18th July; Gibraltar, UK, to Tangier, Morocco (!)
Our alarm woke us up at 7.30am to a cloudy sky and high humidity. At 10.30am, we were ready to slip our lines and Rob took us out nicely. We saw Patriot waiting for us just outside the marina and Pete took over helm duty, following John in Patriot. It wasn’t long, though, before he was a spec in the distance! He is bigger than us hahhaha! Soon we saw the dolphins. Lots of dolphins! Jack was very happy! Too soon, we were approaching the shipping lanes – and they are very, very busy, with lots of container ships and ferries! All leaving big, rolly wakes behind them. But I guess they are shipping lanes, hahha! We can see Africa so clearly, just over the water! Finally, the winds picked up enough at 2.15, for us to let out our sails! Yay! Rob swapped our Gibraltar flag for our Moroccan one and then he raised our yellow “Q” flag, as we approached Tangier. The Q flag is for “quarantine” and should be raised when one is requesting Customs clearance. We moored alongside the Customs pontoon at 16.45 and we were, indeed, met by Customs. They were very friendly and helped with our lines and, at 5pm, Rob left with two officers to go their office. At 5.45 Rob returned – but they have kept his passport! Ours were returned and he should receive his back soon. Then followed a Customs search of Hoopla at 5.55, by three officers. Rob was with them but Pete, Jack and I were asked to wait on the pontoon. Five / ten minutes later, they were back on the pontoon. By 6.15pm we were berthed up in the marina, alongside instead of bows or stern-to. It has been years since we were berthed alongside and it is a welcome change 🙂 It does make getting on and off Hoopla so much easier! There was a little bit of confusion. Our phones and watches show one time but the ships clocks another. The ships clocks are one hour behind. How did my phone and watch update when not connected to WiFi?? But this means that we are now on the same timeline as the UK and it does feel weird. A member of the marina staff popped by with Rob’s passport, with a yellow visa stuck inside.
So. We have arrived! We are in Morocco! There were no sightings of the orcas, just lots of dolphins, two turtles and flying fish! Now, for our next adventure! 😀
19th July: Tangier, Morocco;
We were up early this morning (7.30am) as we have four neighbours popping over for coffee at 9.30am. It was great, though, and we had a good swap of local information At 12pm, Rob, Pete and I walked into town. We needed to withdraw some cash in the local currency (Dirhams) to pay our tour guide tomorrow. So exciting!! We managed to achieve most of what we needed, so we need to pop out again tomorrow morning, to withdraw the balance. This shouldn’t be a problem. We found a cafe for WiFi and lunch hahha! Everyone’s on their phones hahaha! Back on Hoopla for a lazy afternoon, as we have a busy few days ahead. In the evening, I packed for us while Rob cooked dinner. Our first impressions of Tangier are really good ones! We haven’t explored far, but we have really enjoyed what we have seen. Crossing the road is an experience in itself! We plan to explore Tangier more when we return from our tour, in four days time
20th July - our Moroccan 4 day Tour: DAY 1 (Tangier, Assilah, Meknes and Fes)
Our alarm was set for 7am so that we could have a leisurely breakfast, and do any last minute packing. We met Abdullah, our tour guide and driver, at 9.30, and we loaded our cases and rucksacks into the boot and jumped in! He has a nice, comfy and air conditioned Mercedes Our long awaited Moroccan Experience has begun! We drove past Tangier Old Town, which looked amazing. We all promised to see it later. Pete spotted some ariel masts disguised as palm trees Brilliant! Tangier is very green and very beautiful. We even saw some camels in a field! Hahaha! Then cows, horses and donkeys… We have just entered the city of Assilah and, just past the tolls, there are lots of men waving house keys! Abdullah said that these are to show that they have a place to rent! How fantasticis that! We stopped and hired a tour guide of Assilah Medina for an hour (which was fascinating) followed by a Moroccan coffee. Back in the car and just two minutes into our journey, Abdullah pulled over to say we had a bee in the car! Too late, unfortunately, as Rob had just been stung! He said that he was ok. I had some antihistamine in my bag, but he said that he didn’t need it. We were all amazed to see melons growing in a field and, at 1pm, Abdullah stopped the car by one, spoke