Morocco for New Years Eve?

€500 per person - Special 5 day New Years Eve package with Morocco Carp including a Gala dinner!

A new years eve celebration in the Atlas mountains of Morocco with traditional Berber dancing, music and a banquet fit for a Moroccan King.

Click here to take a virtual tour of the Hotel

Our retro cool boutique hotel has 5 suites and fabulous views over the majestic lake of Bin el Ouidane and the high Atlas mountains.



The weather should be similar to that of a ski resort, cold clear star filled nights followed by crisp sunny blue skied days.


Some of the best carp fishing in the world is on our doorstep and we offer full equipment hire to give you a chance to hook yourself a Moroccan monster.

The lake record is a massive 69lbs but the lake average of 30lbs would please most.


If fishing's not your thing why not kick off 2008 with some off road Quad biking? we have two 150cc automatic Quad bikes for hire and miles of unexplored tracks, ruined Kasbas and stunning mountain scenery.

If peace and tranquility is more your thing why not explore the lake on one of our surf kayaks? unsinkable and safe for even the most inexperienced its a wonderful way to see and get close to the wildlife. Just dont get too close to the Carp fishermen.

A Moroccan food experience.

Your breakfast and dinner are prepared by our hotel kitchens every day and are included in the price, the selection changes daily as we use fresh in season local produce prepared in the traditional Berber style .

The Berber lounge restaurant menu operates from 12pm-5pm.

The Pioneer menu - for ordering pack lunches and drinks when your out exploring or fishing.


Moroccan food is excellent and we hope to show some of its finer points during our Moroccan Gala diner dance on the 31st. This will be an unforgettable evening to stimulate all your senses. The night will commence in our lantern lit gardens where Berber musicians thump out their haunting drum and vocal melodies, live. The rhythm is followed by the pulsating dancers who twirl and shrill in a way that has to be heard.

The smell of the honey glazed whole mutton that has been slowly spit roasted for 8 hours is intoxicating and is the centre piece of a buffet table of locally prepared dishes that will be continually replenished during the evening.

Finally a full bar service is available till the wee small hours for those that wish.


Included in the Price:

• 5 nights Hotel room* single person supplement applies
• Breakfast and 3 course traditional dinner each day.
• 31st December Moroccan Gala dinner dance
• Day trip to the stunning Cascades d'Ozoud.
• Transport Marrakesh Airport - Bin el Ouidane return.

Itinery

Friday 28th arrive at Marrakesh Airport - Morning and afternoon arrivals with a small Marrakesh shopping trip for the early birds. Its a pleasasnt and photogenic 3 hour drive from the Airport with the snow capped high Atlas flanking us all the way to our lake side hotel.The nearest large town is Beni Melal and its just up and over the mountain before you will be checking in and enjoying a typical Moroccan welcome.


Saturday 29th - excursions and activities available or just chill in the Berber lounge and take in the splendor of the mountains.

Sunday 30th - The mini bus departs the hotel at 10am for the amazing day trip to the waterfalls at Ozoud. Dont forget your camera and swimming gear, its a real breath taker. Plenty of shopping opportunities in the bustling local arts and crafts market that winds it way down the cliff side. Enjoy lunch overlooking the falls with wild monkies, its a wonderful place to spend the end of 2007.



Monday 31st - Grand Moroccan Gala dinner dance.
Traditional spit roasted honey glazed sheep and a buffet of delicious Moroccan and Berber dishes. Accompanied by live Berber musicians and dancers, candle lit gardens and the star filled night sky.



Tuesday 1st - A day for... fishing, kayaks, hiking, quads - check out availability and prices with reception.

Wednesday 2nd Jan - return to Marrakesh.

€500 per person* based on double room occupancy SPS of €20 applies.

Ring Fraser on 00212 783 487 33 or email at info@moroccocarp.com
Reserve your place today!!

You might need to bring:
Clothing:The nights are cold and the days are warm so bring clothes that will handle the big daily temperature change. Good fleece and mountain/ski gear is ideal for nights, shorts, t-shirts and suncream for the day.
Swimming gear, towel, water shoes.
If you want to fish: sleeping bag, reels, alarms, indicators and end rigs.
Everyone: A good torch, travel adapter (2 pin round plug) Sun cream, hat, your best French.

Important Info:You need a minimum of 6 months on your passport to travel to Morocco.Try and book your flight tickets to arrive at Marrakesh airport on the 28th December at around 11am or 3pm. The return flight should depart Marrakesh in the mid morning to allow time for the 3 hour drive.
Medical: The Hotel and lake is at 800m (2400 feet) please consult your GP if you are taking heart/blood thining medication prior to booking. Bring Parecetamol (not Aspirin) Imodium for upset tums and some PG tips - Im running low.

