El Jadida

We are parked up on a campsite in El Jadida. The location is ok and the place is packed but the facilities, ie toilets and showers are filthy, thank goodness we don't have to use them and can use our on board facilities. There is a cafe on site serving hot meals but if the standard of cleanliness is comparable to elsewhere on the site we'll give it a miss I think.

We set off from Rabat this morning during the morning rush hour which made for an interesting drive until we hit the motorway after half an hour or so. It's pretty much everyone for themselves, especially on roundabouts but these Moroccan drivers don't scare me, no siree. I can change direction at the last moment with the best of them and Paul and Chris who were again following me today can vouch for that! Anyway we got here in one piece and after some lunch set off to explore the town. We didn't do too much exploring to be honest, we were both a bit "walked out" after yesterday's tour but what we did see of the town looked lively and bustling. A walk in and around the citadel on the walls, complete with cannon and then back via the promenade. The beach is wide and we lost count of the number of five or six a side football games that were being played, the same in the small park and virtually any relatively flat and vaguely rectangular piece of land was taken over for an impromptu game. A lot of the lads were quite skillful which was a surprise what with me thinking Chamakh was the best Morocco had to offer.

The other thing that has surprised me over the last few months is the number of motorhomers who travel with dogs. I reckon on any given campsite between twenty five and thirty percent of the folk will have a dog with them, some people have two dogs. Now, I like dogs but the constant yapping gets a bit tedious after a while. I don't want to generalise or resort to cheap stereotypes (so I will) but it's mostly French folk who have dogs. Small dogs. Which they carry about. I can't recall seeing any other nationality, other than Americans and there's none of them here, carry a dog. They've got four legs for goodness sake, put them down!

Tomorrow we are off to Safi about 130 kms down the coast and the plan is to stop at Oualidia on the way for lunch. No motorways tomorrow, we're taking the scenic route. I think I'll let Paul lead, he's got the map after all.

View of our parking spot last night taken from a rooftop in the Medina-

They still build traditional boats here in El Jadida-

 

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Greetings from Morocco

We are parked up this evening on the Corniche in Rabat, it's a secure car park with views across the river to Sale. The Kasbah des Oudaias towers over us to one side and behind us is the Medina.

We caught the 10am ferry from Algeciras on Tuesday and almost as soon as we turned out of the port Gibraltar was off our port bow and Africa was on the horizon. We were advised that the arrival procedure in Morocco was a slow process to say the least and this proved to be true. As we rolled off the ferry we showed our passports, drove half a mile through the police checkpoint to the customs area where we lined up in disorderly queues. Eventually an official comes over and tells us to walk back the 200 yds to the police checkpoint with a passport, not both passports, just mine. Then the official returned and took away the paperwork relating to our importation of a vehicle. And then we waited, and waited. All the time the process was accompanied by much shouting and arm waving. Our paperwork had to be stamped and we ascertained that there was only one official with the stamp. Eventually our guy comes back and asks if I have a scooter - no. Firearms? -no, automatic pistol? No!! Ok, you can go. Well, 10 yds anyway to another guy who wants to see our paperwork and then finally waves us away from the port. The whole pantomime took just over an hour.

We took the motorway south with Paul and Chris leading. Well, they had the map so it was only fair really. We stopped for diesel, about 70p/litre :) and then after stopping again for lunch we set off for Moulay Bousselham, a small village at one end of a large lagoon. The weather was ok when we arrived, best described as sunny intervals, so after parking up on the campsite we explored the town and had our first view of the Atlantic crashing against a wide sandy beach. The village had a half dozen restaurants and coffee bars and a population of 1000 which, incredibly, swells to 65000 in the summer! Then it started raining. Heavily. I feared for our electric supply as our cable was attached to a dodgy socket with no cover. Sure enough the electrics went down but came back later in the morning when things dried out a little. We spent yesterday at the same place as one of us wasn't feeling too well (24hour man flu) and then set off early this morning for Rabat. We had no sooner parked up and stepped out of the vans before Abdul arrived. To cut a long story short Abdul became our guide for the day and a good guide too. He showed us around the Kasbah, the Medina, the markets, advised us where to eat, sorted out our new SIM cards and generally knew his stuff. I suspect we paid him more than we should have done but he was an knowledgable guy and I don't feel too ripped off, just a little, so that's ok. To be honest we could have explored the Kasbah and Medina ourselves but we wouldn't have seen half the places he showed us or seen all the different kinds of markets that there were.

