Arrival in Lisbon

Smooth flying on Royal Air Maroc from Marrakech -- with a transfer in Casablanca -- and we arrived this afternoon in Lisbon.
So we unpacked our stuff at our hotel, which is across the street from the Campo Pequeno bullfight square and shopping center, and headed out to explore. That's right, a shopping mall built below and around a traditional bull-fighting ring. It's a great arrangement-- keeping the functionality and facade of the old-school bull-fighting ring while adding a modern shopping mall.
Trying to make our weak dollar go further against a strong Euro (it's now at 1.46 or so), we wandered down to the "food court" and checked out the scene. We scored a delicious hamburger at H3 for a reasonable price. Check the link for more details; they make one very tasty burger. Later we took the metro down to old Lisbon, and I took some pictures with my iPhone camera. See the collage above. On the last day in Africa I dropped my Canon SD 1000 and it's not working anymore.

Berber carpet

Scott and I set out on a field trip with Achmed, our Moroccan friend. He's a Berber that we happened to meet in our first class compartment on the "Marrakesh Express" from Casablanca. An accountant for the Moroccan National railroad who lives in Marrakesh, Achmed took an interest in us and things developed from there.... We have bulit a wonderful friendship. He speaks good English, has a dog, drinks wine and laughs at my jokes so it's not exactly your typical Muslim that we've befriended.
So we got up early this morning, our new friend joined us, and we hired a car and driver to go to the weekly "Berber market" about 30 miles out of town. The main market day for this community, it is a Berber-only affair and we were the only over-sized white-tourists (indeed Scott was wearing a Hawaii print shirt) in the big market day crowd of 2-3 thousand seller and buyers. That was a total scene, including a special "donkey/burro parking lot" where you leave your beast of burden with an attendant while you shop.
I'll do my best to describe the traditional Berber market in more detail later, including how Scott and I escaped an encounter with a gang of 5 pickpockets. Scott has the best photos and descriptions and I'll link to them when he finally posts 'em to net. (I have a collage of some of the Berber market sights and scenes posted below).
Later, we drove up into the foothills of the High Atlas mountains and visited a traditional Berber home and have lunch with a view toward the 12,000 foot peaks, the highest in North Africa. On the way, we stopped at a artisan coop and I made my first-ever major carpet purchase. The photo (above) is my friendly Berber carpet salesman and some of his inventory.

Atlas mountains

After the market, we traveled through the foothills of the High Atlas mountains in search of lunch and Burber carpet.

Berber Market Day

Scenes from a traditional Berber market day about 40 km from the city. In the center of the collage, Scott and Achmed are in the "meat department. "

traditional Berber house

Scott and I visted an old Berber house with mill for grinding flower (center top photo). The mill stone and water-wheel has been in operation for 5 generations, according to our host.

North African savanna (video)

Come along for a car trip across the North African savanna between Marrakesh and Essaouira. It's late October and the start of the rainy season. On the way back, you can see wide-open African skies with beautful clouds and rain falling in the distance. Our journey took 7 hours but you can just watch the 2 minute audio/video slide show ... (Be sure to turn up your computer's sound before you click the link).

Essaouira - a Moroccan Atlantic port

Essaouira, a Moroccan Atlantic port, is a wonderful place with a touristy but distinctly laid-back feel. Originally called Mogador, the city was settled before the fifth century BC and has been an important center of commerce ever since. Today, the city is dominated by the remains of a historic Portuguese fort with its rows of gigantic canons that point out over the Atlantic Ocean.