Money: The local currency is the Dirham (MAD) get some from the bureau de change or the ATM's at the airport on arrival. Dont change too much as you cant change it back at the end, the hotel will accept payment in other international currencies if you run out of Dirhams.

Spanish Adventure 2008 with Morocco Carp on the Lake Bin el Ouidane

Visit the cascades de Ozoud with Morocco Carp

Morocco carp organize exciting family and fishing holidays with day trips to this beautiful location and other attractions in the area.

The cascades d' Ozoud are located in the Grand Atlas village of Tanaghmeilt, in the province of Azilal and it is the most visited site in the region.


The largest of the three falls has a drop of over 100 metres and the hypnotic sight and enchanting sound of cascading water seems to seep inside you, as if by osmosis, leaving a profound sense of peace and beauty.


If you would like to visit this remote region of Morocco and try your hand at some of the best carp fishing on the planet have a look at our web site.

Madeleine McCann - you can help

All of us at Tangier Property would like to offer our support for the search and safe return of young Madeleine McCann. Madeleine was abducted from her bed on the night of 3rd May 2007 whilst on holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal.



Madeleine has a very distinctive right eye, where the pupil runs into the blue-green iris.

Here is the link to the official Save Madeleine Website

Please click onto “News and Downloads” and you’ll be able to download the Madeleine Poster. They are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Please help by putting up posters in your local town and area.



We can all help by keeping this in the news and media. The search for Madeleine needs to be European wide so please forward this page to all friends and relatives anywhere in Europe.



Please let’s all do our bit to help the safe return of innocent Madeleine.

The Tunnel between Europe and Africa will be a modern wonder of the world.

The man entrusted with designing the tunnel is the veteran Swiss engineer Giovanni Lombardi.

He has already been involved with many great projects, including the Gotthard Pass tunnel in Switzerland and the Mont Blanc tunnel which links France and Italy.

But he says this one may be his toughest assignment yet.

"No works in the world compare to this one," he said.

"There are a lot of challenges. First of all the sea at this point is 300m (1,000ft) deep - about five to six times deeper than the Channel Tunnel [linking the UK and France].

"Then there is the geological conditions. There are quite a lot of tectonic movements between the African and the European plates. So there would be quite a lot of movements in the earth, of stresses and so on."



On a cliff top outside Tangier stands a rusty frame with cables and weights. It may not look very much but this is the start of a shaft that descends 300m below sea level, and this is where scientists and engineers are examining the sea bed to see how difficult it will be to drill into the rock.

The team is lead by engineer Jillali Chafik from the Moroccan research team SNED.

"At the moment we are carrying out the last studies into the sea bed which hold the key for the railway tunnel," he said.

"These studies should be finished by the end of 2007. We are looking at how the tunnel will actually work and the amount of traffic that will use the tunnel, once it starts."



Political will

The blueprint for the tunnel envisages two tubes for train lines beneath the Strait of Gibraltar, with an emergency or service tunnel in between them.

Like the Eurotunnel project, the trains would carry passengers as well as cars.



It has been talked about since the early 1980s, but the Moroccans say this time there is the political will. They are now in the final stages of the feasibility study which will be completed by the end of the year, with construction starting soon after.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero recently visited Morocco and said that Spain was fully committed to the project.

"It will be a great symbol of our times," he said.

"It will change the face of Europe and Africa. With support from members of the European Union, we can build this historic connection between the two continents."

Morocco's minister for transport, Karim Ghellab, says there would be huge economic benefits for his country.

"It's clearly desirable that Morocco and Africa are joined to Europe by a fixed link," he told me.



"It would ease communications between the two, and allow passengers and goods to move easily between the two continents. It's an historic project which the world needs today and it will go ahead," he said.

Bankruptcy fears

That is the official line, but ordinary Moroccans remain sceptical.

The fortunes of the Channel Tunnel were followed closely here, and people have read the bad press about massive cost overruns, and desperate attempts by immigrants to cross into the UK from France.

A group of students pointed out some of the downsides of a tunnel.

"I wonder if the problem of illegal immigration will be solved or not. By the time the tunnel is built young people will see the tunnel as a chance to run away," one said.

"It will take a lot of money away from Morocco where we have so many problems - like poverty and unemployment," said another.

"You can see what happened to the tunnel between England and France and the company almost went bankrupt so you can imagine what would happen to Moroccan companies if they participated in such a project".

But scientists and politicians on both sides of the Mediterranean now seem convinced that the design will become a reality.

The big question is where the money will come from. Estimates of cost vary between $8bn and $13bn (£4.1bn - $£6.7bn).

It is hoped that funding can be raised via two publicly owned companies in Spain and Morocco, as well as financial support from the European Union.

