Marrakesh to Laayoune

9 December 2006

Right, where were we? Oh yes, fit and well and off to Marrakesh! I have not bothered with the usual tanneries, mosques etc. as having lost a day yesterday I want to concentrate on the main attraction – Djemma El-Fna, which the Lonely Planet guide describes as ‘the soul of Marrakesh – a huge atmospheric square in the heart of the Medina and the backdrop for one of the world’s greatest nightly spectacles’. The best way I can think of describing it is like a medieval Covent Garden on a vast scale – think times 50 and you may be close. On one side of the square there are a hundred or so open air food stalls selling everything from Gin Seng tea and orange juice to kebabs, chips and cow pancreas (Tom’s choice for tea!).

Djemma El-Fna

Around the outside of the square is an array of typical Moroccan stalls selling carpets, carvings, leather etc. but it is really the rest of the square that is the real draw. Circles of men gather round small bands playing a range of music or performing magical or acrobatic feats. Elsewhere, hooded men sit huddled over their wares which can range from dried and stuffed chameleon skins, second hand false and real teeth, herbs, spices, dried fruit etc. Herbalists sit poised to prescribe a range of dangerous looking potions for anything that may, or may not ail you. Add to this a liberal sprinkling of snake charmers, fortune tellers, hustlers and benign lunatics and you can start to get a gist of what the square offers. You really could spend a lot of time here. An absolutely mind boggling place. Oh I nearly forgot, it’s the Marrakesh film festival so the Witches of Eastwick is showing on a huge screen at one side of the square….this in itself gathers a crowd of probably 1000+. I mentioned earlier in my blog that some 90% of visitors to Marrakesh don’t come back. I really fail to see why. The square is worth the air fare alone.

Alfresco dining Marrakesh style ....

Head home about 9, cold and raining!

10 December 2006

Leave Marrakesh at 9 and slowly make our way down the coast to Essaouira (Esa-weera). Cold and very windy and feels like a typical British seaside resort (at least weather wise). It’s a very quiet place after Marrakesh and with a population of only 43,000 is a nice change. The place is a haven for wind surfers and it is easy to see why with the Atlantic waves relentlessly pounding the 10 km beach. A relaxed mooch round the old town which is a quaint mix of Berber, French and Portuguese architecture. Burgers (home made) and ale for tea!

Essaouira .....

11 December 2006

Head south to Agadir. Much more arid, with the landscape a mixture of scrub, cactus and acacia. Just discovered that goats climb trees. Seen one acacia with 5 or 6 goats sat at the top! How on earth they manage that with hooves is beyond me! The mountain roads that cut across the southern tips of the High and Anti Atlas ranges provide the odd glimpse of the Atlantic as well as 1 or 2 deep ravines with a coach at the bottom serving as a useful reminder how badly things can go if you don’t have Dylan at the wheel!

We stop to pick up provisions at the Hyper Marche in Agadir. Not the most architecturally pleasing of places since it was completely flattened in 1960 by an earthquake which claimed the lives of 15,000 people. So severe was the destruction that the decision was taken to bury everything (bodies included) and start again.

The afternoon sees us run out of diesel – not ideal as we have to sort the siphoning out again and jack the cab front forward to pump it through and get the engine started. This takes almost an hour while two lone, hooded elderly Berber men sit outside their remote shacks taking it all in. Luckily, thanks to Robin’s knowledge of engines, we get back on the road and continue our journey south.

After almost a full day on the road, we set up bush camp; our first of at least 3 nights as we are still more than 1600 km from our next main target, the Mauritanian border. A couple of beers round the campfire with Cindy doing a hour or so on the guitar covering everything from Eels and Sheryl Crow to Johnny Cash and AC/DC; even throwing in a couple of tracks of her own. Eventually call a halt at 9.30 as we are at 1700 feet and the temperature is dropping rapidly. The only problem with bush camping is that facilities are limited to a shovel and a jerry can of water! The timing of one’s dumps becomes crucial from here on in!

12 December 2006

Wake early as Brigitte is crashing round at 6 setting up breakfast so I dig myself out of bed and stick the kettle on (2 pans of water) before realising just how early it is as we are not due to break camp till 8. Cold mineral water shower – relatively expensive but worthwhile. Sunrise over the fringes of the Sahara makes everything worthwhile and luckily there is still some heat in the campfire to counter the single figure temperatures. Back on the road south after a few misleading signposts!

Breakfast in the desert....

Witness a great gerbil fight while stopped at the provincial border by the Moroccan Gendarmes. Rodent boxing at it’s finest. No holds barred! The landscape switches from scrub to the classic desert stereotype of erg (dunes) and then back to scrub as far as the eye can see. The only change being the view of the Atlantic coast and a couple of shipwrecks.

Our original plan to reach Laayoune by nightfall changes as various road blocks and a stop for lunch delay our progress. We stop at 5 to set up bush camp in the desert 20km short of Laayoune. My turn to cook so it’s bangers, mash, gravy and sweetcorn for 15. The 15 becomes 17 as a Berber man and his son, Mohammed and Ali, appear from nowhere with firewood and we invite them to stay for tea. Conversation is a tad limited as they don’t speak any French and our Berber is none existant. Manage not to poison anyone and with a little assistance the meal is a huge success. The evening ends round the campfire with the usual songs and a rousing rendition of Two Little Boys! Magic!