We were all pretty footsore after the tour and returned to the van to find another half dozen French, Spanish and Italian vans parked next to us so this is obviously a popular spot, which is understandable considering the location and the views and at 50 dirham, about £4.00, for 24hrs it's a bargain.

Tomorrow we are heading off further down the coast to El Jadida, a town occupied by the Portugese from 1506 until 1769 and which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bad news is the campsite is described as dirty and badly maintained. To be fair this doesn't bother us too much. We are pretty self reliant as far as gas and electricity goes so all we need is somewhere secure to park up. Also, the guide book we are using is five years old so things may have improved.

A few pics for you -

Leaving Algeciras:

The Rock:

Africa at last:

Our campsite in Moulay Bousselham from the village above:

View from the Kasbah

Inside the Medina

It's worth mentioning the driving conditions here in Morocco. The motorways are great, especially if you like people randomly crossing the road in front of you and police cars performing u turns across the central reservation. Best to keep an eye out for the sheep grazing alongside as well 'cos they're not fenced off. Once off the motorway things become a little more entertaining. The dogs by the side of (and crossing) the road don't seem to bother about the vehicles passing by unless you make eye contact. Then they chase you! Rabat is the first city we've had to drive in and I was "convoy leader" today. No map, no GPS, I didn't break any traffic laws and I know Paul and Chris are impressed that I guided them here smoothly. They're just too polite to make a fuss and embarrass me. Actually I did have a top class navigator who despite the sun shining on the iPad guided me through the trickier parts of the city. Thanks Phil x

 

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Algeciras-next stop Morocco!

We are parked up tonight in a car park on a massive retail park. We've bought our tickets to Morocco and set off tomorrow on the 10am ferry along with half of France by the look of things. I can count thirty five Motorhomes just in this car park, there are more parked around the corner at Lidl and even more scattered around. They all, apart from us, have French number plates. We've watched them returning from the big supermarkets here with trolleys full of beer and wine. We've stocked up as well but, unfortunately, the size of our van precludes us actually loading a trolley full although I suppose if we hadn't bought any food.....

The journey here today from Granada was, on reflection, mildly amusing. We knew that Carlos, who sells the ferry tickets, had an office next to the Lidl here in Algeciras. Paul and I found two Lidls on our sat navs so we each programmed one in, we had been told that we would know we there by all the Motorhomes parked up. We arrived at the first one, tiny car park, no Motorhomes. Drove to the second one, even smaller car park, no Motorhomes. Back to the sat navs, with Carlos's GPS co-ordinates and even more Lidl addresses and after another 10minutes there we were. Massive Lidl car park with about twenty Motorhomes parked up. Into Carlos's office and five minutes later and €200 lighter we left with our tickets and a bottle of sparkling cider and a lemon cake as a gift. We could have bought our tickets at one of many agents which line the routes here and are all signposted of the main roads and autoroutes but Carlos is recommended by many folk who have travelled by Motorhome to Morocco and he provides all the necessary documentation to ease our entry into N Africa.

So, an early start tomorrow, we need to be at the port a couple of hours before sailing time and then the adventure begins. I'm sure driving through Morocco will be an experience and I'm glad we will have Paul and Chris for company and reassurance. I doubt they feel the same after watching me drive the wrong way down two no entry roads today (it was just a ploy really so they would lead the way in future).

I probably won't update this blog for a few days now until I can get a Moroccan SIM card so please don't panic and call the foreign office if you don't hear from us for a bit. Next stop-Morocco!!!

