Archive for ‘Roaming’

Posts about our travels…

Fes

Yesterday we went to Fes. We took a taxi. The driver tooted his horn a lot!

The first thing we did was walk through the Medina to the Tanneries. This is where they make leather from goat and camel skin. We saw the skins being soaked and then all the hair being scraped off. The hair is used for carpets. The skins are dyed in big tubs and then dried. Some of the dyes were: paprika, saffron, henna, mint, tumeric. It was a bit smelly so they gave us mint, which smells nice. We bought a pouffe and he tried to get us to buy more, but we just wanted one.

Then we walked round the medina and saw lots of shops like Marrakesh. I liked it better because there were less mopeds and donkeys in the streets. I saw shops selling leather stuff, wooden bowls, slippers, lanterns, and food. My favourite was one selling carpets, but we didn’t buy one.

I won the lunch stop again. Mummy and Daddy had kebabs, and I had a pastella. This is a chicken pie with almonds and spice (filo like pastry) with sugar and cinnamon on top. It was yummy. The problem with choosing the best lunch is that every one tries to steal it!

We walked through the blue gate which is called Bab Bou Jeloud.

We went to a place called the Medersa Bou Inania which had lots of tiles and wooden carvings. It was used as a religious school.

Then we went to Batha Palace. This was a museum with lots of ceramic plates, jewellery, different clothes, a big gun and a sword. There was a nice garden in the middle.

After Fes we drove through Chefchaouen to Tangier Med Port. All the buildings were painted blue in Chefchaouen. Africa played a trick on us and the GPS took us off road over a hill to the port instead of the proper smooth road. Daddy loved it, it was very bumpy. Then we caught a boat to Algericas, and saw a rainbow. Good bye Africa till next year.

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The High Atlas

For two days we did another route called MH18. This was through the High Atlas mountains. At Imi-n-Ifri there was a big rock bridge that we drove over. There were big stalactites, but we didn’t get a photo.

After this we saw dinosaur footprints. They were from a Megalosauripus dinosaur, which is about 2 metres tall. It is a carnivore, which means it eats meat. I could only just get my feet to reach between footprints.

We went over lots of mountain passes, with windy roads and hairpins. The highest pass was at 2,774m! After that we found some snow to play in!!

We drove through lots of villages. There were lots of shepherds and their sheep, and people with donkeys.  We stopped at a house where four ladies were making a rug. It was all done by hand. It was interesting to watch, but they didn’t speak any english.

We did a wild camp by the Cathedral Rock, and saw lots of stars. Then we drove to Fes.

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Christmas in Marrakesh

After Sidi Ifni we drove to Marrakesh. We went over the High Atlas mountains on a road called the Tizi-n-Test.  Tizi means mountain pass.  It was a bit scary as there were lots of hair pin turns and when you looked down, it was a long way to the bottom. At one point there was a rock hanging over the road. At the top there was a sign saying we were at 2100m. It took a long time to drive down the other side.

The best part of the drive was seeing goats in the argon trees. That was a bit weird!

We went to a campsite just outside Marrakesh. As it was Christmas Eve, Genevieve and I made a Santa sign out of stones and sticks, so Santa could find us. We decorated a tree and hung up our stockings in the tent.

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On Christmas Day we checked our stockings and they had barbie clothes and chocolates in them.  Mummy and Daddy gave us each a lego set.  I got the Lego friends Pizzeria and Genevieve got a Sleeping Beauty castle.

Then we took a taxi into Marrakesh. First we went to the Bahia Palace.  It had lots of empty rooms, but they were very pretty. All the walls and ceilings were decorated with tiles or painted flowers, arabic writing and lots of scrolls. There was even a secret garden in the middle.

Then we walked to the main square – Djemaa el-Fna. We saw snake charmers but we didn’t go too close because they would put the snake on your shoulders. I do not like snakes! They were playing loud music. There were also lots of henna stalls and I got some henna on my hand. It was like chocolate icing when she put it on and I had to keep my hand still till it dried. She put glitter on it too. When it dried, it started to crack and came off my hand. Now it is an orangey pattern, it looks good.

