Category Archives: Travel

The final day of the trip was mainly a long, hot drive over the two mountain ranges between N’Kob and Marrakech. Unfortunately I was on the left side of the minibus, and the sun carefully matched the gentle rotation of our dominant direction of travel to beam in through my window the whole time 🙁

The first snow of the year had left the highest peaks of the Atlas peppered in white. Most of our route still looked pretty dry and dusty, but at the top of the pass there were a few white patches in sheltered corners. It’s been a hot year and the locals are really looking forward to some precipitation, which looks like it is finally about to arrive.

We had a pleasant end to the drive with a couple of shots of the mountains and hillside villages in nice light, then arrived back in Marrakech after dark. We went to eat at a restaurant we had also visited last week, and amused the waiter by all ordering the same thing, thanks to a strong recommendation from those who had it last week.

My flight back to London is relatively late in the day, but my plan for a lie-in was scuppered by the local Mezzuin starting his calls at 5 am! On a positive note this meant I was able to have a final breakfast with my companions from the trip.

I’m now sitting by the pool bringing my blog up to date, and should be able to finish my first pass on the photos before lunch and setting off to the airport. Unfortunately I have to admit that it’s not really warm enough to just be in a T shirt, but I’m on holiday in a hot country, so I’m determined to try…

Overall it’s been an excellent experience, travellers’ tummy notwithstanding. It’s just sad it’s come to an end.

The photography was as good as expected, possibly better as we got more people shots than I was expecting. In total I made about 3,100 exposures, split as follows: Panasonic GX7 2308, Canon 7D 747, Canon 550D 37 (plus a few by Carolyn trying it out as a possible upgrade for her 350D). Around half retained after first edit, so hopefully at least a couple of hundred “keepers”.

I’ll finish off with my traditional “what worked and what didn’t” hints and tips soon.

After a very cold start (see previous post) we had an early start and trekked the short distance across the remainder of the Erg Chebbi. At the edge we said goodbye to the camels and transferred to a couple of 4x4s, which were driven expertly if slightly scarily across the flatter sand to Khemliya where we spent an hour photographing and filming some local musicians.

The Panasonic GX7 continues to impress, capturing faultless, stable high-definition video in almost no light. This morning it worked well in a dim interior, and last night it captured the entertainment by the light of just a small camp fire. (Sample video to follow.)

Then we returned to the auberge in Merzouga for a shower and early lunch, and sadly started the long drive back to Marrakech. The route takes us down the south side of the Jbel Saghro, which is even hotter and drier than the northern side, essentially a rocky desert with very sparse cultivation.

We ended the day in N’kob, a small town essentially just at a crossroads between routes across Morocco. We’re staying at the rather pleasant and beautifully renovated Kasbah Imdoukal (Berber for “friend”) . Tomorrow we complete the drive back to Marrakech.

It may be the middle (OK, edge) of the Sahara, but it’s bloody freezing. I’m currently lying in all my clothes, in my sleeping bag, under a heavy Berber blanket, with my cheche on my head, but it’s so cold my eyes can’t focus properly on my phone, and my hands are having trouble operating the stylus, although in fairness the restrictions of the sleeping bag contribute to that!

We had a dawn start yesterday, and were treated to some great light on the dunes. The only problem was getting up them. The camels make it look easy, but if you have dodgy knees and very small feet for your weight you’re lucky if you achieve three steps up for every two you slide back.

After a late breakfast we went shooting camels. Not literally, I hasten to add – I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing. I have decided that I like camels. The ones we have been working with seem to be remarkably docile, gentle creatures, rather like tall, strong, lumpy sheep. Our guide Yussef posed with several, and then one for close ups. This animal had a real personality, and seemed to have a model’s instinct, moving quickly between and then holding different poses, some just nice, some really hilarious.
After a long lunch break we set off again over the dunes. Late afternoon was another great light show, with ripples in the sand and small shrubs providing foreground interest against the swirls and curves of the larger dunes and a deep blue sky.

The second Berber encampment was really rough. Oh the disappointments of electric light and flushing toilets… After dinner our guides and camel handlers entertained us with drumming and Berber folk tunes. One was unmistakably the same tune as “Ma Baker” by Boney M, which raises an interesting question: which came first?

I had another go at my star trails, but I suspect that a combination of problems will have affected the results. Firstly in attempting to compensate for the moonlight I may have underexposed the starts, and secondly the battery died from cold sometime relatively early in the night. I just have to wait and see.

The “entertainment” last night is best glossed over – lots of drumming but no real way to distinguish any part from any other – a 10s repeating loop would be much the same.

We woke up to quite a strong wind, kicking up a dust off the dunes. Only limited photo opportunities, and some concern for the trek later in the day. We went up to the local village and wandered around for a while, then had both excellent photography and a very nice lunch (a “berber pizza”) at the Nomad Depot, essentially the local carpet emporium. Dick succumbed to the sales speil, and will be going back to Norway two rugs heavier.

After lunch we chucked the kit and ourselves onto 8 camels and set off into the Erg Chebbi, a small “sand sea”. Sods Law – after 7 days of cloudless skies we had substantial cloud cover, so battling the light for photography, but at least the wind had dropped. Fate smiled on us with a couple of breaks in the cloud to provide a few decent shots, but no star trails for us tonight!

At the end of the trek, we reached the Berber encampment. Just in case the enormity of this achievement is not appreciated, I should disclose that one of the camel handlers then walked home for the night!

I’m now sitting by a camp fire, with a beer, waiting for dinner, so all’s right with the world.

Update, Morning.

