Food & drink
Food & Restaurants in Marrakech
Moroccan cuisine is often described as being a diverse mix of Berber, Arab and even Mediterranean influences with much use of the exotic spices… […]
Africa
Food & drink
What is a Moroccan Tajine?
The name actually refers to the container the meal is cooked in as well as the dish itself. This is a two piece earthenware affair, usually called a beldi tajine, which consists of a circular base in which the ingredients are cooked… […]
Africa
Dar Al Bahar, Essaouira, Morocco
Meaning ‘House by the Sea’, Dar Al Bahar is a beautiful, traditional dar of four storeys built into the ramparts of the old city with views over the ocean and the medina. Perfectly located within a footstep of the heart of the bustling medina… […]
Hotels
Tigmi Tacchedirt Lodge
Our first impression of the lodge spreading across the lower parts of North Africa’s highest village, Tacchedirt, was one of relief as we’d just climbed to it from the valley floor after… […]
Africa
Seeing the Light in Marrakech
By day, the lamps reflected the sunlight in a thousand glints of colour and by night they turned even the poorest of stalls into a stage worthy of Shahrazad himself to weave another story beneath their magical light. […]
Essaouira
Surviving the Harbour at Essaouira
The contrast between the chilled out vibes of Place Moulay Hassan in Essaouira, Morocco, and the frenzied entrance to the harbour area via a gate in the town wall comes as a bit of a surprise. One second you’re… […]
Africa
Riad Merstane, Marrakech
A stunning 200 year old riad, beautifully restored and impeccably maintained in the residential area of the Marrakech medina, a ten minute walk to the souks and 25 minutes to the famous Jemaa El F’na square. Riad Merstane is hidden away in a maze of alleys and entering from the medina is like walking into a perfumed and tranquil oasis. […]
Marrakech
First Impressions of the Red City of Marrakech in Photos
A wacky races of mopeds and bicycles weave around pedestrians in narrow alleys. The trick to negotiating them is not to move out of the way of the traffic; let the bikes do all the work. In some ways these are more interesting than the trinket and treasure laden souks […]
Africa
Two Rude Awakenings in Africa
Instead of being alarmed because a) someone was knocking on the window and b) the window was on the second storey of the VOI Safari Lodge in Kenya, I grumbled my way out of bed and over to the window and opened the curtains to find […]
Africa
D-I-Y Seafood Dinner in Lamu
It was everything I had hoped an Arab trading port to be. Fishermen sat mending nets, small children catapulted themselves, laughing and screaming from canoes into the water and elderly men with equally elderly donkeys transported… […]
Africa
How to Disappoint a Chief on the Tana Delta in Kenya
I eased myself from the canoe and into the river, relishing the cooling caress of the jade water on my hot and dusty feet, and slowly waded, Merrells in hand, the few metres to the shore where a bearded man wearing a faded check sarong stood beside a bucket of water. […]