So where are we now ?

Azrou is where we find ourselves. It is the end of May and the weather is gorgeous. Not too hot as we are in the middle Atlas Mountains. Think soft and rolling rather than hard and craggy. High and cool. Lovely. It's also very cherry !

Mmmm, would you like one ? But more of this later as there is some catching up to be done.
We said our goodbyes to Assilah four days ago now, it seems like longer. ! We saw the sea to say our farewells, for a while and breathed in that salty air.

The onshore breezes have kept us cool. Will we miss them ? We shall find out.
Then there is the piece of wood we are having made for the back of the van. To stop us falling out when the doors are open. Not just any old piece of wood, a special piece ! Mustapha is our man and a fine chap he is. At first he is goint to Tanger to get the chosen piece but no luck there, so he, without us knowing, makes us one by hand ! It took two days longer but the wait was worthwhile.

We proudly carried our 'art de bois' through the dusk of Assilah and left the following day. Destination? Sefrou, nestled in the foothills of the Middle Atlas.
We drove through the afternoon so as to be going away from the sun, East. Past Meknes and Fes and on to Sefrou, arriving quite unexpectantly to a festival !! As you do. The town was heaving, mini fest, bands and loudspeakers, police and donkeys ! Absolute chaos! Through the crowds we crawled, everyone smiling, police included. We stopped to chat to one friendly gendarme and asked directions to the campsite. He guided us and off we set up the steep hill to find ??? It closed ! Well the gates were locked and with town heaving and night time coming on, I went in and looked for help.

I found Hamamouch and his family 'guarding' the closed campsite. He's been there four years now ! A lovely man, and we are welcome to stay as long as we don't want any facilities ! Suits us fine.

As the night draws in, we sit and 'relax' as the town booms with music and chanting. It is the annual Sefrou Cherry festival, a big deal in these parts. We fall asleep to the sounds of Morocco.

The following day is eventful as is usual for us.
We start the day with another welding job to be done on the exhaust ! I must get a new one when I get home !!! Hamamouch leads us to a local mechanic who does the job on the spot and leaves us free to carry on with our day. Van problems just seem to be part of our trips so we seem to be getting better at enjoying them. ! We always meet lovely people and get home. So on with the day.

We head for the ongoing festival and pose, as everyone does, in front of the towns main sculpture. Which is odd, because there is no sign of any cherries !! Apparently it's a bit early !
Mmmm, cherry festival without cherries, the mystery continues.

We follow the crowds, fitting in as best we can ! We are the only europeans we see in town. This is a very local affair.
Everyone is so pleasant towards us. Hello's and handshakes, gifts of sweets even ! , we are treated very well and join the masses lining the streets waiting  ? waiting ? for ? we don't really know but we wait anyway. For ages, wondering ?

And at last the procession arrives. It's a carnival procession with the Cherry Queen at the centre.
Musicians and schoolchildren take part alongside farmers and Wild Boar ! The locals displaying all that is good in the region.

The Cherry Queen is the star attraction for the crowd.

For us, it is getting home through the crowds who are now, en masse, heading in the opposite direction to the campsite. We are totally swamped by the sea of people. Think football crowds. Yet there is nothing but smiles and welcome to Morroco's as we get closer to  Moroccan people than we have ever been before ! A bit overwhelming to say the least but that is why we love coming here.

Onward tomorrow but that will be another chapter.

To be continued..........

Hep Hep Hooray

                                                               Celebration Day.

Hep free after one month since finishing treatment. Really great news for us. Waiting for ongoing results can be a taxing time and good news, a welcome relief. It's not that we are expecting the virus to come back but nothing is certain in this life, other than, of course, we all go back to where we came from !
So after a good dance and cuddles, we decided to go for a bike run to celebrate. Nothing like whizzing around beautiful countryside, full of joy, to remind ourselves how lucky we are to be alive.

Hep free and Happy. My lovely Krysia is so pleased. She has been with me every inch of the way. Through all the lows and now, we seem to be getting some highs. Long may it last and spread to our loved ones.

We ride with the wind the 30 miles or so, to Larache. Well in search of Lixus really. A 12th century BC ruin, the oldest in Morocco. First inhabited by the Phoenicians but more known for its Roman ancestors before falling, along with their empire in about 500 AD.

