PLAY IT AGAIN SAM: Days 11-15 of 273, 23-27NOV15, 373km to total 1,031km, Rabat to El Mansouria MOROCCO

PLACES VISITED: Rabat, Casablanca, El Mansouria MOROCCO.

OVERNIGHTS: Rabat Bush Camp (3), El Mansouria (2) MOROCCO.

DAY 11, Mon 23NOV15, 41km, Rabat (Mauritania & Ivory Coast Embassies, City) MOROCCO. The morning after. Why did it have to rain on our first night of bush camping? Boy was it tough. We woke up to rain and had to pack our tent in the rain! Instead of a toilet we use a shovel to dig a hole, swat, poo add paper and cover up. Instead of showers we have baby wipes! What a life! You’ve heard of the song “Singing in the Rain”, I am now singing “Pooing in the Rain”. It was my first poo in the rain and the only upside is that the rain is like a car wash in your ass!!! (For those who know the Nutty Professor: Co-on Clitus, Co-on, Collon cleanse? I’ll give you collon cleanse - gonna run my arse by the car wash!!!). Rabat (Pop 3m) is also very spread out but much greener than Fez. The good news is that it straddles the Atlantic Ocean and even has a beach just below the Kasbah. ABOVE: Hassan II Mausoleum guard.

We left for town at 7:45am so we could visit the Mauritanian and Ivory Coast embassies to get our VISAS. I got busted by Grant/Andi for leaving the bus to cross the road and use the Ivory Coast Embassy wi-fi to post my blog - the Embassy staff were very nice and let me do it! We then stopped outside another “Marjan” megastore near the city to use it as a base for our Rabat city visit. I went off with Keith (British, 60yrs old, retired, divorced with grown up kids, travelling for the next 16mths through Africa and South America) in a taxi to three camera stores - no luck - all small end stuff. No new Sony for me. I will have to try Accra GHANA and or Cape Town in SOUTH AFRICA. Visited the grand Mausoleum of King Mohammed V with the unfinished 44m “Tour de Hana” (minaret tower) just outside - begun in 1195AD this is the La Sagrada of Morocco. The shiny yellow marble sarcophagus sits well-below the viewing level with 6 guards watching on.

It now houses the body of the more recent King Hannan II, father of the present day King Mohammed VI. From here it is an easy and scenic 30min walk to the marina and Bud Oudaia which contains a 12th Century  fortress still with its original canons that protected vandals entering the Medina from the Atlantic. Inside the courtyards is a mini botanical gardens set up by the French during the occupation. I then hired a local young guy to take me around the Kasbah which looked a lot like the one that Paul Pappas and I visited in Tangiers in 2006. All the houses there have a Muslim date marker above their door indicating their age and many date back to 1325AD - amazing. The oldest Mosque in town is also here and the highlight is a huge courtyard balcony overlooking two Atlantic beaches below with dark brown sand and smallish waves. From here it was a quick taxi ride into “Bab el-Bouiba” in the centre of town. I then walked down the main drag of “Avenue Mohammed V” passing the President’s Office and Parliament and ending up at HRH Palace. It is a HUGE complex and all you are allowed to do is photograph the gate that sits at the start of a 2km driveway to the actual building!!! Another taxi took me back to the truck and the “other” Marjan where I bought my own toilet - yes, my own shovel!!! Sadly we got back to camp too late to fit a run in - had to set up tent and fill in our Guinea VISA form for tomorrow. We are NOT going to Mali any more since Oasis Overland head office decided against it based on instructions from the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) - apparently more attacks are being threatened in Bamako. Instead we are headed for Senegal and Guinea to pass from Mauritania to Ghana. Finally I watched the rest of the movie “90 Seconds in Heaven” before hitting the sack -literally.

