This was a big day out and just like I have said previously, this was another absolute highlight of a day. Mum for those that don’t know is a big fan of waterfalls. We had many holidays when we were younger that were partially centred round ticking a waterfall off the list. If you were travelling, Mum’s request was/is always for a waterfall postcard. We had been in Morocco now for 31 days and other than the cascades at Aroumd/Imlil, we had not actually seen any waterfalls. This was all going to change today as we were going to see a right ripper of a water fall – Ouzoud Falls and also the natural bridge at Imi-n-Ifri.
I had spent a bit of time a few days earlier comparing a vast number of tour options on trip advisor and eventually settled on one run by Great Travel Morocco that seemed like it would be a good fit for us. Michelle who we had been travelling with for the last 31 days was joining us on this adventure as was her brother who had joined her in Morocco for a holiday at the end of our tour.
We were picked up from our riad at 8:30am by our guide and a driver. We set off in an mini bus, not that much unlike the Toyota Targo (Gen 1) that our family used to load into for waterfall adventures. This van, was just well quite a few years newer It felt a bit strange to be driving, driving, driving again. We stopped shortly after starting our trip to fill up with petrol. This was quite different as I think I recall only once or maybe twice on our tour had we actually stopped to fill up the bus with petrol. On reflection, I guess that was one thing that Ibby would go off with the bus to do by himself and the Sprinter would have had much larger petrol tank than our 8 seater mini bus we were now in! It was interesting, nonetheless. The random thoughts you have when you are flicking through a day in your mind minute by minute, kilometre by kilometre.
We started the morning off with a just under 2 hour drive to Imi-n-Ifri (or Imi n’Ifri). This was a very interesting gorge and it is one that I think would be a bit of fun to explore/rock hop up or down the river from the natural bridge. Next time…
One of the other “features” of the natural bridge is that that if you stand in just the right spot, the reverse silhouette that you see is said to resemble the general outline of the African continent. You can judge it for yourself in the pictures below. I reckon it is pretty darn neat. Our local guide of course, knew just the right spot for us to stand in to get a get a good photo with the reverse silhouette :D. One thing though that I didn’t recall reading about in the various comments I had read about the natural bridge was the level of pigeon poo on the ground under the bridge. There was a lot of it! Watch your step if you do venture here We came out on the downstream side of the bridge and then walked back up a good number of stairs and sloping walkways to the top of the bridge where our van was parked.
It was then back in the van for about another 75 mins of driving to Ouzoud. By gosh, this was a bit of a change from the tourist destinations we had visited on our tour :D. But, this is of course a very popular day trip from Marrakesh with a lot of the big bus tours so it makes sense that it is was a very well maintained area (well in parts).
But of course, first it was time for lunch. We were deposited at a sprawling restaurant near the top of the tourist area that comes off the main road in. Lunch was quite nice but also slightly drawn out but we were used to that now. We wanted to get exploring these falls!
One of the reasons that I had picked this trip instead of the others was because it involved walking down the gorge a distance and then walking up the river towards the falls. This was much more appealing to us than the other trips that had you walk down the stairs on the western side of the falls to the bottom pool and then walk back up the same stairs.
We were met by a young local guide who was very passionate about his local area. We walked across the top of the falls where the Tissakht river comes flowing down in numerous branches to create the wonderful collection of mini falls that fall over the top of the cliff. There was civil works underway whilst we were there to rebuild some of the branches and improve flood control so it will be interesting to see if they actually end up with more or less branches coming over the falls.
We had an interesting walk down through small olive groves and then we wound our way down through some steeply terraced gardens and small farm plots till we reached the first collection of cafes. These were all very quiet today but a few months earlier, they would have been packed to the brim with local tourists coming to visit or camp at the falls. We had walked down a fair way and it was interesting to see the sheer diversity in the cafe areas as we headed back up towards the main falls. We had walked through cafe areas on streams/rivers etc a few times on our trip but this was the largest collection of them by far.
It was quite nice walking up stream towards the falls as you would catch glimpses of the falls through trees and you would arch your head for a better look and then we were there! At the bottom of Ouzoud Falls.
We then of course had a dilemma/I had not quite properly read the full description about the fact that we needed to pay a few dirham to cross the pool via a little boat and there was no real option to cross to the other side without going across in the boat. Mum though, as always brought us to our senses and really what was a few dirham to us in the grand scheme of things? Nothing. We of course then also “upgraded” our little river crossing journey to include a paddle up close to the falls. This was well worth the extra money and really, it was fantastic to get up close to the falls. We also then had the opportunity to try paddling the boar ourselves if we wished
It was very different walking back up the western side of the falls, there a number of flights of wide stairs with viewing platforms that came off at points as well as a good number of cafes, souvenir shops, spice shops etc.
As we were walking up through the shops that lined the main path up to the car park and the road, I spied one shop that had an ice-cream freezer and I finally found the citron flavoured local “calippo” that I had been looking for. It was the perfect limey, lemony frozen ice block. Our local guide was keen to show us the shops that various friends owned/worked in along the way, however we had all been in country long enough now that we had generally picked up all the bits we were after!
When we got back to the bus, it was time for a “long” drive “home” to Marrakesh. It was about 2 hours 40 mins in total to drive back. We stopped at least one place on the side of the road shortly after leaving the falls so Mum could look at some plants and then we stopped again at a large roadside cafe complex at Tamellalt for a driving break, leg stretch and coffee break if you so desired.
We got back to our riad at about 7:30pm. It had been a big day out! We scooted across the road for a quick pizza dinner and then we all collapsed pretty quickly. Sleep was needed as tomorrow was our last day in Marrakesh
]]>This morning, we were off to Le Jardin Secret, which was just round the round two corners from our riad and one of the factors that resulted in me picking this riad.
We all headed off to the garden and wow. It was just a magical place of botanical, engineering and design discovery. I have recently had the book “Paradise Gardens: the world’s most beautiful Islamic gardens” by Monty Don & Derry Moore out of the library and it was interesting seeing how much the plantings at Le Jardin Secret have grown since the photos for the book were taken and how some elements of the design have changed. Aunty Margaret & I spent 3.5 hours there as we took a leisurely morning tea looking into the garden. Mum had returned to the riad to work on a work proposal she needed to get submitted.
We opted to include the tower tour in our entry tickets and I am very glad that we did. Not so much for the views but just to be able to take in the detail and beauty of the tower construction. The views were pretty good as well :D. I am reluctant to write paragraphs and paragraphs of text about the gardens but instead you are going to have a good collection of photos down below and the strong suggestion that if you ever find your self in Marrakesh and only have time to visit one garden out of Le Jardin Secret and the Majorelle, I would say visit Le Jardin Secret.