to the workers and we were all given slices of super fresh melon roadside! It was so sweet and delicious! Further on, Abdullah bought a bag of fresh figs from a boy at some crossroads. These were also delicious! So much nicer than the ones I had bought in Gibraltar. All the fruit was washed in bottled water, as were our hands, before eating. Abdullah pointed out the Atlas mountains in the distance. Wow! Rob has just told us that he has a sore throat and we hope that it’s the aircon that’s drying it out? We stopped and had a walk around the Roman city of Volubilis. It was good but I think we have been spoilt after our time in Pompeii! Back in the car, we saw a few stork nests (with actual storks in them) in pylons! They were huge! The storks as well as the nests! I couldn’t believe my eyes! At 7pm, we pulled into Meknes Old Town. The New Town had a MacDonalds, apparently, hahaha. We stopped at the Jewish Gate for photos and it was 8.15pm when we arrived in Fes, our final destination for today. We drove for what felt like ages, through jam packed streets – to a dead end! Here, we were met by two chaps with a wheelbarrow. In went our luggage and we agreed on an 8.30am start tomorrow with Abdullah, before following these two men. The streets, or alleyways, got narrower and narrower and busier and busier! Jumanji sprang to mind . We arrived at our traditional Riad at 9.30pm, all slightly tired and slightly peckish. The Riad is amazing though! It is an apartment with an inside central open area, that three or more floors surround, with an open roof terrace. Our rooms were on the bottom floor and they were absolutely amazing! Pete and Jack had a twin room opposite mine and Robs. We told by the host that we had a welcome tea on the terrace. Unfortunately, being on the bottom floor, this meant lots of stairs to reach the said terrace The tea (drinking version, not the eating version) was ok. The host was so warm and welcoming. During our tea, I enquired about our meal. This was when we found out that this evening’s meal was NOT included! Uh oh! The rest are, but not tonights. The Riad host led us back through the narrow and busy alleyways to a restaurant! They had kindly stayed open for us and we had a lovely meal, leaving us very stuffed!
21st July - our Moroccan 4 day Tour: DAY 2 (Fes, Ifrane, Azrou, Medilt, Merzouga):
We had a 7am alarm clock this morning, as our breakfast was at 7.30am. We all slept so well! I had a quick shower before climbing up all those stairs to the terrace. It was worth it though, as we had a fantastic 3 course breakfast with a stunning view! We had to move our taxi from 8.30 to 9am hahaha! We met Abdullah at 9.15 – and it’s warm already! We stopped for photos of the Fez Medina below us en-route! Abdullah said it is one of the largest medina’s in the world, with one million residents! He also received a phone call from the Riad host. We had left a charge lead behind and Abdullah offered to drive back for it, as were not far. We said not to worry as we have a spare but, ten minutes later, we saw one of the waiters from the Riad, with the lead! How kind of them both! Back in the car for our onward journey to the Middle Atlas Mountains!! We drove through a Berber village (fascinating) on our way to Ifrane. This literally means “road in between mountains” We drove through a Cedar tree forest and, just after, we all stopped for a coffee break in a lovely, cool cafe – and there were storks nesting on the houses opposite We continued on through a Swiss style town called Azrou. Abdullah said that there is even snow here in winter!! We drove through another national park forest but this one was full of European trees! There were even snow pole markers beside the road! At 12pm, we stopped off to feed some Barbary Apes. We fed them monkey nuts(!) and they were very, very gentle. Much more so than their cousins in Gibraltar! Jack bought a crystal from there too. We carried on, passing some nomad tents. It was so surreal to see, as normally we just read about them ! Our next comfort break was taken at a superb lodge by a lake. Here, we actually heard rolls of thunder and we had a few small drops of rain. But that was all. We eventually arrived at the other side of the mountains, where we saw lots of dust devils and dust tornadoes . Is this where our Sahara sand rain in Cartagena originate? We drove through Midelt Town. This is a town that grows and sells apples. We drove over three roundabouts, each with an apple monument in the middle. One green, one yellow and one red, of course!
