Chi's Travel Log - Mhamid, Morocco 23-03-2009

Portraits of some people I met on tour

adventure@chi11.co.uk

Week17

090323 Mon - Mhamid Oasis Campsite - m&a 6:30 had a bright and early breakfast, then the only other campers moved on at 9am today so on my own here, had a relaxing morning then got the tunes on the go after lunch, its nice to blast them out in the middle of nowhere. Had a few hours trip on a camel in the desert, it took a few minutes to get used to riding it but enjoyed it going up and down the dunes, a bit of a sore bum when I got off and a few aches and pains but well worth the trip. Chatted to Vincent and Becky in the evening then retired about 9pm.

090324 Tue - Mhamid Oasis Campsite - m&a 6am early start today going to Zagora then onto Ouarzazate, giving Vincent & Rebecca a lift stopped for breakfast and a few picture shots and made it to the Atlas Studios just outside Ouarzazate about 1pm had an hour walking round the film sets then got settled into the campsite, a run out to the shops and made food, watched a movie then retired about 10pm.

090325 Wed - Ouarzazate Campsite - m&a 6am up bright and early and off for 7am this morning, going over the high atlas mountains, it was a beautiful morning the scenery was the best so far with magnificent views of the high atlas got some great pics again but need to sort them out yet. Landed at Marjane Supermarket in Marrakech at 1pm to get supplies then called at the internet cafe near the campsite before settling in. I quickly got stuck into my washing and got it out on the line. Then noticed an English van on site who had passed us over the mountain pass when we were parked and waved. It was Tony and Ian from near Coventry, also met Tina and Mark who were with then but in there own camper, chatted for a while then got the dinner on and a few G&ts before retiring 9.

090326 Thu - Marrakech Campsite - m&a 6am - early start this morning and a red hot shower and shave, after breakfast talked to Tony, Ian, Mark & Tina then we all had a hand in fixing Tony's bike rack before they left to wander the mountain passes again. A relaxing day, did a few odd jobs and fried a bit in the red hot afternoon sun, then Vincent, Becky & I made some vegetable pasta and banana & custard for dinner, after dinner we played cards for a while then consulted the runes and chatted until bedtime 10.

090326 Fri - Marrakech Campsite - m&a 6am - early start and did a bit more washing this morning, then cleaned round the van before re-assessing the sat nav. After lunch had a little run on the bike and visited the internet cafe to catch up on emails and renew my bike tax. Listened to some tunes had dinner and had a drink with Charlie, Chris, Hugh & Sue from Northern England before retiring at 9.

090327 Sat - Marrakech Campsite - m&a 6am showered and away for 7 it was good being early as the traffic was light getting out of Marrakech, stopped for breakfast about half way and it started raining quite heavy there were lots of streams crossing the roads in the mountains. When I arrived at the Cascades d' Ouzoud and parked up I found I had my own waterfall in the van. The van was parked on a steep incline and this seemed to be making it worse, so I quickly moved the van to another spot then assessed the problem. It appeared the rubber sealant round the skylight over my bed had perished, this allowed rain water to enter under the skylight which then dripped onto the bed. It had already let a few litres onto the bed the bedding, sheets, mattress cover and mattress were all wet. I quickly found places to hang everything around the van and placed a bowl under the dripping water, got the central heating on full had a hot drink and decided I couldn't do any repairs until it stopped raining. Put my boots on and cagool and set off to check out the waterfalls, They were impressive about 110m drop and you could walk from the top to the bottom on both sides so you could view the flow from many different perspectives. On my return I met Roy an English guy who had seen me arrive, I told him my predicament and he advised me it was normal for the seals to go from time to time especially in severe temperatures and he also had some sealant that should fix it temporarily but it had to be applied in dry conditions and allowed to cure. The the rain stopped so we tried to fix it but just after we started it rained again so I have to wait for a dry spell. Decided to make a large pan of chilli then went for a walk in the mountains with Martin & Catrina from Switzerland and Giovanni & Lina from Italy, it was a lovely walk and after we had a few drinks and some wine and all had the chilli for dinner and a great evening retired about 9.

090328 Sun - Cascades d' Ouzoud - a 7:30 decided in the night that it wouldn't be practical to drive the van in the rain with the leak so I should stay untill I fix it.

Had breakfast and delt with the water collected in the night cleaned round the van and went shopping for vegetables and bread to make a curry. It was still raining incessantly so I prepared the vegetables and made the curry, sampled a little bit, then Giovanni called to ask me round for lunch, Lina had made a tajine of lamb and vegetables for us. It was lovely we accompanied it with wine and finished off with coffee, after that I was ready for a sleep. However I walked down to the village to see the Moroccan music festival that was going on today, there were lotsof coaches that had arrived early in the morning and also lots of vans full of young Moroccans the music was pretty good and lots of people were dancing, everyone seemed to be enjoying the festival regardless of the rain. There was a dry spell and the blue sky opened up so I dashed back to the camper and got everyrhing prepared, jumped onto the roof and started the task, only just got the silicone in place and it started spotting again, I managed to tape over the silicone but noticed the rain was still coming in after my repair, but not as much. Still monitoring the situation I called and invited Giovanni and Lina to share the curry I had made, they brought wine and some bread and the evening went well finishing with a bottle of mulled wine I had forgotten I had which well down well with the cold wet weather I think we will all sleep well tonight, retired 9:30pm.

adventure@chi11.co.uk