From Gourrama to Boudnib to Meski: After the dogs and the beetles kept us awake all night, we continued east to the little dusty town of Gourrama. We followed a nearly dry, gravel-filled river bed for the most part. All along the banks, a ribbon a green followed the water course. Date palms rose above the smaller crops of wheat and peas, and oleander bushes in pink flower broke the monotone green and even spread themselves out beyond the watered areas and ...

The High Atlas: The way south from Fatima's farm took us through some of the most spectacular mountain landscape ever. We climbed narrow roads only just clinging to the mountainsides with high sheer walls on one side and cavernous drops on the other, 1000 metres to the valley floor. In every direction hardly a sign of life save for the occasional stone-built cube of mountain hut. The geology of the region is written large upon the landscape here with sedim...