasures including marble columns, reliefs, statues, sculptures, bronze vases and very large pottery jars.

Artefacts from shipwreck discovered by sponge divers off the coast of Mahdia in 1907, National Museum of Bardo

When we finally left the Bardo Museum after three hours, having been exposed to so much splendour, beauty and ancient history, we felt mentally exhausted with the capacity to absorb so much marvellous history and visual delights was beyond normality.

We then drove to Carthage, about half an hour’s travel north of Tunis and expectations of seeing a Carthogenian archaeological site were quickly put aside. The scattered ruins of Carthage are now to be found in most instances, with Roman structures and ruins above them.

Carthage was founded in 814 BC by the Phoenician colonisers and by the 4th century BC it had become one of the most powerful cities in the ancient world and a major force in the Mediterranean.

The Punic wars against Rome led to its destruction and then the site rose again and became a significant Roman city. It was subsequently conquered by the Vandals, who were replaced by the Byzantines in the 6th century. Following its capture by the Arabs in 695 AD Carthage gradually fell into ruins.

Roman ruins on top of the Punic structure of Carthage

We spent most of the afternoon visiting two of the most significant sites where Carthaginian structures could still be seen. However, for most of our visit we were observing the remnants of the Roman buildings erected over the top of the vanquished Carthaginians.

There was so much to take in it was hard to reconcile the complexity of the period from the time of the Phoenicians to the Romans.

We spent time at Byrsa Hill where the original Carthaginian city existed and was regarded as the heart of the city with a temple dedicated to the Carthaginian god Eschmoun. Nearby is the relatively recent St. Lois Cathedral dedicated in 1890 to the French King Louis IX who died of the plague while laying siege to Carthage in 1270.

Amongst the many sites of interest we visited was the Antonine Baths. These 2nd century Roman baths were once the largest in Africa. Much is now destroyed and yet we could see from the soaring vaults and the few remaining lofty columns that it was a place of immense beauty and was of great public significance as a bathing location. The cleansing area called the ‘frigidarium’ was enormous and could accommodate thousands of bathers. The site was effectively destroyed by the Vandals in 439 AD.

At one point while wandering through the Antonine Baths we came upon a collection of thirty or so marble spheres about the size of a soccer ball. We were informed that they had a duel usage, either as objects to be catapulted against an enemy or for weight lifting and strength training.

Marble spheres near Antonine Baths, Carthage

On our way home we visited the Punic Ports which were once the powerhouse of Carthage’s prosperity and the envy of Rome. In its heyday, there were two ports that could accommodate 220 vessels and the Carthaginian ships were amongst the best equipped and strongest fighting vessels whenever conflict occurred.

The Punic Port incorporated a southern square shaped basin for commercial shipping and a circular northern naval harbour. The complexity of this marine region is now difficult to envisage as changes have occurred in recent times and the area is no longer used as a maritime harbour.

We then spent time in the hillside town of Sidi Bou Said which has a commanding view over the Gulf of Tunis. It is named after the Sufi holy man who in the early 13th century settled here after returning from Mecca. He established the religious practice of Sufism which is a mystic religious sect characterised by its focus on Islamic purification and asceticism.

The township today is a tourist mecca famous for its blue doors and white houses. Many of the blue doors have black nailed studded ornamentation surmounted by archways involving alternately black and white stones.

Blue door and window boxes, Sidi Bou Said

Our final tourist stopping point for the day was at the Roman aqueduct and cisterns. This aqueduct is the longest known aqueduct in the world being 132 km long. It used to bring water down from the mountain at a gentle gradient of less than half a degree from horizontal. On reaching Carthage, the aqueduct spills water into a vast collection of storage cisterns hidden under numerous rows of semicircular tunnels. This incredible engineering feat from two millennia ago defies comprehension in terms of the extent and complexity of its construction.

We headed back into Tunis and entered the city centre via the so-called ‘Champs Élysées’ and once again passed the impressive Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul before winding our way through narrow streets to our hotel Palais Bayram.

