Before
setting off Mel gave Sonny a quick wash down and then proudly added another sticker to
our map – an orange one for Morocco!
We
took a slow drive out of Asilah; you must watch your speed in Morocco as they
are keen to give you speeding tickets and we passed a policeman looking to do
just that! We picked up the motorway at
the edge of the town that took us down the coast to Moulay-Bousselham,
a 55-mile drive. Our arrival in Morocco
on Wednesday was a dark one, so it was nice to be able to take in all the
different scenery on this route. Lots of
green fields, with people ploughing them the old-fashioned way and herding
their sheep and goats – all looked a bit surreal. All the way down they are building a railway
line, which we think will eventually go all the way down the coast. We've decided to make the best use of motorway in
the early days, as the further south you get the motorway disappears and the
roads get more like dirt tracks! It only
cost us 39DH (just over 3 Euros) to go 55 miles.
As
we arrived in Moulay-Bousselham we felt we were getting into Morocco proper, as the roads
were potholed and bumpy, scooters were whizzing in and out, lorries blasting their horns, donkeys walking
aimlessly with people carrying their goods and people just ambling out into the
road. I was glad Mel was driving! We hadn't bothered downloading the Moroccan
maps on the Sat-Nav before we came away as we had downloaded Maps.Me on our
tablet that can be used off-line. It’s just like following a map but detailed
with all the streets – a lot more trustworthy than a Sat-Nav me thinks!
Arrival at our first Moroccan campsite (N34.88234.W6.28686) was
straight forward, we filled in an official form (name, address, passport
number, where we have come from, where we are going, occupation – not sure why
they needed this but we were happy to put retired! and numerous other details). Costs 80DH for a night with hook up, chemical
toilet, water, showers/toilets. We had
read that campsites in Morocco are nothing like European ones and can be quite
basic. Oh yes, it’s basic and there is no
way we are using the toilets! However,
the showers are clean and hot and the setting is lovely - on a lagoon next to
the sea with lots of shaded areas. It
has washing machines, so a wash went straight on!
About midday we heard our first ‘call to prayer’ - it sounds like half singing, half
wailing blasted out through aloud speakers.
There are 5 a day to remind Muslims of the key pillars of
Islam and requesting their communication with Allah. We are informed that the first one is about 6am
in the morning – oh joy!
We
then walked down to the lagoon/beach as the fisherman brought their fish in to be
sold.
They
had lots of fish and some we hadn’t a clue what they were. In my best French
(which is limited at best!) I asked what a few of them were and we opted for
Lubina – we got 4 for 70DH, a good price we though and didn’t feel appropriate to
haggle. He even descaled and gutted them for us - result!
From
here you can get trips out on the boat to go around the lagoon to see the
wildlife but we weren’t convinced that there would be many birds worth seeing
this time of year so we decided to give it a miss. We lost count of how many Moroccans
approached us to try and sell us a boat trip and got sick of saying “non,
merci” as we politely refused.
The
town is at the top of the hill and you get some lovely views across the lagoon
and the campsite.
The
campsite appears to be a bit of a ‘free for all’ where animals are concerned. Plenty of cats roaming around, hens, cockerels and
chicks, a horse that seems to be used to keep the grass down and then to our
amazement just as we were just settling down to our barbeque, the sheep herder
came through the campsite and out the back with a couple of dozen sheep and
rams.
Sellers also come onto the campsite carrying their goods either by bike or in a large plastic crate. We were happy to buy a kilo of strawberries for 15DH and 10 lemons for 10DH.
A trip up to the market the next day saw plenty of fresh fruit, salad and veg. There are no individual prices for any of this, it all gets weighed and then one price. Four tomatoes, a cucumber, radishes, 4 green peppers and lettuce for 10DH (less than 1 euro) - it's cheap as chips as the saying goes!
 |
| Mel is trying to communicate, but this guy only speaks Arabic! |
 |
| Everything is weighed together, and totted up by hand |
And
some unusual fish
We opted for some langoustines this time round – 70DH for a kilo (less than €7 – cheap!)
Most
of the grocery shops have Coca cola/Pepsi logos on them and counters crossing the
doorway, so you don’t have an option of having a browse around! They just seemed to be selling drinks, sweets, bread and a few tins of things.
We
had a lovely stroll on the beach
and then enjoyed a Moroccan Whiskey - otherwise known as mint tea!
The
3-wheeled scooters here are used as taxis – quite a sight to see as they race up and down with their passengers.
 |
| Taxi rank outside the Mosque |
We
just love this country!
Sally
x
No comments:
Post a Comment