It is a very pleasant 24° in the car but a very hot 35° outside. We had more fruit by the roadside, peaches this time, and they were really sweet and delicious! At 15.30, we stopped off in a cafe for lunch. Mine was a melt-in-the-mouth chicken. It was 4.30 when Abdullah drove us through a canyon. It. Was. Amazing! Unfortunately, Robs throat has become very painful 🙁 The pain killers we have help, thank goodness. At 5.30, we entered the city of Errachida and Abdullah told us that we still have 100kms to do(!) before we reach the desert sand dunes. And its currently 39.5°! Ouch! It is going to get hotter isn’t it? We had to stop at quite a few roadside police checks, but we didn’t actually get pulled over. Apparently, they all know Abdullah 😀 We are near the Algerian border and we think that they are looking out for immigrants, but we are not sure. At 7pm, we drove past the Black Desert. We all bought scarves at a local stall before swapping the Merc for a 4×4 in Merzouga, for an off-road (or off-sand) experience hahah. We held on tight! We met our camels, the one hump variety, and our guides in the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. We then started our 45 min camel ride to the Oasis. The camels were Absolutely Awesome! It was quite scary getting on them! We went at a walking pace and it was just brilliant! Jack’s camel decided to walk through a bush, hahha! It was SO funny! Our ride was during the sunset and some fantastic photos were taken, including one suitable for Christmas! We arrived at the Oasis for a welcome tea drink. During which, we were given a choice of a camel ride in morning or a 4×4 – hands down, camels again, definitely! Then we were given the keys to our tents. If you can call them tents. We were blown away! Not only did they each have a proper toilet and shower, but they also had WiFi! In the middle of the desert! We had ten minutes before dinner, which was a very healthy three course affair! Drums and dancing was arranged for after, around a camp fire. Pete and Jack high tailed it back into their tents, never to be seen again, hahaha! Rob & I took one for the team! Later, after a shower, Rob and I popped outside to look at the stars! They are so bright and we can see the Milky-Way so clearly! What a wonderful end to a wonderful, wonderful day!
22nd July - our Moroccan 4 day Tour: DAY 3 (Erg Chebbi, Merzouga, Toudgha Gorge, Dades Valley):
My alarm woke us up at 7am, ready for another outstanding breakfast at 7.30. Again, the bed was hard but we all slept like kings! Our case and rucksacks were transferred to the 4×4, while we started our camal ride at 8.15 out of Erg Chebbi. It was brilliant fun! I was surprised at how orange the sand actually was! I was expecting yellow, like you would find at the beach but, no, it’s definitely orange! We will all definitely remember this experience for a very long time! We met Abdullah and we drove out of Merzouga, past the Black Sands again. Abdullah confirmed that it was originally from a volcano. He also told us that there are no wild camels here, that they are all privately owned and cost 1k to 3k each – and females can cost more. At 10.15am (38°!) we stopped to look around a Berber mud village. We stayed to drink some spiced tea and to watch the drummers and the dancers. We stopped again at 10.30am, to vist the King’s mausoleum and Palace. After, Abdullah showed us around a fantastic Berber market and we stopped by a herbal shop. We were given some more tea and a quick lesson on medicinal herbs. It was truly interesting. Pete bought a packet of herbal tea and Rob some cactus honey, that we hope helps ease his sore throat Later, we were given another tour, this time in a Berber carpet shop with a mint tea. I dread to think how much a carpet would cost but Rob, to get us out of an awkward situation, bought a candlestick – for 440 Dirhams, about €40! Ouch! It is nice though. We had lovely lunch at 1pm, in a Berber restaurant and at 1.45, we were back in the car. Its nice and cool in the car but, boy, its hot outside it! 41°! We arrived at the Toudgha Gorge at 4.30pm, and we stopped to take some photos. It is magnificent! We continued on down to the bottom of the gorge and there we found a river, jam packed with cars parked on one side, the river on the other (which made driving through interesting!) We saw lots of families having fun in the water. Here, we stopped for a comfort break at 5.15, at a cafe. We had a coffee and a looonnng glass of fresh orange juice each. It was very sweet and it went down a treat! Rob had a quick paddle in the river before we started back – and he said it was very cold 😀
