Johnny Prince

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Paula Hardy |Johnny Prince |Anna Selby |Claudia Winkleman

After a difficult few decades, visitors are returning to the North African nation in their droves - and it's easier than ever to join themI had started my week in Fes, at the World Sacred Music Festival, where I was seated in a royal ceremonial space, Bab Makina, watching whirling dervishes, chanting sufi sects, the angelic-voiced French mezzo-soprano, Battista Acquaviva, and the sama of Meknes whose rapturous polyphonic songs preserve some of the most beautiful Arabic poetry of Al-Andalus.

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Anna Selby |Claudia Winkleman |Nicki Grihault |Johnny Prince

The bureaucracy is frustrating and vigilance is required, but this country's natural beauty and affordable cost of living are hard to beatI first landed in Cape Town back in 2004, at 22 years old, for a one-year study-abroad programme with the University of Edinburgh. I'd never set foot on the African continent before, but I was completely hooked the moment I stepped off the plane. My mind was blown, seeing a buzzing city surrounded by incredible scenery, from Table Mountain to the Atlantic Ocean.