19th March, Volubilis and Lixus Roman Ruins

Having spent a couple of days in cities it was time for the antidote and some serious countryside. Wide open spaces spread out before us with various shades of green in stripes over the hillsides, olive trees planted in straight lines and and coming up hill to a high point, we stopped to admire the views down towards a huge lake.

Next we headed for the UNESCO Roman Archaeological site at Volubilis north of Meknes and Fes. We arrived early although there were already several motorhomes, cars and some small coaches. The site is large covering 103 acres or 42 hectares, it’s elevated position looks out across vast plains below, with the remains of the buildings high up on the hillside, the site having been abandoned nearly 1,000 years ago. Walking up to the site there were so many colourful wild flowers, bees buzzing, butterflies and a corn bunting singing from the top of a bush, the sound of summer …. in March!

The original town was occupied by the Romans and by the 2nd century they created a rapidly developing city with vast mansions, temples with carved pillars, a basilica with ramparts, entrance archways, shops alongside roadways with houses and store buildings, public baths with elaborate seats for relaxing.

Some of the best preserved mosaics I’ve ever seen can be found here. The quality and clarity of the designs, the colours and detail of the pictures are all the more amazing when no protection has been given to natural weathering from sun and rain. There were so many great examples of the mosaics in many of the buildings remains.

The area is surrounded by olive groves which provided a lot of the wealth in the city but in less than 300 years the city was taken by local tribes. By the 11th century the city had been abandoned in favour of Fes where much of its population moved to. Amazing to think of all the changes in a relatively short time period as you walk around the well preserved remains of the city.

After a picnic lunch we headed for Hotel Rif Camping where you could park right around the swimming pool. It seemed extraordinary to drive on the beautifully tiled pool surrounds with a heavy motorhome, but there were already several in position and we were soon settled in a sunny corner thinking how lucky we were. We had two nights on the site with free bread and 2 freshly cooked hot crepes each day, spending time relaxing, reading and a bit of washing.

On our way north and to the coast I had another glorious drive over terrain probably best done in a smaller vehicle, but with our elevated views and no traffic to worry about, it was absolutely great. The road was tarmac, falling apart in places, subsidence making the surface uneven and dodging potholes, sheep, donkeys and a very occasional vehicle made an interesting journey. The views of the mountains and a huge lake were so calm and beautiful with blue sky and sunshine, just perfect for a meander through countryside, my favourite type of driving.

We took a brief stop near the coast at another archaeological site of Lixus, north east of Larache. Nothing as spectacular as Volubilis, however it was easy to park and we had a nice walk around for an hour. There was a semi circular stone amphitheatre, one wall left standing which was part of a Basilica, a few stone columns and lots and lots of remnants of walls among the grass. One of the best sights was the view from high up on this site, down over a tidal river and the salt lagoons. We saw a few birds in the distance, there was a large telescope available to look through, however there didn’t seem to be a focusing system so we were unable to identify some of the birds we could see with the binoculars.

Arriving in Asilah sometime after lunch, we didn’t bother with the over crowded campsites, but instead we parked at the seafront parking spot for 50Dr or around £4.50. We wondered around and got some fresh fruit and vegetables, had an early evening meal and settled down for the night. After the very early morning call to prayer at 5am, neither of us could get back to sleep so we were fed and watered by 6.30 and left for the port at Tanger Med. Our passports were checked and stamped, the motorhome got scanned, more paperwork checking, sniffer dog inspected the motorhome underneath and inside, finally onto the ferry, next stop Spain!

15th March – Winery, Meknes and Fes

Heading inland from Rabat on the coast, we travelled through beautiful green countryside, watching as the scenery changed to larger agricultural fields, corn production, vineyards, broad beans and lots of vegetables. Our next overnight stop was to be at Hacienda de Cigognes which translates roughly to an Estate of Storks. When we parked up under a large shady tree we looked up and on top of the main building was a stork’s nest with two occupants, bill clacking to reaffirm bonding. A traditional Moroccan meal was served to us for lunch with our choice of a bottle of Rosé wine, which interestingly they call grey wine. The starter was a Moroccan salad; finely chopped onion, green pepper, de-seeded tomato and cucumber all mixed with finely chopped coriander and served with homemade bread. The main course was a chicken tagine and it really was the best we had eaten anywhere we had been on our travels. Fresh fruit followed and we sat in the cool long room at the back of their house overlooking the fields to the mountains beyond. Perfect.

