I had not traveled overseas since '86. Karen and Matt had never been anywhere outside the US but the Caribbean (basically a US beachfront) and Mexico or Canada. For me it was a big challenge in being a non-Euro-centered country. Although there is a lot of influence from Europe there it also has a huge Arab/Muslim influence. French is the lingua franca. English comes in 5th or 6th. I had attempted to prepare myself for all the challenges we would encounter upon arrival in Africa culturally, communications-wise, etc. I was not able to really relax until about a week into our two week stay.

We struggled to get from the airport to our AirBnB. We struggled getting food. The AirBnB was in a remote area. We arrived Saturday night so things were mostly shut down. Nothing was open or tourist friendly around our AirBnB. We didn't meet the host or have anyone welcome us. Everything was on our own. It was stressful. Casablanca, where we landed, is more of an industrial city than a tourist place. They offered some tourist options, but not much.

Our trip to the desert was not clearly explained by our guide. We drove for 9 hours to get to the red dunes of Merzouga. We saw the sunset lighting up the dunes from a distance through electrical wires and hidden by palm trees. If you visit make sure they arrive ahead of the sunset so you get the amazing pictures that I got in the morning. You could get both if you arrive before sunset. We spent the night in a Bedouin tent in an oasis. The midnight in the oasis was a memory that I'll cherish forever.

The photos I'd seen of the towering red orange dunes were world class without seeming to be technically challenging. They were snapshots that were striking. We set out for Merzouga from Fes early in the morning. It turned out to be 9 hours of driving time to the famous dune area. We passed through the Atlas mountains where we saw monkeys. We passed an area of the road that was in a Mission Impossible movie 'Rogue Nation'. We passed town after dusty town through a different kind of desert. It was a huge flat expanse of rock and hard packed dirt.