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The Corn Islands are situated sixty miles off the east coast of Nicaragua. A tiny pair of peaks poking from the azure waters, these islands are some of the least-touristed and least-developed paradises in the Caribbean. The only tourist facilities are a couple small resorts along the south coast of the big island, an occasional spot to eat lunch, and one or two cheap hostels constantly enshrouded in a mist of mosquitoes waiting for a lunch of their own. If you’re looking to visit Club Med, party with a bunch of drunken tourists, wake up with a hangover and go parasailing or jetskiing, the Corn Islands may not be the place for you. But if it’s untouched, undeveloped splendor you seek, or a chance to sit on empty stretches of beach or snorkel around rusted, wrecked ships, this is where you’ll find them.

They say it’s always raining in the coast town of Bluefields, the jumping-off point for the Corn Islands, and the city did not disappoint on the morning I arrived in the panga from Rama. The only way to get to Bluefields is by boat down the Rio Escondido. At six in the morning, I climbed aboard the ten-person boat waiting at the decrepit dock, threw my backpack into the rear, and claimed a bit of bench.

Erfoud makes a base for exploring the sand dunes of the Sahara. Here you can hire a 4×4 grand taxi to take you into the desert. About 50km south of Erfoud is one of Morocco’s most enduring images: the monstrous sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Rising 125m into the air, the dunes are most enchanting at sunrise and sunset, when they become bathed in golden light and you’ll appreciate the relief of the cooler air. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can complete the experience with a camel trek into the dunes you’ll camp overnight in a Bedouin tent, and eat by a campfire under the flawless starscape.

Heading back out of the desert, the shaded souq (market) in small Rissani offers an exciting place to stock up on essentials and bargain for local handiwork and fossils. Heading west from here leads to the spectacular Todres and Dades Gorges. In the more developed Todres Gorge, hikers can walk beneath the sienna walls that rise almost a thousand feet high, framing a blue strip of sky above and falling to a rocky riverbed below. At Dades, the wild, stunning scenery attests to the power of nature, as the earth seems to have been literally ripped away. Towering kasbahs (citadel forts) rise up on the slopes and dissolve into the surrounding land.

Traveling farther west leads through the tourist towns of Zagora and Ouarzazate (where you will become reaquainted with the faux guides), and onward to the imperial city of Marrakesh where you can return your car before losing yourself in the fabled Medina.