Hello again to everyone!

This will be our last blog from our trip (we got back home last night). The last country on our African adventure was Morocco and we're delighted to say that we enjoyed every minute there. Our plan was very simple - move on from Casablanca, where we landed from Cairo, as quickly as possible (it sounds a very romantic/mysterious place to be but we'd heard it's just a very big, unremarkable city), go to Fes for a few days, move on to Marrakech, from there do a walk in the Atlas mountains and, finally, 3 nights in Marrakech before returning home.

We left Casablanca by train for Fes the day after we arrived and were immediately transported into something like a medieval fairytale city. Our first imprressions were very favourable after our memories of Egypt with a lot less hassle and a far more relaxed way of life.

Our accomodation was at a riad (typical Moroccan town house built around a small square) in the medina of Fes (the old walled city) hidden somewhere in the maze of narrow, twisting lanes which were all safe to roam both day and night. The riad was owned by a Moroccan/French couple who had recently finished renovating it beautifully. We spent 3 days here exploring these lanes and their souks (covered markets), getting lost regularly (but not really caring because we would inevitably find something else of interest) and haggling with the shopkeepers.

From Fes we caught another train, this time to Marrakech, where we bought provisions (Laughing Cow cheese, McVities digestives and tuna fish again!) for our planned walk in the mountains which are about 60km south of the city. We stayed just the one night but also booked another 3 nights for when we return; this meant we could leave things there that we didn't need for the walk as well as having somewhere nice to look forward to stay at the end of it.

The next day we headed south into the High Atlas mountains, arriving at the last town which also was the trailhead for many walks. Here we arranged a 6 day walk which included the services of a guide, a mule to carry our bags and a muleteer to look after the mule. The middle-man (always present in many Moroccan negotiations) was a dead-ringer for Marlon Brando in both looks and speech (see photo).

The walking in the Atlas mountains was spectacular as spring had arrived so the days were very sunny but there was also a lot of snow on the higher slopes (3000-4000m). The mountains are home to the Berber people who are renowned for their hospitality. Unfortunately they are not as renowned for providing too many modern conveniences or any heating and everywhere we stayed was pretty basic as well as being very cold at night (daytime temperatures were around 25c but dropped to 5c as soon as the sun went in). This meant wearing our sleeping bags on most nights while we waited for our evening meal. Accomodation generally consisted of a seating area for any visitors, a cooking area for the guides and rooms for sleeping 4 people, each with 1" thick foam matresses which we were fortunate enough to be able to double-up as we always alone in our room. All places had scratchy blankets to keep us warm but not all had pillows so we rolled up our walking clothes. The food was not bad - tagines (stews cooked in conical clay pots), couscous or spaghetti - although the bread that started off fresh on the first day was a bit hard after the fourth day. We will also never forget the copious amounts of sweetened mint tea that were served at any opportunity.

At the highest point during the 6 day walk we reached a ski 'resort' where hired boots and skis (no fitting done, allocation just based on which were nearest!) and ventured higher up the mountain on a chair lift. With snow last night the conditions looked perfect but the reality was an unpisted black run which Linda made it down but I fell 3 times, pulled a muscle in my chest and walked the rest of the way!

Despite the overnight stopping places and the near-death ski experience the rest of the walk continued to be wonderful, typically through Berber villages, up and over mountain passes and along the valley side using small paths or mule tracks.

Back in Marrakech, we stayed in another small riad and went to the famous square, Djenna El Fna, where snake charmers, monkeys, dancers, drummers and traditional story-tellers mix with food and juice stalls (serving great, fresh orange juice at 25p for a big glass). We also wandered through the souks again and to the leather tanneries district where we were locked into a shop while the owner tried to sell us leather goods and carpets!

Overall, a very varied and positive impression of Morocco. Perhaps if we'd arrived straight from home the hard-sell tactics of the shops in the souks would have been a bit disturbing but, after Egypt, we found it easily manageable. We both preferred Fes to Marrakech as it's quite a bit less commercialised and also more compact in the medina area. We'd defintely go back.

Finally, thanks to all of you who have left messages for us or sent e-mails while we've been away - it's been really nice to have kept in touch.

We hope you've enjoyed these updates and the photo albums. Now we're home, we'll also try to add a few videos that were too slow to upload while we were away.

Love from Tony and Linda