Later two other couples joined us for the tour of the winery business. Wafae spoke good English and explained about the different grapes to make various wines, she showed us underground fermentation storage, the huge wine vats and bottling plant. We bought 6 bottles and left the following morning after a peaceful nights sleep.

Arriving in Meknes was interesting and a little daunting as we drove through the old city walls and into the interior. After several more elaborate and ancient gates were successfully negotiated, we came to the place where the motorhomes parked for the night, right opposite the ‘Le Portail de Moulay Ismail’ gate I’d just driven through. Two cars were moved, I was instructed to reverse in and a car was parked back in front of us. Very secure indeed and a beautiful view.

We walked around some of the town and admired the beautiful gates, tiling and carved doorways. The medina area was being updated and a huge renovation program taking place in Meknes but we enjoyed looking around the squares, the market and at the huge walls with the beautiful gates.

A horse carriage ride took us further out and showed us more of the town that was outside walking distance, lovely mosque towers and parts of the ancient walls being renovated. No Health & Safety in evidence as men climbed ladders and perched on boards while plastering the walls all many feet up with nothing between them and a long drop down.

Not wanting to tackle all the traffic as I had done the day before, we left before 9am the next day to get out while there was little traffic. Driving further east to Fes we arrived early on a campsite around 10km away and soon settled in on a sunny pitch with greenery and trees around us. A day of relaxation was needed and we did very little but read and snooze in the sun, until the resident bees took a liking to Chris and that drove us inside for the rest of the afternoon.

We ordered a taxi from the site, shared with a nice couple from the Netherlands and a guide who would show us around Fes. It was much more interesting to have a guide and he showed us places we would never have found on our own. A lot of restoration of old rundown buildings had taken place, these were shown to us and called stables, although not for animals. Photographs of the state of the building before work and what was in front of us was miraculous and all the renovated stables were small shop areas and craft workshops to show visitors how things are made.

Tiny alleyways leading to markets and shops, there was a very colourful area with materials, wools, silks and sewing shops making beautiful dresses, scarfs, shawls, bags etc. We were shown inside a couple of houses, which on the outside looked nothing, but inside were absolutely beautiful, four storeys high, elaborately tiled and painted, carved wooden high ceilings, large doorways. There was a large roof top terrace where we looked across the city and apart from the views of the soft, sandy coloured buildings and mosques, the most surprising thing was the staggering number of rusting satellite dishes on almost every building.

We were shown a small room off a side street, and unbelievably there were 4 men with old wooden looms, clanking noisily as the shuttle was thrown backwards and forwards by hand, while weaving the cloth. We were shown several qualities of cloth from the shelves of neatly folded, colourful pieces all of excellent quality. It was like a scene from history before mechanisation, and to think those men sat in the stifling heat in that noisy environment with no ear defenders for days on end was awful, but the positive is that they earn money for their families.

We were taken to a tannery were camel skins were draped over walls, the smell was not nice and as we arrived we were all given a sprig of mint to smell, much nicer. Inside we climbed 4 floors, up numerous steps and eventually looked out onto the washing and soaking baths were the skins were treated. The skins are soaked for 25 days in water, lime and pigeon poo, as the lime removes the hair and the ammonia softens the skins. After that they were soaked in water and dye to colour the skins for production into the leather goods. Some of the dyes were henna, poppy flowers, indigo, mint and cedar wood to provide the various colours with yellow being most expensive dye as saffron is used. The water and dye was changed every few days and this process took about a month, then it had to be dried before being used to make shoes, coats, hats and bags.

Finally we were shown the magnificent gate of Bab Boujloud and it was the original entrance to the old city of Fes. It looks blue from the outside and green from the inside where there is a small square with shops and restaurants.

It was really good to see these two interesting UNESCO world heritage sites in different ways, on our own and guided, on foot and in a carriage, we saw so much and it was really enjoyable. It was also good to come away from the coast and see what the countryside was like, and because of this we changed our plan for the next few days to stay inland before finally heading west to the coast again.

7th March, Marrakesh and beyond

From our camping spot 11 km outside Marrakech we used the onsite taxi to travel in and back out of the city again, great value at €10 to include both journeys. We entered inside the city walls and beautiful horse drawn coaches were everywhere hoping to pick up the tourists, but not us, we walk. The first sight was the Koutoubia Mosque standing 253 ft or 77m tall, the largest in Marrakech. Built of small sized bricks and sandstone masonry, and having ornate doors with ceramic tiling, it is situated in a large square and floodlit at night.

