travel – My Travel Blog

February 12, 2026April 22, 2026

Rapa Nui and the Wilderness Beyond: Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego & the Chilean Fjords

Seeing breath-taking views of the mountains and waters of Patagonia has been an aspiration of mine ever since I first saw pictures of this wild place. So I finally booked a trip as a solo traveler on the Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip “The Wildness Beyond: Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego & the Chilean Fjords”

In addition, I booked a pretrip to Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) to see this remote island and its many Moai.

The logistics of this particulary trip were challenging because we had so many flights. See the route below on a map from the OAT trip booklet. I flew from Raleigh through Miami to Santiago, Chile. After a brief stay and tour of Santiago, our group of eight women and trip leader on the pretrip flew the 5.5 hours to Rapa Nui, the most remote inhabited island in the world. After our 4-day stay, we flew back to Santiago to stay overnight at an airport hotel and then fly to Buenos Aires (BA), Argentina, the next morning, where we met the rest of the travelers for our main Patagonia trip. After touring BA, we flew to El Calafate, Argentina. We reached the next destinations by coach and a 4-day sail on an expedition ship, The Ventus Australis. We disembarqued in Ushuaia,”The End of the World,” stayed there for a night, and flew back to BA for another overnight stay before flying home.

Below is a day-by-day or place-by-place summary of the trip. Feel free to skip text and jump around, because this summary is long. If you click on a photo, you will get the full image and can scroll through the images in that “block,” using the direction keys if on a laptop. Hit escape to return to the blog. In some sections there may be multiple blocks of photos or Youtube videos under the same text.

I create these blogs as a way to help me remember key details of trips, and to put in context some of my favorite photos. I usually print out a book as well (minus the videos, of course). I also love sharing the experience with friends and fellow travelers from different trips we have taken.

Wednesday, Jan. 7

I arrived in Santiago, and met the 7 other women on our Rapa Nui pretrip, along with our trip leader Javier, and had a lovely dinner in the hotel, preceded by our first Pisco Sour of the trip.

Thursday, Jan. 8

We had a tour of Santiago, which included the Church of San Fransisco, a Fransiscan church which dated back to the early colonial days. It has survived 15 major earthquakes, thanks to good engineering (like many of the other buildings in Santiago). In the center of the city is the Moneda Government Palace and other government buildings surrounding Constitution Square, with statues of former presidents. We walked through the Nueva York area and got a flavor of the city.

We learned that Chileans add avocado to many dishes. In fact, the most popular street food is the Complete Italiano, a hot dog with mashed avocado, mayonnaise, and tomatoes (colors of the Italian flag).

We then visited the winery of Cousino-Macul, which has been in the hands of a single family every since founded in 1856.

Friday, Jan. 9 through Sunday Jan. 11

We flew to Rapa Nui, arriving around lunchtime (long flight but 2 hour time difference). We stopped at a local spot to pick up freshly made empanadas on our way to our lovely lodge overlooking the ocean (Iorana Hotel).

A local guide joined us for a tour of some of the key Moai sites. We started at Ahu a Kivi, with seven Moai. We learned that the Rapa Nui clans, between 1250 and 1500 AD, created platforms for displaying these standing carved figures to honor the dead. The family of a prominent deceased clan leader would arrange for several persons to carve a moai in the local quarry, then transport it to its position on the platform facing the clan’s village. It is still unknown exactly how the transport worked, but a leading theory is that they were “walked” using ropes. A recent New York Times article described recent findings:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/science/archaeology-easter-island-rapa-nui.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LlA.o_1C.mL_fVqUnON4N&smid=nytcore-ios-share]

Only once the figure had arrived at its destination would the eyes be added. It was thought that the “mana,” or life force of the ancestors, was transmitted via the moai eyes, and would lend protection, prosperity, and fertility to the clan. Surrounding the platforms was the community burial ground.

The body (about 2/3 of which is the head) was carved from compressed volcanic ash. The pakao, or topnot, was carved separately from red rock, to sit upon the head of some of the later constructed moai. The eyes were formed by light colored coral surrounding black or red obsidian. None of the original eyes have survived, but archaeologists have pieced together information about them from remains.

Image from the web showing the recreation of the eyes, and the different colors of the original stone in the body and topknot

Many of the moai were still standing when the first Europeans came to the island in 1722. A century later, all had been toppled. It was thought that clans would push the moai of its rivals face down to take away the power of the mana. Almost all moai have been found face down. The moai that are currently standing have been carefully restored by archaeologists and historians.

The Rapa Nui population, founded by Polynesian voyagers, was decimated around 1862 through abduction of around 1500 individuals as Peruvian slaves and through transmission of smallpox by outsiders. Only 111 residents remained by the early 1900s. The current policy of land ownership on the island is restricted to descendants of the original residents (currently approximately 3,500-4,000).

Of interest, at least to me, was that Thor Heyerdahl, ethnographer and Norwegian explorer of Kon Tiki fame, helped explore Rapa Nui in 1955-56. He expounded a theory that the original settlers on the island were from South America. This was later proven to be false, as the settlers were of Polynesian origin. The most important person leading moai restoration efforts was William Mulloy, in the 1960s and 70s.

We visited fully restored moai, some moai remains as they were found on their clan sites, some that had evidently fallen during transport, and a quarry where they had been carved and where many were still located, in various stages of completion.

We also visited a site where a village had been reconstructed, including a lodging, cavities in the stone walls for chickens to roost, cooking sites, and raised beds for farming. All had to be protected from the wind and rain.

Below are images from visits to the different moai during our stay. At some of the stops, locals were offering freshly carved small pineapples — delicious!

One of our delicious lunches was prepared in the home of the late Henri Garcia, a colleague of Jacques Costeau, who also won various diving awards. His son keeps his memory alive and helped create a documentary about his father: Henri, the Last Pirate.

While we were on the island, we also attended a dance performance reflecting Polynesian heritage: body painting, story telling, war dances, drums, and ukuleles.

For another island experience, we went on a boat ride with the hope of snorkeling. The boat had a glass bottom, which allowed us to see coral and fish. The sea was too rough for snorkeling. We saw the rocky island that the birdmen used in the traditional birdman competition on the island. This competition was held in the 16th or 17th century, after the moai era. Contestants would descend a cliff, swim to the island and climb its steep rocky hill to obtain and return unbroken the first egg of the sooty tern of the year. The winner would be the leader over all the clans on the island for the following year. We saw birdman images in various carvings on the island. Unfortunately our boat ride halted when our captain (a boat mechanic) could not restart our engine after our stop at the birdman sites. Nearby fishing boats ferried us back to the harbor after a somewhat scary time of tossing in the heaving waves toward the rocky shore!

We visited the crater of the Rano Kao Volcano, which was absolutely gorgeous with flowers and other lush vegetation around. We also had a great view down to the sea to the site of the birdman competitions.

Village where the birdman contenders would stay for the competition

A key component of OAT trips is a visit to a non-profit organization that is supported by the Grand Circle Foundation (owners of OAT). A concert pianist from the island, Mahani Teave, founded a music school that provides free music and cultural education to local children. It was built with wholly sustainable materials. The school teaches both classical music (primarily piano, strings, and choral), and music from the Rapa Nui heritage.

We swam at Anakena beach under the view of several moai. This was thought to be one of the first landing sites and home of an early settlement of the Polynesian settlers. We enjoyed a lovely meal at a restaurant looking out at the ocean.

Great use discarded bottles in the construction

We also experienced a cocktail hour sunset at the Ahu Akivi site, and most of us opted to spend our last morning rising early to view Ahu Tongariki’s 15 moai at sunrise.

