tafrout | Clune Gap Years

14/11/24 – K and Car Maintenance

I have been dyeing K’s hair for about 100 years – slight exaggeration…. But in many countries – now for Morroccodye ! With the Lions Head looking down. After but not because of – I developed Sahara dust cough which leads to some lack of energy.

We drove into town and parked for a car wash – €5. Does K need 2 more pairs of shoes? Yes!

Dinner was in a small restaurant attended by 6 cats! Good food and early bed…

*All stalls have the chaps hand making leather shoes. I couldn’t resist.*

*Decorating my 4th pair of Moroccan shoes*

*Salad, soft drinks and 2x chicken, pea and potato stew €8.50! Joined by 6 cats. Corrie just coped.*

15/11/24 – Surf’s Up

Tent dismantled and on the road to Sidi Infi – surf town – campsite ok – ground hard as the rock of Cashel… local boulders replaced pegs. Lovely sunset…

*Stones in the ground were bending the tent pegs, so we used rocks for the guy ropes*

*Fabulous light quality to the amazing sunset glow*

16/11/24 – Camel Souk

A camel market? Do we need one? Not even a dromedary one hump (Brian) – more food sheep goats markets than camels – Corrie bemused but calm.

*No auctioneer, individual negotiations*

*Cafes around the outside with men squatting drinking tea. Fabulous fresh produce, but so much of it; can’t believe it will all be sold*

A beach walk and wander of Sidi Ifni revealed we had exhausted the local delights. According to our surfer neighbours, surfs not good for a couple of days, so we won’t bother learning! We will move on tomorrow.

17/11/24 – Arch and Agadir

The arch at Sidi Ifni is the most photographed here. We failed to find it. But I think I walked across the top. J declined as sheer drops either side.

A stop at Agadir to buy yet another Decathlon air bed. That’s 2 Vango airbeds we’ve got through. Rubbish. I’ve still got airbeds that we used as children, but in Crete. Also managed to spend €85 on 5 bottles of wine, 6 lager and 1 gin. The gin was the cheapest on offer at €25 / ltr and made in Casablanca. Fortunately Schweppes tonic is available.

Overnight in a lovely apt. Laundry all done. J is completely deaf at the moment. Doctors don’t syringe ears, so we’ve identified a few to call. We have booked the apt for a further night, but our charming host told me it’s a national holiday. Nothing will be open. Independence Day. Parades, I asked? Only in Rabat and then on TV. The audiologist will have to wait a day.

18/11/24 – Cable Car & Beach Resort Tourism

A cable car journey – again! To the Kasbah – Corrie wasn’t sure about the wobbly movement… I tried not to think of Richard Burton fighting on top of a cable car in “Where Eagles Dare” – in snow!

We flew over Dania’s Waterpark – partly under construction – money from? Well, it’s a very touristy city.

*Even camel rides at the restored Kasbah. After €12 pp for the cable car, and having been in plenty of Kasbah, we didn’t pay the extra to go in*

We avoided a beach resort with too much flesh on show – a surprise for Morocco…

Late lunch/early dinner further north – K and fish and I had sort of burgers with fries.

10/11/24 – Breaking a long journey

Ourazazat town is better pronounced as “Owzazat” as in 2 outs in cricket! Or “Owsyerat”. The local Carrefour provided welcome dog food – and unusually – beer!

Leaving “Howsyermate” the clever satnav took us on a major tour of a new road area ready for hundreds of new houses – added a half hour to our journey – “owzourdickysatnav” then?

*Acres of housing development land. Electrics and roads in. But not Barratts mass building. Just the odd 5 storey block randomly here and there. Presumably private purchasers.*

*USA gas station film set along the road*

Saffron area at Taliouine – a stop and purchase. A marquee up for the end of the saffron festival. Didn’t get to go in as outzazate for lunch.

*Taliouine* *had a huge market, bustling*

*Some lovely girls directed us to the ice cream seller in the fun fair*

*Our nights stop was an Airbnb of poor quality – the wc had to be ridden sidesaddle – Thomas Crapper would have been amused!*

*And no day complete without a scenery shot. Lots of long flat dessert today*

11/11/24 – Another Driving Day

Taroudant breakfast in a side street – yoghurt and cake in a quirky small cafe….lots of markets and too crowded.

*The Souks have speciality sections, Brian dubbed this chippie street*

*My twin tub in Jez’s garage is 9 years old, missing a lid and didn’t come with sparkly knobs. Time for an upgrade?*

*Taroudant has the best preserved medina walls in Morocco. You could walk round all 7k; we didn’t!*

*Scenery definitely upping a gear as we approach the Ante Atlas*

Drive to Taftout. Tent up in record time – it gets quicker – we viewed 2 campsites and settled on “le tete de lion” – the Lion’s Head – an indistinct shape in nearby rock. German noisy shenanigans at 2:00 am – K spoke to them at the time. K: I was impressed that I remembered a) to be polite and b) the word for quiet in German.

*The only good thing about the rubbish apartment of last night was the washing machine. Tent up and washing out. Nice pitch with own shady patio*

*The granite glows pink in the evening and you may just make out the lion’s head*

12/12/24 – Rocks and an Oasis

“Chapeau Napoleon” – a massive rock formation that looks like nobody’s hat – and the man never got to Morocco!

However, a drive to “Blue Rocks” was much more impressive – a Belgian artist, Jean Vermame, wanted a worthy memorial to his late wife – in 1984 he painted a vast area of large rocks – blue , pink and a little yellow – bizarre but striking.

*He had help from the local fire brigade to apply* *the 18 tons of paint. Some has been repainted since*

Drive to an oasis via some narrow mountain roads with steep drops and some subsidence – stop for soft drinks and return on the same tracks.

*A harsh barren mountain landscape. No vegetation nor livestock, but the odd hamlet*

13/11/24 – Museums and Motor Repair

We drove a short way out of town to a Berber house museum. This was most informative – the guide had lived there as a child. Three families still live there in the summer but mostly live away to earn a living – due to climate change almost nothing grows in a previously rich land – massive water shortage. In September there was heavy flooding in many areas. Here they had just 10 mins of rain. The first rain this year! Water is piped down from the mountains / oasis we saw yesterday. As a lad, our host explained that water was plentiful for daily washing, crop irrigation etc. A government minister wanted to make the area into a joint protectorate but some of the families fought and the project died. No funding available.

The next museum was the Memorial to the Resistance- 104 exist in Morocco – we visited one – very knowledgeable guide – independence from France happened in 1956 but squabbles continued with Spain. The world’s largest peace march happened in 1975 to free Western Sahara – sponsored by King Hassan II – partly successful but followed by guerilla fighting.

*Dull displays but guide good*. *Shame not more visual for the school trips*

Lunch in Restaurant Nadia nearby was excellent.

I check our not so ancient Mercedes vital signs weekly and the engine oil level needed to be topped up. K met a chap who came to the campsite looking for business – a car and motorhome mechanic. We followed him to his patch – he topped up the oil and sorted our slightly loose foot parking brake – €30 – a good result at the end of an excellent day!

*A bit more dessert off roading to get to the garage. Lots of vehicles being worked on: a motorhome having a full re-spray for €1500*

*Took Corrie a while to clock the visitor*

*Seen lots of these Barbary squirrels scurrying across the mountain and dessert roads*

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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Tafrout to Sidi Ifni

Taroudant to Tafrout