It's turned chilly

It's Sunday night and we are parked on a campsite just outside Boumaine Dades at 1600m, it's a bit chilly and very windy. We're not used to this after a week or so of glorious sunshine! We left Ouarzazate this morning and stopped at Skoura for our coffee and le petit dejeuner. We've had a few interesting breakfasts on our morning stops, pancakes with apricot confiture we rate highly, day old bread with laughing cow cheese not so good. Today we had fresh warm bread with olive oil, goats cheese and strawberry jam, delicious. The first two items came straight away but when we asked if there was any confiture available the owner nodded and immediately sent a young lad of about eight years to the shop over the road for a jar of jam, result!

After locating the campsite and reserving our pitch we set off back to town for a bit of shopping and some lunch hoping we could find something to eat other than another tagine. Now, we like tagines and we've had some very nice ones here but after a while you just want something different like a steak and kidney pie. Obviously Kate and Sidney is out of the question so we settled on kefta, salad and chips; it's not a pie but then again it wasn't another tagine. If, at this point, you're thinking that we spend our days looking for interesting breakfasts and avoiding tagines, well, you're half right. We only actually spend half the day in those pursuits.

The view west from our campsite this evening:

Tomorrow we are setting off for the gorge at Todra while Paul and Chris, our travelling companions, spend a day here exploring the Gorges du Dades. We're trying to meet up with a couple we met in Spain last year, our paths keep crossing but I think we're getting closer and we hope to see them again in the next few days when we can catch up and swop stories.

 

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Ouarzazate

The nightmare that is Maroc Telecom has returned and it looks like they have swallowed another 100 dirham without my being able to connect to the internet!!! Hence the blog that follows was written last night:

Tonight we are parked in a small campsite a couple of kilometres south of Ouarzazate. We arrived after setting off from Zagora today and retraced our earlier journey back to Agdz where we stopped for lunch, turkey kebabs! After Agdz we climbed to 1600 metres via a series of switchbacks offering spectacular views until we finally dropped down to where we are now at 1100 metres. We've been blessed with some glorious weather for the last week or so, blue sky all day, temperatures in the high twenties and not cold at night. Sorry to you folk in the UK enduring some pretty wet and windy weather at the moment.

Yesterday we met up again with Mohamed, the guy who took us into the desert the day before. He took us to his house to meet his parents, grandmother and brothers. We spent a couple of hours with them and they showed us how to make "Berber Whiskey", or tea. It's not just a matter of dropping a tea bag into a cup. There's a real art to making a decent pot of tea we have discovered, not too sweet and not too strong. When made properly it's delicious. Mohamed is the only bread winner at the moment, his father is retired, neither of his brothers have any work and he is reliant on tourists of whom there aren't too many at the moment. So I guess they are pretty hard up but generous to their guests and they all seemed genuinely pleased to meet us. If anyone reading this is thinking of travelling to Morocco let me know and I'll put you in touch with a good guide.

I haven't posted any pics for a few days so here are a few for you.

Enjoying the camel experience!

 

 

With our friend Mohamed (and our enemy, Fatima)-

 

Footsteps in the dunes, mine not a camels-

A lot of desert out there-

 

We watered the donkeys on the way back-

 

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Erg Chigaga

We are parked in a campsite at Zagora. We arrived yesterday from Agdz on a good road with Palmeries all along the road giving us mountains on one side and lush greenery on the other. After checking in to this tiny campsite and ordering our evening meal, yes another tagine but delicious nonetheless, we went into town to book our trip into the Sahara. We found Omar, one of many guys offering trips of varying duration in 4WD or on camel or a combination of both. We settled on the one day trip in a 4WD and a camel ride in the desert, before arriving at the magnificent dunes at Erg Chigaga. On the way we passed herds of camel (camel herder on motorbike) a camel train and the abandoned oasis Sacre. Our driver, Mohamed, stopped at all the good viewpoints and pointed out the important features and even stopped at a well on the way back to water a half dozen donkeys. The highlight though was the dunes. The real Sahara. We arrived at the camp and Mohamed said lunch would be about half an hour. Explore the dunes he said but don't get lost. It would have been easy to do so. We clambered up a few of the larger ones close by but all the time made sure we knew which direction the camp was in. The only word to describe the desert experience there was tranquil. There's not a sound apart from the sand sliding down the dunes, blown by the wind, and when the wind dropped it was totally silent and it would have been easy to have lost ourselves in less than ten minutes. After all, one dune looks much like another really or at least they did to us.

