March 4th, 2008, 3 Comments »
We’re back in Essaouira after, all told, about 1000 km of driving in and out of the desert. I’m catching up on email and such, but I wanted to post to say that we’d survived, and to point to our 88 photos from the trip (here’s a slideshow, if you prefer).
In honour of my Aunt Lynn, who only ever wants to see one’s best three vacation photos, here’s five. Click for larger versions:
Photographically speaking, this trip kicked my ass. Looking at the photos, I recognize how much more care I need to take, how much more practice I need, and how I could really use some instruction on technique. When we get back to Victoria, I’m going to look around for a good 200-level photography course.
3 Comments »
February 26th, 2008, 4 Comments »
I keep saying that because, frankly, it sounds cool.
Tomorrow we’re taking six days and heading all the way across Morocco to the edge of apparent nothingness in the Sahara Desert. We’ve hired a driver to take us most of the way, and then we’re hiring a car for the last stretch.
In the hopes of not becoming a page A16 news item about ignorant, lost tourists, I figured I’d post our itinerary here:
- Our driver takes us from Essaouira across the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate. That’s going to be about eight hours but trust me, it’s less heinous than the flight options.
- We stay over night in Ouarzazate at the Hotel Mercure Ouarzazate.
- The next morning we rent a car from the local Budget Rent-a-Car (a little odd? Yes) from and drive southeast about 200 km to M’hamid.
- We stay three nights at M’hamid at a kasbah called Dar Azawad. The second night we ride camels out into the desert to stay at a camp. Yes, sort of a CamelCamp. I’ve explained to Julie that camels are hateful, smelly, spitting beasts, but she’s insistent that we give it a try.
- We have one free night. We’ll probably drive back through Ouarzazate, head through Skoura to Kelaa El Megouna. We’ll stay over night somewhere before returning to Ouarzazate to get picked up for the long drive back to the coast.
Not to worry any parents–I’m sure it’s very safe. Here’s the route:
View Larger Map
As a matter of interest, this will be the longest time I’ll be without internet access since, well, since I can remember. Of course, who am I kidding? I’m sure all our hotels will have public terminals, or there will be internet cafes a-plenty. I may really try not to check email.
4 Comments »
February 21st, 2008, 3 Comments »
We were actually going to be on the backs of camels in the Sahara Desert during the conference this weekend, but it got pushed back a few days. So CamelCamp will follow MooseCamp by about a week.
Have fun at this year’s conference, which promises to be bigger and better than ever. Be sure to thank the organizers, volunteers, speakers and sponsors when you see them. It’s a non-profit conference and nobody gets paid. So what you see is the sum of a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
If you want to drop by and say Hi, I believe I’ll virtually be an expert in our ‘Ask an Expert’ booth on Saturday morning. More details to follow.
3 Comments »
