Scalding white light and an azure sky; an abstract woman in her hijab; parched, bleached adobe houses. A moment in time. A Market in Algiers.

Sombre coolness of a medina; pale shafts of light; dark shadows of a slender people; a quiet white eyed donkey. A moment in time. A Market in Tunis.

Fascinating contrasts in foreign, faraway lands... These striking scenes captured in the early 1900's by German Artist Auguste Macke in two of his evocative paintings "Market in Algiers" and "Market in Tunis" were the inspiration for our travels to northern Africa and the Sahara Desert in May - June 2014. We love these paintings and have reproductions which feature in our home at Crowdy Head on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Our travel mission became a search for a live version of Macke's markets. And that white eyed donkey.
 
Our trip to northern Africa was scheduled for 2013 but due to health reasons, we were forced to cancel our plans at the very last minute. At one stage when Alan was very ill, we wondered seriously as to whether we would ever see these exotic destinations. And so, it was with great excitement and some trepidation that we finally undertook our long planned travels.

Disappointingly, we did not travel to Algeria. Because of the insurrection and continued targeting of Westerners by terrorist forces, our Algerian travel agent in 2013 had cancelled all tours in the Sahara region.

We also cancelled a trip to Pakistan. We had unexpectedly fallen in love with this beautiful country and planned to make a fourth visit in 2013. Alan had always wanted to travel to the more politically sensitive places of Peshawar and the Swat Valley and was delighted when our travel agent and good friend Ishaq Ali, North Pakistan Adventure finally agreed to take us there last year. To our disappointment however, our Government had placed a Do Not Travel warning on these two destinations which would have meant that all our travel insurance would be void. Furthermore, a warning to take out Kidnapping Insurance had also been issued!
 
Although Alan and I have a reputation for travelling to off the beaten track destinations (such as Pakistan, Kashmir, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran), even we considered that Algeria and Pakistan were too risky for this trip. We decided to postpone Pakistan and restrict our travels in northern Africa to Tunisia and Morocco.

Well, if we could not find our market in Algiers, then we would search for Macke's donkey in Tunisia and Morocco.

After all, we were in search of another great desert. Previous travels had led us through the mighty deserts of the Gobi and Taklamakan in China, the Lut and Kavir of Iran and the Kyzylkum and Karakum Deserts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Sahara was calling.

We included also the destination of Sicily. After a particularly difficult two years with health and family issues, we decided that a more comfortable destination than those we usually chose, would provide a much needed holiday on our forward trip to northern Africa.
 
Perhaps, in truth it was also because it would be a taste of Europe. We were venturing west and out of our "comfort zone" of Asia, the Indo-Pak Subcontinent and the Middle East. And well, it was on the way to Africa!

Our trip also included stopovers for "R & R" in Rome and our much loved city of Shanghai, China.

The trip was another fantastic journey. For a change there were no political incidents. But there were personal accidents. And we did eventually find Macke's Donkey....

Notes

My husband and I (aged 76 and 61 years respectively) travelled as we usually do as a private tour for just the two of us, using local travel agents, and their guides and drivers.
 
We were more than happy with all the travel agents we contracted. These companies provided an excellent service with absolute integrity and most importantly, safe and comfortable travel.
 
We have used the fabulous services of China Travel Service for many of our previous tours to China, Pakistan, India, Central Asia and the Middle East. We have formed a wonderful personal association and friendship with this agency and in particular Mr David Hu, Sydney, Australia. His friendly, helpful and highly professional assistance is, as always, greatly appreciated.

Contact details for our travel agents for this trip were:

China Travel Service, Sydney, Australia: Air travel to and from Sydney, Shanghai and Rome. Travel Consultant: Mr David Hu. Email: ctsdavid@chinatravel.com.au Web: www.chinatravel.com.au

New Travel Services, Sicily: Transport and guide for all our travels in Sicily. Travel Consultant: Mr Christian Guardione and Mr Carmelo Guardione. Email: info@newtravelservices.net Web: www.newtravelserices.net

Avis Sheraton, Sheraton Hotel Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia: Transport and accommodation in Tunisia. Travel Consultant: Ms Fawzia Thabet. Email: htl@avis.com.tn

Mohamed Ouargaga Man of Moroccan Desert, Morocco: Travel, accommodation and guide for all travels in Morocco. Travel Consultants: Mohamed Ouargaga (Morocco), Email: info@mohamedouargaga.com & Danielle Lapointe (Canada), Email: dlapointe@sympatico.ca