SY Matelot in Morocco

Matelot in Bouregreg Marina

We awake to look around us at the ancient tower opposite Bouregreg Marina on the Rabat side of the river - placed strategically between the river front, the ancient Souk, and the modern tramway/people mover which is reminiscent of the efficiency of Istanbul. 

Walking in the Souk near the marina.

With no local currency we cannot do much so explore into the Souk to find a money machine, (70 MD = 7 Euro approx.) then ride up to Sale central to buy a local sim card and some WIFI from Maroc Telecom.

The graveyard overlooking Harbour entrance.

Not sure how we fit it in, but we get some shopping done at the Souk and have a good look around the Sale side.

 

By the next morning we have backpacks organised and are off the boat early for a train to Marrakech.  It is so easy to ride the tram to the central Gare du Rabat and hop on a fast train, in no time we are well on our way. 

About one hour out from Marrakech we are joined in our compartment by a very chatty man who joins in the interesting conversation we are having with a local young woman who is telling us what the top sites are in the Marrakech region.  

Having been warned about touts, Pippy’s antennae goes up when he asks if we have accommodation booked.  “Yes thank you” is the answer.  A while later he asks Richard the same question “No we don’t” is the answer this time as Pippy inwardly groans.  Before we know it we are stitched up with accommodation and tours.   However Hasan does make our arrival in Marrakech much easier as we are guided promptly into a taxi and taken to a very nice and inexpensive Riad (tucked away behind many right and left turns in a narrow alley, which turns out to be 400 MD per night per room including breakfast).  We talk about our travel plans and money... over mint tea.

Jemaa El Fna, the main square

We plan a day tour of Marrakech for the next morning and an exploration of the surrounding countryside, camel riding and sleeping in the desert, then on to Fez over the next few days. 


We have told our new ‘friend’ Abdul that we want to have the evening to ourselves to explore, so off we go, walking along the interesting dusty laneways of Marrakech in the failing light.   

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This character is our waiter and has pulled us in off the street.

We have decided we are going to eat in the square on advice from that very nice young woman on the train, and head for the stall (Hassan Rguigu) she has recommended. 

There are many local people eating here and the only thing we don’t touch is the shared water cup, instead buying bottled water.  

The food is tasty, good value and good quality dished up with plenty of smoke from the open fire.

Of all the places we visit in Marrakech the next day, it is the Majorelle Gardens Yves St Laurent's Morocco home, which we love the most.  The sense of peace and harmony in these gardens makes us want to stay longer.  

Soon after lunch, we are joined by more sailing friends from Rabat (Time Bandit and Purrfect) and now have a group of 7 so the price for all of our planned travel comes down considerably.  

In a blur we take in the Saadian Tombs and Medersa Ben Youssef, reminiscent of the Alhambra in Grenada, purchase our Argan Oil and say a very firm ‘no’ to the carpet seller before again enjoying a meal this time in a restaurant overlooking the square. 

By now we are feeling much more comfortable with Abdul who has spent the day with us touring Marrakech and provided a good car and driver for the experience.  Our onward journey to Fez via the High Atlas Mountains, Dades Gorge then on to the desert begins tomorrow at 0800H.  Our faith is tested a little when our driver is late the next morning but then arrives and we are on our way in a slightly dodgy vehicle.  We discover we cannot open the back door from the inside and hope like mad that we don’t have to in an emergency.  

From now on we take thousands of photographs and cannot possibly share all that happens.  Pippy gets caught out taking a photo of a policeman at a road block and gets a little telling off.

The Unesco World Heritage site of Ait Ben Haddou is stunning.

Many goods are on offer but we don't have room on board which is perhaps a good thing!

A film set for a movie is being established at the top so we watch the construction for a while.  

Our guide assures us that the site will be returned to original immediately after the film is finished and nothing will be damaged.

This is the place where films have been made for many years, including Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia.

Many miles later, and well after darkness falls, we are delivered to our hotel in the Dades Gorge. The next morning we walk for more than an hour along the fertile riverside, where fruit and vegetables grow in abundace.  Frequent glimpses through the green bushes show local women doing their laundry on the riverside or washing carpets.  We soon realise it is not ok to take photographs without permission first.  We stop at the end for a visit to the showroom of the carpet makers – a co-operative of local women – and are shown some of the loveliest Berber carpets ever – very tempting but none of us is able to purchase for our small spaces on board yachts so we continue onwards.  Tonight we will be sleeping in the desert.

