The Vuvuzela Diaries

Marrekech, like Fes, is divided into an old Medina and a Nouvelle Ville. Unlike Fes though, which is cloaked in a medieval shroud,  Marrakech feels electric. The beating heart of the mayhem is the town square, or Djemaa El Fna. A feast for the senses –  snake-charmers, monkey-handlers, orange juice squeezers, henna tattoe artists, date & nut vendors, teeth pullers (the closest many get to a visit to the dentist) and muti men during the day, and at night the squre becomes transformed into a vibey street food market, whose vendors make UCT’s  RAG-MAG sellers seem tame!

And then there are the souks… the avenues of stalls selling leather goods, pottery, carpets, silver trinkets & antiques. The art of bartering is essential and patience of the essence!

Thankfully, due to Jamo and Sam’s excellent organisational skills, we were able to escape the chaos and enter the coccon-like tranquility of a tastefully renovated and redecorated Riad, called Riad Linda after it’s Australian owner. Sam and Jamo had flown in from London for the weekend, as had Paula’s cousin Cara and her boyfriend, Andrew. The final ‘extra’ on board, was Mikaela’s brother, Jonathan, who managed to find time to join us despite his tough gardening leave schedule. It was fantastic having you all around!

The girls, needing some time out from the camping scene, decided to try out a ‘Hammam’. The traditional version is an exfoliating scrub and sauna amongst female friends or family in a designated bath area (similar to the Roman/Turkish baths).  The tourist version of a Hmmam is an oil scrub and massage in a steamy sauna room, followed by the genteel sipping of mint tea whilst sunken into plush velvet cushions, draped in bathrobes. In a muslim culture where women do not meet in cafes for a good gossip, the Hamman’s are the next best thing!

While we were scrubbed within an inch of our lives, Andrew and Grant sought out the services of local barbers. Grant chose the deluxe version, which included a facial scrub, hair-wash, beard sculpting and hair-cut. It’s a wonder he didn’t get a manicure thrown in for good measure! Andrew, being the no-frills man that he is, opted for the beard and hair-trim only. This did however include the obligatory side-parting, German style.

The grand finale of our weekend, was an evening at a very swish restaurant on the ‘Eloff Street’ part of Marrakech’s Monopoly board. Here, we were entertained by beautiful belly-dancers, whose hypnotic hips and sequinned tassles mesmorised us (some more than others… Richard!) as effectively as the snake-charmers in the square.

An intoxicating and heady brew!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we have made it to Marrakech. With the arrival of some of the London contingent things have stepped up a notch and we are staying in a luxury riad complete with doorman, 2 chefs and a washing machine! As I write most of the crew are haggling away to secure various invaluable pieces of pottery, leatherwork, snails, snakes and all the other good things that the medina has to offer. A full post and pictures to follow, inshallah.

The Drâa Valley – 10 & 11 Feb

The evening of 9 January was definitely our most bizare yet! Having had dinner Neil and I were treated to a private “jam session” in the campsite with four locals who had whipped out some drums and an electronic keyboard. Helped out by shots of straight vodka our friendly quartet drummed the night away as we watched on in amazement at how pleased they were to be performing for such a small audience!The next day we left Tagounite to begin our drive back North towards Marrakech. Our route followed the Drâa Valley – an incredible palm-lined river dotted with orchards and large Kasbahs which are made using the abudantly-available mud of the Drâa itself. We spent the night in a campsite at the entrance to Tazentout where we were treated by Richard and Chippy to a dinner at a local restaurant. Ait Benhaddou was our first stop on the 11th of February. The enormous Kasbah, built by Berbers from the 14th century onwards, was on the other side of a river which could be crossed by donkey for the cheeky fee of 20 Dirhams. True to our South African principles, however, we all rolled up our trousers, took off our boots and waded across, much to the amazement of our European counterparts! The Kasbah was well worth the visit although it was a pity it was so geared towards tourists.

After lunch we continued north along the main road and decided to take a detour into Toulet to see a very old castle which had belonged to the Glourie Brothers. Despite the harrowing 21km drive off the main road this proved to be a very worthwhile excursion as the castle was magnificent and devoid of any other tourists. The highlight, however , of our day’s journey had to be the drive through the High Atlas. The pass took us up steeply to just below the snow line before winding down, swithback after switchback, through small villages precariously placed on rocky outcrops. That evening we stayed in a hotel just outside of Marakech which allowed us time to recover before our assault on the bustling city the next day !

 Tangounite – 9th Feb

Having arrived in darkness the night before, we awoke to find ourselves surrounded by palms trees and the smell of mint tea brewing.  After drinking tea with the owner of the campsite, he quickly directed us to his cousin’s brother’s uncle who just so happened to organise camel treks into the desert! How convenient…. 

We had previously studied the maps and had decided that we weren’t interested in the meek dunes just outside Magmied but rather fancied going deeper into the desert to tackle Erg Chagaga.  This did mean, however, a serious off-road detour to get to the dunes – the guys weren’t complaining! Thankfully we were accompanied by a guide, Bashir, without whom we would have no doubt wondered through the sandy haze and across the border into Algeria. For two hours we rolled through a sea of sandy dunes as Bahir tapped Andrew on either his right or left shoulder whenever we veered off course! Along the way we stopped briefly to see a truly incredible sight – water bubbling through the sand to form a desert oasis, complete with palms and a few lone Berbers.