Sleep was better than feared, worse than hoped for. During the night the clouds cleared and at one awakening I set the camera up for a star trail set. However as it was a full moon I’m not expecting the best results. We’ll see.

We had a dawn start to photograph the town of Tineghir from a panoramic overlook. It’s suddenly very cold – not much above freezing first thing. The angle of the light was again a challenge, but I got some good shots of back-lit palm trees and layers of haze.

After breakfast we went a bit further up the Gorge du Todra. The gorge itself is not easy to photograph, but we had good luck with goat-herds bringing their flock to the river, and with the vendors who now line the tourist section. One of those was very hospitable, and happy to pose for us. He then persuaded us to look at the cheches – Arab head scarves – and we all bought one. I went for a very elegant cobalt blue (resisting the temptation of a dramatic orange or pink ;)), and the rest of the group followed suit, so we’ll all match in the desert tomorrow.

After that we set out on the road, heading through the Jbel Saghra mountains to Merzouga where we’ll head off on camelback into the Sahara. The drive wasn’t terribly interesting, but we were treated to a nice sunset over the mountains, and have been promised entertainment with dinner, although that will be for another blog.

Still in Ait Ben Haddou, after a quick trip to the top of the hill and back we found ourselves back in the kasbah museum. Someone had the idea of kicking up some dust to illuminate the strong shaft of light coming in through one of the windows. We then spent a happy if dusty hour photographing this, and each other in a variety of lights and poses. Photographers are easy to keep amused!

Dawn start to photograph Ait Ben Haddou lit from the East by the rising sun. This is a very familiar view to viewers of a certain class of film.

We spent the morning mainly exploring the interiors of a couple of abandoned kasbahs – large multi-storey fortresses / homes again built around a central courtyard, but with the added challenge here of being built into a steep hillside. The light inside was fascinating, like in a slot canyon, with the interiors lit by small shafts of light reflected off other walls, being coloured rich reds and golds in the process. I finally made my Olympus 12mm f/2 pay its way, as the perfect lens for the cramped conditions and low light levels.

After lunch we set off to photograph a Moroccan family Lee had worked with before. The youngest daughter is very pretty, but I actually preferred my shots of the mother and older daughter, above.

On Wednesday we moved off from Marrakech, up over the Atlas mountains. Quite a long drive, made even longer by a couple of factors. Firstly a bus full of photographers will stop repeatedly to shoot every pretty hillside village. Second the Caliph’s Revenge, or whatever they call the local travellers’ tummy caught up with me and I had to request a couple of extra stops at short notice!

The views from the top of the Tizi-n-Tichka pass were quite dramatic and will make a good panorama.

I must stop making eye contact with the roadside vendors. I’m now the proud owner of a rather pretty geode, and a very complete trilobite fossil which I didn’t set out to purchase!

At the end of the day we arrived at Ait Ben Haddou, a very picturesque old town which will be immediately familiar to those who have seen films like Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven or Prince of Persia. Exploring it is Thursday’s job.

The friendly water seller.

I’m falling behind a bit with my blog, not for any technical reason, but simply because the days of this trip are so packed they leave little time for anything except sleep.

Day three was also spent in Marrakech. We started by returning to some of the more “active” souks, hoping to re-create some shots of the dyers from one of Lee’s previous trips. Unfortunately the key players were initially not ready, and then various other people got involved trying to arrange themselves a cut of the fee, and in the end we walked away. To compensate we then found another beautifully lit alleyway, and terrorised the locals for half an hour photographing the comings and goings. After that we found a willing water seller who was remarkably tolerant as we photographed himself every way we could think of.

The middle of the day was spent at the Majorelle Gardens, founded by a famous 19th century artist and rescued in the 20th by Yves St Laurent. These are beautiful, calm tropical gardens full of charming yellow and blue buildings and pottery. Very pleasant – a perfect antidote to the bustle of the Medina.

After a leisurely lunch we headed back to the centre to photograph the main Kotubia Mosque, and then some very entertaining snake charmers.

The only problem with photographing people in Morocco, and we experienced it three times that day, is that there’s no concept of a fixed or “fair” price, and there is always an awkward haggling session at the end of the interaction, where the subjects demand an excessive fee, while we try and offer something which while modest by British standards frequently represents an average Moroccan daily wage.

It’s the same if you want to buy something, and you rapidly long for fixed, advertised prices!

However, while this may be unpleasant, it does seem to be very much part of the culture, and a small price to pay for such magical photographic opportunities. Now I just need to stop making eye contact with the vendors…

Well not me, obviously! 🙂 Mind you, our guide for our second day in Marrakech, Mohammed, was even more generously padded than yours truly, so maybe it’s not the barrier you might think. Within half an hour we had him hiding in doorways, walking in the light, walking in the shadows… He pointed out that when he got out of bed he wasn’t expecting to take up modelling – we pointed out that now he’s a model he can refuse to get out of bed at all!

With Mohammed to find the way, we had a very enjoyable day wandering through the souks. From outside you don’t realise just how large an area they cover, or how many specialisms are represented. There is, for example, a souk just dedicated to slippers, or another to lamps. The best are those where the artisans are practicing their craft, like the metalworkers. For a small donation they will weld and grind while you photograph, so hopefully I have some shots with interesting showers of sparks.

Morning coffee was in a charming dar, a traditional guest house built around a central courtyard with a water feature. (A riad is similar but larger and has a garden.) The idea is that these are “like paradise”, and photographically this one certainly delivered. The steep walls were covered in intricate carvings, and in addition the owner was using it as a gallery of modern art.

The afternoon was full of more souks, topped by watching the sun go down over the main square and photographing the increasing bustle by the light of the stalls.