For lunch we went to a cafe. I had a chicken tajine and it was yummy. Mummy had couscous, and Daddy had a meatball tajine. Mine was the best.

Then we walked around the medina, which is the old city. There were lots of tiny shops selling lanterns, tajines, woven baskets, carpets, slippers, food, clothes and wooden things. Lots of the shop keepers would yell to get you to go and look at their stuff. I would say “non, merci” which means no thank you in French.

Then we went back to the campsite and we built our lego.

Merry Christmas to everybody!!

 

 

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Sidi Ifni

Today we spent the day in Sidi Ifni with our German friends. First we went to the souk. (this is a market) It was massive. The souk had lots of people selling fruit and veges, clothes and plastic things. The fruit and veges were laid out on the ground and we took a plastic bowl and filled it with all the things we wanted. Then the stall holder would weigh it all, and tell us how much it cost.We bought eggplant, oranges, apples, pears, a pineapple, strawberries, carrots, avocado, and courgettes. Some of the stalls had live chickens, and turkeys, but we didn’t see any being killed. It was very interesting.

After lunch we went to the beach. This is the Atlantic Ocean.  The waves were very big and there were surfers. We stood close to the waves and when they came close, we tried to outrun them. Genevieve got really wet!

When we were up above the beach, Daddy showed us where there was a rip in the water. It was a bit that had no waves.  Daddy said that rips are dangerous and can take you out to sea.

That night we had an early Christmas dinner with all the friends we had made in the campground.   Daddy did a BBQ and Mummy learnt to make proper pumpkin soup. We had olives and bread too.  Then we has smores for pudding. It was amazing.

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The Road to Sidi Ifni

We stayed two nights in Zagora while Daddy did some car repairs.  We played with our new German friends.  We walked into the town to get a new spare air spring, (but it was the wrong one), and on the way back I had a pizza for lunch.  We also had a good look at a local shop that sold pretty material, necklaces bracelets, rings, and lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  Daddy bought a necklace that is a Taureg compass, to use with the stars. Daddy had some mint tea, but we just ate the sugar cubes!

After Zagora we headed to the Anti Atlas mountains. We stopped at an interesting museum of art and culture.  We saw lots of different tools used by Moroccan people. There was a model of a well and the different ways people got water. In some places they only collected water once a week! We saw saddles for donkeys and camels. We saw traditional costumes of different tribes. There were also lots of different spices and how they were used by a fakir, or medicine man.

The manager also took us into the next door guest house, and we went right to the roof for a good view.

Then we went up the Draa valley to Uarzazate and a campsite at Skoura. Skoura is in an oasis, this is where there is water in the desert and the only bits of green.  We have also seen a mirage, where it looks like water in the distance, but there isn’t any. There was a swimming pool at the campsite, but it was a bit cold. On the way we saw a solar collector. It is the biggest in the world and was very bright.

In the morning we went to the kasbah, or fort.  Daddy was very excited because it was used in one of his favourite movies, Lawrence of Arabia. We saw the massive key to open the door, and another olive press. We went right to the roof and saw lots of palm trees. We have been eating lots of dates, though Vivi doesn’t like them.

We then took the MA4 route to Sidi Ifni. The MA4 is a windy route through the Anti Atlas mountains.  It was very rocky. We stopped at some painted rocks that were done by a Belgian painter.  They were blue and pink, and looked a bit strange. Daddy said it was graffiti. We saw lots of Argan trees, but we were hoping to see a goat in one.  We did see a fox and some rock hyrax. The view was nice, but some of the drivers were crazy! Daddy said lots of bad words.

Now we are in Sidi Ifni. There is a beach and we saw our German friends again. Tomorrow we are going to a Souk, or a market. I am looking forward to it.

 

 

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