It was now well after 18:00 and we were ready for rest, dinner and relaxation after nine hours of pretty much non-stop activity.

Tomorrow we move on to visit the hillside town of Dougga and spend the evening at Kairouan.

DAY 18: Saturday May 18th 2024 TUNIS - KAIROUAN, TUNISIA

May 20, 2024

We made an earlier start this morning and were on the road out of Tunis at 08:30, and to our surprise, it was raining and this was the first rain we’d experienced during our nearly three weeks in North Africa.

Out westward travel for the first hour had us passing through extensive grain growing areas, with barley and wheat crops either ready for harvesting or already harvested. This expansive grain area would have covered many thousands of hectares and looked well managed. The annual rainfall here is adequate, such that additional irrigation is not necessary in most areas.

As we approached the town of Testour, the emphasis changed from grain production to predominantly fruit growing, with pomegranates, apricots, almonds and grapes being the main crops we observed.

By the time we’d reached Testour the rain had ceased, the sun was shining and the temperature was approaching a steamy 30°C.

Testour is one of Tunisia’s Andalusian Muslim towns that had its origin in the 17th century after the Christian conquest of Andalusia in Spain. This resulted in 80,000 Arabs being expelled and coming to Tunisia. The poorer Muslim refugees settled in the barren interior regions like Testour and used their farming knowledge to turn the area into a thriving and fertile oasis.

Testour used to have fourteen mosques and five are still functioning today. The 17th century Great Mosque is a good example of Tunisian Moorish architecture.

The square base of the tiled minaret is crowned with an octagonal tower with green vitreous tiles featuring prominently. Unexpectedly, the Jewish ‘Star of David’ is prominent on the minaret’s upper level. This supposedly suggests that a cooperative working relationship existed between Jews and Muslims in those earlier times. One further very special feature of the minaret is the clock near the top of the tower.

This is thought to be the only minaret in the world which has a clock and what’s even more surprising is that the clock functions in an anti-clockwise direction with the hours around the dial going backwards! One could only surmise that this peculiarity was revealing the refugees desire to turn back time and return to their homeland!

9:48 am on clock on Great Mosque, Testour

In an alleyway nearby, we met a charming woman cooking crepes on a gas heated hot-plate. The woman sold a number of durum wheat based products such as semolina, bran, wheat germ, macaroni, burghul (cracked wheat), noodles, couscous, etc and she invited us to try the crepes with a dipping of olive oil. The crepes were delicious and the lady gave the most glorious smile when she saw our appreciation of her cooking.

A famous Tunisian singer, dancer and actor, Habbiba Messika also lived for some time in Testour until at the age of 27 she was murdered by her estranged lover. She was born in 1903 and her fame reached the point where she was often referred to as the ‘first star of Tunis’; a desperately sad story.

House where famous Tunisian singer, dancer and actor Habbiba Messika lived, Testour

We wandered along the main street of Testour observing the busy Saturday morning trading. We then stopped at a shop selling pomegranate juice and had most enjoyable, cool, refreshing drinks of freshly squeezed pomegranates.

Man making pomegranate juice for us, Testour

We then drove on to the town of Dougga, regarded as the best preserved Roman city in North Africa.

The city was originally a Berber settlement and then was Punic under the control of the Phoenicians. Post the Third Punic War, it then came under the order of Roman administration from the 1st and 2nd century AD.

Dougga was accorded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1997.

The site has so much to see, one could easily spend a day or two here; but unfortunately we only had about three hours.

The first site we visited was the amphitheatre and it is regarded as one of the best preserved examples of theatres in Roman Africa. It could host 3500 spectators and has extraordinarily fine acoustic qualities as we tested from the stage to the upper level.

Probably the finest and most impressive monument at Dougga is the Capitol which was built in 166 AD. The four front columns support the remaining fragments of the temple pediment, which features a statue of Antonio’s Pius. The Capitol’s tympanum features a flying eagle.

