Day 29-36
29th December 2006 - 5th January 2007, Morroco	previous entry next entry

Day Twenty Nine 29/12. Camping Sidi Magdol, Essaouira, Morroco

31°29.50'N 09°45.80'W. Miles today 100, Total Miles 3203

Time to leave this smelly hole, so headed up the coast the haven of Essaouira. The drive is lovely, with miles of coastline just like SA with waves coming in, in barrels. Surfer heaven really. This used to Jimi Hendrix's hangout in the sixties. The region is well known for producing a type of olive oil, called Argan oil, which has taken New York by storm. Used both for culinary and beauty reasons, it is actually made from goat poo! Well, they eat the nuts from the Argan trees and then the kernels are hand-picked out of the goat dung. Nice! The campsite is only 2 km outside of town, which you reach by a lovely walk along the beach. Wandered around the Souqs and marvelled at all the beautiful things we can't afford. Rob did haggle himself a short jellaba (hooded frock) and has this sort of Brad Pitt, Seven Years in Tibet look about him now - as pointed out by numerous people. Phwaar! Going to spend a couple of days here…perhaps stay for New Year and sheep murdering day. More veg curry for dinner with scrummy bread we bought in the market. They were actually a type of pancake and sold with honey and butter but figured that just plain, they would be perfect with our veg curry. A few bananas and some plain yoghurt and hey presto, a gourmet feast!

Day Thirty 30/12. Camping Sidi Magdol, Essaouira, Morroco

31°29.50'N 09°45.80'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 3203

Spent the whole day wandering around the town, not buying much, just ogling. Nat and I did find a very cheap jewellery shop and got some cool stuff for pennies. The young guy who owned the shop, was a cool artist called Mustafa. He was so in love with Nat but she seemed to think it was more her passport he was after. He offered to make us tagine tomorrow night in the shop, as he wasn't into this sheep killing thing. I was keen, Natty was nervous! Michael wanted to treat us to his infamous Bolognaise for dinner and so had to fight his way through lumps of dead animal in the market to buy some mince.

Day Thirty One 31/12. Camping Sidi Magdol, Essaouira, Morroco

31°29.50'N 09°45.80'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 3203

Had a very lazy day around the coolness of the shady campsite, just reading and chilling in the hammocks. Eventually decided to head into town to check out what preparations they were undergoing for New Year. Not much! But there were numerous bonfires in the street where they were burning the sheeps heads. They have to singe off all the hair and then they boil the head for hours and serve it up with chickpeas. Yum Scrum! The town was otherwise pretty dead but a few restaurants were advertising special New Year dinners for exorbitant prices and most of them were fully booked! Decided to come back into town a bit later but fairly early to see what we can find… with the prospect of accepting that we may have to face veg curry again back at the campsite. Had some pre dinner drinks on a roof top terrace of the Taros Cafe. (the local beer was all we could afford but we did get snacks and chilled glasses) Came across a quaint little place serving Moroccan fare for reasonable prices with loads of ambience and live music. We were very lucky, as got one of the last tables. People were queuing all night. Decided to use the money Granddad gave us for Xmas. It was a splendid meal. Tagines, couscous, prawns, salads, sweet pastries and of course, mint tea. I couldn't help but think that the atmosphere would have been so much more festive had the beer or wine been flowing but no, we could have only sodas or water. Searched the town for a party afterwards but nothing was happening. I suggested we took Mustafa up on his offer but Nats wasn't as keen. Back at the campsite, there was nothing happening either, just the odd bleat of a lucky sheep. Rob and Michael welcomed in the New Year with some whiskey but I headed for Club Sleeping Bag. Awoke to mad, drunk French tourists running around the campsite, screeching Bon Annee. Didn't quite have the same melodic ring as Auld Lang Syne.

Day Thirty Two 1/1. Camping Ferdaous, 10km North of Marrakesh, Morroco

31°43.18'N 07°59.02'W. Miles today 120, Total Miles 3323

New Years Day and we are off to Marrakech. Michael's campervan is still playing up so we had to stop for a bit while the Fearsome Ford Twosome sorted in out. This meant we only arrived in Marrakech quite late so decided to stay in at the campsite Ferdaous, about 11 km outside the town centre. A huge place, which can get very busy but we found a quiet spot and all had fabulous free hot showers. The wonders of solar panels. In bed embarrassingly early.

