Posted on by Rich Cerick · 1 Comment

In Country

After an early morning flight from Lisbon, I landed in Marrakech Sunday morning. Smooth sailing through the airport and car pick up and I was off to the races.

Since Scott wasn’t arriving until Tuesday, I decided to head for the mountains to do a little recon and spend time up high. The Atlas Mountains in Morocco are the highest in northern Africa. The biggest peak, Jbel Toubkal, stands at 13,671′ and is snow capped year round. The drive up from Marrakech, although only fifty or so miles, is very windy and slow going. Here was my introduction to the landscape, driving through small mountain towns along the way:

My bro Mohammed, a geologist who I met on the way up to Toubkal. Incredibly nice fellow, and he spoke very good English. He showed me the gorgeous geodes, fossilized stones and polished pieces he had excavated and sculpted himself, and we engaged in haggling (de rigueur in these parts) for an hour on and off. He was quite tenacious, but in a really charming way. He wanted me to buy everything he had on his motorbike and in his djellaba. Miraculously, I got away with buying only one super cool polished stone that contained a large fossilized anthropod (in my hand below). I will treasure it and remember him by it.

I stayed in the town of Imlil Sunday night, which is the gateway to Jbel Toubkal and the highest peaks in Morocco. Pretty amazing place, and finding my hotel took over an hour because I had to walk a half mile to it after parking my car, which confused the hell out of GPS. The crew there were incredible – warm, kind and very inquisitive about California and the States. We had a lot of fun together.

The next morning, yesterday (I’m still a bit jet lagged from the journey and time zone change), I set off for the coast, as I was picking up Scott this morning in Casablanca. Beautiul drive through lush countryside with many goat and olive farms along the way. Here are shots from El Jadida, a pretty beach and fishing town south of Casablanca. Outdoor tagine cooking up in mini pots:

The Portugese Cistern in El Jadida. It was built as an enormous fort in 1541 and lies beneath the Citadel. Very neat.

Chillin’ –

Bummer, dood…. I met the local constabulary en route to Casablanca. Came into a roundabout too hot and got busted for 68 (Km/hr) in a 60. That was the bad news. The good news was that the fine, payable on the spot, was only 150 Moroccan Dirham (~$15.00 US). Very nice guys, notwithstanding the circumstances. A not so quick getaway then ensued…

Heading north:

Casablanca is home to The Hassan II Mosque. Its minaret, at 689′, is the world’s second tallest. It’s just immense and a bit disorienting in size, and it definitely makes you feel small, which I love.

Inside:

After the Mosque, we had a great Moroccan fusion lunch. Here’s Scott on one hour of sleep after arriving early this morning.

Abdul, our host:

Yes, that Rick’s Cafe:

Scott goofing around at our AirBnB:

So, I’m three days into my month long stay and have a few preliminary observations about the country and people. Moroccans are incredibly warm, kind and helpful. It’s really a pleasure being here so far. They’re just generally super nice people. The countryside is beautiful. It’s a great time of year to be here – after the winter rains, with the snow melt greening things up, and it’s delightfully cool now. Casablanca is a big, boisterous city with all that connotes, but it has a great vibe and its fun being here. History is everywhere you look.

We’re off to Rabat, then Chefchaouen in the next several days. Should be really fun. Heading out to dinner. More to come soon.

Posted on by Rich Cerick

Touching Down and Settling In

I landed in Lisbon on Saturday after a long but smooth flight from San Francisco. Really good to be back – Lisbon is a great place that for many years was somewhat off the radar relative to other European destinations. No more. – it now seems like everyone wants to visit and many Americans want to live here (gee, I wonder why….). It’s just as beautiful and charming as during my last visit with Matt and Mark.

After checking into my hotel, I meandered down to Avenida Da Liberdade, with its elegant parks, cafes and stylish Lisboetas. I had a delicious dinner at an outdoor cafe right across from the park. Here are some shots of the afternoon:

After dinner I met a large number of Ukrainians playing music, singing folk songs and asking for peoples’ help in their war against Russian aggression. They were super nice and extremely grateful for my help there four years ago. One, Roman, asked me to hold the flags he was carrying after I asked to photograph him. Great guy who’s completely heartbroken about the war.

This is the center of the universe for sardine lovers. Incredible store and contents. It was like Disneyland inside. A shipment home was a must…

I was whooped after the travel and time change, and hit the sack for a 6 am car to the airport and flight to Marakkech to officially begin my journey. Next stop – Morocco….

Posted on by Rich Cerick

Morocco 2026

I’m off to Morocco for a month in several weeks. I’ve read forever about how alluring a place it is, and I’m really looking forward to the scenery, geography, people, culture, art, food and unique north African vibe.

If you’d like to follow along, you can click the “Follow” link in the bottom right corner below, add your e-mail address and click “Sign me up” to be notified of new blog posts.

Posted on by Rich Cerick

Wrapping Up and Looking Back

Hola. I’m in Santiago in my hotel chilling before flying home tonight. Dropped the camper off yesterday afternoon, no worse for wear except for the 12,000 miles I racked up on her.

The last five or so days have been a bit of a whirlwind, as the distances traveled were huge. Getting from the Atacama to Santiago took three days of driving, with cool stops on the way, but northern Chile isn’t really my cup of tea – too bone dry, barren, hot and parched. I prefer evergreen forests, glaciers and sparkling lakes and fjords. Cool to see it, though. Here are photos of those places:

Holiday cheer in a local brewery in La Serena:

Astronomy night at Alfa Aldea Observatory in Vicuña. Their telescope was terrific. Super cool experience.

Concón, just north of Viña del Mar:

Ahhh – Viña….

Cajon de Maipo, southeast of Santiago:

That’s a river I’m driving through. A bit of gnar….

Last night in the mountains. It got mystical…

Here’s a slide show that hopefully represents the vibe and highlights of the entire trip – six weeks on the road in a camper – two very large countries, 42 days, with 5 spent in hotels (I know, I’m getting soft in my old age…). It’s really hard to choose and exclude photos, as I have so many from this journey, but I think these provide a good flavor of what I saw and experienced

The trip was truly great. No mishaps, mechanicals, crazy people, law enforcement or fronterra run-ins or bad luck. I feel really blessed for that, as I’ve driven a ton, including thousands of miles on bone jarring unpaved roads, and I’ve seen an incredible amount of both countries and their people. So, damn the torpedoes – here goes:

That’s it – it’ a wrap. It was an incredible trip, with adventure and fun each day. Thanks everyone for following me on these crazy jaunts. It makes it really fun to share the experience with friends and family. Catch you all on the next one. India and Africa are on the wanderlist…..

Rich