I adored Le Jardin Secret and I with a few tweaks for the Australian environment, I would quite happily have a smaller version in my back yard. If I do ever have a large enough garden space, I do have ideas for a Charbagh or paradise garden of my own that is full of Australian natives with a few exotics D:
One of the sentences from my journal on this day is as follows: ” I am constantly in awe of how this part of the world conquered water.” This video animation provides a good guide to how water is mastered in this garden. This below video provides a good overview of the restoration/renovation of the garden.
Margaret & I had arranged to meet Mum & Brahim at the cafe that we had had lunch at a few days ago so that we would give him a present he had found – a field guide to Moroccan flora. After a late lunch, we headed off to the braid and trim store that we had spied on our walk through the souks on Day 30 as well as to show Mum a local second hand dress shop that we had walked pass on the way to lunch.
The braid/trim shop was an amazing visual and textural delight to explore. We had a good chat to the shop owner and Mum & I both acquired some trimmings. It was just amazing, I’ve marked it with a pin and I I know I will return to visit it when I next find myself in the souk in Marrakesh!
We then had a leisurely walk back to the riad, where we had again arranged to have dinner in house tonight. I spent some time up on the roof terrace enjoying the sunset and the sounds of the city. It was just a delight
After dinner, Mum & I walked down to Jemaa el-Fnaa to absorb it in all of its night time craziness. There were people everywhere, tourists and locals. There were vendors of everything imaginable that might pique the interest of the night time crowd and there were font of house staff at the various little cafe stalls that were doing a marvellous job of selling their food and their stall as the best as you walked past.
And that is Day 32. Tomorrow, we are heading out of city on a wee adventure
]]>I had been tasked with organising accommodation for the Motherships and me for our last few days in Marrakesh. I had carefully poured over the map, picking out the places that we wanted to visit but also something that was easy to access. Riad Zaid fitted the bill quite nicely. After four days there, I would happily stay there again. When we arrived, we had a lovely morning tea up on the terrace which was just a treat.
We had two primary items on the agenda today. First to get some documents printed for Mum as she was putting together a tender for some work and the price the hotel had quoted her was beyond ridiculous. With a bit of google map searching, we had managed to find a print shop that luckily was just near where we were headed; The Majorelle Gardens – Jardin Majorelle.
We packed our bags, and traipsed off towards Jardin Majorelle. I picked up a snack from a little bakery along Route Sidi Abdelaziz and also some biscuits moulds from a kitchenware store. We walked through a souk on the other side of the wall which had a good collection of book sellers and then it was through one of the main taxi and bus stations to continue our walk towards the printing shop. We walked past a number of the most marvellous shaped olive trees. I had never seen anything like it! We made it to our first destination, Typo Edit. Mum got her printing sorted out a very reasonable price and very prompt service. As it was now 2pm, we thought it prudent to have lunch before we ventured into the gardens :D. We stopped just round the corner at Cafe Las Torres De Majorelle for a very nice lunch of pizza and salad. I was becoming quite the fan of the mixed salad plate. Margaret and I enjoyed deconstructing the ingredients as we ate them.
It was now for the gardens, due to lack of time, we only were able to visit the gardens today. We all would have dearly loved to have had time to visit the Berber Museum and I also dearly wanted to visit the Yves Saint Laurent Museum as well but time was not on our side today. They were earmarked for a hopeful visit in the coming days. I will let you know right now that this did not happen so you know what that means? They are both of course on the list for the “next visit” to Morocco.
The gardens were everything I thought they might be and also nothing like I had expected at the same time. It was just a total delight. The plantings, the variety, the shapes, the colours, the textures, the paths.
A couple of highlights for me were the Pomegranate hedge on the approach into The Garden of Villa Oasis as well as a massive patch of cliveas and the fountain. Oh the fountain, oh that Majorelle Blue. They had the paint for sale in the gift shop and I sort of wish now that I had picked up a tin of it.
We spent 2.5 hours in the gardens and that was just in the gardens and the gift shop. I am very glad that we went there on our own time and not as part of a tour as it did mean that we were able to spend as long as wanted there. I would definitely visit it again on a return trip.
Our next stop was Ensemble artisanal Marrakech, a fixed price open air shopping plaza of sorts that was focused on showcasing the artisans of Morocco and their work. There was at least 40 or different little shops and workshops in this complex. It was a total treat to wonder round, look at items and not feel like you were constantly getting pressured to buy and then having to negotiate a price. I picked up a lovely handkerchief and a zellige tile. I highly recommend a visit to this shopping plaza.
Mum and I also spent some time in the carpet weaving workshop and tied a few pieces of pile on ourselves
On the walk to the Ensemble, we passed this pack of street dogs hanging out in the long grass in this park and it just made me giggle
Bougainvillea will always be a plant I now associate with Marrakesh, for they were everywhere and seemed to truly flourish. Another plant that also grows so well here in the subtropics of Brisbane as well. Whenever I see it, it makes me smile
We had arranged to have dinner at our Riad, which was such an easy option and the food was so, so, so, good. The other great thing about it was that it was easy to ask lots of questions about ingredients
And that brings us to an end of day 1 of our 4 days of fun and freedom
]]>The carriage ride was quite lovely and I enjoyed that I did not have a roof over my head and I was able to look completely around and take in the cityscape. Our first stop was Avenue Hommane Al Fatouaki across from Parc Lalla Hasna. We would walk through this park to walk round the western, southern & eastern sides of Koutoubia Mosque.
The park was lovely and on reflection, I’m kicking myself for not actually returning to walk through the park properly in our following days in Marrakesh. I absolutely loved this gazebo as well as the park benches. The street lights were also quite ornamental as well. Next time…
If we had not already realised it, we were now in a peak tourist area, you would realise it pretty quickly this morning. Not long after we started walking through the park, we started to get approached with trinkets and the like for sale.
We approached Koutoubia Mosque, from the western side that borders the park. On reflection, I’m actually quite glad that we approached from that side not from the northern side which is the classic view as you look at it from Jemaa el-Fnaa. I feel we got a much better appreciation for the design and the beauty of the building coming at it from the west and then walking all the way round to near the northern side. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the building details whilst hearing about the history of the mosque. Like many people Koutoubia, would become one of my most loved buildings in Marrakesh.
Something that I was most interested to see was an LED panel showing current and cumulative output of the solar panels installed on the roof as well as carbon dioxide emissions avoided total as part of a nationwide green mosque program. You can read more about this green mosque program at the following links – GIZ Green Mosque program, GIZ Green Mosques and buildings, Guardian article regarding the roll out, DW article. It is really such a great program to see, especially in how they working in the villages to put solar panels on mosques to also power LED lighting which enables local school children to more easily study at night.