DAY 12, Tue 24NOV15, 26km, Rabat (Ivory Coast Embassy, Medina) MOROCCO. Last night was the coldest, dampest night so far. No rain but a film of moisture was on everything in the tent. Ironically I had a great sleep because I changed format. I put my self-inflating mattress INSIDE my sleeping bag instead of underneath it. This expanded the bag inside and made turning much easier and you never roll off your mat. It also allowed me to turn my bag into a cocoon by tightening the chord around the head part essentially making my bag into a tent - how’s that - a tent inside a tent. Bottom line is that I was not breathing in cold damp air - just the warm air generated by my own alcohol processing body!!! Today was embassy day. A boring day but very necessary and part of the adventure. We went in 5 at a time into the Ivory Coast Embassy while the rest of us sat in the truck. Great time to blog! There was only one lady processing VISAS - she was a lovely lady, well dressed, diplomatic hair-do, topped off with big fake pearls. She recorded finger prints of all our fingers,  scanned our application and entered it in a computer manually!

Go figure. It took the whole day (9am to 3pm) to process all 21 people of our group - and that is just to place and send the application to the Ivory Coast. We may get our passport VISA tomorrow or the next day. That evening I enjoyed a run through the Moroccan bush along the dirt road that we came in on. Peace and quiet and a brisk cold. Watching the sun set and the almost full-moon rise. Magic. I am running in Africa...

DAY 13, Wed 25NOV15, 30km, Day Train Trip to Casablanca MOROCCO. Today it was back to the big “Marjan” supermarket just outside Rabat centre. We need to hang around Rabat until we get our VISAS for Ivory Coast and Guinea. The good news is that we do not need to go to the embassy in person so everyone was give the option to catch the train to Casablanca for the day. Roberto (Brazil), Keith (England), Vit (Canada) decided to travel together and we just made the 9:30am train by 10sec!!! The 96km journey takes just 55min but we took 85min due to track work. Casablanca (Pop 5m) is the largest city in Morocco and the commercial centre of the country. It is not the romantic, rustic town in the film. It is very busy, construction everywhere, not very well-kept and people and cars everywhere. It is also unique in that the architecture of most inner-city government buildings is a strange combination of Spanish, Moorish and Art Deco (see photos).

The best examples of these are around the main plaza “Place Mohammed V” featuring the Law Courts, Town Hall, Post Office and even the main bank. Keith and I headed here by taxi after trying to find the camera arcade that we were given in Rabat. This is a story of its own - a travel lesson. The cabbie dropped us off on a crowded round-about. No arcade. No shops. Just lots of traffic. After asking several shop keepers where these fabled camera stores were located (with no result) we ended up at a petrol station where a smartly dressed black African walked past and overheard us asking. He claimed he was a photography student and knew where these stores were - we had nothing to lose and followed him. And followed. And followed. After 15min we realised that this guy was not the real deal when we passed a camera store and our dodgy guide did not stop - I had to pull him back! The store had no Sony cameras and very few Canons.

Just Nikons. They gave us the name of another store and we decided to part ways with Mr Dodgy. He would not leave until we gave him money so we gave him the equivalent of 7.5AUD and climbed into a taxi to go into the centre. We had learnt an important lesson. Ask for directions but NEVER allow anyone to guide you or be with you. Back to Casablanca centre. From “Place Mohammed V” it was a short walk to the Central Markets. This place also has great examples of Casa’s unique architecture. The market itself specialises in seafood since Casa is on the Atlantic coast - tons of fresh fish and very cheap ranging from 5-10AUD/kg. From here we caught a cab to the fabled “Rick’s Cafe”. Not the movie one since it was only shot in Hollywood. Apparently there are five “Rick’s Cafes” in the city - we went to the only one listed in Lonely Planet at 248 Boulevard Sour Jdid. It was very upmarket but they let us in.

We had lunch at lightening speed since it was 1pm and our train back to Rabat left at 2:20pm. I ate the specialty of the house: “The Obama Family Chilli Con Carne” - I am not kidding - this exact wording was on the menu. It was delicious and only 15AUD - not bad for this upmarket place complete with piano and bar - “play it again Sam”!!! In the 1942 movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman there was a Sam but the line was “Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake”! We had exactly 30min to visit the best site in Casa - the “Hannan II Mosque”. And it was the best site. It is massive - the fifth largest in the world. It fits 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 in its surrounding courtyard. It is located right next to the Atlantic with terrific views of the city up and down the big surf coast. As our train pulled out of Casablanca I thought - it is not the city I expected but I would have liked some more time to see the Medina. I was on cooking duty tonight and thanks to Dan (USA living in Egypt) we cooked up a massively hot “Texas Chilli” using minced beef, broad beans, red beans, capsicum, tomato, onion, garlic and plenty of red and green chillies. Everyone loved it - especially in the morning - the number two’s came sloppy and fast!

