Countdown to Morocco

In just one month, I'll be departing for Morocco!  This is a destination that's been on my wish list for a long time and in the planning stages since last fall.  I'll be traveling with three dear friends: Judi, Deborah, and Mary Jane, and together we'll make a 24-day journey around this exotic land on the northern tip of Africa.  We'll have our own car and driver and can adjust our trip on the spur of the moment when serendipity beckons. 

We eagerly anticipate wandering (and getting lost!) in ancient serpentine medinas, visiting traditional souks and mosques, and touring the UNESCO World Heritage city of Fez, the world's largest medieval Islamic city.  We'll awaken each morning to pre-dawn calls to prayer from atop tall minarets and perhaps soak in traditional hammams at day's end. 

We'll see snake charmers, acrobats, and fortune tellers and have our hands painted in henna at the carnivalesque Djemaa el-Fna square in Marrakech.  We'll attend the Sufi Music Festival in Fes, cross the High Atlas and the Anti Atlas Mountains, and relax in the town of Chefchaouen high in the Rif Mountains where all buildings are painted the color of the sky.  

We'll do some hiking and ride camels in the Sahara and sleep in the dunes under a blanket of stars.  We'll visit small villages still occupied by the Berbers and sip mint tea in their homes.   We'll wander among kasbahs and oases, visit Roman ruins, and complete our trip in the seaside city of Essaouira before flying home from Casablanca on May 1st.  I can hardly wait!