It was now back in our Calèches to go down to the Saadian Tombs. This was another interesting building and it is well worth reading the Wikipedia page linked above for details.
We came past Bab Agnaou (Archnet entry) on the way down to the Tombs and I was most pleased that I managed to snap the photo below of the gate with one of the horses pulling one of the Calèches entering the frame
The tombs were quite interesting to look through but they are very much a key tourist destination so they were packed. I’ve chosen to share two images below from inside the grounds of the tombs which are not likely to be the photos that you will normally see from the tombs :D.
The Kasbah Mosque or Moulay al-Yazid mosque that is near the entrance to the tombs was exceptionally striking and I was most taken by the light blueish tinge of the green tiles on the minaret.
We now walked through the Jewish section of the medina to our next destination. This section had recently had new cedar screening installed which looked fantastic.
Our next destination on the key tourist destinations of Marrakesh was the Bahia Palace. It was us and a whole lot of other tourists The work that had gone into this palace was stunning. I would like to revisit the grounds in the early morning before the sun was straight overhead to enjoy the grounds in a more muted light.
We now walked through the medina and into the souks for an introductory tour and also to go to some oil/spice/perfume shop that our local guide wanted to take us too. Most of us were not interested in this shop at all though as we had picked up anything we had wanted in the last few weeks. It was a nice air conditioned space though…
We had lunch in a cafe which Brahim knew quite well and the food was quite good. After lunch, it was now free time. A group of us went back to explore the souks. Just like in Essaouira, we had come across a haberdashery store on our little intro tour of the souks before lunch. Of course, when we returned it was closed. The Motherships and I had a few extra days in Marrakesh, so with some return trips we were hopeful of finding it open. As we ventured through the laneways of the souks, we gradually lost members of our group until it was just Mum, Fiona & I. We were all just happy to walk, explore and meander. Knowing that our feet would eventually walk us back to the hotel.
We stumbled upon a few fabric shops that we had a look in and I actually purchased some with the view to making couch cushions with it. 1 year later, those cushions are still not made but soon. We stumbled into an Aladdin’s cave of a shop, where Mum was keen to find some beads to use her in creations. All three of us walked out with a purchase though :D. I walked out with a nice silver and black onyx ring to add to my collection of souvenirs in the form of jewellery from my various travels over the years. However, I would promptly loose this ring in the Auckland airport only a few months later….
We had a lovely walk back to the hotel from the medina in the late afternoon sun which I thoroughly enjoyed. We joined together a number of tables for one last group meal at the hotel restaurant and one last round of sharing our highlights.
After dinner, the Motherships and I along with Fiona & Mary-Anne walked down to Menara Mall to enjoy the fountain show. It was just ah-mazing and such a lovely way to end our tour out for an evening walk with Fiona & Mary-Anne. These two were the only other travellers on our tour that we knew before the trip as they had both bushwalked with Mum over the years and Margaret had also travelled with Fiona before with Mum on adventures. Fiona was also our Australian tour leader and did a marvellous job as our guide!
The drive up and out of Essaouira was interesting and it is well worth having a look at the map on the satellite view down below or via your map provider of choice. Mum, the botanist that she is was after a decent looking Argan tree to take some photos of as the ones she had seen thus far were all a bit sick looking. She lodged the request with the two Ibrahim’s in control at the front of the bus and not far out of Essaouira, she spotted one on the side of the road and quickly yelled out for a stop. The bus pulled over, Mum walked the short distance back to look at the tree and take a range of photos. This of course though was not to the satisfaction of some of our other travellers who were quite impatient that she get back on the bus sooner rather than later ?_? and to some degree that she had even requested a stop… Ahh, the adventures of group travel. Our days of freedom were nearing.
We stopped again at Mazagan for a quick leg stretch and a coffee for those that needed it. Then it was back on the road to continue our drive.
One of the total delights of actually the whole trip was the maybe 10 mins we spent stopped at Mzouda watching the Fantasia. It was a totally unplanned and totally a delight. Driving through town, there was quite a lot of traffic and people around, and as we started to come through the eastern side of town; Brahim & Ibby realised that there was a Fantasia on and we quickly pulled over for a look. It really was quite something else!
The drive into Marrakesh was quite interesting, watching the city grow and grow with buildings, traffic & people as we got closer to our hotel. Then all of a sudden, we were at our hotel for the next two nights – Hotel El Andalous. Bags were unloaded, we triple checked the bus to make sure nothing had been left on board and then it was farewell to our magic carpet bus and Ibby. It was just under 3 hours since we had left Essaouira and we were most certainly in a hustling, bustling city now.
Once we were checked into our rooms, a group of us walked up to Extrablatt for a lunch that was very much a change from what we had been eating. It was most certainly nice to have a burger and chips It was a lovely little walk past an interesting array of houses and street trees.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel and I at least crashed for a few hours, as the last few weeks caught up with me and I felt a bit of culture shock staying in a hotel. I would most certainly relish the Riad that the motherships & I were relocating to for our last few days in Marrakesh.
After a rest, Mum & I headed down to Menara Mall for a short walk before dinner. I was very much looking forward to a chance to browse at my own pace, each and every aisle of Carrefour, to take in each and every item on the shelves of that grocery store. I sometimes think my interest in grocery stores stems from my years working as a night filler or in the dairy section of grocery stores through university but I think a big part of it is also due to the fact that all of us need to eat. Grocery stores, provide a window into the eating habits of a community and I find them incredibly fascinating. Grocery stores really are “taste makers” :D. I’ve restrained and only included three photos of some of the products that piqued my interest
Helen goes to Morocco Day 4 – Casablanca, Rabat & ChefchaoenOn the walk back to the hotel, we came across one of the other highlights of the trip for me (perhaps more a midlight but still something I enjoyed). This marvellous avenue of Silky Oaks, on Rue Chefchaoun that curved round the back of the hotel. I had marvelled whenever we had driven past Silky Oaks, as they were a pleasant change to the typical Eucs that we were all over country side which were usually River Red Gums. Don’t get me wrong, my heart did a little boom da boom every time we saw Eucs but seeing a Silky Oak? A tree that produces wood with a grain that I adore, a scent that reminds me of Grandad turning wood on his lathe, those marvellous golden orange blooms that are part of my Brisbane spring flowering tree trifecta (or quadfecta); first flowers the Jacaranda, then the Silky Oak follows and then comes the Flame Trees. If we are really lucky, when the Poincianas start flowering there are still some of the first three in bloom. Which just makes my heart sing. One thing, I did wonder was why we did not see many (or even any) Poincianas in Morocco. A bit of Googling has told me there are at least some planted in Rabat but if you recall, that was a quick stop for us (so next time…).