The camel ride was all we expected it to be. We were told it was an hour's ride but, fortunately, that included the stop for breakfast and we only had to endure the experience for about twenty minutes or so. It's not so bad when they're walking on the flat but the up dunes and down dunes part is definitely not the most comfortable of rides. I don't want to be indelicate now and I don't know what my camel had for breakfast but lets just say that the after effects weren't the highlight of the day. Phil was riding her beast behind me and she wasn't too impressed either! We had to wear the obligatory desert passport and very fetching we looked too. I can now tie my own turban in both tourist and Berber style. Both of which are useful for pulling over your face when sat astride a farting camel.

The campsite we are on at the moment is described in the guide as funky which just about sums it up. It's the smallest we've been on so far, there are ten Motorhomes now and one tent and it's full. It's run by two brothers from Mali who are also musicians and who promote a musical festival here every year. They also play traditional Tuareg and Berber music in the restaurant in the evenings so funky is the right word for this place. Their family still live in the desert and their uncles breed and trade camels. Last night one of the brothers told me these interesting facts which I shall now share with you. Camels live to sixty or seventy years, they reach their prime at about twenty five years. They can carry up to 450 kilos and drink once a week when they will drink seventy litres of water. And finally, a good female camel will set you back about two thousand euros. So it's cheaper than an Escort van, lasts longer, carries the same load and doesn't have the same fuel or maintenance costs. It may be a little slower but aren't we all in just too much of a hurry these days?

I've sorted out the nightmare that is a Maroc Telecom SIM card but the 3G signal here is week, so is the on site WiFi so no pics today.

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Rough roads to Agdz

We are parked this afternoon in a campsite in Agdz, a palmerai no less, adjacent to a Kasbah which is in the process of being restored by volunteers and our fees here go toward the restoration project. We have all facilities here and the charge, including a meal this evening, is 130 Dirham, about a tenner!

We left Taliouine this morning and had the option of two routes, one on national roads about 250k and another on a "secondary" road, about 150k. The guy at the campsite said the secondary road was not suitable but it looked ok to us so we set off this morning and stopped for coffee at a village where the roads separated. We asked the man in the hotel cafe and he said no problem on the minor road so off we went. After a couple of miles we came across road improvement activity and spent the next few miles dodging big trucks, piles of gravel and earth moving machines. We cleared that obstacle only to find that for half the remaining distance the road surface was pretty rough, to say the least. It was single track which meant playing chicken with on-coming vehicles to see who would end up with two wheels on the stoney roadside. Second and third gear for mile after mile but with fantastic views all around. We peaked at 1800metres before dropping down to where we are now at a mere 950m.

Today's road-

Eventually we came back to a two lane surfaced road which was a relief and arrived here with our suspension intact and air in all tyres, phew.

Parked up in the Palmerai-

We are at the head of the Draa valley and tomorrow we set off through the valley for about 60miles to Zagora and we have been promised some stunning scenery on the way. Another 60 miles and it's nothing but desert so I think we may have a look around and see if we can arrange a 4x4 trip to see the dunes before heading back to where we are now and then onwards to Ouarzazate and the Dades valley.

