Essaouira

Arrived in Essaouira on the bus from Marrakesh on Sept 14. Were greeted by lots of people wanting to take us to a "Nice" hotel / Riad. Followed one person and ended up taking a room overlooking the Atlantic. While walking around later, realized that there were a number of better Riads, all offering great deals. Ended up moving Riads after one night to a much nicer one.

Essaouira is a beautiful resort town, with lots of tourists from Europe. Being our last stop, it's a perfect way to unwind by spending time at the beach, eating and walking inside the walled Medina. Finally had the courge to try the 'local' Hammam - $1:50 and a bruised skin compared to $40 for a luxury spa.

Tomorrow, we take the bus to Casablanca before boarding our flights Home.

Marrakesh

Arrived in Marrakesh on the overnight train from Tangiers on Sept 11. The journey was very comfortable - we had long discussions with a Lebanese living in Morocco and importing used cars from Germany; and a local 'tourism' student.

Not having pre-booked a hotel, we teamed up with 2 ladies from the US, and ended up at a Riad that they knew about. Riads are old Mansions with central courtyards, converted into guest houses.

Headed out to the main attraction of Morocco - Djemaa El-Fna - the main square in Marrakesh. It's vibrant and wonderful at night - snake charmers; astrologers; healers; belly dancers; story tellers; Berber musicians; pickpockets etc, etc - the action is non-stop until dawn. Also met a local guy named Mbarek, who invited us to his family home - unfortunately he lived in Agadir - 4 hrs by bus.

Yesterday, went to an upscale Hammam - black seeweed treatment; steam room; traditional Hammam; and massage.

Today, took 2 Bus Tours - one within the city and the other to the outskirts of the city.

Tonight, it's back to Djemaa El-Fna, and tomorrow we take the bus to Essouira.

Tangiers

Took a morning train from Fez to Tangiers on Sept 8th. Were lucky to find a reasonable hotel on the main boulevard overlooking the Mediterranean. We got the room at a discounted rate of $46 per night.

Tangiers is the gateway to Africa. The main boulevard runs parallel to the Mediterranean. The many restaurants along the promenade offer excellent food.

During the day, we visit the Kasbah and the Medina. In the evenings, the nightlife along the beach gets very lively with the many chic restaurants and night clubs. We took in one nightclub playing traditional middle eastern music, with middle eastern style dancing - a unique experience. There was no alcohol, and a coke cost $6.

Tonight, we take the overnight sleeper train to Marrakesh.

Fez & Casablanca

Arrived in Casablanca from Algiers on the 4th. Casablanca is a sprawling metropolis, and nothing to write home about. It's major attraction, though - the Hassan II Mosque - is majestic. It's the world's 3rd largest mosque - seating over 100,000 inside and in the courtyards. It's built on a rocky clifftop and it's minaret is the tallest building in the country. Worshippers can see the Atlantic washing the rocks underneath the glass floor.

On the 5th, took the train to Fez. The "new" Fez had a festive atmosphere at night. A local guy - Khaleed - got talking to us and invited us for a meal with his family the next day.

On the 6th, we visited the Fez medina - one of the two main highlights of our trip. It's the world's largest living Islamic medieval city; and the biggest car-free environment on the planet. It is disputed to have the oldest University in the world. One is transported back in time, in the walled city of 700,000, with narrow lanes.

In the evening, Khaleed took us to his suburb (tourist free) to meet his family - original Berbers. There were 9 family members, representing 3 generations. We were very graciously & humbly greeted in typical Moroccan style. We had a feast with them, and got to try some local Moroccan dishes. This was one of our best experiences to date.

Today we will be visiting the Medina again, before moving on.

Algiers, Algeria

Arrived in Algiers on Sept 1. There is a blackmarket for hardcurrency - Euros & US dollars - but before we could get to the City Centre, we were approached at the airport and took advantage of the superior exchange rates.

We were not prepared for the first day. Being Ramadhan, everything (literally) is closed. At 7:00 in the evening we went looking for food, but could not find anything open. Luckily, we were invited by some locals to join them for a traditional meal. We offered to pay them, but they would not accept any money from us. Since then, we are now into a routine - buy stuff from the general store and eat in our hotel room; and in the evenings go and eat after 9:00 in the evening - a handful of restaurants open then. There is a festive atmosphere at night.

The main attraction here is the Kasbah - the only one in our entire trip that is considered dangerous, and therefore need to go with a guide. There are only a handful of guides here (hardly any tourists - we have not seen any to date), and the ones available do not speak English. The option was to venture alone - maybe 5 years ago the decision would have been different, but we opted not to take a chance.

Looking forward to leaving here and onto Morocco.

Tunis, Tunisia

Arrived early on August 30 in Tunis. Long flight Edmonton - Toronto - Rome - Tunis. After some wait for the baggage at the airport, some commotion ensued. Not knowing Arabic, French (even Italian would have helped!) it took us a while to realize what was happening - our baggage had not arrived - they thought it was still in Rome. It seemed our Adventure had started much earlier than expected.

After getting over the initial shock, we started filling out the forms. 2 hrs later, we were headed towards our hotel - the taxi driver asked for 15 dirams - settled for 5 dirams - thanks to the tips from Lonely Planet.

In the afternoon we took the TGM (Metro) to just outside of Tunis - Carthage - an old Roman site. Used to be the 2nd most important city in the Roman Empire after Rome. Hannibal used to live here. Then went to Sidi Bou Said - the most affluent neighbourhood in the whole of Tunisia. All the houses are whitewashed with Blue trimmings. Houses are situated on a slope overlooking the Mediterrenian.

Back to the lost baggage - we hadn't heard all day, and there was no response when we called the number. Went to the airport at 10:00 pm - the next Alitalia flight from Rome. Lo Behold -our baggage arrived - Screams (of delight) could be heard across the airport !

Today we met a very helpful couple from Greece, who gave us tips about Algeria (our next destiation) and exchanged some Algerian dirams for us. Now we are off to Bardo museum; the Medina and the Souks.

2009 Vacation Plan - North Africa

Off to Tunisia; Algeria & Morocco on August 29, 2009.