Pisco bottle I found at the little Rapa Niu airport

Tuesday Jan. 13

After our Monday flight to Santiago, overnight stay in an airport hotel, and Tuesday morning flight out of Santigo, we arrived in Buenos Aires and checked into our hotel (ARC Recoletta in the Recoletta area of town). We had delicious pizza at a restaurant at the corner and walked around the neighborhood to get our bearings and exchange dollars for pesos. Late afternoon we had a welcome briefing with our Trip Experience Leader, Carlos, followed by a Tango lesson from three Argentinians – a bandoneon player and two dancers.

Wednesday, Jan. 14

We had a wonderful tour of Buenos Aires, through the Plaza de Mayo, which includes the Casa Rosado (seat of government with the famous Evita Peron balcony), and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the seat of Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio before he became Pope Francis. There is a monument in cathedral to Jose San Martin, the liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The tomb is surrounded by statues representing each country, and is guarded around the clock, with guards changing every two hours. We saw the changing of the guard, and learned more about the governing history of the city and country from our local guide.

We stopped in a local coffee shop for our Controversial Topic discussion, another interesting feature of all OAT trips. The topic was the period of 1976 to 1983 when tens of thousands of residents, were captured and “disappeared.” The “desaparecidos” were often students, journalists, or activists. Feel free to look up more about the series of coups, dictatorships, “dirty war,” in Argentina as well as US involvement in some. We met with a lovely woman, Maria Paula Serrano, who was kidnapped as a young child with her parents, then given to her grandmother, who raised her in a loving home and with a good education. Maria thought her parents were “traveling” until she was later told the truth, that her parents disappeared with no information about their death or disposition. Many bodies had been dropped into lakes or the ocean from planes designed with hatches for this purpose. Parents and grandparents of the disappeared continue to search for evidence of their family members, often using newer methods of DNA technology. Maria wrote a book about her experience entitled “Echoes of Their Embrace” after explaining to her two sons the family history.

After this very moving discussion, we were back on the tour, visiting the site of local football club, and having time to explore La Boca, a vibrant neighborhood that gave birth to the Tango. There were lots of images of some of the key historical figures from Argentina: Pope Francis, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Evita and Juan Perón.

After the group tour, I visited the Teatro Colon, one of the top Opera Houses in the world. I was lucky to arrive in time for the only tour of the day in English! On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at El Atheneo Grand Splendid, a wonderful bookstore in an old theater. Instead of lunch, I had a fruit torte and glass of wine on the “stage” of the bookstore.

That evening, we had a marvelous home-hosted meal at the home of a man who, mid-life, obtained certification as a beef sommelier. For appetizers, we were served beef empanadas and a classic drink for social gatherings: a mixture of Fernet-Branca (an herbal blended spirit from Italy) and Coke. We watched as he grilled the special cut of beef he had selected for the meal. We enjoyed talking with him, his wife, and their two grown sons, and had a marvelous meal.

Thursday, Jan. 15

We flew to El Calafate, had a beautiful drive into town beside Lago Argentino, grabbed a snack for lunch, and walked around this tourist town. The town is close to the border with Chile, and gets its name from the calafate plant, whose berries are used in preserves and syrups. Our local drink switched from pisco sours to calafate sours! The town reminded me of Blowing Rock, NC, with lots of small shops, local crafts, and sporting gear stores. This was also our one chance to drop off dirty clothes at a wash and fold laundry.

Our evening meal was held in the home of a local man, Gabo Carrizo, who shared great food and drink and his history in the area. When I was shopping back in El Calafate, I found his cookbook, Comfort Food Made in El Calafate, in Spanish and English, and of course bought it!

Friday, Jan. 16

This was our first day on the main trip to really enjoy the wild natural beauty of Patagonia. As we drove out of El Calafate, we stopped at a memorial to Gauchito Gil. There is a legend that this gauchito performed a miracle for a sheriff who was about to execute him for (there are a variety of reasons in the various legends, including army desertion). He said he knew the sheriff’s son was very sick. If the sheriff would give him a proper burial, Gil would heal the boy. The sheriff put the body in a pauper’s grave and went home to find his son even sicker. He then gave the body a proper burial, and upon arriving home this time, found his son totally healed. Gauchito Gil has become a travel “saint,” and little red memorial structures appear along the roadside, where people stop and make offerings, hoping that Gauchito Gil will bless them with a safe journey. We stopped and poured a local brew at one of the memorials.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Los Glaciares National Park. The highlight was a hike to see various views of the Perito Moreno Glacier along different paths through the forest or at the glacier’s edge. We heard the thunder of parts of the glacier calving several times, and were able to see the bits of ice tumbling down.

I enjoyed watching the black-faced ibis in the courtyard of the hotel.

Saturday, Jan. 17

We drove to Torres del Paine National Park, crossing the border into Chile and had lunch just across the border at an interesting large restaurant that had an amazing display of old sewing machines as well as gaucho gear, like saddles as bar seats.

We tried small doses of mate. It is an acquired taste.

One of our first stops in the park was at a spot where we experienced the mighty winds of Patagonia.

We drove through the park, stopping at wonderful spots to view the Paine Massif.

Sunday, Jan. 18

Our hotel had magnificent view of the Paine Massif. They offered a lamb appetizer at happy hour, which was barbecued out back. There was a lovely swimming pool and spa.

In the morning, we hiked past the Salto Grande waterfall fed by Lake Nordenskjold and on toward the magnificent Horns of the Torres del Paine. The views along the way were absolutely stunning. The different colors of the horns reflected sedimentary rock and shale at the dark tops, while the lower part is lighter granite. Our local guide, Jacquie, is a geologist, which was really helpful. I bought a book she and two colleagues authored and will read it with the help of Google translate.

Parakeets in silhouette where we ate our box lunch

After lunch, we hiked in Lago Grey along the shore to see the Grey Glacier in the distance. The winds were so strong, we were mighty glad to have hiking poles to anchor ourselves during gusts.

Image shared from video by Carlos, thanks!

Monday Jan. 19

We drove back through the park to an information center where we could observe a 3-D model of the Paine Massif, and get a better understanding of the views we were seeing from our hikes, drives, and hotel. We stopped at Laguna Amarga, a lake flush with waterfowl, including Flamingos, Upland Geese, Ashy-headed Geese, Black-necked Swans, with Harriers and Andean Condors soaring above. We ate Box lunches en route to a local ranch.

Along the dirt road to the ranch, a Gaucho and dogs were trying to herd cattle out of the road. It was fun to watch them finally move over. Then our ranch hands met us and escorted us to the large ranch, and the tack-house where those of us planning to ride horses would get our helmets and instructions. We rode through the most beautiful scenery, with lush vegetation, flowers, and snow-capped mountains surrounding us. Those not riding got a tour of the ranch and helped to barbecue the lamb for our dinner. After the ride, the ranch staff gave us a demonstration of how two dogs herd the sheep they raise for wool and food. The dogs were super friendly!

We then had pisco sours and a lovely lamb dinner before saying our farewells.

We got back on our bus and drove on to Puerto Natales.

Puerto Natales is a lovely town with a nice waterfront, a long wall of murals depicting the life of the indigenous Aonikenk and Kaweskar people in the region (from relying on fishing from small family boats, hunting guanacos and arrival of horses ). The next day, Tuesday, Jan. 20, we spent some time touring the town on foot, had lunch at the hotel and then drove to Punta Arenas, where we boarded our ship in time for dinner and setting sail in the Straight of Magellan.

The view from my cabin.

Wednesday, Jan. 21

The expedition ship, Ventus Australis, was just wonderful, with several lounges offering panoramic views, a large dining room, lovely cabins, and the most amazing staff of engineers, stewards, waiters, and expedition guides. The ship can accommodate 200 passengers, but there were only around 100 on our sailing. Meals and drinks were great, breakfast was buffet and lunch and dinner were served; we selected each meal at the previous meal.

