Thank you for checking in. We had a wonderful visit, and it was very useful for the purposes of my book. We visited two sites that I intend to write about — Tiaret and Volubilis — and more than this, I feel like I understand much better how the geography of the two countries stitches together. The Wadi Mizab was wonderful, and I would love to go back at some point.
Our driver M’Hammed in Algeria was superb. We spent more time with him than anyone else. To provide one example of how he went above and beyond the call of duty, as you may recall, we were scheduled to take an internal flight from Ouargla back to Algiers last Friday. Unfortunately, a sandstorm cancelled all the flights from the small regional airport. Because we needed to depart for Morocco the following morning, there was only one choice, namely to drive the 600+ miles back to the capital. We did this in about 15 hours. M’Hammed did this without complaint and with good cheer and a strong sense of duty to us as his guests. It would have been a physical feat for anyone, but it was especially so for a man of 65, such as M’hammed (vigorous and fit as he is). Duncan and I would have liked to help, but unfortunately, neither of us can drive with a manual transmission, so we remained passengers the whole time.
In Morocco, Oussama Gourra was a superb driver: affable, efficient, and very helpful. I would recommend his services to anyone visiting Fez.
Overall, it was a great visit, expertly organized with good hotels and superb guides. This was my second trip with Mosaic North Africa, and I’d gladly take another one in the future.