DAY 14, Thu 26NOV15, 156km, Rabat to El Mansouria via Casablanca MOROCCO. Woke up extra early since our cook group was doing brekkie but it was easy. We converted the leftover Texas Chilli into a giant omelette. It was a hit but I hate to think where 21 people will poo in the centre of Rabat. But there was no Rabat. Change of plan. Last night the local police turned up at our camp and asked us to move on in the morning. This was great news because the alternate plan is to drive to Casablanca and stay at a camping ground outside the city that has SHOWERS and TOILETS! Yippee! No more shovels and wipes! I got my wish. More time in Casablanca. We would be here for the next one or two nights and drive back to Rabat during the day to get our passports. We all take turns minding the truck in two’s while we are parked in busy cities. Keith (England) and I were on truck minding duty from 1:30 until our departure for camp at 3pm so we raced off after arriving in Casablanca to continue finding our cameras (Keith’s camera also stopped working).

Today was my day. I found it but had to go through living hell to get it. My idea was to go to a bank and ask the teller to look up camera places in the city then call them to see if they had our model. You might think this is pushy but people here are willing to help. The two young girls behind the counter were glad to help. They found a shop, called it and they said they had it. A short cab ride later and we were there. The only hitch was they did not have my model but the one before, it was at another shop 40min away and it was very expensive at 7,500Dh ($1,100AUD) and I paid $900AUD for mine. I also know that I can claim for damage up to $900AUD on my travel insurance so I went for it. $200AUD difference for a second good camera on a 9th trip is a no-brainer so I went back to the bank to get the cash. It was 60min later when the camera arrived and we made it back to the truck right on 1:30pm for truck minding duty! Unreal.

Did not get to see the medina but I have a second good camera to show for it. We arrived at our Atlantic seaside “L’Ocean Blue” camping ground at 4:15pm, 40km north of Casablanca and just outside the town of “Mohammedia” but closest to “El Mansouria”. Enjoyed a great sunset run against the beach. That evening we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with turkey burgers and beer. After dinner each person had to say what they were thankful for, in accordance with American Tradition. Much to my surprise 2 of our group said “I am thankful that John Golfin is here to entertain us”! Wow, I made it into the “Thanksgiving book”. With that and my new camera I would sleep well that night...

DAY 15, Fri 27NOV15, 120km, El Mansouria MOROCCO (Truck went to Rabat to pick up passports without us). Today was washing and rest day. All of us washed our clothes and hung them up on our own lines and pegs to dry - Nick Drinias would have been proud (he brought a 3kg box of Omo and 100 pegs when we traveled through Europe in 1993!). There was even a washing machine on site which I used for 7AUD. Enjoyed another seaside run and even a dip into “Plage Mimosa” in the Atlantic - water was a cool 19C but full of garbage so only a short swim. A bunch of us then walked to a local cafe where we had a late lunch and posted this blog. I decided to watch another downloaded movie this evening and hit the sack early before our drive to Marrakesh tomorrow. It was amazing to look out at all the tents and see people crowded around the power poles desperately trying to keep in touch with the rest of the world...

 

PS: INTERESTING FACT ON AFRICA:

“The Queen of Sheba” lived in Northern Ethiopia reigning over the “Aksum” people who were the first indigenous African ethnics from 100AD to 940AD. Legend has it that she kept the “Ark of the Covenant”.

PPS: CAMERA PLACE: If any future travellers suffer camera damage in Morocco then here is the place to go for a repair or new camera: Shop Name is LATCO. Shop Address is 183-187-191 Boulevarde Ziraoul Casablanca. Shop Phone is +212 (522) 20 62 45. Shop website is www.latco.ma

Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake

BERBER BEST: Days 6-10 of 273, 18-22NOV15, 479km to total 658km, Chefchaouen MOROCCO to Rabat MOROCCO

PLACES VISITED: Chefchaouen, Mosquee, Gorfiel Melha, Fez, Volubilis, Meknes, Rabat MOROCCO (Capital).

