Wednesday, 30 January 2019

Last night in Dakhla was celebrated in a seafood bar with view on the Naval Base - lobster, huge shrimps and Maroccan salad.

On our walk bach we came across wall paintings - like we have seen in Brussels and in Australia.

Buying bananas and sweet clementines from the vendor who woke us up every single morning.

The desert is beautiful today.  Stones for sure but also tiny blue, yellow and white flowers.

The much appreciated Midway stop with freshly grilled camel meatballs - 2 portions today, because they are so good = 40 Dh or 4€

We have 4 travelling days ahead on local busse before reaching Taroudannt, 2 hrs east of Agadir.  It is also called ‘Little Marrakesk’ and we plan to stay there a couple of days.   But first we need to reach Laâyoune still today.  It is 450 kms north-east of Dakhla still at the Atlantic Ocean.  Leaving at 12:30 we are scheduled to reach destination at 20:45.  Today’s travel costs 180 Dirham (Dh) 18€ per person.

All goes well, the desert is stony and beautiful with lots and lots of flowers.  We got grilled camel frikadeller at the Midway Stop and there are only few passengers.  And then Grrr-brrrrr and bumm

 

Excursion 2 - Sunday, 27 January 2019

The water truc takes care of early wake up - even on Sundays.

We start by buying 2 kgs minced camel meat for the midday picnic.  It is in fact dromadaire meat, but everybody says ‘camel’.

  

Within a good half hour we are once again deep into the desert on the mainland side of the lagooon.  Dakhla is in fact situated on a peninsular at the Atlantic Ocean on the Western coastline.

Under an unusual grey sky we all of a sudden arrive at the border of some small ponds with hundreds of tiny fish.  The water is salt and comes (underground) from the ocean.

There, in the middle of nowhere lives a man all alone - apparently a friend of the driver who arranges for him to grill our dromadaire meatballs whilst we sit crosslegged waiting in a very, very hot tent.

A last stop on a beatiful lonely beach

And that was the end of a good excursion

Excursion 1

Saturday, 26 January 2019

Over breakfast we are offered to join a Maroccan family for a half day excursion.

 The first destination was an ostrich farm - these big eyed birds are said to have very small brains.  The males have red beaks, red feet and black feathers.   Due to boredom or to the very limited space behind the fence these males were constantly picking on each other.

Second stop was ‘The European Camping’.   People drive their caravan all the way down from Europe to come here.   They can stay as long as they want for free and water is supplied free of cost.  Most of the campers are over 80.   It looks nice and tempting.

We met with a Frenchman and a Swiss, who had collected a bucket full of  ‘knives’ (couteaux in French).  A sort of mussle but harder and with a sweet, nutty taste.

La Dune Blanche = The White Dune

The landscape is captivating and beautiful in its own way.    Especially the colours ... all shades of beige  under a sky that goes from very light- to ‘Berber blue’ - if that colour exists.

Wonder what kind of creature is hiding in the sand ?  Hiding from the sun and from us.

The desert is no way as dull as one could imagine.

Splashing at the ‘Hot Springs’

3 x 12 fresh, very small  oysters for us and a huge fish for our new friends

Friday, 25 janvier 2018 .... suite

The 8 hour busride went well.   There were a few stops giving us a chance to eat and drink.

Dromadaire meat is surprisingly delicious - especially the fat from the back which adds up to the price og 2000 Dirham (20€) per kilo.

The milk was another surprise .... sour like buttermilk and not all that convincing.

We end up in ‘Dar Rio Oro’, where we have booked a couple of nights.

With view to the Ocean on one side and the Base Navale to the other.

Friday, 25 Jan 2019

Yesterday we had to wait for two hours for the bus .... 

It came from Casablanca, 10 hrs ride north of Tarfaya, and it was full

Evening view from our room at Hotel Rimal Sahara in Laâyoune.  All couleur de sable.

Sunrise on Mosque - still in Lâayoune

Thursday, 24 January - travelling

Yesterday we came across a fishing boat builder workshop before leaving ‘Casamar’ and Tarfaya.

It  looks so nice ...and we had room with a view

- but what a relief to get on the SupraTours bus for a 3 hour ride to Laâyoune to spend one night at ‘Rimal Sahara’.   Doesn’t that sound both chic and expensive ?  Well, it is NOT.

But it is warm enough to enjoy an hour or two on the terrasse before an early dinner.

One night in Goulimime - la porte du désert

We leave the Oasis with some regret to find this mastodont of a hotel close to the bus station.

Hotel Idjiguen

Toy cars and a donkey with long and soft ears.

I will rather go to the dentist when back in Europe.

We just shared a beer - it could well be the last one for many, many weeks !

Talking to locals and admiring hands.

250 grammes of fresh walnuts for a little than one euro

During an afternoon walk in town, the taxi driver from a few days ago appears with an invitation to spend the evening in his house.  Impossible to refuse such a gesture - RV at the hotel at 19 hrs.

First tea, then another tea ... then some talking and, as we are preparing to leave, Aisha brings a HUGE tajine with all kind of vegetables and two pieces of chicken.  We were 8 sitting on the floor around the low table.  I am sure the meat was meant for us....

Leaving l’Oasis and l’Homme Bleu

View from our roof top terrasse

Our courtyard with morning juice oranges

 Brahim (in blue) and our new ‘friends’ from Lyon

So blue, so orange, so ripe - too good to leave

In the Oasis of Tighmert

Leaving the Goulimime camel market, yesterday - some in a more agreable way than others.  It must be no fun to be goat og sheep in Marocco.  A camel seems to be better treated - maybe because it’s worth roughly 1.000 euros !

Sunday morning - a day off in the Oasis of Tighmert where we find a perfect infrastructure in the middle of nowhere.   There are 700 families totalling around 3.800 people and schooling up to Baccalaureat, ie. Kindergarden, Primary- and Secondary as well as Lycée.  Next to that there are 3 mosques, a dispensnaire (day hospital) and water and electricity.

Morning walk in the oasis and introduction to an elaborate irrigation system.  There are 35 land owners sharing the water which comes from a well at the northern end of the 10 km long Oasis.

Hans went to the end of the oasis and I spoke with ‘Irrigation Master’, Abdul.  We spoke about how old we were and he surprised me by being only 56.  He also told me that at precisely 11:30 he was to  conduct the water flow into the next Alfalfa field (Hans says that Luzerne is Alfalfa in English).

The whole field is fenced by palmtree stems and palm leaves and it takes about five minutes to supply the needed quantity of water before closing the small canal and supply the neighbour field.

The walls are like the ones of the houses - clay and straw or bamboo leaves.  In the houses the walls are painted in oder to ensure water resistency.

 

We are staying with Brahim also known as l’Homme Bleu.