Day Thirty Three 2/1. Camping Ferdaous, 10km North of Marrakesh, Morroco

31°43.18'N 07°59.02'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 3323

There is a bus that goes from the campsite into the centre of Marrakech. There are no set times or prices, so just ask at reception. We took up this offer and headed in to explore and soak up the buzz of the shopping metropolis. Arriving at the Main square of Djeema el Fna, we were so disappointed. There was no buzz at all. Just a few bored looking snakes and their charmers and millions of orange juice vendors. Perhaps because there is still this festival of the sheep going on that it was so dead. We went in search of a place for Nat to stay as she is staying on for a few days without us. The famous backpacker magnet, Hotel Ali, was awful and expensive, so we explored a little further and found Riad Chellah down a small side street with sweet little rooms for very cheap. My mind is now at rest that I can safely leave her here. We wondered around the Souqs, which we crammed full with amazing stuff but geesh, these Marrakech locals are thieves! Natty asked for a fresh orange juice and the guy wanted 1 euro, when clearly the price is 3 dirhams (30 cents) I wonder how many tourists fall for that. Also, we had a lunch at a super café with a pretty little courtyard serving simple pizzas and salads but when we asked for the bill, the guy just added it up on the calculator and showed us the total. I knew it was way too much and insisted he bring me the menu again to check the prices. He had sneaked in an extra 10 dirhams onto every item we had, plus had doubled the price of the cokes. This really annoyed me. We just left the correct amount on the table and walked out. Again, I wonder how many tourists he managed to scam today. We did managed to find the small metal barbeque, which we have seen all the locals use. Great for making a fire anywhere. A fantastic addition to our trip. After wandering around some back streets, we found a gorgeous restaurant, called Narwama, serving Thai and Moroccan favourites. Perfect for our farewell dinner tonight. We seriously didn't get hassled at all as all the guidebooks warn you about. The power of just ignoring them works wonders! We came back into town later and I insisted we went back to the square to see if it was any different. Oh my word, what a change. All the food sellers were out and the place was heaving. The guys who run the stalls are very funny, you have to stop and chat with them. Stand no. 114 in particular. Claims he is Jamie Oliver. There was such a fabulous vibe, we almost wished we could stay and eat there but we had our seriously fab restaurant to get to. We had a stunning meal in Narwama, thanks to Dad for sponsoring that. Lovely food and Moroccan wine all round.

Day Thirty Four 3/1. Camping Legzira, North of Sidi Ifni, Morroco

29°26.80'N 10°06.80'W. Miles today 245, Total Miles 3568

Said a sad farewell to Natty and Michael. Michael has to start heading north now and Nat stays on for another 4 days to shop up a storm! I love my sister, so resourceful, always surprising us with the most amazing gifts. She arrived this morning with chocolate croissants! We are going south now to Mauritania. We decided to stop at the Marjane supermarket, just 4km on the Casablanca road on the way to the campsite. As this would be our last supermarket opportunity before Bamako, in Mali, we filled our cupboards, filled our fuel tanks and then filled our bellies with the biggest and most yummy MacDonalds feast EVER! Happy to be on our way, just the two of us, our trip now feels like it has really begun. Spent a long day driving and stopped at a Plage Legzara near Sidi Ifni for the night. Loads of overlanders and campervans were there. There is a small fee of 15 dirham per car. Super views on this clifftop, overlooking the beach. Made some quick toasted sandwiches on our new bbq and read up on what the next few days has in store for us, crossing through the Western Sahara and into Mauritania.

Day Thirty Five 4/1. Bush Camp, Park Oiswaux Naila, Morroco

28°01.68'N 12°14.56'W. Miles today 201, Total Miles 3769

Up and on the long road south early. Had a fabulous surprise this morning before we left. A dutch overland truck was next to us. The man came over to chat and then the next minute, his wife sends over a packet of biscuits and 2 coffees to go. Pure kindness and very well received. Dankie. Stunning scenery all day, stopping only occasionally to pick up bits of wood. Stopped just before Sidi Akfenir to pick up cheap fuel. Less than 30p a litre. Passed through a police check and were asked for our "fiche". Basically, a document you draw up with all your details and the car details printed on it. This just saves them time having to write it all down. I am told this is the first of many stops. Stopped in Sidi Afkenir to get a permit to enter the beach stop of Naila, where you can camp for free. A very bored looking woman, painstakingly wrote us a letter, in Arabic, giving us permission to camp there.. 25km later, we found the turn-off to Naila and parked up on the cliff, overlooking the lagoon and the dunes in the distance. A little windy but super spot. Made an impressive bbq with yummy chicken.

Day Thirty Six 5/1. Bush Camp, South of Boujdour, Morroco

24°49.15'N 14°50.89'W. Miles today 317, Total Miles 4086

Woke early and tried to clean the car out a bit. Half the Sahara appears to have found it's way into our tent. On the road early as we have a lot of distance in the desert to cover before we reach the border. At least 2 days driving. We are both very excited about going to Mauritania.

Day 29-36

29th December 2006 - 5th January 2007, Morroco