MERZOUGA: THE SAHARA DESERT / December 8, 2016 by Janie Fulling

Merzouga is a quiet village on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco.

Twins Khadija and Fatima sell toy camels they weave out of grass to passing travelers at a gorge overlook. Our program director bought them scarves and some of us took home grass camels.

I visited Merzouga twice – once with my astrophile boyfriend Dan, and once with my study abroad program for a last Morocco hurrah.

One of the most beautiful sunsets I'd ever seen.

Some of the students in my group brought steel wool to light on fire.

Gathering around the fire during a cold night under the stars.

Along the roadside, vendors sell trilobites, geodes, and other natural wonders of the Sahara.

Village people in Merzouga proudly played music from sub-Saharan Africa blended with Moroccan and Amazigh music.

Our program director, Mo, on top of one of the 4x4s in which we toured the desert. Some of the most fun we had all trip.

Our group took donations to the nomads of the Sahara, who were celebrating a wedding that day. The women were dressed to the nines in traditional garments.

My lovely program director, Iman, against a sunset of purple, blue, and green.

TANGIER / October 23, 2016 by Janie Fulling

In case you can't tell by the expression on my face, I loved Tangier. We saw the sea, visited all the spots in the medina used for filming major movies like Inception and Spectre, and it rained, creating awesome light and reflections. The street photography opportunities were phenomenal, and when the heavy rain drove me indoors, I fell in love with the wacky fish market and the proud salesmen who work there.

RABAT / October 22, 2016 by Janie Fulling

Once the site of the Roman city of Chellah, Rabat is now the capital of Morocco. We bridged the ancient world and modern governance, visiting Chellah's ruins, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the first king of Morocco under independence, and of course, Rabat's old medina.

CHEFCHAOUEN / October 9, 2016 by Janie Fulling

Known as the blue city, Chefchaouen is all curved walls and bright pastels. Dr. Suess would have been right at home here.

At the end of a long day of medina exploring, we climbed to a mosque on the top of a hill to watch the sunset.

MT. TOUBKAL / October 3, 2016 by Janie Fulling

At elevation 13,671 ft, Mt. Toubkal is the highest mountain in North Africa. So naturally, never having been in any mountains before, let alone climbed them, I (along with some wonderful friends) summited it. I'm enamored with the mountains now, having officially been christened a BMW (burly mountain woman) by Colorado summer mountain guide and my friend, Darylann. These photos mark my first impressions of absolute wonder.

Actual mountain goats in the actual mountains

Our first day hiking was 7 miles upward through mountain valleys to get to a refuge at about 9,000 feet elevation. The trek takes about six hours from the base, and my friends and I stopped every so often to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola, and bananas we had brought in our packs.

The refuge in which we stayed overnight. 5 of us slept on 3 mattresses with massive blankets huddled for warmth. The whole thing is made of stone and has few windows, so it is freezing and dark during the day and night. I wore approximately 5 layers while we were here.

Sunday morning, we woke up at 4 to eat a breakfast of coffee, tea, bread, jam, and hard boiled eggs. We packed food and water into one bag and headed out at 5am. The trail is difficult to find and completely dark, so we waited until a couple with a guide was leaving and scrambled after them.

We were following a couple and their guide, who took frequent enough breaks that I got a few long exposures on the way up. This was 20 seconds at f/8, ISO 1600.

The couple and their guide we followed to the top.

First look at sunrise: the sky was distinct strips of color and we could just barely see the horizon.

The sun creeping over the mountaintops was magnificent.

After 4 grueling hours, we made it to the summit, exhausted and amazed.

I CLIMBED MY FIRST EVER MOUNTAIN! THE TALLEST ONE IN NORTH AFRICA! HOLY CRAP!

And after 15 minutes of admiring the view, sharing muesli cookies with our new Moroccan friend Lazeeza, and taking photos, we headed back down.

Windows desktop background or High Atlas mountains?

And just like that, the sun set on our time in the High Atlas mountains. From sunrise to sunset we had seen the peaks and valleys and I listened to "Wide Open Spaces" about a million times and stared up at the mountains around me with the knowledge … — And just like that, the sun set on our time in the High Atlas mountains. From sunrise to sunset we had seen the peaks and valleys and I listened to "Wide Open Spaces" about a million times and stared up at the mountains around me with the knowledge that I had climbed higher than all of them. My heart is full.

Aroumd, the village where we stayed before heading back home the next morning.

Latifah, 9, guiding us to Imlil, where we would catch a taxi to go home.

The train ride back home to Meknes. We were sore, bruised, coated in a layer of dirt, and feeling a lot of things. — The train ride back home to Meknes. We were sore, bruised, coated in a layer of dirt, and feeling a lot of things.

FES / September 25, 2016 by Janie Fulling

I've been to Fes twice now; once with my program to learn about the craftspeople and artisans who have made their living here for 800-1300 years, and once to meet friends and explore. It's an hour on the train to and from Meknes, and we happened to catch a stunning sunset on our way home.

Who needs google maps when you have obscure arrows pointing you the way in the medina?

We toured the mosaic and pottery cooperative, where they took us through every stage of their process, from throwing on the wheel to firing to final decorations.

Every individual mosaic piece is made by hand – every shape from square to star.

Half-finished mosaic tables and other works sit waiting for metalwork

IFRANE / September 24, 2016 by Janie Fulling

Our program took a trip to Ifrane, known for its wooded areas for hiking. We had breakfast in the Alpine-style (think provincial Dutch or Scandinavian) town before setting off on a hike up the dusty terrain. We stopped at a spot where locals gather to sell oranges and horse rides before proceeding to the top.