 

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Granada

Today was another glorious day. Blue skies and sunshine and much warmer than we expected. Our planning meeting with Paul and Chris over coffee this morning finalised the details for the next few days; we are setting off to Algeciras on Monday to buy our ferry tickets to Morocco and do our final "big shop" at Lidl and hoping to travel over on an early ferry on Tuesday. First stop Moulay Bousselham, then Sale, Oulidia and Essaouira. Only another three days and we'll be in North Africa!

This afternoon Phil and I caught the bus to Grenada. Yesterday the Alhambra took up all of our day but there was more we wanted to see so today we first visited the Cathedral which was breathtaking in it's scale. Everything is super large from the pillars to the height to the length, it's just massive. There are two enormous pipe organs, two ornate pulpits and the sacristy is bigger than some churches we have visited. This door must be fifty feet high, that's Phil standing just to the right to give you an idea of the scale.

My photos today weren't the best but here are a few more,

Despite the grandeur, ornate decoration and sheer scale of the building it felt more like an architectural statement and expression of wealth and power than a place of worship but I guess it kept a few folk in work during the two hundred or so years it took to build. Afterwards we visited the adjacent Capilla Real, another fantastically ornate chapel and mausoleum wherein lie the remains of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand in simple lead coffins in a crypt beneath marble monuments above. All quite outstanding and more so considering it is over five hundred years old. We emerged cold, I can't imagine these buildings ever get warm, even in the height of summer. Massive stone walls, ceramic floors and marble, marble everywhere, chilly. A stroll through the artisans quarter, mostly full of tourist tatt shops and we stopped for a beer before stumbling across the Iglesias del Perpetuo Socorro and the Basilica de San Juan de Dios which really capped off a great day.

I mentioned yesterday the stunning views on the bus ride to Granada from our campsite. As the bus winds down the surrounding hills the city opens up and I've only ever seen similar views from an aeroplane when landing in big cities. Tonight as we left it was dark and a million twinkling lights bade us farewell but not goodbye. We loved Granada and we only scratched the surface in two days so we've promised to return and spend longer here. We had wanted to visit the Albaicin, Granada's old Muslim quarter but just ran out of time, we'd go tomorrow but there are no buses from here on a Sunday and taking the Motorhome isn't really an option and we have plenty of last minute jobs to do tomorrow, not least trying to FaceTime our children and grandchildren before we leave Spain on Tuesday.

For those of you waiting for news - I won't be joining the Granadian ukulele orchestra just yet, sorry.

,

 

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Multimedia night

I'm typing this whilst following the Arsenal Coventry game via a live podcast and keeping in touch with number one son Dominic in England. Clever eh?

So today we visited the Alhambra in Granada and pretty impressive it was too. (Arsenal 2, Coventry 0) Construction began in 1238 by Muhammed 1 al-Ahmar, founder of the Nasrid dynasty and continued until the end of the fourteenth century.

 

Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Coventry

As expected, a half of utter domination for the Premier League leaders who started slowly but soon found their rhythm and having squeezed Coventry into their own half, took the lead on 15 minutes through Lukas Podolski's left-footed shot. The German made it 2-0 on 27 minutes with a header from a Serge Gnabry corner. Coventry's only effort on goal was a decent long-range shot from captain Carl Baker. That aside, the men in yellow and blue have been chasing shadows in the rain.

In 1492 the palace was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand ll of Aragon who carried out extensive repairs and alterations (yes, I'm reading from a guide) Anyway, if you want to know more, and you really should then go to http://www.alhambra-patronato.es.

I took some pics which don't do it justice at all, the details on the carvings and the scale of the buildings are breathtaking, but here are a few anyway:

And here's a view from inside the palace, obviously it wasn't quite so built up eight centuries ago-

We were there for about four hours and our feet were pretty sore afterwards but there were parts of the palace we didn't see, you really need to go there at least twice as the whole site is enormous and you can't really do it justice in one visit. Tomorrow we are going back to Granada, there is so much more to see and many more places to visit. It's a wonderful city. The bus today dropped down winding roads from the hills above and as we turned each corner more and more of the city was laid out before us. The bus fare was fantastic value considering the views we had. As we left and the bus climbed out of the city the surrounding hills to the east were bathed in pink as the sun set over the snow capped mountains. (Still 2-0 at the Emirates). Before we visit Granada tomorrow afternoon we have a planning meeting over coffee with Paul and Chris to finalise a few details (well, all details really) prior to our departure to Morocco early next week. (Arsenal 3 Coventry 0). Make that 4-0.