We generally had two off-ship expeditions a day, traveling from the ship by zodiacs to reach our destinations. For hikes, there were always options from strenuous hiking to easy walks with a naturalist guiding. Our first stop on day 1 was at Ainsworth Bay. At the recommendation of Carlos, our OAT Trip Leader, I opted for the forest walk, to get a good overview of the landscape and vegetation of this part of Patagonia, along the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Chanel, as well as a good view of the Marinelli Glacier. Interestingly, a great deal of forest damage has been done by beavers, which were introduced by Argentina to establish a fur industry. The endeavor was a commercial and environmental disaster, and one that is not being addressed in any way.

Kelp washed up from the underwater kelp forests

The afternoon expedition was to Tucker Island to view the Magellanic penguins and both Magellanic (small, mostly black, with red around eyes), and Imperial cormorants (large, with white breast and yellow above the eyes). We could not land on the islands where they gather, so we observed from our zodiacs.

Thursday, Jan. 22

We had a morning presentation about glaciers, and the Tierra del Fuego history. This was followed by a tour of the ship’s engine rooms, storage area, and the bridge. Because of the unique geology and remoteness of the area, the crew marks the details of the voyage by hand. Of course they have the most modern instrumentation in the bridge. At the end of each trip, the staff auctions off the chart used during the journey to Cape Horn. Proceeds are split among the staff. In the afternoon, we had a zodiac excursion to see the Pia Glacier that flows from the Darwin Mountains to the sea.

Late in the afternoon, we sailed through Glacier Alley, within the Alberto de Agostini National Park in the Beagle Channel. Glaciers were named after various European countries. As each glacier came into view from the main lounge and deck, waiters would bring around drinks and snacks from the country the glacier was named for.

Friday, Jan. 23

We rose very early in hopes that we could take a zodiac to Cape Horn. The staff needed to check out the conditions between the ship and landing site – wind speed, waves, etc. Once they confirmed it would be safe to go, staff were put in place for the zodiac landings. A couple of waiters were actually stationed in wet suits in the water at the Cape Horn landing site to help the zodiacs get stabilized so the travelers could get from the zodiacs to the platform and stairs up the island. The winds were strong, but we had no rain and were able to climb to the top, to the monuments then to the chapel and lighthouse, where a family of four lives. If the ship’s horn were to sound, we would need to immediately head back to the ship due to a rapid change in conditions. Fortunately, that did not happen. After about an hour of exploring, we returned to the ship for breakfast and morning activities.

We watched a documentary about the Ernest Shackleton expedition of 1914-1917, which changed from a major exploration adventure across Antarctica to a survival mission when the ship, the Endurance, was trapped in ice, and later sank. The 28 men lived on ice floes for months and then made it to Elephant Island on small boats. From there, Shakleton and five crew traveled for 16 days to South Georgia Island. Once they were on the island, they had to hike across the mountains to the only port. Amazingly all 28 members of the crew made it back alive. There are several good documentaries/films about this expedition (one features Kenneth Branagh as Shakleton).

In the afternoon, we took zodiacs to Wulaia Bay. This was so interesting, as this was the site where the Beagle, guided by Captain Robert FitzRoy, landed in 1831 and enticed four Fuegian residents to join them on a journey to England in an attempt to “civilize” them and return them as missionaries. He was committed to his promise that he would return them (actually three of them, as one died of smallpox) to their homeland, which he finally did several years later, after Charles Darwin had joined the ship’s crew. I’ve been reading “This Thing of Darkeness” by Harry Thompson, a historical fiction account of FitzRoy and the Beagle.

Saturday, Jan. 24

After breakfast, we said our sad farewells to the ship’s staff and disembarked in Ushuaia. We had a brief tour of the town, and some background on the conflict between Argentina and England over the islands known as Falklands or the Malvinas (as known by the Argentinians).

We had our last home-hosted meal at the lovely hillside home of Gabi, a great cook and lovely hostess who has mastered great conversational English since she started hosting these meals. We had spinach fritters, a hearty lentil stew, and Tres Leches cake and brownies with dulce de leche. Dulce de leche originated in Latin America and is made with caramelized milk and sugar, getting a somewhat toffee taste. It is found in so many sweets! Gabi’s recipes were in our trip book, so I plan to replicate her meal for my family, after serving them pisco sours.

We had a free afternoon for shopping and hanging around the hotel spa. In the evening we gathered at a popular king crab restaurant, Freddy, for our last Controversial Topic discussion. Our speaker was a man who, as a teenager, appeared to have a promising career as a football (soccer) player, when Argentina invaded the Malvinas in 1982 to reclaim them. Argentina has long claimed the territory as belonging to it. The UK claimed it in 1841. Most residents have UK heritage. Our speaker was one of the many Argentinians forced to fight in this war, with very little training. The war has had lasting impact on many of his and subsequent generations. The veterans were basically forgotten by their government. It wasn’t until the Kirchner government in 2003-2007 that the government expanded pensions and mental health services for the veterans.

After the discussion, we had a lovely dinner of king crab, assisted by sharp Kitchenaide scissors (rather than mallets or nutcrackers) for cracking the shells.

Sunday, Jan. 25

We flew back to Buenos Aires, checked into our hotel, reclaiming some of the items we had left in storage. Some of us made a final gelato our lunch. After a trip briefing with Carlos and our whole group, we had our final meal (steak, of course) at a restaurant in the Peurto Madero area. We walked across the Women’s Bridge, a lively spot for residents, tourists, and photographers in the evening.

I arranged to get a ticket to a Tango show and the group bus dropped me off after our evening activities. This was very fun! Music was great, as was the dancing. I caught an uber back to the hotel after the show.

Monday, Jan. 26

For our last day in BA, we had a tour of the famous cemetery in the Recoleta District, with tombs of many famous Argentinians, including Eva Peron. Then was drove to the Parana Delta for a boat trip along the river, that joins up with the Rio de la Plata (the river in BA). This is an area of summer homes and abandoned boats.

We landed back at the hotel to grab a take away pizza from the shop at the corner, pack, shower, and headed off to the airport for an evening flight to Miami.

As luck would have it, much of the US was dealing with major winter storms. My flight from Raleigh was canceled and rebooked for the next day, so I spent the day in the airport hotels in Miami. The joys and unexpected adventures of travel!!

A few photos of our group, thanks to Carlos.

And a few other images

July 31, 2025August 1, 2025

Into the Arctic We Go!

Norway and Iceland Trip, Summer 2025

Map from the Viking website

Chris and I escaped the extreme NC heat to see the beautiful landscapes of Norway and Iceland. Along with Chris’s brother Tim, his wife Kim, and her sister Jane, great travelling companians, we signed up for a Viking Ocean cruise, with a pre-trip to Oslo and train ride from Oslo to Bergen.

Below is a day-by-day summary of the trip. The most interesting photos are later on, so feel free to skip text and jump around. If you click on a photo, you will get the full image and can scroll through the images in that “block,” using the direction keys if on a laptop. Hit escape to return to the blog. In some sections there are multiple blocks of photos under the same text. I create these blogs as a way to help me remember key details of trips, and to put in context some of my favorite photos. I also love sharing the experience with friends and fellow travellers from different trips we have taken.

Friday, June 27

We arrived in Oslo after an Icelandair flight from RDU to Reykjavik, ate breakfast in the airport, and boarded the next flight to Oslo. Our hotel, the Radisson Blu, was centrally located, by the train station/mall and a short walk to the waterfront. Pizza and bed were all our jetlagged bodies could handle after we dumped our bags in the room.