When we have a driving day we always stop about halfway for coffee and a bite to eat. Our ideal is coffee and croissant but no luck so far. We've had pain chocolate, pain and cheese, pancakes with honey or jam (twice) but today's was a cracker. We asked what they had and were offered omelettes and a few other lunchy things and then eventually we were offered coffee cake! A result! What we got was flatbread with laughing cow cheese, Argan oil and apricot jam. Something lost in the translation I think. The croissant hunt continues.

Where we are now-

 

 

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Untitled

3rd February.

We are parked in a campsite just outside Essaouira in a grove of Argan trees. We have no WiFi but I'm updating the blog anyway. We have no WiFi because after buying the SIM card with three days credit I went to a Maroc telecom agent in El Jadida, handed over my 100 Dirham to buy another month's credit and......the rest, as they say, is history. Another lesson learnt eh?

We arrived here yesterday from Safi. Nice campsite at Safi with Peacocks and hens to keep us company. Pretty to look at and they're not at all noisy are they? We left yesterday morning and came down the coast road to Essaouira. I'm not saying the road was rough but we really should have looked for a dentist straight away to replace all our fillings, anyway that can wait I guess. Our first stop was a campsite a little closer to town but after the ladies had examined the facilities we decided to move on to where we are now, pretty rural but peaceful and we've had a glorious sunny day today. Leaving Essaouira was not without excitement. Paul was leading and as he entered the roundabout leading off the campsite he slowed almost to a stop at the stop sign. Cue police whistles and much arm waving at the adjacent roadblock. Paul was pulled over and his indiscretion, he hadn't actually stopped, pointed out by the policeman together with notice that regrettably a fine would have to be paid. After negotiation they settled on 300 Dirham, reduced from 700, ( Is 700 a lot sir? Yes! OK,how about 300?). No receipt was issued. Another 30 minutes and we arrived here, just. A Moroccan taxi driver decided to overtake me at a road fork and missed my front end by inches. Phew, that was close, I said. The last couple of miles to the campsite is single track and that was entertaining too but we arrived safely. A lazy day today under the Argan trees which only grow in this part of Morocco. The trees are vital to the local economy, providing firewood, fodder for the goats and oil for us humans. When we arrived goats were climbing into the trees picking the fruit. Traditionally Berber women harvest the fruit, feed it to goats, whose digestive juices break down the tough outer shell. The nuts are then recovered from the dung, the kernels split, lightly toasted, pulped, pressed and the resultant oil used for medicinal and culinary purposes. To produce one litre of oil requires thirty kilos of nuts and fifteen hours of manual labour. Hence, it ain't cheap but it's good for you apparently.

Spectacular view of the Atlantic on yesterday's drive-

The most excitement today was provided by a tortoise who strolled nonchalantly under my chair as we sat outside with our morning coffee, first time I've seen a tortoise in the wild.

Q

4th February.

Tonight wae are parked up on a campsite in Sidi Ouassai about an hour south of Agadir. We left Essaouira just after 9am and it took us the best part of six hours to travel the 156 miles. We stopped a couple of times for diesel, coffee and a cash machine but the roads were slow and the traffic around Agadir was crazy. Also, we stopped at every stop sign on the way. Just after we set off we stopped at a women's co-operative where they produced and sold Argan oil. We enjoyed a twenty percent discount today. Just as well really because it's not inexpensive but if we take a teaspoon a day for breakfast for just one month we will be cured of all that ails us, have wonderful complexions and be as strong as goats! We saw more goats on the way down up in the trees eating the nuts and it's quite a surprise to see half a dozen goats up an Argan tree. Not something you see everyday. We stopped at a small village, Tamanar, for coffee and diesel and spotted a shop selling Maroc Telecom top up cards. We went in with our phones,SIM cards, modems and asked the guy if we could buy top up cards for the 3G network. No problem. I bought a card for 20 Dirham, sent the code via SMS and, sure enough, I was credited with 40 Dirham as they have a special half price offer available at the moment. I now have 440 Dirham credit but still can't access the internet!! The guy in the shop was as perplexed as me and said I really need to find a Maroc Telecom shop in a big town.

