As part of my Cosmos tour in January 2003, I had five days to explore some of Morocco.

We visited Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakesh, the Ourika Valley, Fez and finished in Ceuta.

We passed a large body of water behind a dam, full after this wet winter which has been kind to the rural farmers. We were told that eighty per cent of the electricity in Morocco is from hydro dams such as this one.

We passed a group of camels in their stony, arid fields with their handlers. Our driver soon found a place to pull over and the men and camels raced towards us. For a few coins we were able to take photos. It was quite an adventure initially as the camels ran very quickly towards the bus.

We had a poor over-priced lunch in the heart of the Atlas mountains at a tourist restaurant. By this stage though it was far too cold to remain outside! In this area there were many partly built houses. Khalid told us that many people from this area had emigrated to Italy and they now return in July and August and add to their houses as finance allows.

Our next stop was Ifrane, a ski resort that has a surprisingly cosmopolitan and European feel to it. It was about 4ºC when we arrived there and locals were expecting the first snowfall of the winter. The King of Morocco has a residence in Ifrane. The town is at an altitude of 1600m, and it has a private university with Muslim, Christian and Jewish students.

As we drove on, I noticed some Barbary Apes at one point, scavenging through some roadside rubbish bins. At this cold time of year, the apes apparently mainly hide out in caves.

January 9:
Fez and the journey to Ceuta

It was a long drive north through to Ceuta, and we were to pass through yet another mountain range, the Rif mountains, but unfortunately it was raining so hard that we saw little of the view. The Rif Mountains are a continuation of the European Alps and are much younger than the Atlas Mountains which are a continuation of the Andes.

Khalid told us that the north is the poorest part of Morocco. It has poor soil and there is much poverty. Smuggling has been important in this area since Ceuta is duty free. The word "reefer" apparently derives from these mountains as marijuana began to be grown here in the 60s and it only takes two months for a crop to grow. A new port is being built at Tetuan with sponsorship from the Emir of Bahrain for half of the project.

We eventually reached the border between Morocco and Ceuta, where we officially re-entered Spain. David, our tour guide, had all our passports stamped at a "priority" counter. Our luggage holds were all checked for illegal immigrants and after half an hour we crossed into "Spain" while we remained in Africa. Everything was immediately different. Cars stopped at pedestrian crossings for us to cross, and the architecture was of a solid European style. Near the hotel was a lovely square. But somehow there was a sadness that we had so easily left behind the mystery of ancient Morocco.

Our hotel in Ceuta, the Tryp Ceuta, was quite the most magnificent we had on the tour. There was a huge atrium that rose up for several storeys. Balconies from the accommodation floors overlooked it, and a myriad of lush potplants adorned it. (I later came to see a similar kind of thing in Barcelona in a building that Gaudi had designed and I wondered whether his influence had been in the mind of the architect.)

We arrived in Ceuta quite late and would be leaving on the ferry the next morning before the day had really begun. But several of us went walking in the evening and enjoyed the sound and smell of the sea air on our last evening in Africa.