When I return to Morocco, I would dearly love to be able to visit at a time of year when this avenue of Silky Oaks was in flower. I’ve actually emailed the hotel we stayed at asking when they flowered but I’ve not had a response. From keeping an eye on Instagram, I know that the Jacarandas should flower round early May so that is a starting point for Silky Oaks a little bit later.
Incidentally, as I write this, I’ve glanced out my bedroom window to one of the two Silky Oaks in our backyard and lo & behold the branch, right at eye level has burst open overnight.
And that is a wrap on Day 29!
I’m going to say it straight away today, I could have spent an extra day or two here easily. There were so many more streets to walk up, so many more gardens and buildings to look at, so much more seafood to eat. Yes, I know this return to trip, keeps having more and more bits in it doesn’t it? Maybe, it will be a few return trips, I’m still young(ish) after all.
Today (well this morning), we were off for a city tour of Essaouira. We started with a short drive from one end of Avenue Mohammed V to the other end. It was over before you realised what was happening We had a very good city guide today by the name of Hassan. We walked through the port first which was quite interesting, though due to the winds, there had not been that many fishing boats head out this morning.
From the port, we walked along the city wall that braced the city against the Atlantic Ocean and all that it may throw at the city and a had a good luck at the cannons. Then it was through various parts of the medina to hear stories and history. We visited a woodworking emporium that did a lot of inlay and overlay work which was exquisite.
We also visited a silver jewellery workshop/shop as well, and just like the woodworking emporium, I was highly appreciative of the work on display but nothing really grabbed out at me with two hands telling me, asking me to take this piece home. I was on the look out for a jewellery souvenir and whilst I had picked up a pair of earrings back in the desert, nothing yet had tickled my fancy.
That was the end of our city tour and it was now free time for all, free to roam as you pleased and free to make our own lunch choices.
A group of us decided to have a seafood lunch back at a fish stall that we had walked past earlier because well, the seafood looked pretty good and this was a chance for us to try a variety of local seafood. Did we pay too much for this meal? Maybe, but the food was good and no one got sick so really, we didn’t pay too much did we? We may have gotten used to “bargaining” for material goods but bargaining for food and a meal at that was a whole new ball game for us.
After lunch, a small group of us headed back into the medina for a bit more of a leisurely explore. Mum & I were keen to visit a few of the fabric and haberdashery shops we had walked past on our tour in the morning. Unfortunately, it was Friday Prayer time so they were shut up show. Now had been in country long enough now to know that some shops will reopen after Friday Prayers and some will not. Based on the fact that the shops had not been shut up completely, we were hopeful for a reopening. We did a loop round, looking at other shops that had stayed open or had already reopened, you know the ones, that catered to the more general tourist market and not the shops that we wanted to visit that well probably catered more to the local market than the tourist market! After the first loop, a few more shops had opened up as people returned from Friday Prayers, not any of our fabric shops though. So, another loop, a bit slower this time and on return, still closed. We decided to cut losses and continue on our journey. However, we did find one haberdashery shop open as we went past and Mum got some trimmings. So that was a win and we also had a little peak in an upholstery workshop.
The medina of Essaouira, was so lovely, quite a few wide streets, all nice and flat and enough of a grid system that it was easy to navigate. It really did feel quite lovely walking through it. I also managed to pick up a little dress as a birthday present for the little girl who lives next door as it was her birthday when we got home. We also stopped at the post office and got some stamps to finally put on post cards to be sent to various places round the world. It was then a lovely walk home, looking at buildings, trees and everything else.
What I was most taken with though was the landscaping along the top part of Avenue Mohammed V, it was the most lovely mass planting of textural and tonal plant love. It moved so well in the breeze.
Some people in our group were interested in finding a restaurant where they could get a cold one, we were more interested in finding a nice patisserie or ice cream shops We ended up at La Maison Gourmande, which was just delightful and another reason I would have liked more time in Essaouira was so I could have sampled more items from their display case!
I took a chance on the fact that we might get a nice sunset down on the beach looking across to Mogador Island and went down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a simply pretty sunset, it was not flashy but the sun took a while to set over the ocean (seemingly much slower than the night before). It was also a lovely half hour of some peace and quiet, before tomorrow would bring us to the hustle and hustle of Marrakesh.
The front terrace was a lovely place for meals however, it was quite glary in the morning sun for breakfast so sunnies were very much in order. Somehow, we never actually ended having an entire group photo, so this breakfast shot is the best I have. The walkers that went up to the refuge at Toubkal had a group shot with the guides they went up there with but we as a group never actually got round to taking a photo of all us with the two Ibrahims ( Brahim our guide & Ibby our driver). Next time!
After breakfast, Mum took me across the road to check out the snails on the plants. They were either hibernating or estivating. It looked so cool! Not something we are used to seeing in Australia.
We had agreed for a 9am sharp departure, which was meant to mean bums on seats in the bus at 9am but it doesn’t matter how many times you say Yalla, some people will always drag their feet. We drove about 20 mins up the road to start our walk. Unsurprisingly, today’s walk was like no other walk that we had done. I would like to have done more coastal walking and that’s another activity for “next time”. We walked through town and then skirted the edge of the Amogdoul wind farm before we walked through it at the crest of the hill. The Amogdoul wind farm was constructed in 2007 and has about 70 turbines with a nominal output of 60 Megawatts. I adored walking past and through the wind turbines. Unlike comments made by current and former politicians in Australia, I think wind turbines are absolutely beautiful. I can still remember when I first saw one in Germany in 2002.
When we reached the crest of the hill, we walked down a section of trail that was reportedly part of the slave trail into Essaouira likely from Timbuktu. It the was the most interesting cobbled road. Once we got down to the sand, it was a matter of navigating through the dunes so that we could get out to the beach. Oh the dunes were so marvellous but also urgh walking on sand dunes in boots. The dunes were very wide here and quite a number of gums planted through out which really did just tickle my senses. It was also very interesting seeing the way the landscape was shaped from the constant battering of wind off the Atlantic.
When we got down on to the beach, we discovered the wind, oh the wind. The day was about to get all kinds of interesting and you will understand why I described the day as follows in my journal, “today was a windy, sandy slog of a walk”. The coast generally ran north east up to Essaouira and which was the wind blowing? South west of course, straight into us as we walked up the beach. Fun times….
