Morocco

Yes, I am still alive. Unfortunately I have not had internet access for the past week and have not been able to document the adventures which have transpired. So my blog somehow just deleted everything I just wrote and I have little heart to try and put much effort into describing the recent events so I am going to do it in point form.

On Aug. 9th we caught a Ferrie from Tarifa, Spain to Tangiers, Morocco. Once there we met our guide, Abdullah who drove us around for the next 5 bays. I LOVED Morocco and here is a list of my highlights in chronological order:

1)Learning that harassing tourists in Morocco is illegal and an automatic prison sentence, is delivered if caught
2)Chefchaouen, an old city where every wall and door is painted blue or indego. Our Hotel was very authentic with an open air lounge, fountain, and a beautiful outdoor padio all decorated in traditional Moroccan furnatings.
3) Dinner at an authentic Moroccan restraunt where chairs are replaced with couches pilled high with hand embroidered pillows, blankets, and tapestries.
4) Eating catus fruit at a roadeside stand
5) The city of Fes, we got a walking tour of the city which is 20 centuries old, toured a tannery, Turkish rug factory, and watched cloth being weaved. We slept in a 250 year old Rihad (Moroccan house) in the heart of the Medina (the walled portion of the city). The house had a beautiful traditional open air lobby, beautifully furnited rooms with brass fixtures, and a roof terrice were we drank our evening wine and ate our breakfast.
6) Feeding the monkeys in the Ceder Forest
7) Visiting the 2nd larfest Palm grove in the world (2, 850, 000 palm trees) which produces some of the world largest and most expensive dates
8) Buying our trubins and Kaftans to where in the Desert
8) Camel Desert Safari...AMAZING total highlight so far for all of us. We rode our camels into the Sahara Desert at 9 pm for an hour and a half. Our camel guide had us stop at at sun set to set up camp and we were fed by a nomadic Berger family who lived in the desert. They fed us traditional Moroccan soup (I had this every day...soooooo tastey and filled with spice), Tagine, and melon. We sipped mint tea with our 20 year old guide and Dean and Wendy tried to trade me as a bride for 2, 000 camels (see picture below of our Berber camp where my nomadic fiance is in the orange turbin)...somehow I managed to negotiate my way out of the deal:) We fell asleep to shooting stars over our heads and sleeping under the moon lit Desert sky. In the morning we watched the sun rise over the dunes and after some more Mint tea (a Moroccan staple) we rode back to base camp where we were fed breakfast and could take a shower.9) Searching for Jurassic fossels with a group of young Moroccan boys who were ever so helpful

10) All the colour, spice, friendly people, every changing landscape, and learning about how peaceful Islam really is.

Not lowlights but now exactly highlights either:
1) hours and hours of driving
2) hot hot hot
3) Sticking out with my blonde hair and bare shoulders
4) 3 o clock call to Islamic morning prayer yelled over speakers all over each city for 20 minutes, even earplugs could not drown it out
5) having our Ferrie back to Tarifa sold out, buying a random ticket to Algeceris, running to catch the 5 pm Ferrie that we barely caught, hearing and smelling people throw up through out the whole trip which made me sick, taking a bus to Tarifa from Alegeceris, and no one had room for us so we had to stay in a 150 euro rat hole with no airconditioning and a dirty bathroom.

Top 6 Moroccan Pick-Up Lines:
1)Hello...you are nice;)
2) Chai Chai Chai (not sure what it means)
3) Hey...I love you!
4) It is good! (said with a thick Arab accent and punctuated with a wink)
5) I like the curve of your bum (my personal favorite)
6) And many more in Arabic

All in all...Morocco is definately worth every dime! African Overland Tours is a great company who supports local businesses and I would definately go with them again!