24th Jan 2016
Finally make it to Marrakech !
Interesting camp site last night – Out in
the middle of nowhere really, about 30 kms south of Casablanca. Only 3 people in the camp site – 2 French
vehicles and us. And 10 Police live
there on a permanent basis, so quite safe really ! But not much in the way of facilities,
although what they had was clean……ish !!
No wifi though !
So this morning we packed up and headed
out, deciding to try some minor roads across the countryside instead of going
all the way back into Casablanca to get on the main roads. And it worked – The little roads were
really good, they were interesting as we
went through villages, and we didn’t have to pay any tolls. As far as we are concerned, a much better way
to go – One feels much more involved with the locals, and the scenery and food
areas are so much more “interesting” than those on the autoroute.
Biggest impressions today were first of all
the quantity of cactus being grown.
They use cactus for hedges between fields, but they also seem to be
growing it in bulk as a crop, although we haven’t yet seen any in shops etc
like we did in central America where they cook it and eat it. I wonder what they do with it here ?
Next impression was donkey carts – They
were everywhere, especially where we passed a big market in a little town, and
donkey carts seem to outnumber the cars !
Also increasing numbers of shepherds with
the sheep and goats walking along beside the roads, or anywhere they could find
fodder for their flocks. Together with
people wearing the traditional hooded Moroccan gowns, and the women working
alongside the men in many instances, really gives a feeling of an almost
biblical times atmosphere. Very very
different to almost anywhere else we have seen – It really is an absorbing and
fascinating country. The people are all
SO friendly – The people on the side of the road usually wave before we do, the
children all smile and point and wave at us, and those we stop and talk to (in
our rudimentary French) could not be more polite and helpful. 3 days into Morocco and our first impressions
are that this is a country we would like to spend more time in. It really is very different, very enjoyable,
and yet so close to Europe that access is easy.
And the further south we go, the more “Moroccan” and enjoyable it
becomes.
And this afternoon we saw many people
sitting beside the road with hobbled chickens and turkeys, holding them up for
us to look at (and maybe consider buying ?) as we passed ! Not really feeling in the mood to kill, pluck
and cook a chicken for supper, we opted not to buy one today…….
Also lots of irrigation in the fields, which
enables crops to be grown despite the arid climate and hot summers. The greenery of the area continues to surprise,
although as we got closer to Marrakech it gradually turned a lot browner. They
were still fields, and had been ploughed and made ready for crops, but nothing
seemed to be growing at this time of year.
We reached Marrakech in mid afternoon and
went directly to what looked to be the best camp site for access into the city.
Having turned off the road onto a kind
of goat track, we eventually found an absolute paradise of an oasis, with
swimming pool, lounging chairs and beds, Morocco-style tiled bathrooms, and the
usual friendly souls running it. Easily
the best camp site we have seen for a while.
So we drove down the road and restocked our dwindling supplies of
vegetables and meat (no pork round here, but you can buy beer and wine !!), and then set up camp. The plan is to catch a taxi into the city
tomorrow to explore, and after we have done that, decide whether we stay
another day or head on through the countryside.
That certainly looks like a big boy rooster!!!!
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