Morocco Travel tips

Getting Your Bearings tourism has arrived since Edith Wharton wrote of southern Morocco's feudal chiefs and heat and savagery in her book in Morocco (1929). But the south is still exotic, and the chance of adventure remains. The tourist images of Morocco are often of the south: end-less ripples of immaculate sand dunes, grand Kasbahs, oases with thousands of plam trees, Berber villages hugging the mountains, and the "blue men-nomadic Tuaregs who epitomise adventure and harsh desert life. But perhaps most evocative of the region are the majestic peaks of the High Atlas, where Africa really begins. Morocco's most exotic region inculdes its highest mountains its hottest desert and its most picturesque Kasbahs. The South in Four Days Day One Start from Marrakech then follow singns for Ouarzazate via the Tizi-n'Tichka mountain road. Turn left after the highest point for the Kasbah of Telouet. Have lunch opposite Glaoui Kasbah Return to the main ro

Getting your bearings The plain of Saïss and Imperial cities of Fes (Fez) and Meknes are Morocco's heartland, and their history was for a long time also the country's history. protected from the Mediterranean by the Rif mountains and from the Sahara Desert by the Middle Atlas range, the fertile plain amply provided for the cities. Outside the grand urban centres the region's gentle natural attractions include the cedar woods near Azrou, picutresque landscapes, romantic lakes and the splendid cascades d'ouzoud. the highlight of the Middle Atlas is undoubtedly Fes, the country's ancient political and administrative capital, and still its religious and intellectual centre. The city's medina-a Unesco World Heritage Site- has a wealth of medieval monuments, some of them outstanding jewels of Islamic architecture. Its peopel, the Fassi- a mixture of Andalucian. Tunisian and Berber- have always had and independent identity and are often intellectuals and politi

Northern Morocco is where Europe meets Africa or, more precisly, where Andalucian culture meets berber traditions. Between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coast? the Hispanic-influenced cities contrast starkly with the wild landscapes of the Rif Mountains. In the towns? stylish urbanites mix in markets and squares with the more traditional Rifians who come to sell their produce. TANGIER is a place all its own, with memories of intrigue and dreams, its stories and scandals involving bad boys and femme fatales, lawlessnes and beauty, inspired many writers, filmmakers and artists. Elegant TETOUAN and attractive CHEFCHAOUEN have preserved their Andalucian heritage? as have the seaside towns of ASILAH and LARACHE . And spain still holds five enclaves along the Rif coast: Ceuta, Melilla and three small, ininhabited islets. The Rif Mountains form a barrier between the Mediterranean world and central Moroccan culture. The ruined settlements of many foreign powers, from Phoeni

On the Shoulders of a Giant in Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan who revolted against the gods. As a punishment they placed the heavens on his shoulders. When his load became too heavy he begged to be turned into stone and was transformed into mount Atlas. About one seventh of the country lies more than 2,000m (6,500feet) above sea level, and the Atlas Mountains consist of three ranges. The High Atlas , the most famous has more than 400 peaks above 3,000m (9,800 feet) and 10 over 4,000m (13,000 feet), including Jebel Toubkal, at 4,167m (13,671 feet) the highest mountain in North Africa. The Middle Atlas is a range of high plateaux, where many Berber tribes herd sheep and goats. The highest point here is Jebel Bounaceaur at 3,340m (10,960 feet). The Anti Atlas , featuring Jebel Sarhro at 2,712m (8,898 feet), is barren range skirting the desert alogside the Draa Valley. The mountains of the Atlas are made of sedimentary rocks with intrusions of granite and quartzite. The northe

MOROCCO'S DIVERSE GEOGRAPHY Arab geagraphers called the highlands of North Africa "Jazirat el Maghreb"- the Island of the west or Sunset. This "Island" was surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and, in the outh, by the vast sand sea of the Sahara Desert. Morocco, on the westernmost tip of this "island", had everything from lush valleys to arid sand dunes and barren mountains, from cool rivers and lakes in the Middle Atlas to sunny beaches on its Atlantic coast. Morkosh Tours www.morkosh.com