Rensina Van Den Heuvel organises tours in Morocco, Queensland and Mongolia – here she writes about a day in Marrakech

Mohammed came to pick me up in the Touristique van at 10.30am on the dot and the music that was wafting loudly from his stereo was very calming. The type of music which can make you relax and feel at ease. Thank goodness for that because Mohammed has a lead foot and he drove the three Germans and I, at breakneck speed, through thick traffic into the Souk in the centre of Marrakech. Read more

Gaz 66 Takes us Over the Atlas Mountains

The weather being cold and wet, got us moving to get over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco as soon as possible. We were looking for sunshine but could not forego an opportunity to visit the ‘blue’ mountain village of Chefchaouen along the way. We stayed in the campground high up above the village and I wandered the 600m down a zillion stairs to look for a hotel for next year’s tour. I found a lovely place right in the town with views looking down over the mountains.

More on Rensina’s Tour to Morocco 6-30 May 2014 Read more

 by Rensina van den Heuvel – Copyright 2013

Sitting just outside the marketplace in Olgii, in the far west of Mongolia, it’s as dry as dead dingo’s tongue. I can taste the dust lodging in my nose, sinuses and throat again. I feel as though, I am still trying to recuperate from the last dust storm and again, it becomes hard to breathe.

A cream colored, slightly battered Russian jeep is parked in front of our Land Rover. The sound of a loud engine interrupts my thoughts, as a man arrives astride another Russian gem, a Ural motorbike with a sidecar. A plump woman is perched on the edge of it.

Inside the sidecar, there are three adult goats all bleating away, tucked next to each other like sardines in a can. Allen and I both watch with astonished interest, as each goat is lifted out of their comfy transport and put into a big white bag, like one of those fertilizer bags. It’s then tied in, with just its head sticking out. Read more

The diminutive figure of a Mongolian woman came wading across the icy river near where we were camped. Holding her boots up high, fast flowing, foamy rapids threatened to swamp her as she struggled to find her footing. Pulling herself up onto the bank a few metres from where I was standing, she looked up at me, smiled a weathered grin and pulled her herder’s boots back on.

I smiled a big greeting back to her then greeted her with the Mongolian equivalent of hello. “Sain bainu”. “Say sain bainu” she said back to me, her eyes crinkling up at the corners. Read more

Rensina Heuvel writes about a scary moment in Mongolia

Mongolia this year at the end of September and we are usually well on our way home, back to Australia. We were still in Western Mongolia, driving the seventeen hundred kilometres back to Ulan Bataar. The weather turned without warning as it can and often does at that time of the year. It snowed. We had planned to cut across to Tserserleg, over a mountain pass, to cut off 100 kilometres, to get back to the capital as soon as possible. Read more

Rensina van den Heuvel Shares her Experience of Atar in Mauritania

This article is about the North African country. Not to be confused with Mauritius. GOOGLE MAP.

Today the wind has died down to a breeze and we have blue sky and sunshine. It’s nice to go into the market with another couple of travellers who are from South Africa. Ann is Australian born and Peter is Dutch. Read more