At 7.15pm we had another photo stop, this time at Dades Gorge and at 7.45pm, Abdullah showed us the monkeys feet ! See if you can also spot then in the photo! We continued on, and up, and up some more, a very windy road. This got steeper and narrower until it was just the width of the car, with a long drop the other side. Scary stuff ! We couldn’t have got out and pushed even if we had wanted too! Out of nowhere, we suddenly stopped outside a fantastic hotel – that was built into the mountain side. Wow! At 8.15pm, we were shown our rooms. And, once again, they were amazing! We saw a lovely swimming pool, but, unfortunately, we don’t have our swimwear with us 🙁 I think it that it would be very cold anyway. We had our welcome tea on the terrace by the pool and I spotted two hammocks! Tempting! Rob says he has tonsillitis! It is such a shame that he is ill when we do something like this 🙁 He has opened the honey, so fingers crossed, his throat eases up soon. We all went in for another fantastic 3 course dinner at 9pm (with wine and beer this time!) We are all currently stuffed and knackered now! A quick shower and then it was a goodnight from us all
23rd July - our Moroccan 4 day Tour: DAY 4 (Dades Valley, Rose Valley, Ouarzazate, Kasbah Ait BenHaddou, Marrakesh):
It is another 7am alarm for us, as we have breakfast at 8am. We can’t believe that this is our last day! What an awesome three days we have had so far! We all agreed that maybe two nights in each accommodation would have been ideal, so that we could have had longer to appreciate them all. At 9.15, Abdullah was waiting for us – and I made sure that I sat nearest the mountain and Jack had the drop side hahahha. Currently, it is a very pleasant 26.5° as we say goodbye to Dades Valley. It is now 11am and we have stopped in Rose Valley. We had a short walk through the roses, but, unfortunately, they were not in bloom, but we could see their potential. We also had some almond nuts directly from an almond tree! How cool is that! It is now a tad warm, here, at 32.5° At 12.15pm, we stopped off at a cinema museum in Ouarzazate – but we didn’t go in. This is a popular film set and quite a lot has been filmed here, apparently, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones. The temperature has creeped up to 37.5°. Ouch! We reached the 7th century Kazbah in Ait BenHaddou at 1pm (and it is now 42°, damn hot!) The Kasbah was fascinating and so busy! We stopped for lunch at 1.30 and at 2.30, we were back on the road. It has cooled to 39°(!) as we drove over the mountains towards Marrakesh. Abdullah said that it is 2,600m at the top of the Higher Atlas Mountains. We stopped for a coffee and a welcome comfort break at 4.45 (32°). We have just seen a tortoise! Can you believe it!! It was running fast across the road! We saw it safely reach the other side. Phew! We are travelling by sleeper train tonight, from Marrakesh to Tangier! It is something that we all have always wanted to do, so we are a little excited! I booked a “cuchette” (a room with four bunks) just after we arrived in Tangier. The tickets are being delivered by hand and we are meeting a chap named Peter, at 8.30pm, by the McDonalds entrance inside the train station. Abdullah dropped us off outside Marrakesh Station at 6.30pm. It was like stepping out into an oven when we got out of his car, with the temperature at 37°! We said our sad goodbyes and expressed our many, many thanks for his kindness and hospitality and we waved him off. As we had two hours to fill and dinner to eat, we all decided that MacDonalds would be the wisest choice, so that’s where we headed. BUT there wasn’t any WiFi! Hmm! We will have a drink while we think about it 🙂 Rob found a nice restaurant over the road and we had a very nice dinner (chatting about all our adventures over the last four days) before heading out to meet our Ticket Master (as we had started to call him). We were there at 8.25pm, but he didn’t show! I pulled up my e-mails to find that I had booked the train for TOMORROW night!!!! Uh oh! What to do!?! Rob had a brilliant idea! Let us see if there are four beds available for tonights train, as this would be cheaper than a hotel, etc – and there was! So we bought them! They were roughly the same price that I had paid before. This was at 8.45pm and the train leaves at 9pm! We rushed to the platform and we were shown to our “cuchette” – only to find that we didn’t actually have a whole one to ourselves, and we were separated! Peter and Jack were next door but one, with one other companion. But Rob and I had two empty berths in our cuchette. The train was very, very hot! Rob managed to find the air con and we hope that it’s better when the train is actually moving! The train pulled away on time and no-one has claimed the other bunks in our room – but Pete and Jack have settled in ok and so it was decided that they stay there, as it’s not worth the risk of someone arriving from another station, further on down the line. I am absolutely shattered – and baking! I changed into my PJ’s and I’m in bed by 9.30! Our ETA is 6.10am tomorrow morning, which includes a three hour stop-over somewhere. Here’s hoping that we get a good night’s sleep