OVERNIGHTS: Chefchaouen, Fez (3), Rabat MOROCCO.

AUTHORS NOTE: This will be the last detailed POST. Future POSTS to be much shorter.

DAY 6, Wed 18NOV15, 0km Chefchaouen MOROCCO. Those Berbers sure know how to paint a building and walk up steep hills in Chefchaouen!!! They are the best at it. This ancient town that dates back to the Roman Empire is literally built on the steep side of a mountain at the start of the mighty 2,500km long “Atlas Mountain Range” that ends up in Tunisia. That’s it on the left.

The start of Atlas is also known as the “Rif Mountain Range”. The old town is bound by an old fortified wall and contains a “Kasbah” or fortress or citadel at its centre. These differ from English or American forts in that the surrounding wall and towers do not have windows but they do have turrets. My unofficial tour of the town started with a run right through it on the previous evening (17NOV15) but today I planned to photograph it in the afternoon when the sun was in the right position. Until that time it was off for a run ascending from 700m to 900m on my way to the next town called “Mosquee”. I got fabulous views of the Rif Valley below me which was spotted with many small villages, much like Greece - as a matter of fact it looked like the Peloponnese (Three Southern Greek fingers). For the first time in a long time I had to take a break due to the incredibly steep gradients.

Life is simple in this area. Olives, goats, some sheep and lots of home-grown veggies. Even Mosquee had a cafe with several men drinking mint tea outside and probably discussing world affairs! You should have seen the look on their faces when they saw an idiot “amigo” dressed in fluoro-red run past them with words emblazoned on his crotch and arse!! By the time 1pm rolled round I was on my way down the 789 steps to the old town. Easy to get lost. There are branching alley ways at every turn. There are also many small shops crammed into these tiny spaces that give it its character. What I liked most was the clothing of the locals, Very ornate. Very colourful. The browns, tans, oranges and yellow of the clothing contrasts against the predominate blue of the buildings. There are even different coloured flower pots and steps spanning colours that match the clothing. The main square “Plaza Uta el-Hammam” is the best place to photograph the different shapes and colours of the local people. Most do not like their picture taken so I was naughty and sat 200m away with my x30 optical Lumix TZ70 - fantastic results and no upset! The Kasbah was much smaller than I expected and not much to see inside. Most of the original fittings have been looted. The Grand Mosque was also a little small and did not look very “mosquee”. In any case this place is a photographers paradise. The only downside is that someone will always follow you to try to sell you something. Understandable but hard to get used to. I asked a very well dressed man how to get back to our campsite and he ended up taking me to 3 shops before offering me some weed to buy.

Apparently Chefchaouen has very high quality weed. I was back by 5:30pm and it was time to call a few people and answer some emails over a metallic cup of Rose! This evening saw a delicious medley of wok-tossed veggies and local beef. A bit chewy but very tasty. Tonight’s conversation took a strange turn, especially after I suggested that we cut a round hole in the middle of our vinyl foldout stools to make it comfortable for number two’s in the desert! You can only imagine what came after this...

DAY 7, Thu 19NOV15, 229km, Chefchaouen to Fez MOROCCO. Today was Fez day. Just how 19 people could cook and eat breakie, pack bags and tents to leave for Fez on-time at 9am is beyond me but quite impressive given this is only our third time. We are getting the hang of it! The road to Fez was well sealed and initially marked by smaller valleys with sparse pines and larger shrubs. Later a classic desert landscape with tan sands and baby blue lakes appeared in the distance and the landscape flattened considerably to finally reveal Fez on a large vast plateau.

Fez (Pop 2m, Elev 410m) is further inland on the “Middle Atlas Mountain Range", was founded in 789AD and is also known as the “Mecca of the West” or the “Athens of Africa” because of its very large, thriving, two old medinas (Ancient Quarters), one being UNESCO registered. Fez is also famous for its tanneries (making and colouring leather from raw skin). Fez is divided into old town Fez el-Bali (1,200yrs old) and new-town Fez el-Jdid (700yrs old), each with its own very mazy but colourful medinas.