The camel station was something out of the set of Lawrence of Arabia – our camels and their masters resting sleepily amongst a few scattered Berber tents in the foreground of Erg Chagaga.

As we rocked back and forth on our camels, trundling over the dunes, I noticed a glimpse of excitement in everyone’s faces: we had truly left London behind us!  We stopped for a ‘rest’ on a crest of a dune- the view was breathtaking. The sun was setting and the giant dunes were casting their shadows on the sand. We sat still, in awe of dunes -the only activity hummed from  a few busy scarab beetles scuttling around the sand.

After a good 2 hour ride, we dismounted relatively unscathed-  a slight groin strain for some, others less lucky (sorry Grant) had a good showering or 2 of camel gob!Yes- they do spit (and sneeze!)

Bashir guided us safely back  home through the darkness to earn a well-deserved tip!

An early, but freezing, start greeted us all in Azrou amongst the cherry orchards. We had to get off early to make up for not getting very far from Fez the day before, and unfortunately it was the coldest morning we had experienced in Morocco as well. Hands were freezing up as we wiped off our dew/ice sprinkled tents and packed them away. But once we were ready and off and the day warmed up, the iciness was quickly forgotten. The drive from Azrou to Rissani was again a beautifully scenic route, winding through the snow capped Atlas Mountains. We stopped for a photograph alongside the road and as per usual a shepherd boy came running up to greet us. He had such a sweet demeanour and so we crumbled and decided he was a worthy candidate of a soccer ball. The poor chap didn’t know whether to hang around whilst we were pumping up his ball or run after his goats that were beginning to get unruly. His persistence paid off and in no time him and his mate were happily knocking a soccer ball between themselves (goat herding long forgotten, hope he didn’t get in trouble that night!).

We continued to the town of Midelt and had a quick run around for cokes and the delicious Moroccon bread for lunch. Our lunch stop was a little further along the road overlooking the Ziz river – a really spectacular vista. Beats a prêt sandwich at our desk any day! The washing (still wet from Fez) came out and dried over lunch, a task that was impossible over two days in Fez – we are definitely heading into a dryer and warmer area. We had the usual watchers at lunch – two local boys on their bicycles – who tried to sell us camels folded out of reeds. They very kindly gave us some as gifts at the end of our lunch stop and they now looking very fitting hanging from our rearview mirrors. We ended up spending the night at Camping Tifina, just short of Rissani. Its a very new campsite on the side of the road which great showers, pool and curios shop and very friendly people and was a good stopping point.

Boot camp kicked in this morning with runs around the campsite and a station of various exercises. After that we were ready to squish into our cruisers and continue into the desert – following the Chris Scott route (backwards MS6) from Rissani to Tamegroute.

Our first stop was Rissani where the weekly market was on. We dipped into the labyrinth of a market and stepped back in time. The usual fare from meat to fresh produce to oils and nuts were on sale. Purchasing the meat was an interesting obstacle and the only way of communicating which type of meat one wanted was to point at the head/body part of the animal strategically placed in front of the vendors store. We steered clear of the camel feet. Our best bet was the guy who had a sheep and a goat-like looking head outside his stall and we pointed at the sheep’s head. Whether he actually gave us meat from that animal is always going to remain a mystery, so we called the meat that had bought ‘sheep/goat’. Or, as Andrew said – ‘We’re either eating Sheep or Goat, depending on what your definition of those two are.’ The fresh produce was dirt cheap and so tasty, and really makes one wonder how some of the locals survive when their entire stock can not be worth much more than 100 Dirham.

Our journey continued after to Erg Chebbi – sand dunes just after Merzouga. Once again we followed the ‘scenic route’, which was well worth it, and wound right around the dunes. We stopped here for our lunch break and it was fabulous to knock off our slip slops and stand in the red sand. The weather has warmed up very nicely, and we all were thinking ‘thank god we are not terrahere in winter’ as the weather has been very agreeable. From here we continued to Taouz, which was the start of the Chris Scott route for us. The terrain was rocky and sandy and it was the first test for our 4×4’s. After about an hour we hit some sand, and as the sun was setting we thought best to leave letting the tyres down for the next morning. Conveniently located at this point was Auberge Tazoult, and so we decided to stay here for the night. The poor chaps from the place had been following us on their motorbikes for the last half hour trying to convince us to stay here. It turned out to be a great evening and it was amazing how the demeanour of the chaps changed once they had welcomed us into their auberge – their slightly threatening faces turned into very hospitable ones and they really gave us an insight into their culture. They played the drums and sang for us in the evening and in turn we gave them some of our dinner (the sheep/goat very well braaied on the fire they made us).

The next morning we were up and off – still getting the knack of packing up the trucks, showering and having breakfast in under two hours. Will keep you posted on the progress on that one. The route from here to Tamegroute was just over 200km and very varied. Starting with the sandy dunes, we moved onto long flat plains, gravel patches and very rocky, winding passes. It really was amazing and well worth it if you can get yourself and your 4×4 down there. As the sun set we approached Tamegroute, after a long day of driving and managed to find our camp site – Les Palmeries. The girls were so relieved when the host said that he could cook us dinner and we took up the offer without even thinking twice. It take a little while to prepare and by the time it arrived we were so ready to devour the delicious soup and tagine (this time with fried chips – that’s a new one!).