Sunday will be our rest day. "Rest Day?" I hear you chorus. Hey, it's hard work seeing the best Spain has to offer to us while living in a tin box on wheels! Well, it's not really hard work but we're having a rest day anyway.

Full time at the Emirates and it's 4-0.

Goodnight.

Phil has just pointed out that a "rest day" involves washing clothes and cleaning the Motorhome. Hmm, I'll probably find something "technical" to do.

 

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Granada

 

We are parked up tonight at Camping Alto De Vinuelas about 20k north of Granada. We had a fantastic journey here today from Almeria driving over the Sierra Nevada, we peaked at 1225 meters (thanks for the altimeter girls) with snow capped mountains all around us. Phil took some great photos through the van windows

It's 1100 metres where we are parked so a bit chilly but the sun was warm today although the wind blows straight over from the snow capped peaks to our south

We walked down to the village you can see in the photo above this afternoon, obviously we timed it so we arrived when everywhere was closed, we still haven't got the hang of the Spanish closing times. Is it 2 till 4? 4 till 6? Whenever they feel like it? I said we walked down and that meant we had to walk up on the return journey. I don't know if this photo captures the perspective but maybe Phil's body language does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our travelling companions to Morocco, Paul and Chris arrived an hour after us and it was good to see them again and catch up. Tomorrow we are all going to Granada to visit the Alhambra, the bus stops right outside the campsite and takes about 30 minutes. Saturday and Sunday will give us the opportunity to make our final plans and preparations for Morocco and then on Monday we'll travel to Algeciras to buy our ferry tickets. Not long now and we'll be on another continent. We're really getting excited now.

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to our friends in Almeria. After we had spent an hour cleaning the pigeon and sparrow s**t off the van. Another lesson learnt, don't park under trees. I like to think I learn something new every day but that was one lesson I could have done without.

For those of you who have expressed an interest and offered suggestions you'll be pleased to near that I have tuned the Ukulele. I just have to learn how to play the thing now.

 

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Buses and Sparrows

Yesterday the Intercontinental Rally left en route for the ferry at Almeria bound for Morocco. At 7am! Not so many months ago I used to be at work at 7am but now in Spain the birds haven't even woken up at that time and neither have I, usually. It goes without saying that they didn't make the quietest of exits and after about twenty vehicles had passed four feet from our bed blipping their throttles I got up, made a pot of tea and went outside to wave the last of them off. By which time all but a few stragglers had left.

Later in the morning we took the bus to Aquadulci for a bit of shopping. We waited 45minutes for a bus there and about the same time for the return. The bus stops display timetables which in no way indicate factually when, or if, a bus will arrive. Fifty five minutes is our record so far waiting for a bus service that goes by every half an hour.

Jenny and Chris who we had met last year arrived back from Morocco yesterday afternoon and we spent a pleasant evening with them last night while they told us of their adventures. We leave in about a weeks time so we are grateful for first hand experiences and tips.

Another lazy day today. The weather was glorious this morning, not a cloud in the sky. A cool wind this afternoon though. Hope you are all enjoying nice weather where you are :)

We are setting off for Granada on Thursday to meet Paul and Chris who we are travelling to Morocco with. We're hoping to visit the Alhambra on Friday and catch the ferry on Monday or Tuesday so, needless to say, we're getting excited and looking forward to the African leg of our trip. Tomorrow we'll give the van a wash and attempt to remove all the accumulated sparrow s**t. I like sparrows, when I was a kid London was full of them but I don't know when I last saw one in West Yorkshire, I just wish they'd do what they have to do on someone else's Motorhome.