Needless to say, we get lost to start with an end up on the banks of the river Loukkos, opposite Larache. Delightful, as I can't say old ruins are really my thing. Many blogs ago, I called a visit to Volubilis, another ancient ruin, ' the most boring day of my life' . I'm such a philistine when it comes to history. Still, this visit was to become a highlight in my cultural development. But not for obvious reasons.

                                                     The Snake and the tortoise

This wonderful likeness tells our story but I might as well add some words and pictures to expand on the event as it unfolded.

 Guides were available at the entrance to this free site but we chose the 'wander as you like' version, guide free. Now they might have said something to us at the start, perhaps a 'watch out for the wild life here' ! or something. But it didn't take us long to find out. Krysia stands here at an arch, leading to, another arch  !!

As seen below

 She notices something under foot, strange little somethings, which when I investigate with her, we find are little chicks, tiny things and mama flies off with a startle. Oooh, quite a surprise. But nothing like the one we get a few moments later.

To our utter astonishment, we disturbed a large green snake, the size of which gets bigger day by day. The thickness of an arm and as long as ? well1.5 to 2 meters !! We froze as it slithered at great speed along the wall, bottom left, turned right straight towards Krysia, then plopped over the side of the basin with a loud thud as it hit the bottom !

Time stood still. We then ran to safety. Whether green snakes are dangerous was not the question we wondered. It was a large reptile at high speed, no doubt about to devour the little baby chicks we had disturbed. And we were in the way. This ancient monument was taking on an altogether different meaning. Ghosts of the Romans is one thing but how many other wiggly creatures live here ? Now a guide would be handy !!!

Fortunately, Nordine was waiting in the bushes ! pretending not to follow us. So we asked him for advice, on snakes that is, not Roman history.

With a big smile, he told us that there were many snakes in the area. In fact, the whole hill was a snake paradise and you don't want to see the black ones. They can kill ! ??? Mmmmm

 So we took him on the rest of the walk, allowing all sorts of information to go over our heads as long as he kept any more crawly things away from us. A lovely chap. His grandpa was the first guide here, followed by his father and now he and his brothers do the honours of letting tourists get eaten by large reptiles. But what views and what are you doing Krysia ? Get your hands off that, whatever it is !!

Back to the views. The old inhabitants obviously chose the site for it's advantageous position.  Probably to kill anything that moved in the plains below.

And in the picture below, apparently, this toppled stone was used by somebody, the Carthagians, so we were told, to sacrifice babies to the gods !

nice !

We'll move on shall we !




To the second part of the title.

        The Tortoise.

                 Nothing happened here ! Just a quiet creature going about it's business, no fuss.

                           Phew, that's a relief. A pleasant non event !! Thank you Mr Tortoise.

And so comes to a close our celebration day. We fly home again on the wind and settle in to our campsite tranquility. No snakes here ! Are there ???

Caught in the Act

It's heating up. That can be the only reason I've been caught doing the dishes. It's gone to my head. It's early morning and chores done outside are easier to deal with for me. I can make as much mess as I want and throw a bucket of water over the lot, leaving the sun to dry it all out. ! Shame on you I hear you say. But while my lovely girl is sleeping, I'm up with the birds and happy to be alive.

These are intimate moments I share with you. Well why not, camping is a breath of fresh air. Perhaps why we all love it, especially when the weather is on top form. 30 deg C today ! 

 After breakfast, to the beach. And the artist is awake. Umbrella to keep her cool and the subject is horses. Well one in particular being riden bare back. Looks uncomfortable for the rider but the lads have brought a horse to the beach for the day and are determined to have fun.

and then the camels join the party and everyone is having fun.

Souk day and the Acrobat

Ah souk day. We do love a souk. There is no better way of getting to know the locals than a stroll around stalls full of everything you've never wanted. Well, apart from vegetables and tables ? Can we have one of these Ted? Mmmm, now where to put it.

We've driven the couple of kilometers on the motorbike as we do. It does leave us a bit overdressed but the freedom to come and go as we please is our thing.

It's a big souk with many folk taking delight in our attempts to parlez en Arabic, which needless to say is very rusty and oh so basic. Still, my numbers are up to scratch and gives great amusement when I know the answer to the total before it's been added up. 3 times 6 plus 3 = 21 right. wahad u ashrin. !! alright !! Not exactly quantum physics but a good start.