Actual driving time was 4.5hrs to cover the 212km and we stopped at Gorfiel Melha after 113km to buy local produce for dinner. The air was full of the smell of tajines cooking veggies and meat. We enjoyed lunch under a bridge across a dodgy river with grazing goats and arrived at the Diamant Vert Camping Grounds in Fez at 4:30pm. Fez is flat and very spread out. It has long multi-lane boulevards and the centre is marked by a large fountain. The burbs are 95% solid concrete apartment blocks with thousands under construction - this is definitely a city in expansion. Could not see a single house.

Our camping area was large and recently renovated. The toilet/shower facilities were very swish - our last hoorah before 3 days of bush camping to follow. After pitching tents the whole group sat outside together on stools like an outdoor school and filled in 3 VISA forms for Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Mali and handed over 1260Dh (180AUD) and 10 passport photos to Andi who will process them over the next two days that we are in Fez. Tonight’s dinner was local beef and veggies done Brazilian style on the grill over an open fire - inspired by 41yr old Roberto from Sao Paolo, a chartered accountant and financial controller for a logistics company with 6yrs prior experience with PwC. I was fortunate to download a movie “90 Minutes in Heaven” which I watched in my tent late at night until sleep took hold - it was a very cold night and the first time I had to wear my long sleeve spandex in the bag...

Photo below is Chefchaouen at sunset...

DAY 8, Fri 20NOV15, 36km, Fez (New City) MOROCCO. After a quick weetbix and powdered milk with coffee (my invention) we were off to see Fez at 8:30am with Callam our local guide. We drove up to a lookout called “Borg South” which overlooked both medinas. What struck me immediately was just how ancient these medinas looked - much like photos of Jerusalem - squarish white buildings hugging hills in a sea of olive trees. Callam taught us some Arabic words and my favourite is “Asalum a le kum” or “Peace be with you”. From here it was off to a large compound in Es-Seffarme which made decorative mosaic vases, dishes, fountains and even table tops. Next door was a hill full of drying hides of cow and goat, ready to be tanned.

Tanning is a big industry in Morocco as well as phosphates, olives and goats. The Royal Palace (Dar el-Makhzen) is set on 200 acres with a great front door but not much else is visible. The King stays here 5-6 times a year since his wife, an engineer, was born and raised in Fez! Callam explained that Morocco is now a Constitutional Monarchy and holds elections every 5yrs. The current Government is a coalition of 5 parties! Right next to the Palace is the “Mellah" or Jewish Quarter dating back to the 14th Century.

Apart from Callam getting the shits that I lagged too far behind and might get lost (I could always see where he was…) I found this area very run-down and so we decided we wouldn’t visit the Jewish Cemetery nearby. Instead we would head for the “Hammam” or Turkish Baths where 12 of our party would enjoy a full body massage and hot bath. My mind was on running. We munched on a delicious Beef Kofka (meatballs) baguette on the way. Not only was there a “Bath Group” headed for the Hammam but there was a splinter “Blanket Group” who wanted to buy the local item to rug-up against tonights imminent cold. After dropping off our two groups, it was a quick stop at a huge supermarket which the Moroccan King owns and has no booze! I took off for my run at 3:30pm, followed by a big clothes wash - along with everyone else. After my run, I managed to download another movie which I watched after dinner in my tent. Photo below is Fez...

The photo below is for Lucy who always makes Tajine for me in Sydney...

DAY 9, Sat 21NOV15, 38km, Fez (Old City) MOROCCO. Fez is considered the spiritual and educational heart of Morocco with the University of al-Karaouine being the oldest continually operating university in the world. We saw it today and I went inside to photograph it (photos below spices in this post). Fez also has the record for the hottest temperature recorded of any African town/city being 46.7C in 2012. "Fes el Bali" (Old City, Pop 300) was founded in 789AD in its current location because of an abundance of “clay" for bricks, “wood" for fire and “water" for drinking / farming. It comprises a maze of hustling and bussling 20,000 alleys (streets) with 320 mosques and mules everywhere to carry people and goods. Without our guide Callam, we would get lost in minutes. Every alley looks the same and there are people, smells and shops everywhere. If you could condense Morocco into a single experience this must be it. Our first taste was the typical Moroccan breakfast called “Bisara” which is a hot fava bean paste that looks like porridge with a dab of olive oil on top. You then dip a flat saucer shaped bread into it to eat it up - delicious. Immediately after we tried Moroccan doughnuts which look like big puffed up deep fried scones covered in sugar. Look at my little billy goats in the B&W photo on the right...

