Marrakesh also known as the “Ochre City” is my favorite place in Morocco. Visiting there last summer, I got to see how the futuristic transport hub is creating solar power in action. Supplied by the Finnish company Naps Oy, who I met in Finland in 2010, I like the way the solar elements integrate with […]
Funds for mitigation projects and the Carbon Development Mechanism saved in “Hail Mary pass” at climate talks While many environmentalists are decrying the COP17 climate talks (# COP17FAIL: Climate Change is a One-Size-Fits-All Problem) as being imperfect, I see some real progress hidden in all that bureaucratese. For MENA (Middle East and North Africa) nations, the best […]
Get close to Jamaa el Fna (the best square in Morocco) at Riad Dar One. This is by day. After an enchanting stay at the Dar des Cigognes on the outer perimeter of the Medina of Marrakesh near the Jamaa el Fna, it was time to move in a little closer to heart of the […]
A huge hydro-wind hybrid power station will double Morocco’s entire installed hydropower capacity – and be a world’s first. Morocco is developing a project that will be the largest in the world to combine two natural clean power allies, wind and water, in a hybrid power project rated at a little over 1 GW (1,070 […]
163,000 Moroccans who previously had no access to electricity are going solar, thanks to Tenesol. The world’s poorest two billion people have no access to any kind of electricity at all. Among them are people living in rural Morocco. These households are among the two billion that will greatly add to the world’s environmental problems over the next fifty years if […]
Looking deeper into the pitfalls and promise of Desertec at Dii conference in Cairo. Green Prophet’s Tafline is there and reports from the field. Instead of scrambling to find funds and legislative support for the Desertec initiative, a handful of people gathered at the Dii conference in Cairo to explore the project’s overall environmental sustainability. […]
The free EneR event is a networking and investment platform for those interested in Morocco’s renewable energy markets happening later this month in Casablanca. Morocco is wild, yet for the average business or tourist traveler tame and safe. You can walk out of your riad in Marakesh and get lost in another time. Meander around […]
Nah, nobody does that goat thing anymore… Our recent post about Israeli argan oil caused a few ripples over the Internet. While we now know that the old-fashioned “goat” treatment of the fruit is no longer used in Morocco except as a tourist attraction, we’ve also learned much about the success of growing the tree […]
Stay at Dar Les Cogognes for a boutique-style rest in the exhilarating city of Marrakesh. Marrakesh is a thrill to travelers looking to access the Middle East oriental flavor, through a North African city a short plane ride from Spain. Despite the occasional terror attack and instability in the Arab world right now, Marrakesh is […]
Eco-tourism holidays in Lebanon offer picturesque fishing villages and ancient remains British walking holidays specialist Ramblers Worldwide has added Lebanon to its list of destinations, according to a recent announcement. Ramblers Worldwide have long included Jordan, Morocco, Oman and other Middle East and North African destinations on their itineraries, although some scheduled trips to Egypt […]
If you rub these recycled tire jugs three times will an eco-genie pop out? In the medina of Marrakesh at Jemâa el Fna, minutes away from the Jewish spice market, and the snake charmers, who Tafline finds aren’t so charming for animal and snake rights, we found a small eco-stall. A couple of old men […]
Karin goes on a 2-night stay at Kasbah du Toubkal, an eco-lodge in the foothills of North Africa’s highest peak. Soul-shifting is how I’d describe my two night stay at the Kasbah du Toubkal in the high Atlas mountains. From the gut-wrenching heat of Marrakesh, within an hour and a half we were transported to […]
My Berber guide Mohammed on our return journey from Mt. Toubkal, North Africa’s highest point. “You should know that I haven’t hiked in a while,” I told Mohammed, my Berber guide for a two day trek to the highest point in North Africa. He nodded and grinned, understanding nary a word. I allowed myself to […]
How you can travel lightly and simply, with baby. I just returned from a 9 day trip in Morocco. Besides attending a conference, my mission was to pack lightly, and return home lightly, without piles of tourist junk I would quickly throw away. I hiked in the Atlas Mountains, took a bus from Fez to […]