Saturday, June 28

We had a morning tour of Oslo, which included a visit to a viking museum (the main museum was closed for renovations), and my favorite sculture park. At the museum we had a demonstration of the methods of viking shipbuilding, using overlapping planks of wood; and saw a model of an actual viking ship which had been excavated from land — it was a burial ship, which would have housed a body and key possessions of the dead.

Vigeland Scupture Park is inside the Frogner Park in Oslo.

Gustav Vigeland created all 212 granite, bronze, and cast-iron sculptures in the lovely park. Two of his creations, were originally planned for the central city until it was decided to consolidate all of his works in the park, which he designed. The fountain depicts all stages of human life. The monolith includes 121 figures reaching toward the heavens. I loved the small children’s garden with statues of little children surrounding a statue of an unborn child.

The angry boy is popular with tourists as you can see from his left hand!

In the afternoon, Chris and I walked to the Opera House and the new Munch museum. I had been to the earlier Munch Museum, which was housed in a small mid-century modern building on the outskirts of the town. The new building is impressive, overlooking the harbour. I learned so much about Munch’s life and artistic inspiration!

Exterior — you could walk all the way to the top.

Sunday, June 29

I have long wanted to experience the train ride from Oslo to Bergen, described as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. Our train was delayed by an hour (for extra “cleaning”), and later during the ride, while they cleared trees off the tracks and electric cables. Strong winds were blowing trees down. So our planned 7 hour ride became 10 1/2. We still saw beautiful scenery! When we finally boarded our ship before midnight in Bergen, the dinner service was long past, but the staff had left some goodies in the stateroom and we found a lounge with excellent soup!

The snack car was unusually crowded because the train had to drop a car, so all the affected passengers crowded into any available space. But we enjoyed conversing with fellow travellers.

June 30, Monday

We had a day to get our bearings on the ship and to explore the lovely town of Bergen. Ole Bull, who was a composer and virtuostic violinist (on par with Paganini, according to Robert Schumann), helped discover and encourage a young Edvard Grieg.

We visited Nykirken, a historic church, also known as the “children’s church,” with ruins of an archbishop’s palace underneath. History (or folklore) has it that some young hooligans set fire to part of the town, and as punishment were locked into the cellar of ruins. Food was lowered by dumbwaiter. Occasionally dead bodies were also lowered. Imagine the nightmares of these kids when they were finally released! The church is called the children’s church because of the many children’s events held there.

The Theatre had an important role in the town. From Wikipedia: “Opened under the name Det Norske Theater in 1850, the theatre has roots dating back to its founding on the initiative of the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. The theatre was created to develop Norwegian playwrights. Henrik Ibsen was one of the first writers-in-residences and art-directors of the theatre and it saw the première in Norway of his first contemporary realist drama The Pillars of Society (Samfundets støtter) on 30 November 1877.”

July 1, Tuesday

The ship sailed overnight and arrived at Geiranger, which is located in the Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We had a scenic drive to the Eagle’s Bend Outlook, where we could view the Seven Sisters and Bridal Veil falls. In the evening, we had our first meal at the Chef’s Table, which pairs wine with the different food courses. The theme of this meal was the Route to the Indies.

Our ship was dwarfed by the other boat that docked here

July 2, Wednesday

This was a day at sea as we made our way up the coast. Along the way, we passed the demarcation of the arctic circle. We also had a great view of Torghatten: from wikepedia below:

“Torghatten is a mountain located along the coastal area of northern Norway that features a distinctive natural tunnel passing completely through it. According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful woman Lekamøya. As the troll realized he would not overtake her, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king of Sømna threw his hat into the arrow’s path to save her. The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.”

We had a tour of the bridge. We learned that the senior officers are from Norway and the Philippines.

July 3, Thursday

We arrived in Narvik, in the Ofotfjorden, within the Arctic Circle. We toured the old town, visited the famous railroad station, and the main church, where members of the choir treated us to some folk songs. We had a tour of the bridge, and enjoyed our second meal at the Chef’s Table, this time with a Korean themed menu.

July 4, Friday

We spent a day in the town of Leknes, in Lofoten. The Lofoten islands are over a hundred miles off the Norway mainland, and are home to small fishing villages. We saw fish drying racks along the way in our bus and boat tour. Some of the homes of fishers are right on the water so they can fish from their porches.

July 5, Saturday

We docked at Tromsø today. It is the northernmost city in Norway, considered the “gateway to the arctic” for various expeditions. Our city tour took us to the Arctic Cathedral, and then to the planetarium where we watched an amazing film about the northern lights. The theatre was a digital dome, and the images were filmed by Ole Salomonsen, who chases extreme auroras, using fisheye lenses. https://skyskan.com/shows/extreme-auroras/. It was truly amazing!

I later took the shuttle back into town to visit a pharmacy and stumbled upon the Troll Museum, the only such museum in Norway. It was delightful! They have made extensive use of Augmented Reality technology in their exhibits and museum book. There were so many great stories of Trolls, including the play Peer Gynt, written by Henrik Ibsen. The story is about a human boy who gets in trouble and runs away into the mountains, where he encounters trolls. Ibsen wanted to turn the play into a musical and invited Edvard Grieg to compose the music.

From the website The Norwegian American is this summary of this first encounter with trolls.

“In the Hall of the Mountain King” is the most famous piece of troll music ever written. Peer Gynt has been captured by trolls and is made to stand in front of the troll king. Naughty little troll children want to hurt him. One asks the king, “May I slash his finger?” Another says, “May I pull his hair?” A naughty little troll girl says, “Hei, hoo, let me bite his butt!” But the troll king won’t let the children hurt Peer. And guess why: because he wants Peer to marry his ugly daughter. Peer is tempted. If he married her, he would some day be king of the trolls himself. “But,” he thinks, “she looks like a cow! She is SOOOO ugly!” Think about this conversation when you listen to “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”

It was warm enough to eat lunch outdoors on the ship. You had to fend off the aggressive gulls, however!

July 6, Sunday

We docked today at Honnigsvåg, which is on Magerøya island overlooking the Barents Sea.

In the morning, I went on an excursion to see the birds of Stappen Islands. A bus took us from our dock to the town of Gjesvaer (upper left on map), where we boarded a boat for the ride to the islands. The islands are protected, so we were not able to land, but observed so many birds from the boat. Among our first sitings were Great Cormorants and seals. As we approached the islands we saw thousands of puffins either in the air or on the water, black guillemots and razorbills in the water, and other birds. We saw a colony of Northern gannets on a cliff.

We also saw white tail eagles (two in a “death spiral,” and shags (small cormorants).

In the afternoon, we took a drive to the North Cape, on the top right of the map.

We watched a video about the islands in different seasons, and walked out to the Cape monument in some pretty strong wind and cold. Along our drive we saw lots reindeer that are owned and managed by native Sami families. The reindeer are white in the winter, but lose the white hair and turn brown in the summer. Their eyes also change color due to the different light conditions. They are taken off the islands in the winter and returned in the spring. We passed a Sami village.

July 7, Monday

We had our second sea day, going across the Barents Sea to the Svalbard Archepelago, which is part of Norway, between the mainland and the North Pole. While the rugged terrain, frozen tundra and glaciers are home to some special wildlife, we did not get to see any polar bears or Arctic foxes. (Another trip?!!). On board we spotted whales not too far from the ship, and enjoyed great food, vistas, live music, and lectures.

Also on board, the crew held a Blue Nose Ceremony for the travellers who wished to participate. It is a tradition among some naval ships to have a ceremony after crossing the Arctic Circle, by demonstrating feats of strength. In the case of our ship, this involved plunging into an ice-cold pool. After the plunge, the participant received a blue nose (some blue substance slathered on their nose), and a shot of Aquavit.

