Marrakech

early morning taxi ride

We jumped in a taxi to take us to the bus station and would you believe it he took us to the wrong place!

we got there - finally

It was quite an interesting journey to Marrakech. Through mostly desert with wandering goat herds and camels. The berber settlements blend in so well with the surrounding landscape the only way you can tell they are actually houses is by the satellite dishes on top. I was particularly fascinated every time we passed an oasis - in the middle of vast sand coloured expanse suddenly it blossoms into life, an abundance of green.

a much needed refreshment

It's not so hot here as in Agadir - only in the mid 20's. We can see the Atlas mountains with their snow covered peaks.

Marrakech is manic. The traffic is horrendous. You take your life in your hands every time you cross the road.

not much danger from this one though!

I have walked miles this afternoon and my feet are aching (despite wearing my wonderful 'fitflops')
Think I will sleep well tonight. Kind of missing Phantom Lady already........................

Marrakech in the morning

Cleaning, cleaning, tidying, tidying. All day. The boat is ship-shape (pls note OCD friends)
Even Joe has washed his sheets.

She has a name now. It's Amira (Princess in Arabic)

The girl in the marina office is looking after the kitten whilst we are away. So I can rest easy.......

Two Cornishmen contemplating their fate.....

I'm really looking forward to Marrakech - should be an experience.

We are going on the bus. It's £8.00. Three hour trip. Then we are staying in the Ibis Hotel. It's got a swimming pool!! :)

I'm upset now!

Bugger. Thought I had it all sorted for the kitten but the marina manager has let me down. He is off to Casablanca for the weekend and I don't have anyone sorted to look after the cat!

What am I going to do??????

I feel really bad :(

Still hot

local beer

We have ice from the fish market which keeps our beer cold for two days at a time. Cheapest ice ever.

I have spent hours and hours bathing the kitten and cutting out all the mats from its coat. Bathing it's skin and ears with antiseptic. She will let you do anything to her without complaint.

Ringer's got a new friend

It's still HOT

hopefully it will be cooler tonight.....

We went to buy our tickets for the bus to Marrakech today. It's a three hour journey and we are going on Sunday.

I think I have managed to persuade the marina manager Samir to look after the kitten when we go home :)

Souk

Oh it's sooooo hot tonight. An east wind is blowing off the desert.

You can hear the call to prayer from the nearest mosque. Although Morocco is a mainly muslim country it is known as the most liberal muslim society in the world. Apparently it is the only muslim country that brews its own beer. (Too many 'muslims' in that paragraph haha)

Lots of beggars here. They even have different types of beggar. Some beg from tourists but some only from locals....weird

It ain't half hot mum!

It's been at least 37 degrees (centigrade!) all day today and even now the sun has slipped below the horizon it's still over 30.

Joe said the sand on the beach was burning his feet when he went for his daily swim.

our home from home

We visited Souk Al Had today which is apparently the biggest one in the whole of Morocco. It is a wonderful sensory experience. I can't begin to describe the smells - herbs, spices, fresh fruit and vegetables. honey, leather....amazing.

Our taxi driver offered Mike 2,000 Euros to smuggle him to the Canaries on our boat. I think that's an awful lot of money to a Moroccan. And he wasn't joking either.

I think 'he' is a 'she' actually

Our little visitor has had another bath today but is still really grubby and grimy. Cat food is hideously expensive here so she is just going to have to enjoy tinned fish and raw mince (no hardship eh?)

My only task now is to find someone to look after her whilst we are gone home. When I asked the Marina Manager he looked at me as if I was crazy. I said it was just a poor little starving thing and he said 'Lady, I know a lot of people like that!'

In other news, we found out today what all the fuss was about when we arrived and were intercepted by the Navy.....Apparently the Saudi Arabian Minister of Defence or some such dignitary was in residence at his holiday villa on the Moroccan coast just North of Agadir and they always get twitchy when this happens (once or twice a year at most)

PS Don't worry dear readers - we are only going home for a couple of weeks. And then the adventure will continue........keep reading!

Now look wot I gone and done.......

Yeah you guessed it

this is after a bath!

I rescued this little scrap of life. How could I resist when it came running straight for me. I think he lost his mum. He was filthy dirty and shaking all over. Wouldn't have lasted long on a busy road. Can't be more than six weeks old.

At least we can give him a few days of food and care before we go home and maybe it will be enough????

I want to take him home!

aaaaww

That's it. Flights are booked for Tuesday 3rd November. We are leaving from Marrakech and are going to spend a couple of days there before we go!

Local wildlife

resident (noisy!) Heron

feeding the ferals

One of the obvious differences between here and Portugal is you don't see hordes of dogs here - or hear them barking! When I questioned our taxi driver about this he told us that Moroccan people don't keep animals as pets because it's another mouth to feed and they are only just managing to feed the humans......

There's cats everywhere though and althought they are feral they are friendly and unafraid of humans. Or maybe they have just learned to fleece the tourists like their human counterparts :)

this one's not a local!

It's really surprising how many people speak English here. I expected to have to practice my schoolgirl French a lot more haha

they get everywhere don't they.....

Halal??? you bet!

In other news.
We are leaving the boat here for a few weeks and flying home. I need a break.Well we both do really. Probably just to convince ourselves we're doing the right thing haha. Phoned my mum tonight and she said it's getting pretty cold back home now. Never mind, at least I get to see Heidi and Lily :)

marina complex

Spot the deliberate mistake

New shoes

that's better!

Walking down the beach here is a strange experience.

It's not really very attractive.

And I find it odd to see women in itsy-bitsy dental floss bikinis walking next to women in full length robes with their faces covered over.

fancy a swim???

Our Heron was very noisy last night. He gets p*ssed off when yachts come and go in the dark, disturbing him. Or maybe the full moon affects him (I know it does me haha)

Views from the Kasbah

spot the boat

fishing harbour

We have a Heron that lives on our pontoon. Comes to roost every evening just as the sun goes down.

even the camels are exhausted

not parked very well is it....

Mike is really getting into cycling and our folding Brompton bikes that we bought years ago are getting more use than ever before (well, one is cos we left the other one at home)

The locals are fascinated by this Englishman on his bike and he keeps getting stopped by people who want to buy it off him!!
Apparently you can't buy anything of such good quality here haha (if only they knew how much it cost!)
Even the car washers try to stop him so they can wash it - anything to get money off the tourists :)

Joking aside, it's a very poor country.

It's all so exhausting

No really.
You are expected to haggle over everything!

my first steps 'outside'

The Moroccan men keep calling me Fatima - well really! D'you think they're trying to tell me something???

Lovely!

cool?

Joe lost his shoes just before we left the Algarve. So now he's reduced to wearing these beauties. He dropped his computer in the water again at the same time but it's (miraculously?) still working. I tell you folks, if you want to buy a tough laptop - get a Dell.

The story so far

The marina manager is great. We can get free wifi on the boat but only during the hours of darkness and on the foredeck.

ready to rock the kasbah!

The boys are not best pleased that beer is pretty expensive here.
Its great weather!!

When Joe met Mohammed....

Don't worry, I don't mean the prophet. Everyone's called Mohammed here :)
Joe went to have a good look around the fishing harbour which apparently is the biggest in Morocco.
He met this guy who gave him a thorough guided tour and he took these amazing photos.
Apparently the place stinks!

todays catch

just landed

selling it right off the quay

shark!

local boatbuilding industry

don't get much fresher....

pity we don't eat fish

The marina facilities are basic but the people are friendly. We are in a gated resort. It's a jungle out there.....more later