After a short slog up the beach and we watched tourists on quad bikes race up the beach without a care for the wind, we saw two camels and a cameleer coming up the beach. Ah ha, our picnic lunch had arrived. In a bit of an adventure, we were having a picnic lunch today but we had not carried the food ourselves, rather it had been sent up the beach on some camels. However, this was a more of a bbq hot chook, colesaw and bread rolls picnic from Coles or Woolies than the grand picnics we had been enjoying from Moustache and Ali. Whilst we had been relaxing at the guest house yesterday afternoon, Brahim & Ibby had headed into Essaouira to go to Carrefour and get supplies for our picnic today. They had picked up the most delightful collection of bread, sandwich fixings, fruit and most importantly, AVOCADO! There was way too much food course, but still, we had AVOCADO! We also had pomegranates where the flesh matched the colour of my shirt
Once we had filled our bellies with fuel, it was time to brace ourselves and start the slog of a walk into Essaouira. It was a slog and we ended up spreading out quite a lot, as we all had varying levels of capacity, energy, enthusiasm & resistance for walking against the wind on a beach. We got some quite lovely spa treatments from the blowing sand on our skin
Carol, Mary-Anne, Fiona & I walked for a quite a distance in line, taking turns at the front. This most certainly made the walk a little easier, as you got a respite from the wind. Oh, those trade winds are marvellous but not when you are walking face first into them!
We eventually made it to the southern end of the beach, where we joined up with those that had taken off in front of us and waited for those who were behind us.
I was amazed by the variety of breeze blocks I saw on the Avenue Mohammed V here and when I eventually do a series of posts with my collections from Morocco ( foot path patterns, doors, windows, tiles, flowers, breeze blocks etc) you will see them.
Once everyone had arrived, we walked the quite short distance from down the Avenue and up another avenue to our hotel for the next two nights. A hotel! Whoa, it had been a few nights (about 14) since we had stayed in a hotel. It was all a bit of a flash back to reality.
After getting settled in and a quick dip in the pool, Mum & I headed out for an explore. It was the most lovely explore of a few blocks not that far from the hotel. We had gone in search of ice-creams but we didn’t find any but did find two patisseries instead….
Mum was feeling quite generous and sprung for us to get our washing sent out to the laundry rather than us doing it ourselves! What a way to end Day 27!
]]>As I mentioned yesterday, a group of ladies slept on the terrace last night, oh it was such a lovely night to sleep under the stars.
After breakfast and our bags were packed; Mum, Aunty Margaret, Fiona, Mary-Anne & I headed back down to the spring to enjoy it in the morning light. It really was a lovely little place; the constant babbling of the water coming out of the spring into the creek, the vegetation swaying in the breeze, the light dappled through the leaves. I think I could have easily spent a little while there with a book and a blanket. It also would have been a good chance to observe all the goings to and fro from the spring as people came down to fill up water containers. Looking at the photos of the spring area from last night and this morning, a certain song keeps coming to mind; Down to The River to Pray.
We had a late departure today, 10am! Quite radical, but we were nearing the end of our trip and we only had one walk left to go and then it was just some casual city tourism. Today we farewelled our lovely cooks, Moustache & Ali. I was going to miss them not just because their mint tea was the nicest, I had drunk whilst in Morocco by far. This was just as well since we had just short of 2 weeks with them cooking our meals!
In my journal today, I described the drive we did as follows: We drove, drove, drove, drove, drove through very bleh country and it kept getting hotter, hotter & hotter. We stopped for lunch at a place that was basically a big service centre on the side of the highway but there was no petrol pumps…. There was a restaurant, there was a hot box, there were snacks to go, there were toilets, there were souvenirs , there were road trip supplies, but there was no petrol pumps… still the food was good and I had a lemon-lime “calippo” today so winning!
After lunch, the fun continued as we drove and drove and it got hotter and hotter. I was now starting to regret not packing more water for the drive! However, this drive would give me one of my most favourite photo snaps from the bus for the entire trip. This photo is just everything, the at least two goats and one sheep tied onto the roof rack (all live), the sacks of goods on the roof racks as well, the Moroccan star on the side mirror, the three people jammed across the front seats, the aging white car, the exposed reo on just about every building, waiting for the next level to be built. It is just everything and then some.
We were now in Argan Tree country and eyes were constantly peeled looking for goats in argan trees. The only ones we saw where ones set up for a touristy photo op. As far as I could understand, it was the wrong time of year for peak goat activity. This was actually good in a way as lot of the argan trees did not look that healthy.
As we were now in argan tree country, we stopped at an argan oil processing “plant”. I was by this stage “le tired” or probably more rightly “le dehydrated” and ripe for a headache. We had a wee tour and saw the traditional production methods for the processing of the nut, the extraction of the oil and also the making of the nut butter. There was a decent sized shop attached to the production space and I was tempted by some soap but I did not end up buying any. Mainly because I knew how many bars of various soaps I had in the linen cupboard at home! I’ve also been using argan oil products in my hair now for gosh let’s say 11 years now and I’m actually quite happy using products that have extra stuff (artificial chemicals!!) in them and are not just pure argan oil. I find them lighter in my hair and do not weigh it down as much as if I used raw argan oil. Whilst they did have a range of hair products for sale that were interesting, my hair was absolutely filthy and it was difficult to compare some of the products on offer to what I had in supply at home. As such, I didn’t buy anything here. Still, it was in interesting adventure if only for this this Salties & Tiles photo.
It was then back in the bus, to drive about 20 mins to the Dar we would be staying at that night in Sidi Kaouki on the Atlantic coast – Dar Aalida. It was such a treasure of a spot, the wind rolling in off the Atlantic not so much. Still there was this lovely pool and I had a very long swim in that pool. I then had a fantastic hot shower and gave my hair a really good wash. However, the water was a bit brackish, so my hair whilst clean was a bit more like it had a swim in the ocean :D. It just made the hotel tomorrow night in Essaouira even more alluring.
It was lovely to watch the sunset over the Atlantic, it was all over in the space of a few minutes though and that brings us to the end of Day 26! A much easier day to write about compared to Day 25
]]>Today was a day, where looking back at my GPS tracks from the trip, the logger dropped out for a large sections of the day, which shows I was in set and forget mode and also that coverage was not that great as we wound down the Azzaden valley from Tizi Oussem. As a result, I’ve remapped the walk in the morning to the best of my memory but I know parts of it are wrong in terms of the paths we walked when not on the road and it does not include the back tracking we had to do when the path that we were taking though the orchards was blocked by building of a new road up ahead. I didn’t take a lot of photos today either so it also a bit of a game to try to look at the satellite photos and trace the path from that.
