Joanna’s Journal

Morocco #6 : Tea and tagine, music, mountains and museums

2023-11-23T11:14:39+00:00November 23rd, 2023|Animals, Archaeology, Art, Berber, Camels, Cuisines, Culture, desert, Fossils, History, Morocco, Museum, ossils, photography, Sahara, Travel, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, This journal entry will cover two days - our second day and evening at the camp and the following day when we farewelled the desert and travelled eastwards back towards the High Atlas Mountains visiting several villages, museums, a fertile valley with date palms, a dramatic gorge and then to our lodgings [...]

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Morocco #5: Mountains, valleys and into the desert

2023-11-18T04:26:03+00:00November 18th, 2023|Animals, Barbary apes, Berber, Camels, Carpets, Culture, desert, Kasbah, Morocco, photogrpahy, Sahara, Travel, Uncategorized, Ziz River|

Dear friends, After our stay in Fes, we had a long drive southward through cedar forests, home to barbary apes, and up into the Atlas Mountains.  We followed the Ziz River for some of the way and then stayed overnight in Erfoud. The following day we changed transport and took four-wheel drives into the [...]

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Morocco #4: The magnificent city of Fes

2023-11-13T09:08:47+00:00November 13th, 2023|Akeake trees, Animals, Archaeology, Art, Caravanserai, Cats, Ceramics, Cuisines, Culture, Design, Fes, History, Mausoleum, Morocco, Mosque, Museum, Palace, photography, Souks, Tannery, Travel, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, After the visits to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss, we drove through some stark rolling hill country towards the ancient city of Fes. I just managed to capture some of the scenes through the bus window showing the rich browns and golds rendered by the drought and even a shepherd and his sheep. [...]

Morocco #3: Volubilis and Moulay Idriss

2023-11-08T08:32:55+00:00November 8th, 2023|Animals, Archaeology, Cats, Culture, Design, History, Mausoleum, Morocco, Mosque, Moulau Idriss, photography, Roman ruins, Travel, Uncategorized, Volubilis|

Dear friends, Our tour took us next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Volubilis, where we spent a very interesting morning wandering in the ancient ruins with a knowledgeable guide to give us an idea of what we were looking at.  Archaeological excavations of this site began in 1915 and continue to this [...]

Morocco #2: Casablanca and Rabat

2023-11-05T06:36:06+00:00November 5th, 2023|Beaches, Casablanca, Cats, Creative, Culture, Design, Flora, History, Kasbah, Mausoleum, Morocco, Mosque, photography, Rabat, sheep, Travel, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, Our real tour began in Casablanca, the port city and commercial hub in western Morocco, fronting the Atlantic Ocean. The origin of the town is not known but an Amazigh (Berber) village called Anfa stood on the present-day site in the 12th century. Later it became a pirates’ base for harrying Christian ships [...]

Morocco #1: Visiting Chefchaouen

2023-11-02T22:56:24+00:00November 2nd, 2023|Art, Cats, Chefchaouen, Creative, Cuisines, Culture, Design, History, Morocco, photography, Travel, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, Last month I was lucky enough to spend just over two weeks in Morocco, traveling as I have done many times with a group organized by Wilderness Travel (www.wildernesstravel.com).  Just days before our trip, there was a devastating earthquake in the High Atlas Mountains which killed thousands, destroyed many villages, and was [...]

Out and about in the Chatham Islands #2

2023-04-01T05:11:49+00:00April 1st, 2023|Akeake trees, Animals, Art, Beaches, Birds, Chatham Islands, Creative, Cuisines, Culture, Fauna, Flora, History, Marine life, photography, Port Hutt, seals, sheep, Travel, Uncategorized, Waitangi, weka|

Dear Friends, In this second journal entry on the Chatham Islands, there will be a bit more touring around the island to some interesting historic places as well as great sites to challenge the photographers to produce their best pix. At the end of the last blog, I promised shipwrecks and seals, flowers and [...]

Out and about in the Chatham Islands #1

2023-03-21T19:00:11+00:00March 21st, 2023|Akeake trees, Animals, Art, Basalt columns, Beaches, Birds, Bridges, Chatham Islands, Creative, Cuisines, Culture, Design, Fauna, Featured, Flora, History, Marine life, photography, Tidbits, Travel, Uncategorized, Waitangi|

Dear friends, Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Chatham Islands and spent three very full and fascinating days with a 'Women in Photography' group - six of us under our expert leader Lesley Whyte. Not only was she the photographic guru, never tiring of reminding us of shutter speed, aperture [...]

Türkiye #11: All those cats and kittens

2022-12-21T10:20:00+00:00December 21st, 2022|Animals, Archaeology, Art, cappadocia, Cats, Creative, Culture, Ephesus, Fall colors, History, Istanbul, photography, Travel, Turkey, Turquoise Coast, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, I realized that I couldn't finish this series without focussing on the many cats that I encountered as I travelled through Türkiye. They were sleeping in corners and on comfortable cushions, peeping out from under cars or tables, enhancing the ruins at Ephesus, waiting for food at restaurants, adorning shop windows, accompanying [...]

Türkiye #10: Visiting Istanbul

2022-12-17T11:52:35+00:00December 17th, 2022|Art, Basilica Cistern, Bosphorus, Carpets, Cuisines, Culture, Design, Grand Bazaar, Haghia Sophia, History, Istanbul, Museum, photography, pottery, Süleymaniye Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Travel, Turkey, Uncategorized|

Dear friends, My journey to Türkiye began and ended in Istanbul, so to finish off this series, here is a glimpse of this fabulous city and the treats within. There is so much to see and enjoy and we merely scratched the surface, so maybe another visit is in order to experience and learn [...]

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