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Tag Archives: sahara desert

I say Morocco, You say Monaco

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

africa, marrakech, Moroccan map, Morocco, North Africa, sahara desert, straits of gibralter, travel

So many people don’t really know where Morocco even is. And many confuse it with Monaco. But there was a time I didn’t know where it is either so I am patient explaining it. When I say it’s in North Africa, roughly 8 miles south of Spain, most people are shocked since Morocco conjures up images of remoteness and roughness and it just seems farther away than Spain!

Here are a couple of maps to help you gain perspective if you fall into the category of people who don’t really know where Morocco is!

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2002-map
MapSpainPortugal

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She’s a real hot one, I tell ya

28 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

august, hear, hot, Morocco, sahara desert, weather

It’s hot. Not just hot, but HOT. Not the kind of hot about which you casually complain, but the kind where you moan out loud. It’s the kind of hot that makes a face drip sweat. At least mine. Sauna-hot. Carry-a-towel-with-you-everywhere hot. The kind of hot that makes you wonder what on earth you were thinking when you decided to visit Morocco in August?! Hot like when you turn on your car and it blasts piping hot air from the an A/C not yet
ready to act like an A/C. Seriously and ridiculously hot, dry, heat.

So we get up early and do what needs doing and we take a rest midday until it becomes more manageable. We are grateful for sweat because it cools us in the rare breeze. And we sit in an Internet cafe drinking cold water and juice whilst misters spray us, the whole time listening to French music. We are tranquil, happy, and mildly less hot here. Today, at least. Tomorrow we go to Sahara Desert where the temperatures are at least 20 degrees hotter.

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Say YES

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco, Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

best friend, bff, documentary film, emmy award, film, filmmaker, filmmaking, inn, Kickstarter, Laurel Lindahl, marrakech, Mokhtar, Moroccans, Morocco, riad, sahara desert, say yes, tourism, travel, US Embassy, video, visa

I’ve said it before on this blog, but I’ll say it again: if you keep saying yes in life, it’s hard telling what will happen or where you’ll end up. Take for example these recent doings. Since I love Morocco and have an interest in pretty much everything surrounding travel, new cultures/people, and real estate, I decided to pursue my plan to buy a riad, or guesthouse, in Marrakech. A real big deal, but only one part of this story.

Here’s another part. My best friend, Laurel Lindahl, is a producer/director and writer, among other things (like jokester, comedian, brownie-batter-eater, etc…). She recently won her second Emmy Award for a documentary film, linked below.

http://vimeopro.com/ebenandelle/the-ketchikan-story-project

So she knows what she’s doing. And she’s good at it. That got the two of us talking. Since I’m interested in buying a riad and she has experience with documentary filmmaking, why not film the whole riad-buying experience? Why not make it into a marketable piece of film for some such use down the road? We got excited about this so loosely laid out a plan where we would travel to Morocco in November 2014 and bring a filmmaker with us to capture some footage.

And then things progressed even more. Mokhtar, my friend in Morocco, wants to visit the USA so last week went to the US Embassy to interview for a visa. They kept his passport, which is a real good sign that they’re going to allow him to visit. At least that’s what we’re thinking. So that’s another part of the story.

But there’s more. Since I’m going to Morocco over Labor Day weekend (next week!) to check out riads, why not bring a filmmaker along for a few days to film the experience? And why not ask the one filmmaker whom you have heard so much about and with whom you really want to work? And besides, he lives in Amsterdam, which makes the flight so much more manageable. So we quickly devised a plan and emailed him asking if he was available. He is. We asked him if he wanted to work with us and if he would provide costs involved. He does, and he did. And now I’ve booked his flight and we’re making plans for an entirely different trip than I originally planned!

And also, on this end in the States, we’re going to meet with another filmmaker and storyteller who will create a video for a Kickstarter campaign so we can get the film funded. And since Mokhtar will presumably be visiting in the next month or so, we will be able to work with him during his visit for the Kickstarter video and for a film we will do about his life as well as the lives of other Moroccans.

We came up with this idea a few months ago, but all details have transpired in less than 24 hours. The project has already evolved into more than we thought and we will keep moving forward with our ideas as long as things are falling into place. We will keep saying YES and see where we end up. More here as it happens!

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Marrakech and Istanbul. Morocco and Turkey. Cooking and camels.

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by seejanesblog in Pre trip

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Tags

atlas mountains, gibraltar strait, moroccan coast, sahara desert

In the planning stages of a new trip! Actually I’m leaving most of the planning to Barbara, my travel agent and travel partner on this trip! Barbara has been my travel agent, trip planner, and friend since my first international trip in 1992. I met her on the internet in a travel chat room when I was looking to go to Asia for the first time. She’s helped me plan and arrange all of my trips since then. Yet we have never met! We’ve spoken on the phone and corresponded through email and are now Facebook friends…but we have never met. Two years ago she put me in touch with one of her other clients, Sara, who had also traveled to Antarctica. Sara is in her 80’s and helped me with the planning of the Antarctica trip. We became long-distance friends and met in person last summer in La Jolla, where we stayed together for a few days getting to know one another in person. It was wonderful! So this much I know: Barbara is a good matchmaker for friends and trips. So I can only imagine how much fun we’ll have actually traveling together!

Barbara and her husband Richard will go on this trip along with me and two other women – – a total of 5 of us! We are all clients of Barbara’s and all have similar travel interests. I’ve never done an actual tour before with people I don’t know! The closest I came to doing something like this is when I went to Tibet with my cousins, Terry and Eileen, and their friends (and now mine) Hoe and Son. I expect it to be a remarkable trip.

The plan now is to depart 15 March, 2012 on a week-long cooking class in Marrakech and then to travel in to the Sahara desert (camels will be involved!) and Atlas Mountains for a few days. We will then take a train on the Moroccan coast through Casablanca up to Tangier where we will cross the Gibraltar Strait on a ferry to Spain. I will spend a few days on the coast of Spain and then fly to Istanbul, Turkey for a few days before returning home 1 April, 2012. It will be a packed-full trip in a relatively short period of time and I can’t wait!

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The recent past

  • Living above my means
  • The broken palm tree and a hug
  • The little old man of Bab Doukkala
  • The kindness of a stranger
  • Walk gently on this earth
  • Love everlasting
  • And suddenly it hits you…
  • It’s not what you’re given, it’s what you do with it

Stuff from my past

See Jane Travel

  • @BravoObsessed6 He sure has a type. 10 months ago
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Blogs worth reading

  • Moroccan Sahara Tours on Facebook
  • My trips: Argentina, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica
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  • Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
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Food! Glorious food!

  • Street food in Marrakech

Stuff worth knowing

  • Barbara Robinson's Trip Report – Istanbul
  • Definition 'kasbah'
  • Definition 'riad'
  • Definition 'souq'
  • Morocco Travel Guide
  • Turkey Travel Guide
  • Volubilis, Morocco: about it

My traveling past in Flickr photos

...dunkler Himmel über StykkishólmurPapučica / Slipper flower (Calceolaria herbeohybrida)Dreamlike PathASUNDERAmuse-GueuleWinter over the Grand Union Canal …"The Unknown From The Seine"Free  Feature • Read the 'Behind the scene' storyMare d'inverno
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