We left Tizi Oussem and headed down to the road into town, which we planned to walk along for a little bit before heading down to the valley to follow the river down towards Tassa Wirgane where we would have lunch, say good bye to our mule crew and say hello again to our bus and Ibby and also Aunty Margaret.
However, in the name of progress, not far down the road from Tizi Oussem they were civil works underway to improve the road into town as there was a mine going the hills near town which of course would require a better access road. This was interesting to see, however with the road probably 100m above the river up a fairly steep screeish slope, the civil works were pushing quite a few large rocks/boulders down the slope. Whilst the odds of these rocks causing damage to us if we were talking in the river valley was low, the risk was pretty high. Imagine the headline, Australian hikers injured by falling rocks from road construction in Morocco… so in the name of risk mitigation, we did not walk along the river as planned but along the road. Our mule crew and Ali one of our cooks did take off down the river valley and I watched them go off into the distance with a pang of regret that I too was not following that river.
Walking along that road did have some redeeming features in that we had a generally clear view out into the valley from the road and you never knew what you might see also travelling on the road. Moustache the other one of our cooks, walked with us today and he seemed to always be running into people that he knew.
However, if there is one thing, I dislike more than walking loops round an oval or a block, it is walking on a road for extended distances. All that reflected heat, the hard bitumen beneath your feet, BLAH. Whilst we did spend some time walking through orchards, my memory today is filled with road walking. I think this is one reason why I’ve struggled so much with today’s post. As I sit here, on the other side of the world at my computer, all I can feel is that driving sun, that lack of a breeze and that seemingly never-ending road ahead. Yes, I can see those irrigation channels that we jumped back and forth across and the fig trees we brushed past or the house we stopped outside to regroup for a moment and we were given apples by the residents as a gift but that road dominates my memory.
It was peak apple harvest time in this valley and it was incredibly interesting to watch the various parts of the harvest process. From the apples getting brought up to the road in wooden crates on mules, then getting packed in a truck to go a few km down the road to a seemingly impromptu group of packing and sorting “sheds” on the side of the road where they were packed into plastic crates for road transport to their next destination which would have been part cold storage, part export and part local sales. The “sheds” were made from stacks of the plastic crates filled with apples with tarps over the top for shade.
We also saw on the other side of the valley at one point, a large apple orchard operation where the apples were getting packed straight into the plastic crates and the terraces that the apples were grown on were wide enough for a tractor to drive on. Quite a change from the other apple terrace orchards we had come across.
When we eventually came round the bend in the road after walking for about 3.5 hours (or about 9km) and could see “our” white bus gleaming in the early afternoon sun, oh I was delighted. I think I could have hugged the bus; I was that happy to see it. So happy to see it that I didn’t take a photo of it and writing this post a year on, I wish I had! For the last probably km, I was very much ready to chuck it in and just sit down on the road, stage a protest and refuse to walk any further along this road. I was most certainly getting a bit hangry by this stage and the reduced caloric intake over the past week since getting sick was most certainly a factor at play here. I had the phone numbers for both Aunty Margaret and Ibby so I could have sent off my demand for pick up however, mobile phone coverage here was very patchy so my ability to send off my demand was removed. Also, this was likely going to be a sit in staged by one and it really was the case of Helen, put your head down, and place one foot after another foot and keep walking.
We zig zagged down off the road to find our entire crew waiting for us. Our mule crew and with their mules unloaded of our gear enjoying a nibble on what grass they could find. The driver of the old yellow bus who would take over transporting our marvellous cooks and their gear to our final destination with them tonight, the young daughter of Moustache who was coming along for a little adventure with her dad, of course our cooks and Ibby, our bus driver. Ibby, who unlike the rest of the crew and us, had not been traipsing round the mountains for the last week. I recall thinking it was a quite a contrast, as I went past the crew; Ibby, the refreshed looking Marrakeshi bus driver and then the rest of the crew, looking a bit exhausted from the past 8 days looking after us.
We were of course also greeted by Aunty Margaret as well down at the picnic spot who had come over from Aroumd that morning with Ibby and our gear that we had left behind. It was a lovely final picnic lunch and like many things in the past few days, I wish I had taken more photos, especially of our picnic spots. Still, there was a mini siesta, there was good food, mint tea and chasing shade as the sun moved overhead. After lunch, we said farewell to our mule crew and they started to race back up the valley and away home. We then all loaded into the bus and it did feel a bit weird all crammed back into the bus after a week without the bus. We were all so close! We back to the seemingly constant request for more air-con.
We then drove, and drove, and drove. It seemed like we drove forever. However, on looking at the map, we didn’t actually drive very far at all. Only about 35km first to the town of Amizmiz. We said good bye to Mohamed who had been our second guide for the last 12 days at the taxi station here and also had an ice cream break. I had a very nice locally made orange calippo style ice block. By gosh, it was delightful. That 35km however, took us 1.5hrs. We were in a different part of the world, here, with lots of bends in the roads, hills to climb over, down and around.
We then drove out of Amizmiz and drove about 18km to our destination for the night, the village of Imi N’Tala. 18km, not a very long distance at all, however it took us about 50 minutes to drive this distance. The road was narrow, windy and steep in parts and we drove through some villages where the width of the road was fixed as the edge of the road, was the walls of the building on each side. If you were any wider than our bus, you were not going to get through. I made a note in my journal that to widen the road in a few of these villages, there was going to have to be quite a lot resumptions unless a completely new road was put in. However, that would be hard work in a lot of these places as the slopes of the valleys were steep and there would need to be a lot of cutting into the slopes to put new roads in.
Whilst we did only drive just over 50km in total from our lunch spot, it was the most interesting 50km and another drive that I would love do my self so I could stop as and when I pleased which would of course have been often! We went up through forestry plantations, down by salt basins, over wide river beds that flanked small rivers currently but in the coming months would be filled with snow melt, through olive groves, past very sad prickly pears and more.
When we arrived at our guest house, we found out that the plumbed water into the village had stopped working quite recently due to a pipe burst. Oh, what a terrible tragedy this was for some of our group who struggled to comprehend, how they were going to shower, be hygienic or wash their clothes. For others though in the group, it brought home once again, the absolute privilege we have at home with the water security we have and realistically are probably not thankful for it enough. The water storage in the guesthouse had been filled up and really we should have all been thankful that we had not had to all walk down to the spring and fill up water containers ourselves to top up the supply in the house. I imagine that could have caused all sorts of responses! From the roof terrace we watched a constant stream of mostly young kids go down to the road to the spring with a mule and empty water containers, to return a short while later with full water containers.
