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.

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.

We went through some military checkpoints, they wanted to see all our papers.

I have learnt all about sand. We went through sand called fesh fesh.  This is very powdery dirt, like talcum powder.  It is all through our car.  I also learnt that desert sand is easier to get stuck in than beach sand.  This is because desert sand has round particles and you sink in.  Beach sand has jagged particles that stick together and you don’t sink.

We also went past a mesa which is a table top mountain.

There were lots of different landscapes.

On the last night two wild donkeys came up to our tent.  Daddy gave them some water.

Now we are in Zagora at a campsite to all have showers. There were some scary bits but it was fun. The best bit is camping in the desert under the stars and seeing the sunrise/sunset.

The next day we went to a fossil museum.  It had lots of fossils that looked like snails and some dinosaur bones. There were some sparkly crystals too.  We bought a fossilised ammonite shell.

Then we stayed the night at a campsite at Merzouga. It was right on the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi.  We played in the dunes, it was very tiring running up the dune and rolling back down.  It was fun!

For dinner we went to the campsite restaurant and had a tagine. It was a lamb tagine with vegetables like carrot, potato, courgette and aubergine. There was a salad and olives and a flatbread. Then there were fresh oranges for pudding.  They had lots of pips, but were delicious.

We found some monkeys and watched them. The other tourists were very noisy, so we went for a walk in the forest. It was a bit cold but beautiful.  We turned round when we were followed by a wild dog.

Then we did some more driving and found more monkeys on their own.  I liked watching the monkeys jump from tree to tree.

We also saw lots of stork nests.  In Lithuania we saw empty nests, but here the nests have storks in them!!  The storks are very noisy banging their beaks together.

Our campground has lots of good trees to climb!