It has to be said, today was our best day in Morocco so far and it’s not over yet as we’re meeting some new friends for dinner and a few drinks tonight down by the beach. Much to Brad’s disappointment, England aren’t playing their match for a few hours so we’ve called off the visit to the English Pub, rather focusing on soaking up a few rays (it’s 6.30pm and I’m still sunbathing!), while Brad naps before we head down to the beach.
As you know today we went on our 4x4 excursion south of Agadir, traipsing through Saharan sand dunes, Berber villages, fishing villages, beaches and a fantastic little city called Tiznit. Our guide was incredibly informative and friendly so we spent the day chewing his ear off with countless questions about the Moroccan people, Berber culture, climate, social welfare system – you name it.
The tour kicked off at 8am and it really was completely out of this world – imagine huge orange desert sand dunes, camels, scorpions, cliff lines that drop away into the Atlantic ocean (at the risk of sounding like Dad, ‘god I love this part of this country!’)... It was STUNNING!
A highlight of the trip was stumbling across a group of Nomads when venturing through the pre-Sahara, who anxious to entertain, whipped out a couple of scorpions, a snake, a chameleon and another lizard all from the same bag! Out they pop and he’s passing them around like it’s a show and tell! I played with the snake and chameleon, but was more than a little nervous, while Brad didn’t show an ounce of fear. Even though I knew the snake wasn’t poisonous I couldn’t shake the fear that it was going to strike so I held it at arm’s length! Given how long my arms were I thought I’d be at an advantage if it went for my jugular! In contrast, Brad wrapped it around his neck and even gave it a little kiss! Neither of us touched the scorpions though.
The other Nomad, not to be outdone, parades over his camel where he commands Brad to get up on it and go for a ride! I closely followed, as did another couple we were with. It was absolutely amazing and so surreal... Definitely a ‘pinch yourself’ moment and even now it’s hard to believe it actually happened!
The pictures just don’t do the landscape justice – everything is so colourful – the bright red earth, the terracotta buildings (which are made from earth), the bright blue ocean, the scarce greenery... It has to be seen to be believed!
Lunch was another adventure and was outside in a huge Arabic tent, served by a waiter whose English vocabulary extended to: welcome, cheers, yum-yum, lovely jubley and.... I feel like chicken tonight! He gave us all names I was ZabaZaba, while Brad was Aziz... Thankfully we fared better than the others on the excursion who were called Fatima and Mustafa among other things! We were treated to a traditional Moroccan dining experience which was once again delicious, although I would kill for a huge slab of chocolate cake. Brad’s promised to make me the biggest cake I’ve ever seen once we get set up in our flat, but otherwise I’m heading straight to a place where dreams are made of – Chocky Wocky Doo Da in Brighton, where (as I’ve been told by a lady on the excursion today) they make chocolate cakes well over a metre tall. I don’t care how much it costs or how impractical it is, as soon as I get to Brighton (we’re going there for Donna’s birthday (Shady and Emily’s flatmate) in July), I’m heading straight to this Chocky Wocky Doo Da, buying this metre tall cake and eating the entire thing. I’m not even going to share one mouthful!
After lunch we headed off-road along the coast stopping at some of the most beautiful beaches, once of which housed fisherman in caves in the cliffs where they live and fish all year round. It’s hard to imagine such a different life – a life where your cave doesn’t even have electricity, toilet or a kitchen!
Along the coast we spotted a few Mongooses, which I mistook for otters, much to the delight of the guide. Brad kindly informed me that a Mongoose fights snakes, and is often found in the Sahara desert – too much Discovery Channel for that one and not enough sunshine!
Speaking of sunshine, Brad and I are very near looking like locals on account of how much sun we’ve had. I try not to feel too guilty when I’m soaking up the rays, reminding myself that we’re unlikely to see sun again for the next two years, so I might as well enjoy it while I can. I’ve never felt so brown, and the best part is for the first time in a long while, I don’t even have orange hands to account for the summer glow! Not to get to ahead of ourselves though as I’m sure a few days in England will return the pasty white pallor we’re accustomed to!
Given we’re in an Arabic nation I’ve been shocked at just how much those European girls bare (everything)! Their bikinis don’t cover much at all, and even then they take the tops off letting it all hang out. Just seconds before I saw a French tetraplegic lying in the sun on a reclined wheelchair with only a small scrap of material around her nether regions! After the scorpions I really thought I’d seen it all, but turns out life can always surprise you!
We’re off now to enjoy the beautiful African sunset down at the beach, but will upload this first thing tomorrow morning (after our cucumber and porc breakfast of course – wouldn’t want to miss out on that!).
Love you all to bits and can’t help but think how perfect it would be if you were all here with us!
xx
Otters, polar bears ... !
ReplyDeleteI even thought it could be a weasel!
ReplyDelete