Morocco 2020

10th February.

Storm Ciara aftermath threatened to cause disruption to our flight, but after initial rumours of extensive delays we were airborne on our way about 30 minutes behind schedule. Airport transfer to our Riad in Marrakesh went according to plan although Jan was somewhat alarmed when we were transferred from the taxi into the hands of a street porter for the last 500m of chaotic alleys. And it cost us 50 dirham, but he was a nice guy and he eventually made Jan smile. We couldn’t have found the Riad without him. The Riad RK was a haven of tranquility from the mayhem of the streets outside. We were welcomed with some mint tea and Moroccan biscuits. All we had eaten that day since our egg sandwiches in Gatwick airport Carpark. Very warm in our room and I had to ask for the heating to be turned off.

11th Feb

Clear blue skies and a forecast of 28 degrees. Lovely breakfast, and we set out for a day of adventure. Back into the mad streets of the Medina, only about 6-8tt wide with twists and turns, thronged with people and the additional frequent hazards of bicycles, mopeds, hand carts and occasional donkey carts. Today all the stores were open and it didn’t seem as scuzzy as in the dark of yesterday evening. Our route from the Riad led us directly to the Place Jemaa-El-Fna, described as the best town square in the world. It did not disappoint, even for me on my second visit to these parts. The snake charmers were there, with the sounds of their flutes wafting across this vast square. We headed south to the prominent mosque Katouba, and then onto the Palace of El Badi. This took some finding as navigating the maize of streets even the roads with traffic is difficult. Maps are almost useless. We diverted into a spice shop and probably paid over the odds for some herbal tea, Cinnamon (Indian and Moroccan), but we sampled lots of delights and had an educational experience and had a cup of mint tea with some peppermint concentrate added. That cleared the sinuses I can tell you. Entrance into The El Badi Palace was calming experience although the midday sun was relentlessly beating down on the open spaces. The tops of the crumbling red walls were adorned by storks. Known as he incomparable palace in its hey day now described by the guide books as the incomparable ruin, which is a little unfair as it’s former majesty is still very evident. We were doing well with three of the seven must sees in Marrakech now ticked off. We had an excursion through the spice souk and then found a shady rooftop cafe for lunch. Jan had a salad Nicoise and I had a tajine. The plan was now to head north to seek out the four remaining must sees, however, things didn’t go to plan. We were persuaded by a local Berber to follow him as he was going that way, something I had previously warned Jan we mustn’t do and he took us a long way past where we wanted to go and exhausted us before we gave him the slip. All we had energy for now was to get back to our Riad. But how, where were we?  There were very few tourists around. I took out my phone and was using it in GPS mode to navigate when I felt a thump on my chest as a passing motor scooter passenger tried to grab my iphone. This was a wake up call. I had become far too complacent. So with hands tightly on concealed valuables and ignoring all advice offered through souks and all kinds of chaos we managed to get back to the comfort and safety of home but were completely exhausted. We recovered slowly on the roof terrace. It took some persuading to get Jan to venture out again.  The square had to be seen in dark and we needed to eat. We had a meal at the recommended Chez Chegourma over looking the square and watching the sun set. Perfect.

12th Feb

Breakfast, check out and we were on our way to Essaouira. What could possibly go wrong? All went well with the taxi back to the airport where we were to collect our car. But our credit card would not cough up the exhorbitant amount of €2000 for the deposit. So we had to arrange another car hire. We went to Avis where a helpful young lady fixed us up with a deal that was much more expensive than our previously arranged one but that was the deal out here. We took it and with complimentary valentine rose were transported back into the city to collect our car. It was waiting for us on the side of a city centre street. Odd but obviously how things were done. I photographed all the scratches and dings and we set off. Problem number 2: sat nav would not work due to a very poor 3G service. Luckily it still had a map downloaded of the area from yesterday so with some persistence we were able to find our way to the N8 and the road to Essaouira. After finding a parking place and negotiating a price for parking for 5 days we set off to find our apartment. Problem No 3: Jack’s Appartment required payment in cash up front. This required getting 6000MAD from an ATM. My first go failed and I had no understanding as to why. I thought I’d put all my details into a fraudulent machine.  Very distressed I returned to the office to explain. He kindly let us have access to our apartment so we could check out the situation with the WiFi. To cut a long story short. All seemed well, it was just the card wouldn’t allow that sort of money to be distributed. Using a number of bank cards we got the cash together, settled up and settled into life in Essaouira.

13th Feb

Despite all the trauma of yesterday we slept well in a lovely apartment. Today we will take it easy and explore the town. To start with we had a relatively trouble free trip to the Carrefour supermarket (trouble free once we found the entrance to get in). A stroll round the town and port a drink on the rooftop terrace of Taros and a spell on our roof watching the sunset completed our day’s activities.

14th Feb

Slow start to the day with a coffee on the beach in the sun. Back home for a spell on the lounger whilst our apartment was serviced and then lunch. Explored a bit more in the afternoon and visited the museum and found a shop selling the wall lights we have taken a fancy to. May go back and try and get a good price. The visit to the fish market was literally stomach churning and we had to make an urgent return to the apartment. Jan not feeling too great today so we cancelled plans to eat out this evening. Watched a great programme about Viv Stanshall on YouTube - Canyons of his mind.

15th Feb

Storm Dennis is ravaging the UK and threatening to disrupt our flight home but here it is calm and very sunny. More thoughts and calculations about purchasing and transporting wall lights. We had coffee watching a football match on the beach. All very proper with different coloured vests and a referee with a whistle on a full sized pitch but 5 aside goals and in excess of 16 per side. Good entertainment. Then a long walk along the beach with a following trade wind but into the wind for our return. Not cold though. Back in town we went for a fish lunch at the port fish stalls. How they had changed from one man with a charcoal grill into a money grabbing industry. OK as an experience but value for money it was not. Later we went back to Taros for a mint tea and stayed on to eat. I had an enormous couscous which I only just managed to Consume. Another impressive sunset.

Sunday 16th Feb

Bought some fresh bread for breakfast. Had a lazy morning reading and doing crosswords before extracting the car from its park and going for a drive to Sidi Karouki. A scruffy little place with a large beach very popular with the surfing community. Had a crepe and a walk on the beach. It was very hot. Back to Essaouira and some negotiations with the car parking mafia who know us very well from our few meetings and want to know what time we’re leaving tomorrow and would we like our car washed. Another negotiation on price and we departed to our apartment. Our last evening meal was spent at the Patio in atmospheric lighting and decor and I was a terrific fish platter with an excellent bottle of rose.

Monday 17th

Awoke to the sound of the ocean pounding on the rocks for the last time this holiday. Packed up and left the apartment about midday and took our bags to our newly washed car. Daudled around for a couple of hours, mostly in our favourite beach cafe until setting off for Marrakech. The drive back was uneventful but as always in Morocco very interesting with all sorts of traffic on the road. ots. Our flight was on time despite the recent weather chaos and we landed 15min early. All the usual post arrival routine, trying to get a machine to approve your passport etc etc etc. Drive back home was punctuated by diversions and lane closures for road maintenance but we were back home in our very cold house at 3 am. Brilliant holiday.