Meeting up with Kenny and Maureen again after their coach trip from Agadir for a few nights in a hotel, we set off into the largest Souk in Marrakech. Everything is available here if you know where to find it, organised chaos, noisy, busy, an assault to the eyes in rich colours, and to the nose in pungent spices and herbs, among other not such nice aromas! Narrow walkways are full of people and shop vendors, the produce spread out to entice a sale, mopeds and bicycles dash through somehow avoiding everyone, cats, dogs and the infirm seem not to have a care or worry, nothing will happen; but I find it hazardous. Later we toured the square, sculpted spices and designs with dried flowers, trailers stacked with fruit to turn into juices, shoes an trainers, a lots of tourist clutter. We spotted a snake charmer and I managed to get a photo at a safe distance because I really don’t like snakes, and avoided the monkeys on a leash for tourist photos.

We found a lovely restaurant with a roof top bar serving alcohol so we indulged in a beer each and watched the sun setting. As night fell the central part, all the food stalls buzzed into life, delicious smells wafted in the warm evening air and we were soon lured into a well recommended stall. We weren’t disappointed, the food was delicious and so tasty. The lights on the square looked beautiful, we listened to the music and drums and did a final circuit, so much going on and a good experience, we had definitely ticked that box!

Next day we met up again at The Red House for coffee in the garden and a Geocache hidden in one of the trees! Later we had a city walk collecting more caches along the way and walked some the areas less seen, guided by the trusty Geocaching App. We found some historic sights including two palaces, may be to visit inside another time. After lunch and some beer on another rooftop terrace, complete with free ranging tortoises to watch, we carried on to finish a circuit of five caches. In total after over 15,000 steps equating to 7 miles, Chris and I met our taxi having said a fond farewell to Kenny and Maureen. May be we’ll see them in Spain soon, but definitely in the UK somewhere, sometime.

We travelled north and westward to end up staying in Oualida north of Safi on the coast with a wonderful lagoon and kite surfers to watch. We had a huge, level paved area with water and waste disposal for €4 a night. Fresh fish, sea urchins, spider crabs, were sold by visiting sales men and a trailer of strawberries came too, which we couldn’t resist, so we bought 700g (1 lb 8oz) for 80p!

The village had a couple of small hotels, cafes and a stunning long beach with sand dunes and rocky outcrops where the sea thundered against the rocks. There were many wildflowers low down in the sand, gulls wheeled around overhead and quad bikes roared up and down the dunes and along the beach. Plenty of room for everyone so no hassle.

After a couple of nights we moved north again staying first at El Jadida on the seafront where we walked along to the old Portuguese part of the town and around the old city walls overlooking the harbour.

North of Casablanca we found a small campsite for another night at Camping Mimosa in Mansouria. Forca bit of exercisecafter the driving, we walked around a very windy headland to a sheltered beach we each had a Schweppes Citron or a bottle of bitter lemon. Suddenly the men started racing down the beach, one stripping off to his swim shorts and plunging into the sea. It had been noticed that two people were in trouble in the large surfing waves, and he raced off to bring them in on a surf board. Over 30 minutes later, a successful outcome and peace returned. After an impromptu tagine lunch, I watched the horses on the beach while Chris had a nap in the sunshine. An unexpected dinner arrived later that evening as a salesman came around with ready cooked Spider Crab. Never having tasted it before, we hastily chilled some white white to accompany our treat, together with some prawns and tasty Moroccan bread, it was delicious!

24th February, Tiznit and heading north

Following the coast road north and eventually heading up and up inland we headed towards Tiznit, we stayed nearby and walked into the walled town famous for it’s jewellery trade in gold and silver. The shops have very small interiors, it looks like nothing more than storage, so most of what they sell is on the counter or spilling onto the street. All the first area seemed dedicated to fruit and vegetables, there is no shortage here unlike what we are hearing about in the UK with rationing of tomatoes, cucumbers etc and empty shelves.

Other areas of the town sell clothing, there are shoe makers and repairers, motorbike sales, mechanics and bicyle repairers, and an area dedicated to dentists, health and pharmacies. The mosque has it’s tall tower with speakers on top for the call to prayer, the rest of the building has the same colours and there are more shops right up against its walls. It is a really organised place within the limits of the town walls, definitely worth seeing but half a day was enough for us having bought a few food items.