July 8

Upon arrival

We arrived at Longyearbyen, one of the main towns in the Archepelago. I took a boat ride to Isfjorden to see birds. The boat was an open boat; you straddled the seat and held onto a metal bar in front. I had dressed in layers, and we were provided with head-to-toe, water-resistant suits, life vests, and googles. Nevertheless, it was a very cold journey.

We saw a large colony of black guillemots on a cliff, and at a later stop, the remains of an old Russian mining town.

July 9, 10, 11, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Chris and I were feeling under the weather, so we skipped the trip to visit the museum in Longyearbyen. The next two days were sea days on the Norwegian Sea, passing by Greenland on the way to Iceland.

We were so fortunate that the sea was super calm the entire trip. On sea days we still had so many things to do, including viewing the landscape/seascape, looking for birds, listening to live classical music, attending or viewing (via screen in the room) wonderful lectures from historians and a naturalist, and eating well.

July 12, Saturday

We arrived at Isafjördur, Iceland in the morning. Jane and I had both signed up for an excursion to Vigur Island. This is the second largest island in the Isafjördur Bay, but still a small and narrow island. A few years ago the island was purchased by a couple who are arctic naturalists/researchers, who wanted to preserve the island’s bird colonies, restore the ancient buildings, harvest eider down, and welcome small groups of visitors to the island. A total of 10 people live on the island. https://www.vigurisland.com/visit. Arctic terns nest on open ground, and are quite protective of their young, so as we walked on a small pathway past their breeding ground, we carried tall sticks by our heads to fend off bird strikes (they are NOT shy!).

The island is also home to a huge number of puffins. It was great to see them on land as they strutted and posed for us. During the spring and summer, eider ducks nest on the island. The residents harvest the down, clean it and sell it for a pretty penny (Eider comforters are super expensive in Japan. Individuals display them outside their residences). When the eider mom lays her eggs, she lines her nest with down. As she leaves the nest for food, the residents retrieve the down, replacing it with straw. The eider mom continues to sit on the eggs, adding more down to the nest. When the chicks leave the nest, the rest of the down is collected, cleaned and processed.

There is also a large colony of black guillemots on the island. We really enjoyed watching the puffins by the old restored windmill behind the main buildings. The residents also farm rhubarb on the island, and operate a small cafe, with gift shop and tiny post office. They provide coffee and rhubarb pie to their guests — it was delicious.

Later in the day, we had a tour around Isafjördur, stopping at the Ósvör Maritime Museum. The museum is a replica of a fishing outpost from the late 1900s. Each year a group of 8 (7 fishermen and one woman who cooked and sewed) would leave their farms and come to this area to fish, mainly for cod. Our guide was dressed in the period waterproof gear, and he showed us a typical fishing boat and described life at the outpost. The small boat had a stripe painted about two thirds of the way up to the top. Once they had filled the boat with enough fish that the water line reached this stripe, they returned to shore, and processed the fish, which included salting and drying. As the end of the season, they took a long row toward Greenland to catch a large shark which they pulled beside the boat while they extracted the liver for its vast quantify of oil. We were able to walk through the small kitchen/residence, the salt shed, and drying shed.

After the museum, we stopped to hear a short vocal concert of Icelandic songs, and then visited an awesome waterfall with water so pure we could drink it.

July 13, Sunday

The next day, we docked in Reykjavik, disembarked, and were taken to a convention center/opera house to wait until time to get a ride to the airport for the direct flight home.

The Onboard Experience

Our ship, Viking Neptune, was gorgeous and immaculate in every way. The Scandinavian styling is lovely. Our stateroom had plenty of space, a nice veranda with two chairs and a table, a TV with lots of movies and access to replays of all the lectures delivered in the auditorium. Internet connection was usually good.

We adored the pianist, Lydia from Romania, who played multiple times each day, as did a cello and volin duo. Once each day, there would be “Munch moments” when the pianist or duo would play Norwegian music, while the large screen over the main staircase would display images of Munch paintings. Viking had acquired exclusive access to these digital images, and also produced a nice book about Munch that they gave us. There were three historians and a naturalist who gave lectures during the cruise. Topics include history of the vikings, role of Churchill in Norway’s history, role of a diplomat (one lecturer was a distinquished former diplomat from the UK). Most were fascintating and excellently delivered.

One of our favorite locations was the Explorer’s Lounge, which had two levels at the front of the ship. A guitarist/singer played there every afternoon. There was an indoor pool under a retractable roof (which was retracted one day of the trip), and an infinity pool and hot tub at the back of the ship. The Winter Garden, adjacent to the indoor pool and very sunny, hosted high tea with classical music every afternoon. Best scones ever!

The Nordic Spa was amazing. There was a thermal pool, hot tub, steam room, and snow grotto in the co-ed area. In the women’s dressing room there was a sauna and icy plunge pool. I had one amazing spa treatment, but enjoyed the rest of the spa on multiple days.

Food was excellent everywhere – in the main restaurant, the informal World Cafe (buffet), Manfredi’s italian restaurant, the Chef’s Table, and the Explorer’s Lounge, which had Norwegian soups and specialties at certain times. No casino, very little shopping on board — just two jewelry stores and a Nordic shop. No high pressure anything! Staff were unbelievably wonderful everywhere, especially wait staff and the stateroom stewards. We aren’t cruise people, but this trip was perfect for cruising because so much of the trip was about the beautiful scenery, and the time on the ship was great.

Our favorite chairs at the very front of the ship.

May 25, 2024May 30, 2024

Morocco, 2024

Chris and I spent 3 weeks exploring this beautiful and varied country, learning about different cultural and religious customs, meeting gentle and generous people, and eating flavorful meals!

We signed up for another Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip, Moroccan Safari Odyssey, and this time embarked on the pretrip, which included several days in the North of the country, in Chefchoaen, the “blue city,” and Tangier. We landed in Casablanca on April 18 to begin our adventure. Of the 15 total travellers on the main trip, 11 opted for the pretrip as well. The Trip Leader (TL), Mohammed Ait Alla, led both the pretrip and the main trip. Most of the photos are from my Sony mirrorless camera or Iphone 14, and some, particularly group photos, were shared by other travellers on the trip, including our trip leader. Thanks to all who shared photos! Click on the photos to see them full size, as the embedded images are generally truncated thumbnails.

Here’s an OAT map with the trip agenda

April 18

After a short meeting with the individuals in the pretrip, we had a group dinner in a local restaurant to try our first tagine. The food was wonderful and the group friendly.

Friday, April 19

We started our pretrip activities today. We boarded our small coach to head to Chefchaouen. The land was fairly flat along the highway. We stopped for a short break and drank a “nas nas,” which is half coffee and half milk. Along the way, we saw lots of storks and stork nests on various towers. We also became aware that cats are everywhere!! People in the towns feed them and they mostly appear healthy.

We then headed past the Sebou river to the town of Souk El Arbaa du Gharb. Towns were named after the day of the week of their market, and our town was “Wednesday.” The restaurant owner/butcher showed us how he prepared fresh beef for our main course. The staff provided lovely local hospitality and a wonderful meal. Olives, bread, and sauce to begin with, a nice lentil soup, roasted vegetables, and meatballs in a sauce with tomatoes. Dessert was sweet, fresh oranges.

We travelled through the mountains, stopped for a view over the city of Chefchaoeun, and checked into our amazing riad (hotel). Riads were previously homes, often for multiple generations of a family. The outside door is alway very modest, and the interiors can be quite elaborate, with multiple stories built surrounding a courtyard, open to the sky, with at least one fountain. None of the riads in our trip were still open to the sky. Group gathering areas, the kitchen, and bedrooms overlook the courtyard. This particular riad had been expanded to allow for more guests. Our room had views over the blue city and the mountains behind. We had a porch with a couch and table and two other window balconies.

