The city of Ifrane is in the Atlas mountains of Morocco and is a beautiful ski resort in winter. It became popular by the French in about 1928 as a retreat from the summer heat of the low-lying areas.

We reach Tissardmine Cafe and are greeted by Australian artist, Karen Hadfield who has set up the guesthouse as a business to host artists-in-residency programs and creative retreats.

The accommodation consists of these mud houses and traditional Berber tents. The location is on the edge of one of the Sahara's natural wonders, Erg Chebbi, a large dune formed by wind blown sand that stretches 22 km long and 5 km wide.

Nice to see some Aussie wattle and English lavender in the Moroccan desert.

About 350 million years ago, the whole Tissardmine area was under the sea. Remains of a petrified coral reef are visible along the dry river bed where ammonites, trilobites and belennites can easily be found.

There is no water visible in this oasis, none that I can see in this waterless ocean. It hasn’t rained for six years, they tell me. But the date palms gather so I know there is water just beneath the surface. It is fossil water, ancient elixir held in deep artesian wells which has been forced to the surface by pressure underground, by the earth’s natural forces. There are wells all over the desert, once you are out there looking. They cover the sand sea like paleontological jewels.  

Karen invited a group of Gnawa musicians as a surprise treat on our last night. They drummed and chanted for us in rhythmic trance-like harmony. The Gnawa maalem, or master musician, led the group in their traditional healing chants.

The end of our Writers Journey with Jan Cornall, Jess Stephens and Karen Hadfield at Tissardmine and the desert had arrived. We then set off into a world entering a closing down stage of its own - 17 March 2020.