We stayed at a couple of small coastal places and visited the Souss-Massa National Park. In the southern area, following a stoned track parallel to a river we saw a heron, ducks, coots, flamingos and cormorants, but sadly not the Bald Ibis we had hoped to see. Turning off the track there were many different wildflowers growing in among the scrubby bushes. We made our way to a noticeboard and shelter, following our Geocaching App directions, and picked up a new cache only placed in early February, we were the first to find it, significant in Geocaching terms!

In the northern area of the park we had a walking tour of an area dedicated to breeding and bring back species now extinct in the wild in Morocco. We were shown Aryx, Addax , Dorcas Gazelle, and North African ostrich. They were kept in huge natural enclosures and difficult to see because they had so much space, which was good to see. There were plenty of small birds and our guide showed us the Wood Pigeon on numerous occasions not knowing we had them in the UK!

Going inland to Taroudant, we arrive and parked right outside the old mud and stone town walls. Inside the town were a maze of streets with areas selling all the usual fruit, vegetables, spices and very delicious dates. We found an area to view the town from up on the walls and below it was a tea pot sculpture complete with cups, there was a nice park away from the cars and later on we sat in a cafe on a large open square for a cold drink, quite unlike anything we had experienced so far. Later that day we had a tortoise come to visit us and after a lettuce leaf and some water, he trudged off on his way.

Heading back to Aourir and the campsite where Kenny and Maureen were still parked up. We had fun playing games, a Finnish skittles type game of Mölkky on the next door pitch and the domino game of Mexican Train one evening. We used our stop over to get washing done, clean the motorhome, sunbath and read as well as catch up with our friends. Arrangements have been made to have their motorhome recovered on a low-loader to Tanger Med, then ferry over to Spain. Hopefully a Fiat specialist can be found who can sort our the gearbox malfunction and they can continue their journey through Spain to the UK

Moving northwards, we used the coast road through beautiful countryside, hundreds of Argan trees and plenty of goats, sheep and donkeys. We settled at a small campsite in Sidi Kaouki set back off the coast road. A walk into the village, coffee facing the beach and some camel watching, then lunch at a wonderful restaurant 10 minutes further on up the beach where we enjoyed fresh sea bream and a beer before a return walk along the beach, it was a pleasant way to spend the day. My night of rest however was extremely short, having endured hours of barking dogs, somewhere after 3am I managed some sleep to be shattered at intervals with periodic barking. Shame, it’s been our favourite location so far, but I can’t face another night like that so we’re off to Marrakech.

20th February, Sidi Ifni

Everything was ready to roll and after a tense moment when our friend’s motorhome refused to go into gear, we eventually set off but stopped again after only a mile or so. The gearbox was not having any of it, but after a short rest it gave us hope and off we went again into the town where Kenny had a word with the mechanic. Test it out for 30km he said, and see what happens. We did, and it stopped after only a few miles. It was decided that the mechanic would be called and they would get back to the site somehow, and that Chris and I should continue our trip. It was strange being on our own and worrying about Kenny and Maureen, but we headed south, hoping to coordinate meeting up together again later once the problem has been rectified.

We drove through some great countryside, long empty roads with eucalyptus trees, scrub bushes, sheep and goats, hills with lots of bushes making them look green and then on into the hills with bee hives and more goats. Eventually, coming down towards the coast the land flattened out and we saw around 50 camels browsing on the bushes before entering the small town of Sidi Ifni, as far south as we are going on this trip. Sun, sea and sangria, well not quite, but the beer was unexpected and good.

We moved campsites after one night and selected a pitch overlooking the sea, watching the surfers and listening to the waves, bliss. The small town has plenty to offer with a market selling fresh fruit and veg, fish, delicious smelling tagines, spices and clothes, several cafe/restaurants, nice looking buildings and clean litter free streets.

It’s so quiet, hardly any traffic, although there is a hospital, several banks, usual array of shops and some big important looking buildings, gardens, and some nice artwork around the town.

To amuse ourselves we did a bit of Geocaching with the Adventure Labs taking us on a walk around the town showing many different places we wouldn’t have necessarily found on our own. Very pleased with our 5 successful answers, we had bagged our first ever Ad Lab, and treated ourselves to cake from a small shop, followed later by a beer by the sea.

