Now we're talking! As a birthday treat for Janette, Nick has come up trumps and booked us in to a lovely riad for the night just outside Zagora in a village called Amazraou. This is a lovely place, peaceful and surrounded by a beautiful garden and beyond that a palm grove. We all, dogs included, have a lovely time lolling about in the sunshine in the garden. The weather is warm and sunny and we enjoy lunch on the patio and they serve Moroccan wine, what's not to like?! We the

Erg Chebbi - and the Auberge campsite in particular is such a special place we don't understand why it isn't busier. There are a few other vans here but we and Bernd are by ourselves in prime position. The dogs like it too! Last time we were here we didn't explore the small town of Merzouga and it seems a shame not to visit it this time, so out come the bikes and off we set. There are a couple of tourist shops here but it's a very soft sell. We wander the main street browsing

The next leg of our journey is a familiar one; the landscape flattens out and the dunes of Erg Chebbi come into view. Last time here the sight of dunes like this was a first for both of us and it was a jaw dropping sight. Since then we've seen other, bigger and more extensive dunes than those of this part of the Sahara but this desert will always have a special place in our hearts and its splendour remains undeniable. We stop for a coffee and admire a luxury hotel that we wo

Most people travelling by ferry to Morocco disembark at Tanger Med port. We would have done this too as we did last time, but for the fact that we couldn't get dog-friendly accommodation on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry. We could have arrived in Nador and nipped westwards along the Mediterranean coast to join one of the popular routes south via Chefchaouen & Fez but we did that route last time, so decide to take the opportunity Nador presents us with to travel down the eas

So, once again we're looking for a respite from the long, cold English winter and Morocco is in our sights once more. This will be our second trip, but we left Morocco last time with so much more we wanted to see and we don't feel this will simply be a re-run of our previous journey. If you want to travel on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry with dogs you have to book tickets way in advance and we've missed the moment for that. We decide to take the Newhaven - Dieppe ferry and