To El Jadida and Moulay Bousselham

29th and 30th April

29th
We left Imouran at about 10 am after buying some more ghasool in Aourir, ie our washing mud! It costs just 12 dirhams a kilo here whereas at home it's designer prices.
The drive north takes us past Taghazout, Terre D'Ocean, Cap Ghir, Tamri,  Imsouane and Tamanar. All places we have grown fond of. It is a little sad to leave the south behind but time waits for no man and north we must go.

early morning fishermen

The first road block of the day!

Banana plantation at Tamri

Little did we know that we have chosen Souk day in Had Draa, where? well the road from Essaouira to El Jadida goes through this little known town but on souk day the traffic comes to a standstill as the town becomes a seething mass of Moroccan people enjoying their local 'madness' ! It was total chaos and took us two full hours to creep through the mass of revellers. The police had no control. There was nothing to give the game away as to what was going on! And when we got into the mayhem of town, we could only look on in amazement at the mass of people and incredible noise they were all making. What an experience.

Patience 

In the midst of the madness

It did put our journey back a bit but with the van going really well, we arrived a El Jadida at 7.45pm. Tired but glad to have given the van a run to prove her soundness. Well done that van.  That's half way to Tanger approximately. The parched sandy Argan trees of the south turn into rich wet wheatfields of the north. What a contrast. What a drive!
Very tired, we go to bed straight after supper
Yawn, good night xxx

30th April
Left El Jadida by 11 am, drove to Moulay Bousselham arriving at 5 pm! We're about 70 miles from Tanger and the journey north is almost done but we have a few days to spare so we pull into this Moroccan resort and camp next to a huge lagoon which this town is known for. It looks very beautiful with boats and birds, the sea in the distance.

The local square is enormous and swallows up anyone walking through it, it's quite impressive  but the town itself looks a bit run down, needs a bit of tender loving care. 

The path to the campsite is unbelievable!

 

It is obviously a summer holiday resort and as yet summer hasn't started, it's quite chilly.
Looking on the weather forecast for Europe, summer hasn't started there either!

lots of love
Ted and Krysia xxx

Imouran

28th April

A day on Banana Point next to Tierra and Zacarias. One of Krysia's rings that Zacarias made her mysteriously broke in the night! Which is lucky because he is right here and his day is begun with being presented with the said ring! Please could you fix it. Of course.

So we sit and chat the morning away with out travelling neighbours. Their life is so different on the road, we will return home to our house and base of over 30 years. They don't have a post box, no mail to catch up with when they return to....? Where are you going to return to? Not really sure they say, maybe somewhere new! Mmmm, sounds interesting but so does our home! We are fortunate to have rather a lovely house in the woods with good neighbours and woods all around.
They have extended their visas so they are in no hurry. We on the other hand have until next Friday 4th to leave the country so we'll be moving on tomorrow.
After lunch, we went for a walk around the point to the little fishing village of Imouran. No more than a small collection of fisherman's dwellings, it could be missed for the beach cafes that are springing up to satisfy the crowds of local beach goers. There also a massive campsite nearby which spoils the whole area! But we ignore all that and tune in to the delight of the fishermen and beach goers all mingling together around the small rocky point known as Imouran or Devils rock in English. It is warm and sunny and lovely to be here.

We watch the sun go down on our last night in Southern Morocco. We have been here for 3 months!
It seems appropriate to be finishing our stay, camped wild on a headland near Taghazout. As we were then, so we are now! In an old van which has the habit of needing attention every now and again but we wouldn't change her or anything that has happened to us, even if that were possible.!!!!!

Layla Saeida
The Berber Beynons

Dentist and Aourir

27th April

Arrived at the dentist at Tiznit a bit early as my appointment was for 10am, when I was seen on the dot by Rachid, a young but confident man. ' It will need a cap on it when you get home' he says. So it is only a temporary fix. Most things are!?!
The van drove well all the way to Aourir, north of Agadir, until I indicated to turn right and found I had no indicators. It does seem like it ' never rains but it pours ' I pulled in to discover the fuse had blown and blew again when I replaced it. So where is the problem? A short circuit somewhere? After roadside searching in the sun! we drove a little way and saw a mechanic's garage. Here we go again!
'Do you know where I can find an electrician? ' Well of course they do, one is sitting right here! He seems to know what he's doing and we are, we admit, a bit blown away by the repeated trust we are giving people to sort us out, so we watch him delve into the electrical system and yes he finds the problem.  But, in the process, we are convinced he has broken the control box for the indicators which we know was not broken before! He assures us it was due to the fault which he has found. He unscrews the right side front indicator, takes the whole unit out to reveal worn wires at the back of the unit which were rubbing, probably for years, against a metal bit! The shorting out uncovered!!!
So a new control box was 8 pounds and his labour the same, total 16 pounds and we have indicators again. I just wish I knew why he had to do some diy wiring to get the new unit to work? Something to do with his method of poking wires in things to find the problem? Insha'Allah, the new unit will work well.
We drive out onto Banana Point as it is known and find our good friends Zacarias and Tierra camped there. What a delight to see them again and it's just by the good chance that we come across them.
 Parking wild now seems to be more acceptable as all the white french vans have gone home! There are a few of us coloured vans left and our friends tell us that they are not having any problems camping . Just like it used to be but who can blame the Moroccans for wanting to control the coastline from a thousand motorhomes! Just like back in Britain, there are so many motorhomes now and as expensive as they are to buy, many of the owners don't want to pay for their camping!

