Two of our residents, Jean-Claude and his wife Michèle, went to Morocco for 34 days in last September and October, with 15 other families in their camping vans.

Their organized tour covered more than 4000 km, with stops in 23 different places.

Hast week in the club house, Jean-Claude showed 2 films to 14 residents about the first half of their tour, from Tangier along the Med- coast to the Algerian border, then across the desert, trough the High Atlas mountains to the southwest corner of Morocco new the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The film had been shot by Jean-Claude and Michèle, with each lasting about an hour after excellent editing and subtitling.

We were treated to experiences as varied as; a very warm welcome by a Berber family to their tented home in the desert; an unexpected passport check by heavily armed soldiers near the Algerian border which required all negotiating skills of the tour guide to resolve.

* Trip trough ravines as deep as the Grand Canyon in America;

* and onto the high plateau of the Atlas mountains at nearly 4.000 meters

* visits to souks large and small

* meals and refreshments with local families and tourist restaurants

* visits to grand palaces and the homes of the very poor

* a climb to pre-historic paintings on rocks in the desert showing many animals now found only in the savannahs of East and South Africa

* large lakes on the edge of the deserts, fed by the rains on the highest mountains.

There were many interested questions afterwards to which Jean-Claude gave fascinating answers.

All together an excellent afternoon.

I, for one, lock forward to the films about the second half of their trip.

Article : Hugh Bliss

Photos : Delphine