If the money is forthcoming, the very first fixed link between Europe and Africa could become one of the modern wonders of the world.


thanks to Richard Hamilton BBC News, Tangier

Morocco has always been a celebrity destination

The celebrity location

Writers, painters, actors, musicians, stars and celebrities in general, regardless of fashion, have always been attracted to Morocco . The phenomenon, which goes back to the last century, has never waned.

A simple detour via Marrakech will be enough to convince you. In just a few years, the “ Pearl of the South” has become a key location for artists and celebrities. Here, Naomi Campbell and Madonna have their homes. As you walk through the city, do not be surprised to bump into Bruce Willis, Jamel Debouzze , Bernard-Henri Lévy, Anne Sinclair, Gérard Depardieu, Johnny Halliday, Jack Lang or Ophélie Winter… Like many others, they have given in to the charm of the region.

Why hide out in the Pacific islands or major capitals when Morocco has absolutely everything needed to experience a dream stay? A great way of life, beautiful towns and panoramas and kind people… the charm of Morocco has always attracted people of good taste.

Yesterday like today, several illustrious personalities have lived there: Delacroix, Matisse, Gaudi, Alexandre Dumas, Roland Barthes , Truman Capote, Joseph Kessel, Samuel Beckett, Saint-Exupéry, Tolstoy, Sean Connery, John Malkovitch, or Elizabeth Taylor … to mention just a few.

800k Spanish tourists expected in Morocco by 2010

Some 800,000 Spanish tourists are expected in Morocco by 2010, i.e. twice the figures reported in 2006, said, here Wednesday, Managing Director of the Moroccan Tourism Office, Abbas Azzouzi.

Tourist arrivals from Spain flared up 17% in 2006, Azzouzi told MAP on the fringes of the 7th Euro-Mediterranean Forum, underlining that the new low cost airlines will consolidate the neighborhood advantage between the two countries.

To accompany this increasing demand, said Azzouzi, Morocco will consolidate the traditional destinations, promote new tourism formulas and improve Morocco's image in Spain.

Morocco's efforts are part of an ambitious strategy dubbed "Vision 2010" to attract some ten million tourists by the end of the decade.

Spanish PM pushes for train tunnel to North Africa

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero today said that his government was committed to building a high-speed train line to North Africa in a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar.



Mr Zapatero, who spoke after a meeting with Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou in Rabat, Morocco, said a tunnel would help speed development on the African side of the Mediterranean.

“The Spanish government has firmly decided to work for the tunnel,” Mr Zapatero said, without providing specifics on when a decision could be taken or when the tunnel could be built.



The tunnel would link the Moroccan city of Tangier to the Spanish city of Tarifa, the excavation of a tunnel joining Europe and Africa deep below the Strait of Gibraltar could start as early as next year after Spain and Morocco commissioned preliminary engineering studies.

Veteran Swiss tunnel engineer Giovanni Lombardi has been called in by the governments of both countries to draw up a project outlining how work could proceed towards creating the only direct physical link between the two continents.



Exploratory tunnelling could start after his report, which will be based on recent detailed studies of the geological patterns under the strait, is handed in next year. "We are just beginning the work, but I would say this is more difficult than the Channel tunnel," said Mr Lombardi

Thanks to the Guardian and Irish examiner

Tangier bustle

, originally uploaded by shadowplay.

Chefchaouen, Morocco

Chefchaouen, Morocco, originally uploaded by shadowplay.

The Atlas from Marrakesh

El Atlas desde Marraquech - The Atlas from Marrakesh, originally uploaded by jose_miguel.

Tangier, Morocco

Tangier, Morocco, originally uploaded by shadowplay.

Morocco celebrates the birth of Princess Lalla Khadija Morocco

Rabat - Last week Moroccans were preparing for several days of festivities to mark the birth of Princess Lalla Khadija, the second child of King Mohammed VI.

The baby was born at a clinic at the royal palace on Wednesday. The 4.16-kilo girl and her mother, Princess Lalla Salma, were reported to be "in perfect health".

Celebrations to mark the arrival of the new royal are expected to match those marking the birth of her brother three years ago, in a signal of growing respect for female children.

Dozens of people gathered in front of the palace, where the 43-year-old monarch made an appearance to greet citizens.

Cannons fired 21 shots and national television showed images of the monarch holding the newborn.

Special books were also to be laid out at regional government offices for people to congratulate the royal house.

According to Muslim tradition, the main celebrations were set to begin seven days after the birth - next Wednesday - and last several days.

Lalla Khadija's birth follows that of Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, named after King Mohammed's father Hassan II, in May 2003.

The warm reception for the new princess is seen as being in line with the "feminist" views of King Mohammed.

His regime is known as one of the foremost champions of the rights of women in the Arab world, according to analysts in Rabat.