So we chat with our friends and make light of all our adventures as the sun sets over the sea and the fishermen fish into the night.

Good night
xxx

High clouds to Aglou

Both of us went to bed early last night so we were up and at 'em at the crack of dawn. We left the camp ground at 7 am! as the mist and cloud began to gather. Tumbling over the mountain tops, the cloud seemed to be filling up the 'Tafraoute bowl' as there are mountains all around. We, of course are driving straight into them

The fog is coming to get us

We're driving straight into it of course

So as we climb out of the 'bowl' , we enter an eerie thick fog made of clouds. Between our snivelling colds, the still new head gasket and the driving conditions, we are quite quiet on the journey!!

The welsh dragon protects us

Two ghosts appear?

The van goes well which always pleases me, she pulls as well as she ever has and takes the climb in her stride. On the descent too, with her new back brakes, the mountain roads are tamed! Insha'Allah of course! May she go well for many miles. We have a long journey back to Wales in front of us.

That's my van going well smile

At Tiznit we go to the Souk which happens to be on today. For a change, I leave the camera behind and just go shopping like everyone else! It makes a nice change and we get our supply of vegetables and fruit as well as more honey from a chap we met two years ago. Well, it's nice to know a face and have one who knows you!
We move on down to Aglou plage and settle in to the campsite.  Krysia feels quite unwell as it's only day two for her, I started this all off last Saturday, so I'm on the mend today. And where did it come from? Sahara bugs we reckon, Ali from Guelmim was coughing like a donkey. Or just African bugs we don't get back home?
At 3 pm we go over to Lahoucine's cave to say our third goodbye! We bought him a water proof coat in Tiznit last Monday and we have a pile of childrens clothes that we hope he will be able to deal with for us.
He is happy to oblige and the right people in his village will get the clothing. He explains to whom and how the clothes will be distributed. There are many 'poor'  in his village, he tells us and they need help just like this! We are pleased to have found a genuine outlet for our meagre offerings.
He likes his coat too.

Krysia scanning for shells

And we say our goodbyes again to this charming fisherman who has once more shown us such hospitality
He has taught us a few lessons too, which is nice!
Home to rest and get over these colds! We have a northern path to follow tomorrow! One week of our visas to go.
Hope you are all well
love The Berber Beynons xxx

Too hot for Sneezing

So Krysia came down with my cold this morning, full on pepper nose etc, etc. Which makes todays heat too much to bare as all we want to do is take it easy and get better. But Tafraoute weather has other ideas, it's scorching and we spend most of the day hiding from the sun!
It is so beautiful here and we wake up to a view out of our window straight out of a dream

 Good morning campers! Before the sun rises too much and the heat takes over, we sneeze a good morning to our neighbours.

                  And watch the sunrise

At about 5 pm we venture out for a stroll as the sun loses its intensity and a cooling wind has sprung up. So here are some photos of the walk, I'll let them do the talking.

Palm trees and mountains

Dry river bed

Dead Almond tree and live Krysia

Hug that palm tree

Sitting quietly

Amongst the Argan Trees

Tafraoute nestled in the mountains

Ancient rock shadow

 Atshoo! We all fall down!
Good night
Sleep well
xxx

Flowers on Mars

24th April

And it feels like we landed there today! We decided to leave Tiznit for a couple of days while we wait for my second dental appointment on Friday and the destination is Tafraoute, high in the Anti Atlas mountains. The journey is not without incident as a loose temperature gauge wire causes us to imagine the worst , only to find the problem and carry on this epic ascent. The van goes well and I solder the wire on arrival. The route meantime, takes us through landscapes from Mars, wild and desolate places to us but no doubt home to those who live here.

The ascent was as thrilling as you could want

The road to Mars!

well done that van

It's very warm and dry here!

Dinosaurs come here to rest

A bleak and formidable landscape

classic mountain village

The journey takes our breath away! We pass between the two sleeping dinosaurs over a Tizi, a pass, and drop down into the valley below. A hair raising drive but with good brakes, steady nerves and our Jon leading the way

We 'land' safely into this fairy tale landscape, where two years ago we came with Jaimie for Christmas.

It was wet then and it couldn't be any more different this time. The Almond trees are dying due to lack of rain.

We find the campsite and settle in to this 'cauldron' of heat, Phew it's warm! But oh so beautiful

We walk into town and buy Tafaoute babouches from the same shop as two years ago. They are known all over Morocco for the quality and price, seven pounds gets you a great pair of shoes.
We have a coffee in a familiar cafe and are remembered form our last visit, which is nice. The souk is in full flow so we have to wander a bit. In spite of the nasty cold I have, we enjoy the return trip even if it's only for a couple of days.

Krysia shows off her yellow babouches

Now is that the tea pot for me?

Well they are nice shoes!

So it's back to the van for a barby under the stars and if only I could stop sneezing. Stop attention seeking will you Ted!
Hope you all sleep well
The Berber Beynons
xxx