The wonderful long, sandy beach enticed us along to check out the rocks and pools where we found lots of huge rock falls, saw women picking mussels and a few fishermen. I love looking for signs of life and found a big red jelly like sea anemone among the mussels, also what looked like hard calcified lime circles on a rock, and there were patterns and shapes created by water dripping into a pool, snails of some sort leaving tracks in the sand and water flowing in channels on the wet sand. We spend several hours walking on the beach and had an impromptu lunch of pizza and beer at the cafe afterwards.

We followed a recommendation and had our evening meal at Nomad, an orthentic and comfortable restaurant. The food was great, fish and seafood soup followed by pastillas, a filo pastrry pie rather like a huge samosa; we chose one each of a chicken, herbs and almonds and a mince beef, cheese and fruit which we shared. The biggest surprise was being offered wine, did we want a glass or a bottle? It was a good quality, well chilled white wine and they kept it in the fridge for us between courses.

We left Sidi Ifni feeling relaxed and having enjoyed it so much. Stopping briefly 7 miles along the coast at Legzira, we had found out about some rock arches and there was an EarthCache there we could claim once we’d checked out the questions. We learned a lot about the rocks and until September 2016 there were two arches, however one collapsed leaving only the huge red sandstone arch we saw today. Made up of layers of rocks and stones, the iron oxide stains the deposits red and over millennia it is all compressed.

The area is very popular with paragliders who ride the air currents from the hills behind the village. Camels give tourists a ride or you can hire a quad bike to take the effort out of going along the sands. It was a great stop over, just a few hours but well worth the time.

6th February – Imsouane, Aourir & Agadir

We headed south stopping off briefly to stock up at a supermarket and then again to the high point above Essaouria to see the panoramic views below, we then continued through what was starting to look like the Morocco we had imagined. The muted colours of sand and rocks with sparse vegetation was more commonplace, small groups of sheep and goats dotted around and the ever present donkeys. Slopes with green trees lined some of our drive, later we saw the tree climbing goats in some of them and people selling oil by the roadside. Checking up on Google, we found these were Argon trees and the argon oil made from the seeds being ground between stone wheels. I have read that goats help the process with some sources saying that the fruits are eaten and the seeds are either pooped out, or spat out, and then collected, being softened during chewing and or digestion, making the grinding easier! As I haven’t seen any of this first hand, I’ll just be content to have some as it’s excellent for your skin and hair, and here in Morocco its considerably cheaper than at home.

Approaching the campsite at Imsouane up a dusty and rocky track, we arrived on the cliff top position where you could see the sea in the distance. There was plenty of space and we picked a spot looking towards the village and hills. Soon off out for a 10 minute walk towards the village we could see loads of surfers dotted out in the bay. Walking down the streets with shops selling food, souvenirs, jewellery and pottery. Others were full of surfboards, the place was full of bohemian young people half clad in wetsuits pulled down to their waists to dry off, and a donkey roaming between the tables of an eating area. Around a sea wall the fishing boats we mostly in for the day, late ones arriving and being hauled in and positioned using tractors. We sat with coffee and orange juice watching the proceedings with what appeared to be people learning to surf and the gulls all bobbing on the water. Very relaxing.

Moving on again we eventually drove along the coast road having come down a twisty road from the hills. Time to stop for a break in Taghazout, a small town very popular with the surfing fraternity, where we stopped for a break. Another lovely beach and this one had camels! So exciting, quite picturesque as we sat overlooking the camels and a couple of horses being walked up and down with tourists on board. An enterprising young man was making Hessian sack clothing lined with material right next to our table.

The next section of travel didn’t go as planned, Kenny and Maureen’s motorhome kept popping out of gear and eventually around lunchtime it wouldn’t go any further. Parked on the edge a road, under the shade of a tree, we left them there and headed off to get help. With the aid of Google Translate, and a few words of French, Chris managed to talk with a mechanic, explain the problem, get the GPS position from Maureen and then to the mechanic’s phone via Whatsapp, and then we returned to wait with our friends. After only 30 minutes or so, the mechanic found his way there and work started while we all chatted in the sun. Kenny and the mechanic conversed with Google and a bit of Kenny’s Arabic came in handy too. Long story short, he spend between 5 and 6 hours sorting the problem out, by which time Chris and I had gone to the planned campsite at Aourir, and miraculously, Kenny and Maureen arrived around 8pm. The men drained many bottles and cans of beer while the ladies drank wine and G&Ts, much talking and discussions took place and we eventually went to bed after midnight.

