Passing over the Tizi N' Tichka Pass

It was well into evening as our plane started its final approach into Marrakech's Menara airport, so we were rather surprised when our pilot announced that the temperature was a rather warm 40 degrees! Our minds boggled at what the midday temperature msut have been like.

It was perhaps quite fortunate then, that we left Marrakech at 9.00 a.m. the following morning, as for bears, cities and scorching temperatures don't mix well. First though we had to meet our tour leader and fellow travelling companions.


So here we are with Khaled our tour leader in local dress, and 4 British tourists (plus one of our minders was taking the picture so we could be in it). As you might guess, this wasn't actually Marrakech and you will also note that we were a small, but select group.

Introductions didn't take long with it being a small group, so it wasn't long before we were climbing into the bus and heading for the High Atlas Mountains and some altitude moderated temperatures.

Our route took us over the famous Tizi N' Tichka Pass. We made lots of stops to enjoy the great views such as this one ...


It wasn't all rocky mountains though, there were also some rather lush meadows such as the one in our next picture which was very close to a natural spring where our cook filled up his water containers ...


Perhpas we should say that accompanying us in our minibus we had Khaled, as leader, a cook, and also our driver Mustafa. They were a fine crew and looked after us so well.

It was shortly after our last picture that we stopped for lunch and got the most wonderful surprise. Find out what it was next time!

Lots of love, George and Yorkie xxx

P.S. we'd like to wish our lovely friend Caroline Muggridge every success for her cross Channel swim that starts at 6.00 a.m. tomorrow. She's made of sterner stuff than us bears but we will be rooting for her every stroke of the way and hope you, our readers will too.

All Change!

We think we'll leave Spain on the highlight of the Alhambra, particularly as we now have an exciting new adventure to report on.

We all had a great time in Almeria and hope it won't be too long before we're back. The Holiday Property Bond's El Pueblito complex really is something special and we hope our next picture, shot from just outside our front door, conveys something of its charm.


When you see our first two pictures from our latest adventure, you might be forgiven for thinking that we liked the Alhambra so much that we'd decided to return. The other way of looking at it, is that southern Spain was the warm up for a trip to a close neighbour.

So here we are in the Grand Imilchil hotel, not a million miles from southern Spain.


Does the fine Moorish tiling remind you of the Alhambra as it certainly did us? Has anyone spotted the link? What we'd done was to travel a bit further south and cross the Straits of Gibraltar (albeit in a plane) to reach Morocco. Our starting point was the exotic city of Marrakech and Marrakech's Grand Imilchil hotel certainly has some Moorish influences, just like the Alhambra.

And it wasn't just the Imilchil hotel? Just 10 minutes walk from the hotel was the city's Cyber park and just look what we found there: a mini version of 'General Life'!


We hope we've seamlessly moved you from Spain to Morocco and whetted your appetite for more news of our latest travels.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Nothing 'General' about these Gardens

What better way to end a visit to the Alhambra than with a visit to the General Life gardens. It may sound like an insurance company, but there the comparison ends, as you can see ...


We really liked this spot amongst some orange and lemon trees and clearly we looked at home here, as when we went to get up after our photo, lots of people begged us to stay where we were so they could take a picture of us too. We were flattered to be so much in demand.

For those of our readers who aren't too wordly wise, it's important to know how to pronounce General Life. You need to call the gardens 'Heneral Leafay' and then you will sound like a local, not a tourist.

The main attraction of the gardens for us, was all the lovely water features. Even though it was only March, it was hot enough for us to be glad of the cooling effect of the rising and falling water. We took lots of photos to show gardening bear Tommy, in the hope that he can emulate some of these features in the gardens of the bear cave.


As we strolled along the colonnades beside the water troughs, we could look out, through the arches, at the buildings of the main part of the Alhambra ...


It was all quite simply, idyllic and we were sad to leave this wonderful place. Although it receives thousands of visitors, we were still able to enjoy some peace and tranquility and it didn't feel too touristy.

Hopefully, one day we'll return.

Lots of love George, Yorkie, Pedro and Gio xxx

Alhambra 2

We hope you enjoyed the Suffolk branch's post from Brittany as much as we did. It just goes to show what a nose for travel us bears have; we get everywhere. In fact, while the Suffolk branch were sunning themselves in Brittany, we were away on yet another Norfolk branch adventure, but before we reveal more, it's back to the Alhambra and another stunning picture to start us off.

Often when we tour round historic sites and old monuments, we begin to flag quite quickly as we get culture overload. Not so with the Alhambra - we remained bright eyed and bushy tailed for many hours drinking it all in.

This was because there was so much to see and so much variety. After visiting the palaces, we investigated the Alcazaba (great name!) which was the military fortress.

It was grand from the outside and also on the inside ...

The architecture was very different to that of the palaces, as you would expect. Climbing to the top of the tower gave us some views to marvel at ...

At the best of times Gio can't help being a bit boggly-eyed, which is part of his immense charm, but even he had to boggle more than usual ...

... and we still hadn't got to our favourite bit yet. Pictures coming soon!

Lots of love George, Yorkie, Gio and Pedro xxx