Look out for Barbary apes , grins our guide : 'We often get raided , especially in the harvest . ' Ahmad , aged 72 , finds most things funny . He owns a donkey called 'Easyjet ' and tells us that most of his neighbours will live to 105 . Our week in the Rif , a mountainous region of Northern Morocco , follows this pattern - it is full of surprises . The tops of the mountains are dusted with snow , and yet , around the bottom , you can buy oranges as big as a baby 's head . A Rif you 'll want to hear forever : The Rif mountains are a beautiful - yet less known - part of Morocco . On Ahmad 's country walks we see mountain women wearing wide-brimmed hats festooned with pom-poms . One minute we 're clambering through gorgeous terraces of onions and fruit , the next we 're in a paddock of cannabis ( or kif ) . 'Just for the farmers , ' says Ahmad airily . 'The long-haired ones do n't come any more . ' But strangest of all is our first town , Chefchaouen . The old parts are all a bluey-purple , as if the entire medina has been flushed with ink . To my daughter Lucy , aged ten , this is enchanting , and we tour every alley and knobbly passage , poking our heads into all the old caravanserais . There are no cars in this beautiful labyrinth of mauve , and in the mornings everyone rushes out to the public taps . We stay at the Lina Ryad , a little bit of the 21st century dropped in among these dreamy scenes . It even has a modest swimming pool , in a town where most people think a traffic jam has hooves . This is not a place for ordinary shopping . We somehow end up with an old pair of slave 's manacles ( £7 ) , a large flag ( £6 ) and a very battered silver headdress ( £30 ) . Most of the time it is enough just to wander . From the kasbah ( or citadel ) we can peer down into people 's lives . As the day warms , housewives head out to the stream to rinse out their carpets . After a few days , we head north . Country and city : A woman from the Rif region in traditional dress ( left ) ; the back streets of Tangier ( right ) The Rif may not be Morocco 's tallest range , but it 's thrillingly wild . Great rivers burst through the boulders , and we can just make out tiny villages perched high up in the valley walls . Then , suddenly , we tumble out into Tangier . This fabulous antique city feels only half-African . For a long time , it was 'The International Zone ' ( 1923-1956 ) , and Europeans appeared in droves . They left cafes , cannon , art deco , a long corniche and a whole cemetery of kind hearts and baronets . Some came for the view , and we tour the celebrity roosts . There 's still a piano bar at The El-Minzah ( Churchill and Rex Harrison ) , although the Hotel Cecil ( Tennessee Williams ) now has palm trees growing through the roof . Meanwhile , at Grand Hotel Villa de France , you can visit Matisse 's bedroom ( Number 35 ) and gaze out at the scenes he painted . Others came to misbehave , particularly the Beat poets . It 's fun trying to find their old haunts around the medina . Although Dean 's Bar was wreathed in dust and padlocks , you can still get a whiff of the Fifties at Cafe Baba . However , for Lucy , the best moments are when we head for the souk . One stall sells huge blocks of nougat ( which have to be chopped with a cleaver ) ; another has only magic charms and musket balls . Captivating : Tangier - with its medina to the forefront - has long tempted European travellers to Morocco . Deep in the medina , little alleyways turn into grand Arabian palaces ( like Al-Makhzen ) , or perhaps the house of Barbara Hutton , once the richest woman in the world . My favourite is the old American legation of 1821 . From the outside , it looks typically dusty and medieval , but step inside and a glorious Georgian residence appears . Such excitement requires a cosy bolthole , and we have La Tangerina . Hidden in the ramparts , this tiny hotel has been lovingly restored . There are log fires and almond cake for tea , and time seems to have paused at 1956 . Enjoy this mad city , walk everywhere , do everything and then retreat to the hotel 's roof . In one direction lies Spain ( only eight miles away , across the Med ) and in the other lies the Rif , now looking pink and mysterious and deceptively tame . Audley Travel ( 01993 838 420 , www.audleytravel.com ) offers a ten-night private tour of Fes , Chefchaouen , Tangier , Rabat , Asilah and Casablanca , from £1,850 per person ( two sharing ) including flights . John Gimlette is the winner of the Dolman Travel Book Prize 2012 , with Wild Coast : Travels On South America 's Untamed Edge ( Profile £8.99 ) .
The Rif mountains of reunion are a splendid place for a quiet escape . The mountain lies in the north of the country - and yet is relatively unknown . The mountains are also close to the capital city of reunion , with its rich history .