The campsite sits in a valley between high hills with steep and lightly wooded slopes, sand and rock underfoot, with goats and camels being accompanied by their herders. The site is out of the town and well kept with good showering facilities, a small shop and restaurant. An added bonus is an onsite motorhome/vehicle upholstery business providing new seat covers, sun canopy replacement, outdoor rug/carpets, table cloths etc. They measure up and machine the product you want on-site, and usually it’s delivered either in few hours or the next day. We had new velcro machined onto our silver screen and a wipeable table cloth, very posh! External sales men come to the site regularly; fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, home baked delights of mini pizzas, almond cookies, fruit tarts, that are all delicious. A bit of a disaster happened the day we purchased some fruit tarts however. The wind was so strong and blew our motorhome door onto the tray that the guy was carrying, ‘waiter style’ on one hand. He saved most of the tarts but a good number ended up on our large outside mat, with a few in the dust. I felt so bad for him, all that work smashed and so I offered to clear up for him. The mangled ones and the ones in the dust went in the bin. But realising the damage was superficial on many of them, really just upside down broken tarts, I carefully rescued 9 of them to go with the five we had bought. So 14 tarts cost us 50 dirhams or £4.45, I do hate waste!

After several days of pottering around cleaning and cooking, we walked to the small town passing lots of camels with their owner. The town was busy with many small shops providing for the locals, car repair places offering one service, exhaust pipes or tyres or bodywork, there were a few restaurants/cafes, several butchers and fish shops. We walked part way back and I flagged down a taxi as I didn’t think I’d make it back without wheels.

A bus very crowded bus ride took us all to Agadir where we looked around one the largest covered souk or market in Morocco. The souk was rebuilt in 1960 after an earthquake, it covers just over 32 acres or 13 hectares with around 6,000 stalls and 12 entrance gates. All kinds of fruit and vegetables create colourful displays, pyramids of olives, dates and nuts, sacks of spices, and jars of honey and bottles of Argan oil are repeatedly on display from different stall holders. There is all kinds of clothing, shoes, jewellry, household necessities, pots, pans, dishes and glassware etc, etc. Busy stalls cooking tagine, fish, soup and breads fill the space with interesting smells and people are smiling everywhere.

The journey back to Aourir on a seriously crammed full bus with no standing room left, had the four of us hanging onto the hand straps or a rail that the men could reach for the whole 12 miles. Arriving at the bus stop brought despair rather than relief as Chris realised his phone had been stolen while he was hanging on. After a cup of coffee and much discussion about what to do, it resulted in a new phone being purchased and a taxi back to the campsite. Kenny kindly invited us for evening drinks in their motorhome and then began efforts to try and connected to the Internet, all the necessary changing of passwords, and reinstalling everything onto the new phone, finally after several hours, things looked brighter. Last thing Chris managed to do the following morning, was remotely return his old phone to Factory Settings, thereby wiping everything from it, all in just over 12 hours!

After 12 nights on this site, partly waiting to get a gearbox pump which didn’t materialize, we all decided it was definitely time to move on. We had been treated to a very mixed bag of weather, plenty of high winds and rain, some dry cloudy days and a bit of sun. After one very wet night with thunder and lightening crashing, the campsite became a bit slippy and the dry river actually flowed with sandy and muddy water again. When it dried out we played boules and the boys thrashed the girls on the scores. Tomorrow its time to see how Kenny and Maureen’s gearbox fares, so we have decided to head north again, towards places where there may be more help if required.

29th January, Safi, Ounagha and Essaouiara

After another long drive south on the last stretch of Toll road, we arrived at Safi. The campsite was quite good with lots of space but the amenities were dire, so glad Lisa has a clean, warm and private shower and facilities. That said, we were securely locked in and guarded every night, it was sunny and quiet, except when the tannoy towers erupted on a regular basis with the call to prayer. We walked downhill for a fair distance and into Safi town, passed the fishermen trying to sell their morning catch with the surrounding tarmac covered in fish scales and smelling, well, very fishy. Firstly we decided on a sit down for coffee and mint teas while we did some people watching. Small shops opposite with food and clothes, there were horses and small carts with vegetables, old motorbikes, a man sleeping in the dirt, and cats. It was sheltered and sunny so we lingered over our refreshments.

