Seville - Morocco >>
From Andalusia into the Atlas Mountains
We spend our first night in old andalusian-style Finca, not far away from Seville. Next morning we head to Arcos de la Frontera and ride along the “Ruta de los Toros” to Tarifa, the most southern point of Spain. From here we can already spot Africa, and not far away the ferry boat for the Black Continent is waiting. We stay one night in the small enclave of Ceuta, a Spanish terri-tory since 1580. Next day we enter Morocco, the kingdom between Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the endless dunes of the Sahara. In the middle of the country stretch the ranges of the Atlas Mountains. One week we will spend in the kingdom and discover the variety of landscape and culture. We will spot plenty of moorish buildings, as the expelled Moors brought the style from Spain 500 years ago. Of course we will try some of the delicious local dishes such as Tajine and Couscous. In the capital Rabat we visit the Royal Palace and the unfinished mosque with the Hassan Tower. Another must is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. Or Marrakech, the oriental pearl, fourth-biggest city and located near the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The historic centre of Medina has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1985. From Marrakech we start our tour over the Tizi n Tichka pass into the Atlas. On our side we spot the Djebel Toubkal, at 4167 meter, the highest peak of Morocco. In Quarzazate we can recover from the ride over the winding roads, and not far away we find the Casbah of Taourirt, one of the biggest walled citadels. Through the valley of Dra we arrive at Zagora with its endless phoenix and fruit plants. The caravans started their exhausting tour through the Sahara desert from here to the famous Tombouctou. Nowadays tourists begin their desert-trips from here, and we will also ex-plore a little bit of the desert. We continue our trip eastwards to Erfoud, a former French military post. Here we climb up to the biggest and highest sand dunes of Morocco. Through the Gorges of Ziz with its steep walls we start our way back to the north: our last night in Morocco we spend in Fes. The Medina of Fes is another extraordinary example of an oriental city and therefore belongs to the UNESCO world heritage. We pass the Rif mountains and return to the Mediterrean Sea and Algeciras. We have a last excellent view to Africa from the Upper Rock, home of the famous Barbary Macaques. The monkeys will do their best to ensure there is no boredom. Back in Seville we end the tour with a glass of Sherry and reminisce about our fantastic tour to Morocco.