The government has, for instance, reformed family law, raising the age of marriage for women, making polygamy almost impossible and improving the rights of women in situations of divorce.

For weeks already, Morocco had been preparing for the birth of the royal baby. Streets were decorated with flags, lanterns, and flowers, and pavements were repaired in the capital Rabat.

Celebrations, starting Wednesday, are to include the slaughter of sheep, prayers, banquets and music over several days throughout the Alawite kingdom.

In the coming days, Moroccans also expect to see images of the newborn with her mother.

The nation never saw Mohammed's mother, but the king has modernized protocol, giving a discreet public role to his wife Lalla Salma, an attractive red-head engineer whom he married in 2002.

The palace has also sought to reduce the aura of secrecy surrounding royal life, immediately announcing the birth of Lalla Khadija to counter rumours that she had been born days earlier.

Despite the huge gap separating the elite from the poor masses in the kingdom hungry for change, King Mohammed has retained a certain popularity, and the birth of the new princess has been welcomed as a joyful event.

The palace was skilled at protecting the king from criticism by "blaming anything negative on the government," one observer quipped.

purchased

purchased, originally uploaded by Amsterdamned!.

Cataract.....no photoshopping yet....the photo can be easily improved.. his cataract too...the bright spot at the upper left is in my seeing acceptable....maybe in your vision not....I am looking forward to read your suggestions....but if the bright sunshine had been at his face he wouldnt had find a penny.

Teleshot streetphoto, taken near Marrakech, Morocco

A cataract eye disease is easy to cure...a cataract eye operation is an easy one and cheaper than for example Adobe Photoshop CS2...
In the Netherlands yearly 150.000 persons undergo policlinical cataract surgery.
Takes about 15-30 minutes to replace the troubled lenses by artificial ones.
See U.....

Invest in Tangier's city guide

Tangier city guide

With its souks, traditional Moroccan cuisine and loads of sights to see, its the perfect destination for your Moroccan holiday. Diverse in both flavour and culture, Tangian cuisine will satisfy your culinary cravings. A worthwhile visit on your Moroccan holiday. Tangier, also known as the White City, revolves around its brilliant import and export port, and assures you to see many millionaires' yachts where the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean meets.

Many famous writers like Paul Bowles and William Burroughs visited Tangier and even called it their home. Tangier was also the world's first and famous gay resort - a role it maintains to a lesser degree today. Tangier is very popular to tourists and Moroccan holiday makers and it has beautiful beaches to entertain them. Tangier has three sources of wealth; the port, Cannabis and ferrying would-be immigrants. Tangier is energetic, very likeable, extremely individual with an enduring peculiarity.

Le Mirage Hotel...out of this world

Accommodation

Tangier has many hotels and pensions in either the Medina or the Ville Nouvelle. Tangier has two campsites, Camping Miramonte and Camping Tingis they are situated close to the city center and in walking distance of several beaches. They are safe and convenient.



Things to See & Do
The beaches are a big attraction in Tangier. With people enjoying themselves with camel rides , windsurfing , acrobatics and football . The beaches here have a number of beach bars open in summers only. Most of them offer showers, deck chairs, food and drink and cabarets at night. Click here for general information on the beaches in Morocco.

Place de France

Place de France is a small French-looking square right in the middle of the Ville Nouvelle with many friendly, inviting street cafè's.

The Grand Socco

Visit the Grand Socco market square with its good street cafe's and absorb the city life. The market sells everything from arts and crafts, fruit and vegetables and plain old junk.

The Mendoubia Gardens
Enjoy the inviting shade in the midsummer afternoons that surrounds the Grand Socco Square. This garden contains a fascinating banyan tree that's over 800 years old.

The Caves of Hercules

The caves of Hercules are situated 14km west of Tangier in the Cap Spartel area. It is a place of great beauty and archeological significance.

Cuisine & Nightlife

Tangier's nightlife is not really something to get excited about, although there are a few good bars and disco's and some of the cafè's in Grand Socco Square stays open all night. If you're looking for a basic inexpensive restaurant or cafe you'll be best off to go look for it at the Medina. If a fancy meal is what you're looking for, than Ville Nouvelle is the place to be. Click here for Tradional Moroccan Cuisine and Recipes .




Getting Around
Tangier, like most Moroccan cities consists of a Medina and a Ville Nouvelle that makes it very easy to move around. Grands taxis are allowed to carry up to six passengers; they are quick and efficient and are a good value for money. Petit taxis can be catched almost anywhere in town, and may not carry more than three passengers, and are metered. Petit and grands taxis increase their rates at fifty percent after 8pm at night. City buses are very useful; they operate between the airport, the train station, Grand Socco and the Caves of Hercules. Click here for further information on getting around in Morocco.
Thanks to the excellent web site morocco.com