Going into the back streets passed more clothing and shoes stalls, and a local man soon started telling us about the pottery area and for a small donation, guided us through a maze of narrow streets and a tunnel to where the pottery was made. It was really interesting and his English was good, so he told us the process from rough dry pieces of clay, the refining of it, to eventually being turned on a foot pedal driven wheel into bowls, jugs, cooking pots etc. Finally the firing, painting and glazing took place and an item was ready for sale, a very labour intensive business and the pieces certainly looked very professional.

Wondering on through the town, we bought a tagine and are looking forward to trying it out. Another purchase was a box of 4 cakes for 10 dirhams, (approximately a €1) and very good they were too. Later on we enjoyed a delicious lunch at a restaurant, sitting high above the street looking out over the sea. What a great day.

Next morning we stayed at the campsite and played boules in front of the motorhomes, great fun and the ladies team almost whitewashed the men, but not quite, they managed one point to get themselves on the scoreboard. Later, a young boy came to play and Kenny showed him what to do, he seemed to love playing with all the balls while we had lunch.

Leading the way out of Safi, a fair sized town, was hair-raising for me, I hate town driving at the best of times, but this was a whole new ball game. There are no rules on roundabouts, anyone can go and there is no polite waiting, there are faded zebra crossings right on the edge of the roundabouts so just as you’ve made the circuit, you may have to stop suddenly as people just walk across. Traffic lights, horses, cars, lorries, people, donkeys, changes of lane, signposts etc all sent my brain into overdrive, lots of expletives going on in our cab, so it was a tremendous relief to get out onto an ordinary road. Avoiding main roads, we opted for the coast road so we could see more sights, bimbling along at a fairly leisurely pace was bliss to me, I can drive for miles in the country and not turn a hair, even when faced with diminishing tarmac and a lorry coming the other way. We saw plenty of horse drawn carts, mules, donkeys and pedestrians, great views of the sea in places and plenty of agriculture, stone walls and even some olive groves.

Arriving in Ounagha the campsite was like a calm oasis, green pitches, space, trees and a good facilities block. We were soon levelled up on ramps, electricity plugged in and that was it. Off to explore. The busy street had the usual horse carts, a few donkeys, small open fronted stores and a lake of water on the mud road. After walking around the block and meeting up with a pack of dogs, literally chasing one poor bitch on heat, fights breaking out between the male dogs, I was so scared and couldn’t wait to get back to our calm campsite.

A bus trip took us and two other new friends to the coastal town of Essaouira where we headed towards a wide sandy beach. After mint tea and coffee at a cafe, we set off for the fish market by the town walls. It was a busy community of fishermen selling their catch, many stalls and a large variety of fish, eels, crabs, king prawns, sea urchins, squid, oysters and cockles. A short discussion had us choosing several things, which were weighed, cleaned and cooked for us, served with flat bread and a fresh salad of finely chopped tomato, onion and cucumber. The plates of fish, prawns etc were delicious and it was a true Moroccan experience for all of us.

An admin day followed, down-time for cleaning, washing and cooking after which an afternoon of sunbathing and reading. Pre dinner drinks sitting in a sunny spot before dinner cooked by Maureen, washed up by Kenny, and a domino game of Mexican Train followed with much chattering and a few drinks.

Another sunny day dawns, and after a leisurely start we walked a short distance to a winery, looking at the prices we thought it was expensive. A swift decision was made and we walked back and had coffee, mint tea and orange juice at a local cafe while we watched the locals go about their daily lives. Next we did a bit of shopping and carried our bags back to prepare lunch. The campsite has an excellent boules pitch so we played two games in the warm sunshine, and the boys won both.

Another relaxing morning of sunning ourselves in the tranquility of the campsite, and reading half of my book. The chicken tagine we ordered yesterday from the campsite arrived at lunchtime. With the two large chicken joints, piles of vegetables and lots of couscous there was more than enough for our lunch with leftovers for another day. It’s been a great stay in a very nice site, but tomorrow we move on to explore a bit more of Morocco.

20th January 2023 – Spain to Morocco

After several months of difficulties with obtaining insurance, we finally got the required documents less than 48 hours before we were booked on the ferry to Santander. Packing was done swiftly, we were soon on our way and with a very smooth crossing we landed, quickly setting off for our first destination down through Extremadura. It’s a very scenic and rural route and we were soon at nearly 3,000 feet in altitude and passing snow capped mountains lit up by sunshine. The miles passed rapidly and we parked up for a free night in Baños de Montemayor down in a sheltered valley with high hills on either side.