After we settled into the guest house, a number of us went a few doors up to watch a variety of breads getting made. The family that lived in the home owned the guest house that we were staying in and this was another part of their business. I still did at times feel like I was intruding into a home however nowhere near as much as I had felt at the nomad tent in the desert.
We had a late afternoon tea (it was 6pm!) on their roof terrace and watched one of the daughters make the Khobz. Most of us in the circle watching had all made bread before in some points of our lives. However, none of us had ever kneaded bread like this before. It was much more of a downwards kneading motion then the more diagonal kneading motion we were used to. This video here probably gives the best illustration I could find on YouTube of this kneading method. I went to see the movie Adam, the other week and part of the movie that I was most taken with was watching the Khobz dough getting kneaded, just like we had seen it kneaded. We then went back to our guesthouse and a group of us walked down to spring to enjoy the cool evening air.
After a late dinner, Mum, Fiona, Mary-Anne & I continued the support of the local economy by having henna designs painted on our hands by another one of the daughters of the family that owned the guest house. It was such a lovely, low stress experience. However, when you are getting your hand painted at 9:30pm, you are very conscious of the fact that is still fresh and not yet fully dry when you are going to sleep a little while later.
Tonight, a group of us ladies all slept on the roof terrace, just like the last time I had slept on the roof terrace back at Bou Tharar, I took quite a while to go to sleep and I would wake up early the following morning as well. Oh, the openness of the sky above.
As we went to sleep tonight, it seemed like almost a lifetime ago that we had left Tizi Oussem but in fact it was just that morning. It also seems like it has taken me almost a lifetime to write today’s (well yesterday’s) post!
]]>When we eventually made it up to the pass, there was as to be expected a little cafe, where you could of course get freshly squeezed orange juice. I was more concerned with catching my breath and getting making sure that I was not about to throw up or collapse, I did have a few sips of orange juice though. Oh, it was marvellous. I was the highest my feet had ever walked.
Coming down the other side of the pass was a very lovely ramble for the first little while as you can see from the elevation chart below, sort of like nice rolling fingers as we moved across the slope. We then started to go down, down, down, down. I was pretty impressed that I didn’t roll my ankle at all on this descent as the ground was quite screeish in parts so ripe for a good ankle roll. This side of the pass was mostly populated with juniper trees of varying ages, most quite old.
As you can seen in the elevation chart, we started going down hill fast and even more so when we got to the top of the village of Tizi Oussmen, sheesh, you would get fit very quickly living in this village. It was built onto such a slope! We reached out gite for the night and we had a very nice hot pasta late lunch which was just super. As we descended through the village, we passed a retaining wall that was partially made up of old mule saddles! We also passed a herb garden that was in a high fenced enclosure with a padlock on the door! Quite a surprising sight to come across in this part of the world.
After lunch and after we had had a wee rest, Mum, Fiona, Christine & I headed off for a bit of an explore through the village. Brahim had deemed this village safe enough that we were allowed to go wandering on our own and oh what a wander it was going to be.
We passed lovely metal work doors, old communal ovens, very, very hold houses, a sardine tin door and we eventually got down to the road, which was literally the end of the road as it was a turning circle at the end of the bitumen below the village but above the apple orchards that flanked the river below. We came across a little travelling homewares and clothing shop which was very interesting to see and we watched apples coming up from the orchards on mules and the crates all getting stacked up for further transport. As we were walking through here, an older gentleman, pulled an apple each out of one of the crates for us as the most marvellous gift. It was such an amazing apple, so fresh, so crispy, so sweet. This apple gift was not we could have imagined our day containing this morning when we set off from Armoud.
We walked down the road a bit before taking another path back up into the village, here we passed a lady who was tending to the walnuts she was drying on her roof getting ready for winter. We had passed many food stuffs getting dried on roof tops or road sides and walnuts was just one of them. We waved and said hello back to the lady as she greeted us. All of a sudden, she was also giving us a handful of walnuts for us to take. This generosity was really quite something, especially since we had not long finished eating our apples.
We then continued to walk up through the village in the direction of the minaret as we knew that was not far from our gite. We got back to the gite and shortly after we arrived, our lovely cooks served a late afternoon tea of Beghrir (semolina pancakes) with jams. It was just like having pikelets and golden syrup for afternoon tea at home
The first stop was to get Toubkal shirts for those that had done the trek at one of the many outdoor shops that lined the streets, they all sold a mix of mostly second hand gear be it boots, poles or packs. Tourists to Imlil are mainly here for outdoor activities so it makes sense to have a large number of outdoor gear shops. We did also go to a fancy outdoor gear shop at the bottom of town which had some nice gear in it. It was interesting to see the European brands in shops that we rarely see here in Australia.
Always keen to try local baked goods, I was most intrigued by one of the entries in the Lonely Planet for Imlil which read as follows: “Follow your nose to this tiny pastry shop hidden behind the main street for melt-in-your-mouth, almond-flavoured biscuits and honey sweets baked daily by Amazigh (Berber) village girls. Supported by the Kasbah Toubkal, this local association helps villagers learn and perfect new skills.”
I had memories of maybe possibly seeing a sign for this pastry shop (Patisserie La Maison des Association) on our walk up through town a few days ago so we traipsed down the main street looking for this sign that I possibly recalled seeing only to find na-da. The directions of a “tiny pastry shop hidden behind the main street” were well difficult to follow. Which main street? How far was it hidden behind the main street? Still, this is all part of the adventure right???
Mohamed asked a few people and we eventually got directions to what we believed was the shop we were looking for – very much not just behind the main street but on the side of Imlil and up a laneway, (thank you Brahim for sending Mohamed with us) Maison des associations d’Imlil, the name is kind of similar to what was in the Lonely Planet and the odds of the a town of this size (circa 5000 per Lonely Planet) having 2 different community organisations running a bakery were fairly low. My theory is that they were originally in the tiny shop behind the main street but then moved into this much larger space as their production grew and they expanded into handcrafts as well as baked goods. We brought 1kg of biscuits which were thoroughly enjoyed as a little snack with a refreshing beverage at a cafe just down the road and then later that afternoon with mint tea back on the terrace at the guesthouse in Aroumd.
We then walked back the road a little to a multi story restaurant overlooking the Oued Rheraya river that cuts through Imlil and the bridge crossing this into the main street of Imlil. We were need of a refreshing beverage; coffee or hot chocolate for most, I though had lemonade as the most likely option to aid in my recovery and not hinder it! We enjoyed a very lovely view from the roof terrace where we watched civil works underway to repair some of the damage from the flash food of the river at the start of September.
