Morocco Insider

The day after my return from visiting the nomads I took the opportunity to move to a beautiful, luxurious riad at a small village called Hassilabied (“white well” in Arabic with the whiteness being due to salt deposits I am told). The management there arranged for me to be taken by 4WD to see three intriguing, gigantic art installations in the desert, built a few decades ago by a visiting eccentric artist,

For our visit to the nomads, we hired an air-conditioned 4×4 vehicle and the services of a young driver called Aziz, from Zaid the owner of Le Petit Prince. The first stop was a natural lake near Merzouga where sometimes there are flocks of flamingos. After that it was onto a market garden in a natural oasis in the desert for us to enjoy a picnic lunch

After my homestay at Goulmima, my hosts drove me to Erfoud about 80 km away and home of the annual date festival.  On the way to my new accommodation, we visited the Erfoud Fossil Museum complete with a giant dinosaur skeleton out the front and many interesting objects made from  – or incorporating – fossils, for sale at reasonable prices. 

Why exploring Morocco’s mountains and rivers is a wonderful way to spend a holiday in June, July or August, the northern hemisphere summer. The sharp chill of Winter has us bundled up in coats, scarves and woolly socks – and somehow we’re still cold. As Australians,...

After enduring the 24 hour journey to Europe, you might as well spread your wings and explore its surroundings a little… after all, you’re already in the neighborhood.