To stretch our legs after many miles driving, we decided it was time for a Geocaching walk and set off down a pretty track with a few wild flowers and many puddles and muddy bits to a Roman bridge and found our first cache in Spain. After walking around the town we decided it was empty, no activity anywhere because it was Sunday, no cars, no people and no dogs.

Next destination was Puerta de Santa Maria on the south coast, just across the water from Cádiz, it was another long drive, and afterwards I was glad to settle down for a day of rest after my long drive. Except we didn’t. Instead the next day we walked 10 miles geocaching around the small town and found pretty parks, an old town square, a large church and an old ruined castle, parts of it tumbling onto the beach below.

Heading for Algeciras next day we completed a 722 mile trip to meet up with our friends and travelling companions, Kenny and Maureen. We got the ferry tickets from Carlos in a small shop and a gift of a bottle of red wine and chocolate chip biscuits from him in return. Next was to stock up some food and more particularly, alcohol, as there will be very limited opportunities to buy any in Morocco. The ferry was basic but we arrived on time at Tangled Med and we soon on our way.

Landing in Tangier, we had several processes to go through, the motorhome had to be electronically scanned by a huge machine on a lorry, then we had to get currency, a Moroccan SIM card for the phones, passport control and after completing that lot, we could drive out of the docks and hit the road.

The big surprise was how green the country looked, and the number of small farms with a few sheep, a couple of cows, horses and donkeys that lined our route. Finally we arrived at Asilah for a two night stay, the temperature was disappointing at around 12°, sunny but quite a breeze cooling things down, but we ventured out into the town. We were soon encouraged into a cafe bar by the friendly owner and ordered beers and 2 gin and tonics. The latter two, Maureen and I discovered were undrinkable as three quarters of the glass was neat gin and ice, not leaving enough space for the tonic. Grabbing two empty glasses we were able to dilute the gin with an additional tonic and managed to empty the glasses eventually. We were fed so many tapas dishes that we only had a few cheese biscuits in the evening and lots of chatting back at the campsite later on.

The biggest shock to me was the ‘call to prayer’ up to 5 times a day, men calling with long braying sounds from a tannoy system up tall towers, calling the men to come and pray. Friday is like our Sunday for their religious day and there is the 5am call to prayer which was loud to say the least especially in the wee small hours. Needless to say, I never got back to sleep so I was a big jaded by the following evening.

Exploring the next day, we walked around inside the old town walls discovering narrow streets and small tiny dark shops with the goods spilling out onto the roadside. There were numerous fruit and vegetable stalls, bread and cakes, grocery shops, and the street art was plentiful, making nice features of the walls, bright and colourful and detailed.

Horses pulled carriages for tourists to be taken around the town which looked nice. We started to see the typical winter attire of men and women which was was a long ‘dressing-gown like garment with a pointy hat. They came in various colours, mainly greys, white, black, some striped and all down below the knees. The ‘grim reaper’ comes to mind, or a Druid, or Harry Potter, but for all their strange looks, I think they must be very warm like a full length coat.

After a long drive using the Toll roads, we headed south to Rabat through fields of green crops and cultivation, and dreadful poly tunnels full of banana trees and fruit trees in huge pots.

The town is dominated by the city walls with the Medina or old town inside. First we looked at the modern buildings with lots of detail in the construction, there were trees up the centre of the street and everything looking so clean and well cared for.

Hassan Tower was part of an ancient, unfinished tower and a mosque, it was guarded by two men on horseback at a gateway though a high wall. The central courtyard had 348 columns, and the tower was going to be the largest minaret in the world but it stopped at 44 meters, also the largest mosque in the western Muslim world, but building stopped in 1199 when it’s commissioner died.

Walking alongside a river the brightly coloured fishing boats made a picturesque view as we headed up narrow streets with tall buildings on either side, this keeps the sun out and therefore has a nice cool temperature. Shops sold many things, hats, shoes, fancy clothing, tiles, doors, food, jewelry and artwork. There were lots of people around, all very friendly and interested in us because we were different and they like to practice their English! We only stayed one night which turned out to be quite noisy as there was a wedding party, lots of talking, playing drums etc, but eventually it went quiet, thankfully.