I'll leave you with another sunset:

 

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Surfs up Dudes

We woke up today to rain pattering on the roof. Well, not so much pattering as hammering. The rain stopped after a couple of hours but the temperature had dropped and it was quite chilly. Eventually the sun made a brave effort to break through the clouds but failed miserably. We pottered about doing the necessary jobs us motorhomers have to do, emptying toilets, topping up the water and putting out the awning to protect us from the drizzle. We had some entertainment watching the entrants registering for the Intercontinental Rally. The organizers had four marquees set up on the beach, Registration, Medical, Technical and Stickers. It took an age for everybody to be processed and I took the opportunity to wander along smiling at everybody and blag a 2014 sticker for the motorhome. Eventually we prepared lunch and noticed that the sea was creating a bit of spray on the rocks at the far end of the beach. Suddenly people were rushing about frantically and when we went out to see what the disturbance was all about saw that two of the registration stations had been washed out. By now the waves were crashing onto the beach, some of them three metres high, maybe more. The guy who was parked in the spot we were in last year was washed out by one big wave! It was strange, there was no wind to speak of, no rain and yet the waves were really tall and powerful. I obviously took some photos but they don't really do justice to the scene.

 

A couple of hours later and the sea was relatively calm again. Yesterday it was like the proverbial mill pond and the change today was really impressive and, for those parked close to the beach, quite scary. One of the support vehicles (imagine an eight metre long converted horse box, about three and a half metres tall) was completely washed out by one massive wave. Five hours later and it's parked next to us and they are still drying out the contents and stripping down a generator full of sea water. We spoke to the campsite owner and she said she had never seen anything like it before.

This is a before and after of one of the registration stations-

10am,

3pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously they had no trouble driving these two out despite being axle deep in what was the volley ball court.

 

After such excitement we obviously all had to retire to the bar to talk about it and compare "big wave" experiences. We also had a chat with some of the entrants in the rally who all seem completely unfazed by the thrills and probable spills the next fortnight has in store for them. They also seem completely relaxed about how they'll get from one waypoint to the next without zig-zagging all over the desert. Anyway, if you do follow the race via their website look out for our French pal No 235, who'll be sat astride 450cc of throbbing Yamaha and, probably, laughing his head off all the way to Dakar. http://www.intercontinentalrally.com/index.php?jazyk=en&odkaz=route

Now we're back home, we've had supper and we're hoping for a peaceful night weather wise although, in the dark and twenty five metres from the beach, it still sounds like surfs up!

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Flea Market Day

Today was Flea Market day. We did ok on the tombola, coming away with bottle of Cava, bottle of Brandy, tea light, set of funnels and some instant coffee. Losing tickets also had a booby prize which was a shot of vodka. It helped dull the pain of the cost of the tickets we bought. I also bought a Ukulele and a jazz song book. Phil is thrilled, she's always wanted me to have a Ukulele, especially in a small motorhome. It does, however, need tuning so if somebody could send me a C I'd be grateful. Since buying it I can't stop humming the intro to "Raindrops keep falling on my head" neither can you now, probably.

More and more competitors and their support teams entering the Intercontinental Rally are arriving. The boys and girls of the support teams are really cool, like roadies but with better hair and without the key chains. Plenty of gaffer tape about though so they obviously all go to the same training school. The guy, Jesus, who runs the restaurant here must think all his birthdays have come at once. He's got an eighteen foot long Bar-B-Q going and selling slabs of charred meat, salad and a beer for ten euros with a smile as wide as the Mediterranean. Freddy, the chef, fired the thing up at 8.30 this morning, it's 6pm now and it's still going strong with people groaning from protein overload.

We were talking to one of the French competitors last night and asked if he'd competed before. Apparently not in this rally but in similar ones. He said he could only leave his business for three weeks so this was ideal for him, a weeks prep and then a fortnight hurtling through 5,000 kilometres of desert during which time he'd shred two sets of tyres and be totally exhausted and probably lost for most of the time. Excluding the cost of his bike he reckoned that the support, accomodation, food and all the other bits of stuff would cost him €6,500. "But it's my holiday", he said. Some of the stages are 450 kilometres (obviously longer if you get a bit lost on the way) and take eight hours plus to complete and he reckoned at the end of those you fall of the bike. I asked what he would eat on those long stages, "Maybe a Mars bar" he smiled. Now that is hardcore.