We visited the Lycinian baths, a complex with cold and hot water rooms, plus a gymnasium with mosaic tiled floors.

Then we came to the Forum with its red marble columns and then the nearby Square of The Wind in which the 3rd century engravings in the paving represent the directions of the twelve Roman winds.

The water storage cisterns of Ain Doura were amazing and surrounded by incredibly old olive trees some, reputedly as much as 2000 years old!

Water storage cisterns of Ain Doura and olive trees, Dougga

Next we came upon the Dar el-Achab which is located near the forum and has a high, rectangular doorway leading to the Temple of Tellus which dates from 164 AD. One particular, although nondescript sculpture that intrigued us was the dual carving in marble of statues of Venus and Neptune.

After two hours of visual overload, it was becoming increasingly difficult to absorb further information but fortunately, more mundane sites like family villas, brothels, town streets and even public latrines made for a less demanding, visual mental break.

Chris, Diana, Jak and Corinne, Lycinian Baths, Dougga

We left the fascinating site of Dougga and then had lunch at the Dougga Hotel which specialises in serving game caught by local hunters. We had a superb meal of wild boar meat (plus vegetables and rice) which was cooked very slowly with local spices. It was tender and delectable. We were intrigued to imagine Muslims eating wild boar and yet they uncategorically declare that it’s not pork!

Wild boar meat specialty for lunch at Dougga

Stuffed wild boar head in restaurant, Dougga

Our final two hours of driving was south-eastward towards our destination of Kairouan. A point of interest along the way was the old Roman Bridge of Athamnia off to the side of the road ‘highway’ 73. We could find no information about its age or construction details but assuming its about 2000 year’s old it is in remarkably superb condition.

We arrived in Kairouan and about 18:00 and settled into our comfortable and well appointed hotel room. We had evening drinks with Chris and Diana and then downloaded photos and wrote diary notes covering this amazingly splendid day.

Tomorrow we’ll spend time in this old Arab city of Kairouan and drive on to Tozeur for tomorrow night.

DAY 19: Sunday May 19th 2024 KAIROUAN - TOZEUR, TUNISIA

May 19, 2024

After an excellent breakfast at our hotel ‘La Kasbah’, we drove about a kilometre to the Aghlabid Basins. These reservoirs, or more correctly cisterns were built in 860 AD under the supervision of a freed slave named Chalaf and their purpose was to ensure a reliable water supply for the town of Kairouan all year round.

The three cisterns we could see (there is actually a total of 15) formed part of a hydro-technical system, considered at the time to be one of the masterpieces of hydraulic engineering in the Arab world.

The largest cistern in the Aghlabid Basins is circular with a diameter of 128 m, a depth of 4.5 m, with a holding capacity of 57 mega litres of water.

Largest cistern in the Aghlabid Basins Kairouan

The water was collected partly during the winter rains but was also fed along a 35 km aqueduct from Jebel Cherichera.

While we were observing this remarkable engineering feat, by sheer luck we crossed paths with Geoff Batten and his tour group who were also at the Aghlabid Basins. Much merriment and chatting ensued.

Geoff Batten, Jak, Janice Johnston, Corinne and Mick Hawkins, Kairouan

We then visited the Madrassa of Husayn which has now been transformed into a mosque. For the male students of the Koran there were eleven study rooms around the now covered courtyard.

Mosque of Husayn (formerly a madrassa), Kairouan

Our next Islamic treat was to visit the Mausoleum of Sidi Sahab who was a companion and barber of the Prophet Mohammed. The mausoleum resulted from the restoration and extensions of the original 15th century mosque, built honouring Abou Zommaa el-Balaoui.

According to legend, Sidi Sahab always carried with him three hairs from Mohamed’s beard and these are now supposedly within Sidi Sahab’s tomb.

The mausoleum has a vast courtyard dominated by a minaret which dates from 1690. Although we were not permitted to enter the mausoleum, we could see the tomb of Sidi Sahab through the open doorway.

We then moved on to Kairouan’s Great Mosque (also known as the Mosque of Sidi Oqba) which is right in the centre of the Medina.