Callam then took us to a tannery, where skins are treated, coloured, dried and turned into a million one different leather good items: shoes, slippers, handbags, briefcases, wallets, purses, jackets pants and yes, even undies!!! The place smells really bad and workers are covered in gunk and colouring made from stones and plants. At the other end of the smell scale, we visited a spice and oil house where we smelt and sampled Moroccan herbs, spices, cooking oil, ointments, rubs and even dried nuts and legumes. It is amazing just how many herbs, spices and oils they make - hundreds!

The staple of Morocco is “Argan Oil” made from a nut that comes from the Argan tree and is used in cooking. It is a heavy oil but quite aromatic and becomes very thin with high heat. I was astounded by the variety of foods and tastes - what struck me is that despite the poverty and hardships of most people, these guys know how to cook and eat - they have fabulous food and healthy too! First time I have had lunch in a carpet store, surrounded by works of Berber carpet art made from Camel, Sheep and Cotton. The textures and colours could fill an art gallery!

Our final stop was a silk shop where we watched the making of fabric for clothes, scarves and even sheets. The silk comes from the Aloe Vera plant and not worms since it is cheaper, more plentiful and even fire proof! We also saw the Qaraouiyine Mosque which is one of the medieval period's most distinguished universities. Today, it is a working mosque and one of Morocco's largest centres of worship with a prayer hall that can hold 20,000. Another treat was the Merenid architecture of the "Medersa el-Attarine”, built in 1325 as University dorms. Photo on the right is The Royal Palace in Fez taken on the GoPro 

No doubt, today was a terrific massage of the senses, so many smells, sounds and visual treats. The downside was that we spent too much time with Callam’s mates! It is the typical story. The well-meaning guide takes you to all the places that will show you how things are done and hopefully you will buy something - there was no pressure to buy but we spent way too much time in the “sell phase” and as a result did not see the most beautiful building in the old city:

The "Medersa Bou Inania” which was built between 1350 and 1357 as a working theological school until 1960 - now it is a museum. We also missed out on seeing the old towns best looking and oldest two main gates: "Bab Chorfa" and "Bab Boujiloud". Then disaster hit. I dropped my primary camera, the Sony RX100 Mark3 as I reached for change to get on the public bus back to our camp. It hit the kerb. The lens extends but no image and no photos or video. It is unusable. At least it releases an error code “E:62:20” which means it is most likely fixable. The SD card is fine and all photos and films are OK. I always wear the strap on my wrist and clutch the camera with my hand. I thought the strap was attached and actually let go of the camera to get my change. Bang it went. I have never dropped a camera before. What pissed me off the most is that it happened on Day 9 of my trip. Luckily I have 3 other cameras: my Lumix which is really just as good as the Sony but has a x30 zoom for the animals - thank God that is intact.

I also have my Canon S110 that I used for Indochina and South America. I then waived my group good bye and with Callam’s advice went off by myself to the central Fez shops to try to buy a new Sony. Callum definitely advised against repair. All the smaller shops directed me to the Virgin Megastore in a big shopping mall called “Borg Fez”. No luck. They had medium to low line cameras but not top of the line. I then caught a taxi home and went for a “mean aggressive run” to burn off my anger and disappointment! I was almost going to cancel my big night out tonight to a Moroccan cultural night of food, live music and dancing. The run helped. It prevented me from sulking and I thought “bugger it, I am going to drown my sorrow in food, music, wine and good company and then buy a new camera in the capital Rabat”. Luckily the guy at reception knew of the address of the Virgin Megastore in Rabat and gave it to me - fingers crossed they have it.