Details of the flood – http://floodlist.com/africa/morocco-floods-khenifra-imlil-september-2019 and also here – https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/09/281738/second-wave-flooding-south-morocco/
We had a long leisurely lunch in a lovely tented room on the roof terrace of the one restaurants on the main street. One of the highlights or should I say glitterlights of this fine establishment was the glitter that was all through the “adobe” walls. I tried to get a good photo of it but none of them turned out good enough to share We then took a slow walk back up to Aroumd, Mum decided to support the local economy a bit more than any of us and paid for a mule ride up through part of town. She had no interest on taking the mule all the way up to Aroumd, just far enough to enjoy the ride and get a few photos
On the walk back up, I came across another cluster of a flower I had seen a few days earlier on a walk along the road with Margaret. This marvellous flower, reminded me of paper daisy from home but with few layers of petals and the most beautiful translucent petals. Yes, you have 5 photos of these stunning flowers so you too can marvel at their simple beauty. At the start of the trip, I had introduced into the dinner chatter, an activity that Mum had done with us on adventures for almost as long as I can remember, a highlight and a lowlight of the day. I had brought it along to this trip but it was highlights only. We were not children or teenagers who needed an opportunity to share a lowlight. This flower was my highlight to share at dinner that night.
Tomorrow we were off walking again, which I was excited about but also a bit hesitant about. I was so hesitant it seems that I never actually finished my journal entry from today and left it mid-sentence! Likely, I just got distracted by dinner and told myself I would catch up later…
Tomorrow though, would be treasure of a day.
]]>I was quite taken by the sun on the Juniper trees on the walk up and also the stream of new plants (flowers mainly) that I was seeing as this was a higher altitude to the little bits of botanical exploring I had done round Aroumd.
Eventually after we had waited a while at Chamharouch, we started to see members of our group stream down the zig zag path to the cafe that we were waiting at. After a pause, the majority of them rolled off down the hill back to Aroumd, Mum & I though had a slow, leisurely walk back down, stopping to look at plants, admire the valley and the animals. Also, I was still sick and getting my strength back but still eating mainly bread & vegemite so I was not about to go full pelt down the hill home!
When we got down to the wide flat river bed above Aroumd, we happened to walk past a builders waste rubble pile and I was of course on the look out for tile pieces. I walked round it and found a stack of glass!!! I was in 7th heaven and then some. The only question was how many pieces could I safely take home? The answer to that is more than I did actually take home!!!
The pretties were washed when we got back to the guesthouse and put on the windowsill to dry. They were then carefully packed away, to be taken home to Australia as a lovely little memento of this wonderous trip that we were on.
When we got home, the glass was checked carefully to make sure there were no breaks – of course there was. I should have picked up more from that rubble pile :D. The glass then sat there, waiting to be turned into something.
Earlier this year, I came across Ivy from Glass Cottage who was doing a bush fire fundraiser and I loved the work that she was doing. After following her for a few months, I reached out to commission a piece with my salvaged glass. I had looked round the internet for ideas of what could be made with my little collection of glass that I had salvaged from that building rubble pile and other little bits I had picked up along the way, I had a few ideas but was pretty open to Ivy coming up the design. We had a bit of back and forth but she had made a few Hamsa before and I was sold. When I packed the glass up to send to her, I also included a little Hamsa charm for her to add to the piece. I only wish I had brought home more pieces of glass from that pile of rubble! I know that when I go back, there will be more glass coming home with me This Hamsa is one of my most treasured items from the trip even though it was made in Townsville
My menu today consisted of the following:
Breakfast – Bread & Vegemite with some tea
Lunch – Bread & Vegemite with a tiny bit of tuna & an apple
Dinner – Bread & Soup
I did have a lot to be thankful for really, out of all of the times in the trip to get sick, this was probably one of the most convenient for recovery. It was not convenient in terms of what I had hoped to complete whilst in Morocco but… we were not driving for long distances, the weather was nice and mild, I had plenty of time to rest and let my body recover.
The group that had gone up to the refuge yesterday were either attempting to summit Toubkal this morning or going for a walk out from the refuge today. I was eagerly awaiting a text from Mum letting me know if she had got to the top. She did get to the top which was so so so so good to hear.
In the late afternoon, Brahim took us for a walk through the village to the waterfall that Margaret & I had spied from the main road yesterday. A few weeks earlier, there had been a flash flood that had come through this creek. This had wiped out the road which came across in front of the waterfall. I thought I had a photo of this but apparently not. This flash flood also did a bit of damage to Imlil and I will share a video of that tomorrow. This was a lovely little walk and we saw quite a variety of plants along the way.
And that was Day 21!
]]>It was then back to the guest house where Margaret & I watched the mules get loaded up with their mule team to follow the walkers up the mountain. We then relocated to the rooms downstairs for the next few days as there were other guests booked in to the rooms we had been in. One of the other travellers in our group had also come down with a bug likely also from the cos lettuce leaves and he was also going to be staying put at the guesthouse with us whilst the rest of them traipsed up the mountain.
I was quite taken by this lovely blue’ish blanket that was on my bed, the warp threads were this crimson red which really added a depth to the various blues used in the weft. I would have quite happily have taken it home with me! Or even just downstairs with me for the next few days
Later in the afternoon, Margert and I headed out for a short walk along the P2005 road which comes from Imlil up to Aroumd. We had a lovely time looking at plants and the landscape use along the way.
After having eating not much more than vegemite & bread for breakfast & lunch, I had some nourishing Harira soup for dinner, which was nice but my digestive system was still quite tender and I was treading very carefully with what I was eating.
I wonder what will tomorrow bring?
]]>My day was spent mostly in bed; I felt terrible and absolutely exhausted. I managed to eat some vegemite on bread for breakfast and more of the same for lunch and dinner along with some hydralyte.
I was very grateful today for the foresight I had had in bringing a small container of Vegemite with me. I had packed it as there is nothing worse than being on the other side of the world and having a hankering for Vegemite on toast and not having any. Vegemite on dry toast with orange cordial was our convalescence food growing up if were ailed by the runs or generally feeling poorly. I was extremely grateful to have that container of Vegemite with me today and for the coming days as I would gradually get better. The only wish I would have is though that I should have packed a slightly larger container of Vegemite in my bag!
When the main group returned from their walk, Mum took me out for a little loop through the upper part of Aroumd. It was so lovely seeing all the apples, looking for different metal work on the buildings and flowers. It was also nice to have some fresh air on my face. It was a slow ramble and I was absolutely shattered by the end of it.
No map today because well, I was only in one place! Aroumd, all day That is Day 19, short and sweet because I was not feeling short or sweet at all.
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