24th to 27th July; Tangier, Morocco:
Rob and I had a disturbed night last night; not just because of the heat but also because of his cold – and the fact that we were in a train! We did manage to get some sleep, though. A guard popped his head around our door at 6am, which woke us up, to give us a ten minute arrival warning. We both felt a tad jaded but we got up and dressed before sorting out our case and rucksacks. Pete and Jack did the same in their carriage. We disembarked the train at around 6.15am and grabbed a taxi from the station to the marina. It only took about ten minutes and soon, after some breakfast and a cuppa aboard, we all went back to bed hahhaha! I woke at 10am and only Jack was awake. I headed for a shower and when back onboard, I set up camp in the cockpit with a book. Happy Days. Pete and Rob stirred at around 3pm, when I mentioned something about lunch to Jack, hahaha! This was followed by yet more relaxing before the start of our unpacking. Some MORE relaxing before Rob and I went to the nearest supermarket for tonights dinner, which is going to be chicken paella. What a very much needed “doing nothing” day we have had! That was Some Tour! We have spoken of little else all day! The highlights being the camels (of course), the souks, Kasbahs and the medinas! Tomorrow, we will explore Tangier!
Unfortunately, it was not such a good night (again) last night for Rob. The cold has gone to his chest and he had spent most of the night coughing and trying to sleep in the cockpit. Such a shame! I have received an email from the ticket company, and apparently I will be refunded 80% of the original train fare! How good is that!?! Pete and I (as Rob is too poorly and so stayed in bed) walked into the Old Town in Tangier and through the medina. We met a lovely French man at a cafe when we stopped for a coffee. He joined us and we all explored the medina together – and I bought my new handbag! I was determined not to leave Morocco without one! Anis (the Frenchman) suggested a restaurant for Rob’s birthday meal for Thursday (the day after tomorrow) before we went our separate ways. We popped back onboard before Pete and I hit Carrefours for supplies.
Rob still felt the same next morning, so another day in bed for him. I put our washing on the line before lunch and then we all had a walk to a cafe and a look around the souk (a market). Rob was feeling a little better and so he joined us, which was lovely. We finally came across a mop! hahahha! Hoopla will be pleased!
The following day, the 27th, was Robs birthday ! We had a lovely breakfast at 9am, after which Rob opened his gifts. He liked his shirts and Gib shot glass! John, from Patriot, came aboard for coffee and we discussed our return passages. We are both heading for La Linea, which is great. We all decided to follow the same passage as getting here and we will see them there! After John had left, Rob, Pete and I walked to the post office so that I could buy some stamps and post my cards. Hopefully they will get to their destinations OK It is a nice cool 26° here but it’s a stifling 38° in Cartagena! Whilst in town, we found the hotel that Anis suggested earlier and we booked a table for 8pm later this evening – and then we found a cafe for lunch. On our way back, we bought a candle for Rob’s new candlestick that we bought in the carpet shop. It looks very posh! We sat down for what felt like five minutes, before we were heading out again for dinner (a tad late) at 7.45pm. We managed to catch a taxi to the restaurant, which meant we arrived on time hahaha! The tables were all set up outside, surrounded by lovely fairy lights. It was so pretty. We’re not sure what we ordered but we were served four courses in the end, one course being langoustines! Jack tried these for the first time – and he loved them! Disappointing for Pete and Rob 😀 It was a nice, slow, walk back to Hoopla after, as we were all stuffed! Rob reported that he has had a wonderful birthday!
Tonight is our last night in Morocco 🙁 It has finally arrived 🙁 We all agreed that we have had the most excellent of times and that we have all made memories that will last a life time!
