Alice Morrison is an adventurer, TV presenter and author, currently based in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. She is an established journalist and speaker but her foray into the World Storytelling Café will be her first attempt at “telling” and she says she is a bit nervous.
A Scot, her earliest years were spent in Africa and then the Middle East and she studied Arabic and Turkish at university. She got her first job in journalism in Dubai at the age of 17 for “What’s On in Dubai” magazine and went on to a career at the BBC in national and international TV news followed by a move into the creative industries. So far, so normal!
Then, in mid-life she changed course. Her big adventures began when she cycled 12,000 km from Cairo to Cape Town on the Tour D’Afrique, the longest bike race on earth, coming 3rd woman. She swapped the rat race for a bike race and has not looked back.
In 2014 she moved to Morocco to run the infamous Marathon des Sables and liked it so much she stayed. You may know her from her BBC2 series Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure, when she followed the ancient salt routes to the fabled city.
She is currently on a mission to walk the whole of Morocco and her first leg took her the length of the Draa River becoming the first woman to walk its 1,500 kms accompanied by 3 Amazigh guides and 5 camels. She investigated the effects of climate change on the peoples and environment of the south, discovered a lost city, and learned how to tar a camel’s bottom. Stage 2 was walking across the Sahara from Oued Chbika to Guerguerat; an expedition that she describes as “Tough, very tough. A lot harder than I thought.” Stage 3 will be from Nador to Ourzazate — inchallah!
Her latest book, My Adventures in Morocco, with Simon and Schuster is out in paperback and on ebook. She is also the author of Dodging Elephants and Morocco to Timbuktu.
She is a total Morocco-phile and says, “I am greedy, most people fall in love with one person, I fell in love with a whole country.” When not out and about having adventures, she likes to lie on her couch with Squeaky the Cat, reading, watching TV and films and contemplating her navel.
Alice featured in our Story Circle on 6 April with “Stories from Morocco”
Alice morrison
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