Before we launched into the most exciting part of our Moroccan adventure, camping in the Sahara, we journeyed to a town called Midelt and spent a night at a hotel built to resemble a Kasbah or Moroccan fort. En route to Midelt we stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest stop surprisingly similar to what you might find in New Zealand - trees, a stream, and grass complete with grazing dairy cows! As two of the last members of the tour group not to have succumbed to th...

In Fes we stepped back in time. The medieval medina still operates much as it would have hundreds of years ago. We had a local guide who took us around the crowded narrow streets, visiting various artisans, a Koranic school, and the world's earliest university. We also visited the Jewish graveyard in the Jewish quarter and, since Fes is another imperial city, the palace gates. In the medina there are no motorised vehicles. People and goods are transported by don...

Chefchaouen is a smaller Moroccan town situated in the hills of Northern Morocco which were once part of the Spanish protectorate. Suddenly we began to notice a Spanish influence in the architecture and the children shouting 'hola!' as we walked through the steep streets. Our hotel was called 'Hotel Madrid' and had more decoration than any hotel we have stayed at so far. The foyer was filled with coloured mosaics, there were painted wooden ceiling panels, and in...

It was late afternoon when we rolled into Meknes. After a quick lap of the historic centre with its mausoleum, palace, and ancient granaries, we were dropped in the medina. The sun was beating down, so Dale and I sought refuge in the shade of the souks. Behind the open square ran a maze of alleyways crammed with shops selling everything from decorative tagine dishes, to herbal remedies, to running shoes made in china. There were beautiful Moroccan lamps and car...

Casablanca was not the stuff of Hollywood love stories. Traffic was bad, streets were full of people asking for money, there was lots of rubbish, and a 4 year old tried to pickpocket members of our tour group. We were driven to the waterfront area where there were bars and cafes, as well as hotels with swimming pools right on the beach. Even at the most lux of restaurants with sea views a pizza cost less than $10 and a soft drink not more than $3. We had lunch o...