Always at checkin we were greeted with tea and snacks

Our trip leader took us on a walk through the old town and town square, past many small shops and lovely blue-painted alleyways. The layout of the town reminded us of Positano. Many steps down to the main square!!! After seeing the ways to navigate the town, possible dinner venues, and shopping and museum ideas, we headed back to our hotel for a lovely 3-course dinner in the garden. We retired to our room around 9:00 after a wonderful day!

Saturday, April 20

After breakfast, Mohammed led us on another walking tour of the town. We took a different route this time, had lots of photo ops before the crowds emerged later in the morning, and made a few interesting stops along the way. The first was to a very old bakery. Interestingly, in addition to preparing bread and pastries to sell to passers-by and fulfilling orders from restaurants for the day, the baker takes in prepared dough from local residents and cooks it in the bakery oven for 1 dirham/loaf. The dirham is the local currency, with 10 dirham=1 USD. The baker has to keep track of which dough belongs to which family! The families prefer the taste of bread baked in the wood-fired oven over bread from their home propane ovens.

Our Trip Leader showed us a couple of the old town gates to this walled city, and some of the fountains. As the old town was built, it was common to locate bakeries and hammams together near the fountains to take advantage of the flow of water and the heat. (Note: hammams are bathing spots with pools of different temperatures. In traditional hammams, women and men enter in at different times of day. An attendant uses a “kess,” a scratchy hand mit, to exfoliate the skin and remove the black soap, “savon beldi,” after letting the soap marinate the skin in the hottest room. These baths must have felt good after days of working in farming or other hard labor).

We visited another local baker who was roasting almonds. We were able to taste some freshly cooked bread and talk with the baker. He originally was studying for another career, but when his father became ill, he took over his bakery business. We also saw the current baker’s son, who is already learning the trade.

Mohammed showed us a doughnut shop and pointed out the only men make doughnuts, and only women make pancakes, by tradition.

We took a ride through the Rif Mountains to Houmar, a rural village to visit a family home. The father, also named Mohammed (a family’s first-born son is usually named Mohammed), showed us the traditional way of making tea, starting with green tea leaves, adding sugar (they use quite a lot) and then fresh mint leaves. Tea was introduced into Morocco by the English, but it is now purchased from China. The father showed us his large garden and some of our group helped to pick fava beans, peas, and parsley to use in our lunch. When we arrived back at the house, we helped chop vegetables for the meal. The meal started with home-prepared olives (shriveled and tasty). Then a cabbage dish; next a stew containing chicken, beans, potatoes, and carrots; and finally a dish with the fava beans, garlic, tomatoes, and parsley we had picked. All these dishes had been cooked on the gas stove in tagines, the traditional clay cooking and serving containers. All the dishes were wonderful. We had a chance to talk with the mom and dad about their lifestyle, how they spend their time, and about schooling of their two children, one of whom joined us. Another child, a neice, was there as well, with her mother, with infant on her back, who was helping to prepare the food. While the food was cooking, “our” Mohammed explained customs about marriage. There are currently very few arranged marriages in Morocco, even though they were common in the past. In most cases, when a couple wants to get married, they do ask permission from the parents. The husband’s family provides a dowry, an agreed amount of money, which is given directly to the wife for her independent use. A rural wedding ceremony is held over three days and can include the entire community. A city ceremony lasts a single day. The couple typically moves into the household of the husband, although more couples are recently chosing to live independently if they can. If a husband dies, the wife continues to live with the parents and is owed the same inheritance.

Interestingly, the Moroccan divorce rate is high, around 44% (similar to the US), and most divorces are no-fault divorces. Both individuals are free to remarry if they wish; many women choose not to.

The litle girls at the house were quite charming and active, making for a delightful afternoon!!

The hat is a traditional berber hat, with pompom colors depicting the local tribe.

Around 6:00 pm, Mohammed led a group of us on a walk up the hill behind our riad to a mosque for a great view of the town, and some good exercise.

Our dinner at the hotel was great. A seafood paella for me, seafood pasta for Chris, and a Moroccan salad to share.

The mosque on the hill. This mosque is not active, although the call to prayer is broadcast live from it. The imam does not have to walk up the stairs, but sing into a microphone at the base of the minaret.

Sunday, April 21 – Sunny and warm!!

We decided against participating in an optional tour to a different small town, Tetuoun, and instead continued our exploration of Chefchaouen. We walked into the town in search of the vibrant paint pigments we had seen the day before, and an ATM for getting more local currency. In front of an ancient olive tree that still thrives after having been split by lightening years prior, was a seated young man who engaged us in English. I asked him where to find the pigments. He told us he had them, so I went downstairs into a seating area of his shop and waited while he retrieved the pigments, from another store. He assured me these were completely pure and natural pigments from indigo, saffron, and other sources, so I decided to buy a set of 20. We bargained on the price and settled on 475 Moroccan Dirham (about $47). I did not have cash since we were on our way to the ATM in the main square. He wrapped up the pigments and gave them to me and walked with us to the ATM. His English was great, from studying at NYU. He was such a lovely individual! After we got cash, paid him 500 MAD, we caught a taxi back uphill to the riad. We spent much of the afternoon at the swimming pool and on our porch.

I walked back into the town for a quick stroll to watch people at the top of the little waterfall at the edge of the town, and wander past shops, and meander down alleys. As the water passed under a bridge into town, there were tables/raised containers that townspeople used for washing laundry.

Inside the shop, down a few steps. Not shown is a woman weaving.

Monday, April 22

We had to leave our riad and board our coach for a drive north toward Tangier. We passed the town of Tetouan, the strait of Gibraltar, and saw the Rock of Gibraltar, and passed a new massive port (built since 2015 to promote industry and trade between Morocco and European ports). On the outskirts of Tangier, we stopped at a restaurant across the road from the Mediteranean sea for a lovely lunch. We then headed past a wealthy area with palaces and mansions to have a walk by the sea, starting from the point where the Mediteranean meets the Atlantic. It was a beautiful afternoon for this walk. Then we headed to our riad in the heart of the old town of Tangier and to a group dinner.

Tuesday, April 23

Below is a brief history of Morocco from out OAT briefing document.

“Morocco is unique for having been occupied by one group of people for all of its recorded history—people who have rarely been subjugated by outside forces. The Berbers or Imazighen (men of the land) have endured for millennia. They are not a homogenous group, but comprise various tribes who share some ethnic lineage. Nor were all Berbers nomads despite the stereotype. Most Berbers were farmers, but connected to fellow Berber traders and horsemen who developed semi-permanent encampments as they forged trade routes.

“The Berbers often frustrated Roman attempts to govern them, though their rebellion was not always violent but often based on shrewd alliances and gamesmanship. Most Berbers continued to practice their traditional, animist religions. They also borrowed from other African and Egyptian religions, and as the millennium turned, many Berbers were Christian or Jewish.

“In the 7th century AD, the Ummayad Arabs conquered the Middle East in less than a decade, but needed 70 years to subdue Morocco’s Berbers. They brought the Arab language, architecture, civil codes, and mostly, the new religion of Islam. Its ideals resonated with traditional Berber values and its adoption was widespread, rapid, and willing. But the Arabs were never able to unify the region politically. Though they enlisted Berber vassals to lead their conquest of Iberia, the sprawling caliphate proved difficult to manage, paving the way for Arab-Berber dynasties such as the Almoravids, Almohads, and Nasrids, who presided over Moorish Iberia, called al-Andalus. These dynasties have ruled Morocco continuously from the 8th century to the present.

