All good things come to an end, just 8 days left…..

Overlooking the lagoon, Moulay Bousellham village on the hilltop

But I nearly had fisticuffs with a German couple over it! We arrived and stopped to fill up the water tank and meanwhile walk around to find a pitch we liked. We decided on this one and Nigel said “Stay here and guard it while I go and get the MH.” Before he had a chance to do so, a German couple came and looked at it, spoke to each other and made appreciative noises about it so I said in French and then English that my husband was on his way, we had chosen this pitch and he would be here in a minute. The man shrugged and proceeded to pull onto it in his RV. I stood my ground but he just pulled directly up to me and would, it seems, have mown me down had I not moved aside. So I stomped off to tell Nigel who was on his way by now and less than impressed, he said I should have turned my back on him and stayed put. Easy to say when it’s not your own skin that’s about to be run over by 5 tonnes of metal!

The  view straight ahead from our windscreen

So, what have we been up to I hear you ask….well maybe one or two of you! The last account we were just leaving Essaouira having met up with Cathy and Nigel I believe. Well, this is only the second campsite we’ve been to since Sidi Kaouki, we’ve been “wild camping” since then although at some places we have had to pay a small amount and have a couple of times had access to water. 

Good news here is that we have wifi, hence my ability to publish another blog. At one deserted car park (well there were a couple of cars when we arrived, but only us after dark) a man came and asked for 40 dirhams, saying he was the guardian. Then later another one came and asked for 20 dirhams, would not go away even though we said we’d already paid. It was annoying but it could have been the difference between him having something to eat that night or not, so we paid up! Not sure who the legitimate one was.

Landscape becoming greener…..

Child labour? He was only about 9!

The countryside became much greener and soon bare land turned into well organised agriculture, fields of crops, mainly carrots and cabbages with many many people working hard in the fields and scarcely any tractors, all hand implements. At the sides of the roads were numerous stalls selling produce, some of the stallholders risking life and limb trying to make you stop and buy.

Ok, we’ll wait!

Traffic chaos

Than as we approached Safi, the landscape became very industrial and continued this way really until after Rabat…a nightmare drive that was through the town centre!

Phosphate processing plant in Safi

Just north of Safi we stopped at a lay by to have some lunch and as we were arriving a man pulled up, threw 6 or 8 empty plastic bottles out of his car and sped off. A little further on we saw two guys chucking plastic bags of rubbish over some cliffs. I just cannot comprehend how anyone can think it’s ok to do this. We couldn’t let the dogs out here, Nigel said he thought it was the venue of the local bottle smashing competition. Many people that we have spoken to who have been coming to Morocco for years say it is getting cleaner but they still have an awful long way to go and it must surely start with educating the younger generation to respect their wonderful environment. A few kilometres further on, we pulled in at another spot, a little less rubbish so the dogs could ‘stretch their legs’ and we saw these beautiful orchids growing. Such a contrast!

A downside of travelling further north is of course the weather. It’s been much cooler the last few days and has even had the temerity to rain a bit. We’ve had to get the fleeces out and even the paramo gear. Humph, how will we cope back in Europe? We’ll soon find out, we have to be on a ferry to Spain on 1st March, only 8 days left!