I'm currently in the skies above China, not something I ever thought I would be saying. I should be landing in Hong Kong in about 2 hours and from there heading to meet Elisha and the Chasin' Clean Coasts team for 10 days in the Philippines.

If you've followed me on Facebook, you'll know that my last trip was to Morocco and it was the first trip I led as EVA Travel. So kudos to the brave souls who came with me on my new venture and faced quite a few challenges with good humour and great teamwork.

One of the main challenges in Morocco was the weather. We arrived in the Zagora region about after severe flooding had damaged homes and 13 people lost their lives. When we talk about 'damaged' homes, it doesn't fully capture the devastation that was caused. I had been to Tagounite in March this year, so I was shocked to see parts of the main street simply washed away, the river now encroaching on homes and houses in ruins. During the week we were there, further rain and flooding occurred and it was like nothing I had ever seen. The evening before the rains we had spent in the desert making nomadic sand bread. The next morning, that entire desert area had become a lake as far as the eye could see. It hadn't rained in the area for about 10 years so while you would imagine it might be welcome, ironically it challenges the eco-systems that have adapted to desert conditions. There was a fear that the palm trees would 'drown', given the amount of rain that was falling.

Houses in that area are made from mud as it allows them to stay cooler in the very hot months. The downside is that there is no protection from this kind of occurrence and the mud simply washes away. In some areas where rebuilding is going on, the new structures are brick and concrete which may not be as cool but will withstand the deluges if they happen again.

We have one place left on the September 14th 2025 tour to Morocco, but if there is sufficient interest we can certainly consider a further tour in October. There are going to be quite a few changes to the new itinerary and as soon as its finalised it will be published on the website for you to look at. We won't return to Tagounite in 2025 for a variety of reasons but until we have a better idea of what weather changes are happening in the area and assess how safe it is, we will be working on projects close to Marakech in 2025. We will also return to the English Street Class which is a really marvellous project that I am so proud to support. I can't wait to get stuck in, painting the walls and joining the english classes. We may be able to extend some of our volunteering in Essaouria to other projects and I'm working on that right now.