“When the Moors were expelled from al-Andalus in 1492, Muslim and Jewish refugees brought their cultures back to Morocco, enriching the Imperial Cities of Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat, and Meknes. Rulers rose and fell for 140 years and in the 1630s, the Alaouite family overthrew the Saadis, establishing a line that rules to this day. In the late 1800s, Morocco’s strategic location and natural resources attracted France, which took control by 1912. Spain hung onto a small protectorate on the coast, Tangier was made an international zone, and Rabat became the capital. When Berbers rebelled in 1926, it took 25,000 Spanish-French troops to subdue them.

“During WWII, Morocco was ruled by Vichy France, which was a Nazi puppet. But independent- minded Casablanca provided crucial support for the Allied North African campaign. After the war in 1944, Morocco demanded freedom, and France was eventually pressured to grant it. Mohammed V returned from exile in 1955; Morocco won its independence in 1956; Mohammed V crowned himself king in 1957; and handed power to his son, Hassan II, in 1961. Hassan II earned the people’s affection in 1975 when he led the Green March into the Western Sahara to force Spain to hand over the province. More than 350,000 volunteers marched that day, but the dispute between Morocco and the western separatist Polisario Front still simmers.

“Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999, and advanced many liberal policies including women’s rights. In 2002, he married Salma Bennani, a computer science engineer, and many believed it symbolized the acceptance of modern roles. In 2004, the government imposed changes to family law geared toward lifting the gender inequality and protecting children. During the Arab Spring of 2011, Mohammed VI reacted with a deftness that eluded other leaders, announcing constitutional reforms, ceding more power to parliament, and making Berber an official state language. But Mohammed VI has increasingly been criticized for repressing freedom of speech, and the nation still struggles with poverty, unemployment, and corruption in the justice system.”

We started the morning with a fascinating tour of Tangier, with a local guide, Mohammed, who spoke excellent English, with an American accent. He provided a comprehensive historical perspective on the various groups who governed Tangier as an international proctectorate, beginning in 1925. The governance included various European countries, the US, and the Moroccan sultanate. The arrangement was an attempt to keep a single country (Spain) from having total control of the Strait of Gibraltar and therefore trade throughout the Mediteranean.

The famous Cafe Baba, with windows looking over the Bay of Tangier

After the tour, we made our way to the train station to take a high-speed train to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, where we met the remaining 4 travellers, and started the main trip. Dinner was at the hotel.

Wednesday, April 24

We officially kicked off the main meeting with introductions, summary of the upcoming trip, and tips for a successful experience (including no discussing of American politics). Then we were joined by a local guide for a fascinating tour of Rabat. We visited the outside of the Royal Palace. This is a large compound including gardens and a school for the families who live and work at the palace. We learned about how the current king, Mohammed VI, is very popular, having introduced many social reforms, open government, support for equality of women. According to a student we met with later, his son, who was also a student at the same university, is very progressive and will likely be a popular leader when he succeeds his father.

We had several views of the Mohammed VI Opera House (not yet open), designed by Zaha Hadid and her architecture firm, and Mohammed VI tower (a 55-story rocket-shaped skyscraper to include hotels, banks and other businesses). Both structures are scheduled to open at the same time.

We then visited the Mohammed V Mausoleum, commissioned by Hassan II, and begun in 1961. It houses the remains of Mohammed V and his two sons. Across from the Mausoleum stands the Hassan Tower, which is an incomplete minaret originally intended in the 12th centure as part of one of the largest-ever mosques to be built, commisioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third caliph of the Almohad Caliphate. When al-Mansur died in 1199, all construction was stopped, leaving the incomplete columns, walls and minaret of the intended mosque. Note: the convention for naming the first son differs for the royal family – they alternate between Mohammed and Hassan in successive generations. The current king is Mohammed VI, and his son will be called Hassan III.

Gate to the plaza containing the Mausoleum and Hassan Tower

We then visited the Kasbah Oudeya, built in the 12th century. (Check out the youtube video of the chase seen from Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation). Kasbahs were originally built as defensive fortifications. This Kasbah is now a largely residential area with narrow streets and whitewashed homes. Many doors feature the hand of Fatima, which is thought to counter the evil eye. Fatima was the daughter of the prophet Mohammed and his first wife, Kadija There was a great spot for viewing the Bou Regreg River. We stopped for tea at a cafe that was a key watering hole for pirates, and walked through an Andalusian garden.

We had time on our own and spent an hour at the botanical garden…..

Our welcome dinner was at a local restaurant owned by a Jewish family.

Thursday, April 25W

We drove to Fez (pronounced fes) through rolling hills and farmland. We stopped at a pottery business, where all the processes are performed by hand, using beautiful natural pigments. Because the kilns are so hot and smokey, they have been relocated out of town.

A member of our group getting practice at the wheel.

We had to leave our bus at the outskirts of Fez and walk through the medina to our riad (Riad au 20 Jasmins). We had lunch at the riad and then checked into our rooms. We had a lovely dinner with new friends in a garden restaurant close to the riad.

Friday, April 26

I took an optional tour to the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, a beautiful setting full of wildflowers, and a visit to the town of Meknes, which had previously housed the Moroccan sultanate.

We also visited the national music museum housed in a magnificent building. Tilework, intricately carved plaster surfaces, painted cedar trim and ceilings were beautiful. Also colored glass windows.

It is alway fun seeing what kids wear and carry to and from school.

This evening was our home-hosted dinner, which was at the home of a lovely family. The mother and 16-year old son spoke excellent English, the husband spoke none. We exchanged information about our families and careers, and the mom explained details of wedding ceremonies. Particularly for some families, the bride has seven wedding outfits, the first and last are white, and the last can be a western-style bridal gown. The others are traditional, but elegant, and paired with special jewelry. The family hires a wedding coordinator who helps select the outfits and jewelry to rent, hires the attendants for the ceremony to help the bride with the costume changes, to support the bridal chair, etc. We saw photos from the mothers neice’s wedding. The family had moved from a riad in the old town to a smaller apartment with a garden, in the new town. The mother missed the neighbors and small town feel at the riad, but the new apartment is more convenient to schools and places of work

Saturday, April 27

We explored Fez with a local guide. The medina (old town) is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We started in the jewish section of the medina, called the mellah, including the Ibn Danan synagogue. We wandered through the narrow streets with shops selling everything including rugs, clothing, consumables, and shoes. We had lunch at a local restaurant and continued our tour of the medina and the al-Attarine Madrasa (school for islamic studies) and visited a local tannery that had been operated by the same family for generations. We were given mint leaves to put in our noses while we viewed the dying vats, which smelled awful. Some of us purchased beautiful leather goods that were hand made in this family shop.

We had dinner at the riad and got ready for an early morning departure.

The markets are called souks.

Sunday, April 28

We had our longest ride of the trip, heading to the Sahara. We drove through the Middle Atlas Mountains, through a variety of landscapes. We stopped at a ski town of Ifrane for photos. We stopped along the road to view the barbary macaques as they were being fed by other tourists. We had lunch in Midelt, where they offered trout from the local fish farms.

In late afternoon, After crossing the High Atlas mountains, we checked into a lovely hotel in Erfoud, Chergui Kasbah. We packed for the desert tented camp by putting just what we needed in smaller bags so our main luggage would stay on the bus and avoid the sand of the Sahara.

Monday, April 29

We stopped at an enterprise that collects and makes artistics products from fossils. The whole geographic region had previously been under water, so there is abundant material for their tables, artworks, and jewelry. There are laws protecting valuable fossils from leaving the country, so the only ones for sale are those that are not protected. Then we took the bus to the small town of Rissani. We stopped at a livestock farm and had the opportunity to try camel milk; we opted out of that opportunity. As public healthers, we only drink pasteurized milk ;).

We broke into 5 groups to ride in 4×4 vehicles for the drive through the Sahara to the dunes near Merzouga. We checked into our tents and had lunch. In the afternoon we visited a desert farm, and rode around the area where we would start our camel ride the next day. Back at camp our chef gave us a cooking demonstration and we had another wonderful meal after watching the sun set.