An Argan tree, handy for the washing line.

As we approached Agadir from the north we passed some of the better surfing beaches, on some of them there must have been fifty or so people out on boards. We thought we'd come across a Seal colony from a distance and we were a bit disappointed when we realised it was just a load of streaked blond haired dudes in wet suits. Eventually we arrived at this campsite, the last ten kilometres down a single track road. This place was recommended by a couple we met in Spain who spent a week here earlier in the year and said it was one of the best places they had visited. To be honest we are a little disappointed. It's like an open air split level car park accommodating maybe one hundred or so vans, many of whom look like they have been here for a while so I guess it's a popular place but there's nothing much round about here and although we are right next to the Atlantic it's not a golden sandy beach. We made a detour from our original plan to come here and now we wished we had stayed another day at Essaouira but, hey oh, we have a couple of sunny pitches and after the drive today, which pretty much exhausted everybody, we've decided to make tomorrow another rest day. The staff here are pleasant enough and there's a restaurant on site so we'll take it easy again tomorrow before heading back inland on Thursday. There's a guy here who paints your van, or any part of it. I couldn't resist.

7th February

We are parked outside the city walls in Taroudant with the Atlas Mountains to the north and south of us. We left Sidi Ouassai this morning after a restful three days and the glorious sunny weather has stayed with us. We've walked around the old town and the souk for the last few hours, bought some fruit and veg and, inevitably, some silver jewellery and returned to the van for a rest and a cuppa before setting off again to explore the markets at night. We arrived at about 1pm and the medina was almost deserted but at three o'clock, after Friday prayers it came alive to the clattering of shutters as the shops and stalls in the market and the souk opened for business. The city tamparts here are 7.5km long and their colour changes from honey to red as the light and sun changes, truly beautiful. Outside the town seems almost European in parts with broad tree lined boulevards and a large park just opposite us but inside the medina and the two souks it's completely different. A whirlwind of push bikes, mopeds, vans, horses and carts and the occasional lorry all weaving around pedestrians. Not so many Motorhomes here as there are on the coast. There are no campsites, just a parking area here with an official charging fifty dirham, about four pounds, for a night's secure parking, there are about twenty Motorhomes here now (ours are the only British) and it's full.

It's seven o'clock now and it's been dark for about half an hour, there are family groups, young couples strolling through the park while teenage boys call out and tease groups of girls, all the while the clip clip of the Caleche provides the soundtrack. We like this town a lot, it's called "Little Marrakech", but it's much easier to stroll around here. People may invite you into their shop but there's not the constant pestering which is typical of Marrakech, a "non merci" or "la shukran" is usually all that's required to enjoy a hassle free stroll here.

Parked outside the ramparts.

We still haven't resolved the nightmare which is the Maroc Telecom SIM card and internet access but I have a bit of weak WiFi here so I'm going to try and post this.

Some time later - well, that didn't work!

9.15am Saturday, trying again!

 

Saturday 8th February.

We are parked on a campsite at Tallouine in the foothills of the Anti Atlas Mountains, 1000m above sea level. The landscape has changed since we drove yesterday through the fertile Souss valley and it's co-operative farms and orange groves. Now we are are in hilly red sandstone, barren in places. We are a mile or so outside of the village which is famous for being the African centre for l'or rouge, Saffron, the world's most expensive spice, which only grows above 1200m and which is harvested here for a month from mid October. There is less traffic on the roads now, away from the coast, which probably explains why I was pulled over by a Gendarme this morning as I approached a junction. I didn't think I was exceeding the speed limit but he suggested I was and warned me that next time I would get a ticket. Well, good luck with that officer as I shan't be returning by this route ha ha.

Apparently there is good WiFi on this site so long as you stand in a metre square area just outside reception so I'm off now to post this, at last.

ps Thanks to those folks who bothered to let me know today's football score, very much appreciated!

 

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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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