This is the start point of the Rally, on the beach just beneath where we are parked. We'll have a great view on Monday.

 

Best Off-Roader spotted today.

 

And best van sticker.

 

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Big Trucks

Last night was bouillabaisse night here at La Garrofa. We had gone shopping to The Grand Plaza at Roquetas De Mar during the day. The Grand Plaza had all the usual shops, Primark, H&M, Claire's accessories Maccy D, Costa Coffee etc. So once inside the big doors into the air conditioned, marbled floored palace we could have been in any shopping mall anywhere in the world. We did a bit of food shopping and caught the bus back. Lunch al fresco although yesterday was overcast all day it was still warm enough to sit outside. Today is sunny again but a cool wind from the south west. After lunch we did a few chores and then at about seven strolled up to the restaurant. It was remarkably quiet considering 15 people were due for the bouillabaisse feast, in fact it was empty. We ordered drinks and asked where Freddy the chef was to be told it was his night off! Alarm bells rang and we discovered that the party had occurred at lunch time, while we were wandering around a shopping mall. Nobody had told us. We were really disappointed, we'd been looking forward to Freddy's bouillabaisse for a couple of days and now we'd missed it. Worse still, it was Freddy's night off so they couldn't offer anything from the restaurant. We came home, more than a little dejected and warmed up a tin of ravioli. This morning we went up to buy bread and we berated Freddy for not telling us the time of his special treat yesterday. He apologized and said he still had some left, would we like it for lunch today? We nearly kissed him,so, that's where we are off to now.

Later.

Well, it was ok. Possibly it would have been better yesterday but we still enjoyed it with a couple of glasses of white wine, some nice cheese and tremendously strong coffee to finish. Here are some pictures of the cafe, bar where we are.

The 2014 Intercontinental Rally sets off from Almeria in three days time. The route takes in Morocco, Mauritania and finishes on the shores of Lac Rose in Senegal. This is a link to the site with full details: http://www.intercontinentalrally.com/index.php?jazyk=en&odkaz=home Some of the competitors and crews are staying here in La Garrofa for the next few days, here are some of the support vehicles, proper overlanders.

 

And here are some of the bikes these crazy guys are going to ride through some truly inhospitable landscapes.

 

It gets pretty noisy when they fire them all up!

Finally I'd like to thank everyone who sent me best wishes for my birthday, they were much appreciated. Also, a big thank you to those folk who regularly post comments here, it's nice to know you're reading this and enjoying the pictures, Catherine, Naz, George, Liz and, as they say on request programmes, anyone else who knows me!

 

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65!

I wasn't going to post today 'cos not too much has happened of interest and then I was reminded that today was a significant date:

I was gifted with some lovely presents including an altimeter! Obviously it's not come into its own yet, parked as we are on a beach, but rest assured I'll be shouting out the height to Phil as we traverse those Moroccan mountains in a few weeks time. So thanks to Catherine and Claire for that. Thanks also to Dominic for the best car sticker ever:

A peaceful day today not doing very much at all. Sunny in the morning and a bit cloudy this afternoon. We went up to the bar for a birthday drink earlier. Heck, I'll have a gin and tonic, I'm only 65 once. My kind of G&T. The kind where the barman tips a bottle of Bombay Saphire over a glass full of ice for what seems an eternity and then suggests just one drop of Angusturas Bitters. Mmmm, delicious.

Then a walk before we came back for supper. That's it really.

We're the one in the middle on the right:

Another sunset for you:

And here's one looking down on our site from the road above:

I

And Phil says: It's a full moon tonight and the beach is beautiful , little fishing boats offshore, gentle waves all bathed in moonlight ! Fantastic. We don't spend many birthdays like this . Obviously I'm down there doing a moon dance with my crystals - lovely .

Night all x

 

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