As we enter the red light district ? an array of multicoloured olives greets Krysia with, wow, which one?

So begins the task of tasting and they are all good. So this is where the 3 times 6 comes in. 3 half kilos of this one and this one and that one, mmm, oh and some harrisa, hot sauce for 3 dirhams.

21 dirhams,

Onions anyone? How many kilos would you would like?

Just 2 please, like not a lot.

Where is this all going Ted, I hear you mutter. Bloody shopping and now a dodgy foreign geezer. Well we met him in the fish restaurant, I mean cafe, on the side of the road. Kilo of grilled sardines and a life story ! Still, it leads us smoothly to the highlight of the day

 You never know whats going to happen next!!!

 The Acrobat.

A tale with a happy ending,    just !

So we wend our way back to the bike, without a table and no foreign geezer ! Paid our dues to the car park chappie who had taken care of our trusty stallion and packed up our wares. In the hustle and bustle of it all, I ready myself for Krysia to mount the bike behind me only to hear her cry and then ........  thump ! I look around to see Krysia flat on her face, helmet on, hands out in front of her, gloves on and knees in the dust, bike jeans on. ! Which adds up to always wear your bike kit even if its only for a tumble, or should I say cartwheel, off the footrest, while at rest !!
Time stands still, as do the watching crowd. No one moves except me. All are astonished at the acrobat. Is she trying to make some money ?? Is she hurt ? Help me up, she says. Get me out of here.
Are you hurt I ask again. Get me out of here she says again. So we try for a second time to leave and successfully whiz back to the campsite to find out what's the damage. I mean, is this serious?

The rest of the day is spent trying to assess the damage. Ice packs on knees, arnica and magnesium rubbed on lots of places and the damaged pride. Perhaps the most bruised of all, which is easily dealt with by a good hearty laugh at the whole event. Miraculously, dear Krysia is not hurt. A miracle considering the tumble. Even a strange bruise that appears on one knee turns out, with a wipe, to be rasberry juice from the ice pack !

Accidents do happen wherever you are and by their nature are very difficult to predict. Krysia will from now on, mount the bike very consciously. Of that I am sure.

So it's a happy goodnight, thankfully.

More "careful" adventures to come.

And off we go again

Summertime

 So we left first thing on Friday morning, with the sun shining and our beautiful home in all its beauty. Early Summer is here and yet we are off on our travels. Morocco bound. Another adventure. Well, why not. Tom here would agree, that life is one big adventure. Dive in and swim with the flow of the Watercourse way. As best we can isn't it Tom. A few tears will be shed along the way but hey, that's life. A lot of laughter will be had too and then there's the mystery of it all. What an amazing mystery this life is. Yes says Tom. But it's so exciting ! Makes me want to jump up and down, and so we all should. All together now............. Jump !
We stop at Bristol for a picnic with our Jaimie n Storm, Ami, Tim and Tom. Saying our farewells before heading off for the port and an overnight sailing to Santander.
Summertime, here we come.

Krysia kicks off the trip with a fine study of lorry drivers at rest. Doing what they do best on ferries. Talk and enjoy themselves before heading off on the road to wherever they are going, over and over again.

 We drive through Sunday until we are tired and stop for the night in a quiet sevice station, waking up in the morning to the sound of wild birds and a blue sky full of promise. We're on the road again.

We arrive at Palmones, near Algeciras with the end to our exhaust having fallen off mid Spain ! Yep, we're on the road again. It's also a bank holiday here so nowhere is open other than the ticket office for our ferry, so we buy our ticket. On Teusday morning, first thing, we try to get our exhaust fixed but it appears that welders here do not like to get dirty so we give up and catch our ferry. Morocco will sort us out. Through customs and on to Assilah, the start and finish of many of our journeys here. An almost empty campsite and a familiar guardien, Abdul Salam, we are welcomed to this tranquil campsite. An early evening walk around town reminds us why we love coming here. It's amazing, honest. The hustle and bustle of friendly folk, buying and selling anything and everything. The sights and the smells of all walks of life, not hiding who or what they are. Mmmmm

And on Wednesday morning, a welder comes to the campsite and escorts us to his back street garage and easily mends our exhaust pipe. Job done, no fuss. Khalil does a fine job for a great price. We are back in Morocco and glad to be here. So lets have a rest before ............ ?