Tuesday, April 30

Some of us watched the sun rise over the dunes. After breakfast, we drove to the starting point for our camel ride over the dunes. The camel handlers wrapped our scarves around our heads and necks to protect us from the sand and sun. The camels had multiple layers of padding between their backs and our seats, and were tied together. We each mounted our camel while it was kneeling, and then it rose to standing – wow, what a launch! No one fell off! The ride was beautiful and the motion rather swayingly smooth. It was amazing how the camels could walk at the very edge of a dune ridge.

We then visited the village of Khamlia Gnawa, know for its music. Black Africans from the Gnawa tribes in Sudan, Mali and Niger, are descendents of slaves who worked the salt mines in the Sahara. As Islam does not allow slavery, the slaves were freed when Islam took hold in Morocco. The Gnawa originated a type of rhythmic music and chanting,which is played on drums, iron castenets, and stringed instruments called Guembri and Hajhuj, made of intestines and skins of goats and wood from the tamarisk trees.

On our way back to camp, we visited a nomadic family, consisting of a father, mother and two young children. The father’s brother was minding their herd of sheep some distance away. We dropped in with no notice, and they welcomed us into their formal tent, and served us tea and homemade snacks (cookies and a mixture of nuts). We were able to ask them questions, take photos of their various tents, and enjoy their company. Because of their lifestyle, the children do not go to school and both parents are illiterate. They move to follow water sources, and take everything on backs of donkeys and camels. This type of lifestyle is dying out, with individuals increasingly moving to cities for menial jobs and small apartments. The nomadic lifestyle seems very hard, but the family appeared to enjoy the outdoors and freedoms of their choice.

Wednesday, May 1

We left our camp and headed to the next stop — Ouarzazate.

Along the way we stopped at one of the entrances to the underground irrigation tunnel system that had been used to bring water from the Atlas Mountains into the desert.

We later stopped in a small town walled berber village, a ksar, Tinejdad, to tour a Berber museum housed in a rustic stucco building. On the ground level were a group of women training others in the art of embroidery. They were singing, and a film crew was filming them.

Late in the afternoon we checked into our riad at Ouarzazate. Internet connections were a real problem, but a little wine and meal in the hotel helped us to refresh after a long travel day.

Thursday, May 2

Breakfasts were on the rooftop, which had beautiful views of the town, and a stork nest on top of the minaret across from us. We experienced our “Day in the Life” ourside Ouarzazate. First we stopped to view the ancient city of Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO world heritage site, where many movies have been filmed, including some scenes from Game of Thrones. We travelled a bit further to Asfalou where we met our local family. The father is a brick maker and demonstrated how he fashions bricks, allowing us to help. We walked down to the garden area, sat under shade trees for tea, bread and home-made olive oil, and chatted about life of the family. Our host showed us how they harvest clover, which they use for animal feed, with a hand scythe. We then made our way back into the main room of the house (taking our shoes off, of course), to help prepare lunch, which included couscous. This was a muli-generational extended family, with lots of helpers. We had great discussions.

After saying our goodbye with waves and hugs, we drove to the Grand Circle Foundation-sponsored Imik Simik Women’s Association for Rural Development. A group of 15 local women (now 43) had gotten together with a plan to boost their economic chances as women in a male-dominated economy by learning new skills. While a men’s organization had offered a plan for a GCF project, GCF selected the women’s group to support through the building of a two-story building with rooftop level as well. An industrial kitchen was furnished an the women were trained in making pastries and other items to sell to local hotels and in the new cafe of the building. There is also a child-care center upstairs, a sewing room with great equipment (training will start soon), and a large gathering room for training and discussions. We had tea and cookies, and talked with the women, and then two of the women drew henna tattoos on some of our palms. It was a delightful experience to see how this endeavor is thriving and growing. There are plans for them to open a restaurant in the future.

We had dinner at a local restaurant back in Ouarzazate.

Friday, May 3,

We drove through the High Atlas Mountains, stopping to see how Argan Oil is made from the nuts of the trees that grow only in Soutwestern Morocco.

We checked into our riad in Marrakesh for lunch and then a had walking tour of parts of Marrakesh, particularly the Bahia Palace. Building of the palace began in 1859 by Su Musa, the grand by Si Musa, grand vizier of Alaouite sultan Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, and completed by his son in 1900. Si Musa was descended from black slaves and his family rose to the highest ranks in the government. The tour ended in the Djemma El Fna, the main market square filled with vendors of all sorts, snake and monkey handlers, and motercycles that seem determined to run you over in the narrow alleyways from the square to our riad, the Palais des Princesses. The small alleys of the souks were crowded with vendors, shoppers, and motorcycles doing their best to avoid running us down!!

Some of the travellers ventured with Mohammed to find local street food options for dinner. Chris and I were tired from our travels and ordered sandwiches at the hotel, which were delivered to the rooftop seating area. We had purchased some bottles of wine and were able to sneak some up to roof to go with our food. Yes, in Morocco, wine and beer are scarce!

Saturday, May 4,

We opted not to join the group for the rest of the walking tour of Marrakech and instead did our private exploration of the souk and market square near our riad.

We met the group for lunch at a local restaurant cooking lamb chops and lamb burgers, and later had an hour and a half tour around Marrakech in horse-drawn calèches. We were able to see some of the new town with very modern and fancy homes, hotels, and restaurants, in addition to the old town market streets.

For dinner, we again opted to order from the riad and eat in the rooftop area. We had the most amazing salad of fruits, dates, and nuts, and a pastilla, which is a “pie” made with shredded chicken, shaved almonds, and spices wrapped in phyllo pastry. I can’t wait to try to make the pastilla!

Sunday, May 5

Two of us met a driver at 5:00 am to travel outside of town for a hot-air balloon ride. We watched the amazing preparations, then boarded our very large balloon. Our pilot was a very experienced Egyption pilot and helped the other balloons get up before we left. We were able to see the sun rise as we were taking off, then floated along to see the scenery, that included the highest peak in the High Atlas Mountains, goat herds, little villages, and about 30 other balloons. It was just amazing. I will do this again every chance I get!!!

After we landed and the crew prepared the rocky ground for the balloon to safely settle on, we were treated to a full Moroccon breakfast and then headed back to town.

Chris and I went silver shopping and I bought a Moroccan bracelet.

We later met in one of the riad dining rooms for a discussion with a student about life in Morocco, opportunities for women, cultural pressures, wearing of the veil, views on marriage. Despite her father’s pressure to wear the traditional scarf and pursue an economics college curriculum, she later decided to remove the veil and choose a different academic path. Interestingly, her father was completely supportive (leading her to wish she had asserted her independence earlier). I asked her about recent survey results I had read about which said a high percentage of women reported domestic abuse in the last year. Her response was that the abuse would totally have been psychological/emotional abuse and not physical abuse.

We had our farewell dinner at an amazing restaurant.

Monday, May 6

Off to Casablanca. When we arrived, we toured the Hassan II mosque, the only mosque in Morocco that allows non-muslims to visit. It was completed in 1993, designed by Michel Pinseau, overseen by Hassan II, and build by artisans from around the country. The minaret is the second tallest in the world, with a laser on top always pointing toward Mecca. The mosque is the second largest in Africa. It can accomodate 105,000 worshippers both inside and out. It was built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic. It was an amazing site and our guide was so helpful in explaining various rituals, customs and beliefs. The overall site also houses a madrasa and hammam, and faces the El Hank Lighthouse.

For our last dinner in Morocco, a group of us ate at Rick’s Cafe, the restaurant created to memorialize the movie Casablanca (which was filmed in Hollywood). Food and company were great. There was even live music. Next day we headed out for an early flight.