The original mosque was built in 670 AD and then completely destroyed. What we visited today dates largely from the 9th century AD. It is not only one of the oldest and largest mosques in the Islamic world, it is also the fourth most important pilgrimage destination after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. The minaret is regarded as the oldest known structure of its kind being built between 724 and 728 AD.

The Mosque decorations are mostly ancient Hellenistic floral motifs and the geometric patterns come from Christian and Berber designs. The Mihrab Dome overlooking the far end of the Prayer Hall is richly decorated and marks the position of the mihrab which points to Mecca. The courtyard is surrounded by a colonnade with the galleries supported by numerous marble columns, some of which have capitals taken from other buildings. Surprisingly for a mosque, one of the capitals clearly shows a carved Christian cross. In the middle of the courtyard is a sundial which doesn’t tell the time so much but indicates the times from prayer.

We were then invited to enter a carpet shop. There was great pressure on us to consider purchasing one of the many different styles on display, most of which looked very attractive. The carpets are mostly made from wool and many had interesting themes involving geometric pattens with strong Turkish and Andalusian influences with reds and blues the dominant colours. No carpets were purchased by our group but the visual experience and information given made the visit well worthwhile.

After wandering for quite a distance within the medina’s alleyways we came to a most intriguing location called the Bir Barouta water well.

The well was thought to be dug in the 8th century and is now surrounded by a 17th century building. The water is drawn from the 12 m deep well by a camel that circulates the well about every twenty seconds and thus turns the mechanism that brings the water up in stone jugs attached to an endless loop of rope. Some Kairouan locals believe that the water drawn from this well comes from an artesian basin so vast that it connects to Mecca’s underground water and that the water has mysterious and very special properties.

After a rehydration and crepe stop at the Oasis Park Café we drove onto the township of Sbeïtla which is a modern town 30 km east of Kasserine, fringed by olive groves and arable fields.

Close by is the 1st century Roman town of Sufetula which was an independent city and later became a Roman colony. It was settled in the 3rd century by Christians and there are the remains of numerous churches within the site we visited.

Our first encounter with the Roman architecture was the impressive Arch of Diocletian near the south entry to Sufetula.

The ruins are particularly well preserved with remnants of temples, a stunning forum, baths, cisterns, houses, baptisteries, vendors’ stalls and large areas of beautiful mosaic tiles.

The large olive presses and the stone work associated with their functioning certainly captured our imagination. The engineering of the olive press levers, the ingenuity of the oil extraction and storage methods were so interesting.

Amongst the most impressive structures we encountered was the Capitol at the northwest corner of the forum. The capitol consists of three temples, side by side, dedicated to Juno, Jupiter and Minerva. The visual grandeur of this trio defies adequate description and we spent a good deal of time just trying to take it all in.

Capitol viewed through Arch of Antoninus Pius, Sufetula

Across the magnificently preserved forum is the beautiful arched entrance of Antoninus Pius (AD 139) and beyond this arch is the Church of St. Servus. The remains of this church are four surviving pillars and it was erected on the site of a pagan temple.

Although the Theatre has been largely rebuilt in recent times, there are still some features that convey the former structure.

One unexpected feature of the original theatre and bathing areas was that they had provisions for being heated to overcome the cold wintery weather. Fires were used to heat air and water which circulated through the pool water and under the seats of the theatre; an amazing proposition considering it was 2000 years ago!

Baths with area for heating water, Sufetula

Channel for directing hot water to heat seats in the Theatre, Sufetula

Overawed by our time at this stunning site, we departed Sufetula and then drove for nearly three hours, via Gafsa to Tozeur. On the way southwest we could see the Kasserine Mountains where my father led a US squadron through to bomb the railhead that was supporting Rommel’s Panzer divisions.

Eventually, after a ten hour day on the go, we arrived at the Ras Ain Hotel in Tozeur ready for a cold beer and an evening meal.

Tomorrow, we explore the Sahara region around Tozeur.