The highlight of this day is to be the gastro-nomic Moroccan Tagene meal we enjoy at the town of Tingdid in the unassuming looking Panorama Café, just before we get to the desert.  Wow what food – we devour it savouring the wonderful spices and fresh ingredients.  We have not had anything as good for a long time and certainly not since. Sorry it all vanished too quickly. Only the grapes made it to a photo shoot

 

Genuine Berber clothing....

 The highlight of the night is yet to come.

Now we are closing on the desert having been driven for hours, but first we must stop and buy some genuine Berber clothing for the participants of a Rally in our group.  They have a fancy dress party organised.

By the time we have swapped ourselves into 4 wheel drive vehicles, then met up with our camels, sunset is rapidly approaching.

Up we are heaved (via a jerk forwards as it raises its hind legs, almost sending us onto our face in the sand in front of the camel, then a larger jerk backwards as it gets up onto all four legs) onto our camels and are plodding along in a line into the sand dunes before we know it, riding for quite a while before stopping to watch the sun fade and the contours of the dunes turn into sharp contrasting angles before the darkness almost fills in. 

On we go to our campsite with the four leading camels slightly ahead, sometimes stumbling on the downhill inclines… tending to slip in the sand.  We cling on like limpits and lean right back.  Our three climb the crest of a hill where we see our tents spread out below us, but alarmingly one of our party lying in a crumpled heap on the ground and her husband leaping from his camel (it’s a long way to jump) and running towards her, with the camel driver also in attendance. 

The four camels, now free to do what they want, head for the desert at a trot with two more of our party still as passengers.  Chaos reigns and the injured woman, Anne is lying very still.  We have to be calm and allow ourselves to be led past the scene and disembarked from the camel backs close to the tents. 

It seems that one camel has bitten the one in front, then the one in front has jerked and stumbled, throwing Anne to the ground where she has landed on her back after getting caught up in the lead rope and flipped over backwards.  She is in a lot of pain and we are miles from help.  She is assisted to a mattress in the middle of the campsite.  It is now we find out the only first aid we have available is what we have in our own bags.  A few anti-inflammatories and our new crew member Amanda who has medical training in her job as a Sonographer.  Amanda does a great job supervising what assistance we can lend to make Anne as comfortable as possible, assuring her that nothing appears to be broken.  However the pain makes it impossible for her to move at all. There is minimal phone signal.  A message goes out for help but it will be morning before Anne can be taken out.   The camel drivers are very worried they are going to lose their jobs because of the accident, but it is not their fault. 

Soon one of them suggests he try some Berber medicine to relieve the pain.  This consists

of taking one of the glasses we have just been drinking mint tea from, lighting a piece of paper inside it and quickly turning it over and clamping it on to Anne’s back where it instantly stops burning and creates a suction effect as it cools. It does not appear to burn as it is applied. 

Carpets at Dades Gorge Womens' Co-op

Our tagine dinner is cooking in one of the tents and our mattresses await on the ground.  The night stretches ahead of us.  Some of the spicy oily surface from the tagine is turned into a massage after the Berber treatment has been applied for about an hour.  Amazingly and thankfully, Anne’s pain is relieved somewhat and the heat from the spices appears to have a very soothing effect.  We all relax a little and eat a late but welcome dinner in one of the tents.  She and her husband sleep outside under the stars as is too uncomfortable to be moved.  None of us sleep much this night interspersed by frequent visits into the desert for nature stops. The stars seem so close and the air is warm and windless. We are assured there are no creepy crawlies around. By morning Anne is feeling a bit better and is able to move so that the quad bike which arrives before sunrise is able to transport her back to the base hotel where she rests again, waiting for the rest of us to arrive on camel-back a couple of hours later. 

It is a very long and picturesque day today as we are driving all the way to Fez through the lower Atlas mountains stopping briefly at a pretty Alpen village where the King of Morocco has one of his homes. Amanda Richard and I stay overnight in Fez and take a whistle stop tour.  The others go onwards back to Rabat.  We don’t know how our driver does it, but he will drive back to Marrakech after dropping them off.  We are in the car and driving by around 1030H and arrive in Fez around 2100H.