The cultural evening was terrific. Only seven of us went and we were chauffeured to the venue in a brand new mini-bus with Callam as chaperone. We sat almost alone in a palatial hall adorned with every line, colour, mosaic and relief characterising Morocco’s many architectures. Four men played the exotic sounds of Arabia and Berber, occasionally breaking out into song as we sipped chickpea soup (much like Greek “fasolatha”) and sampled dip style-entrees of eggplant, beans, beetroot, potato, carrot and artichoke washed down with plenty of French Rose. During entree we were entertained by a magician who looked like Dr Smith from Lost in Space with his hair dyed black and wearing one of those Groucho Marx glasses with moustache. Then came the giant Tajine of many veggies and chicken spiced up and out of this world. Lovely and very filling. At this time we were treated to a belly dancer, quite ugly and certainly full of belly. Dan (American living in Egypt) and Denise (Switzerland) were then dressed up like a Sultan and the Queen of Sheba and paraded around in a golden tray set atop the heads of three women dressed in blue to the thundering sounds of Arabian drums - what a site!

During this time we were stuffed further with a dish of sweet beef and date stew done in raisins and other aromatic herbs. Delicious. Could not move. Finally I was called to sing with the orchestra to finish off what was a terrific evening.

DAY 10, Sun 22NOV15, 176km, Fez to Rabat (Capital) via Volubilis and Meknes MOROCCO. I cannot believe that today marks double digit days for me away from Australia. Our drive to the capital started at 8:30am with a stop in the well-preserved, ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis at 10:30am, some 80km from Fez. Volubilis was built by the Romans in the first century as a military outpost and retirement village for honourably discharged Roman soldiers.  It was a full-on town with baths, temple, forum, altar, boulevard and of course fancy dwellings for the soldiers complete with frescoes and mosaics which are still visible now, despite centuries in the open weather. Volubilis even sported a brothel evidenced by a big stone penis at its centre!!! Volubilis started as a settlement in 25AD and was eventually abandoned in 285AD. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 destroyed it until it was re-discovered in 1915 and excavation is still ongoing. A local guide showed us around and explained the significance of each building with many surviving mosaics of both Roman and Greek gods. I call the photo on the right “Dick Head”!!! It is the Brothel in Volubilis!!!

Before reaching our first bush camp 20km outside Rabat we stopped by Meknes to do some last minute Booze shopping - no more for the next month!!! Our bush site was remote amongst low trees and red dirt and we knew immediately on arrival that it would be a cold night. This bush camp is close enough to Rabat however to attract unwanted locals who know about overland travellers and are always looking to steal a tent or two and its contents! So the drill is that everything is kept in the truck and all we take to our tents is our sleeping bags and morning clothes. We all keep watch and keep the truck locked at all times. And no more showers or toilets. We now use shovels to do our number twos and use baby wipes to have “portable showers”. Tonight was solid blogging - this post in fact. I was dead to the world by the time I logged out… (Photo below is Volubilis)

 

PS: Some interesting facts on Morocco from Callum: the average wage is 3000Dh or 300Euro or 450AUD per month which is not so bad when compared with Greece which is now averaging 300euro/month in pensions and public service wages. Unemployment is sitting at 9% but everyone reckons it is higher due to so many unrecorded cash jobs. The average home loan is 3.9% interest and the average term deposit is 2.5%. I expected a lot worse. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PPS: Some riveting facts on Africa as a continent: 31 million square kilometres = 3 Australias, 1.1 billion people in 55 countries with South Sudan as the latest in 2011, Religions: 40% Muslim / 40% Christian and the rest tribal, 5% of the population has HIV, 1 baby dies of Malaria every minute.

PPPS: Some riveting facts about life so far in a truck and in a tent. Let me say. Andi and Grant are one organised and calm couple. I don’t know how they do it. You all know my saying “Calm people make me nervous!!!”. They have done what I am about to do 6 times and headed for their 7th. How? Nerves of calm. A tautology. But effective. They have 19 civilians organised like we were on the set of “Full Metal Jacket”. We are organised into six cooking groups to shop, cook and serve 3 meals in a row - rotation is about one week. We set up and fold up our own tents. When we bush camp (no toilet or shower facilities) we have to set up our tent every evening and pack it up every morning. It is hard work but keeps us fit and busy. Just how we will do this for 9mths is beyond me.

PPPS: The last photo above is our first bush camp, 20km outside Rabat MOROCCO on Sunday 22 November 2015. This is the first of very very many many...