Morocco Overland Number III (Winter 2014-15)

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia…Lazy Days after the 1st Day

Firstly a couple of pictures of the campsite which is when being totally honest really nothing to write home about, so you tend to use your on board facilities in the ‘TinTent’ or if you are in one your ‘Camper’….

Our friends American RV (Weighing in at 17Tonne!) while we are to the side, bit like ‘Little & Large’ really!



‘Rooms to rent’ on the campsite, while the restaurant is on the right hand side of the picture…



As we set off on a walk into the centre of El Ouatia….



We pass the ‘Pneumatic Workshop’ with the re-cycled ‘Enamel Bath’ for checking that puncture repairs don’t leak….



While back on the campsite is the real ‘Rust Bucket’ which if you breath heavy on the bonnet, then another bit falls off!.....



We go back into the centre of El Ouatia as Harira Soup is only made during the day for serving in the evening, and it is delicious. It comes with bread, and a boiled egg or if you prefer some dates, and when sprinkled with the spice that is at the side of the bread basket is really full of flavour and very filling….



The following morning in looking at the Sea, it was a real brown colour for about 300 yards out when it became its usual nice clear blue, this was due to the river feeding in all the soil erosion still coming down from the storm…..



After another lazy day, the following morning after some rain the previous night we set off for a walk to the port and the fish warehouse which if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction the smell comes straight across the campsite and it can be quite awful…..



Inside the Port area….



As we continue to make our way down to the fish warehouse….



While fish is exported from here, there is not much activity due to the state of the sea, but we do see some fish….



Making our way out of the Port we see what looks like a small settlement near the beach….



Then as we get closer to make our way back to the campsite going along the beach we see the condition of some of the places that are still inhabited….







While as we continue along the beach there are a number of ‘Cuttlefish’ lying on the sand some of which are quiet big, this one was between the paw prints from a dog in the sand…



While looking out to sea the ‘Blue’ section that we saw yesterday about 300 yards out has disappeared and the Sea has turned totally brown just like the beach as another rain downpour came through further North we believe last night….



While the weather in the next 48 hours is supposed to improve, we will have to wait and see…..

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… Continuing the ‘Lazy Days’

As we will be here in El Ouatia until possibly the 29th of December we continue to enjoy the relaxing time even though it can be at times very windy but remains nice and warm….

New business premises waiting for occupants….



One of the many Café/Restaurants in the town…



The local Second-hand shop….



One on the decorative sides of the Mosque in the town centre….



Walking up the hill and looking back down the road towards the sea this is the view.....



With a side street off to the right….



Yesterday evening was Pizza Night with English, French & German people coming along, the starter was a soup dish which was bean based, nice and not very spicy, followed by your choice of topping on a 15 inch Pizza of (a) Fruits de mere’(b) ‘Bolognase’ or (c) Chicken which was tasty and filling, followed by Moroccan Tea, which for 2 persons was 90MAD (£6.50) or ($9) and very good value…..



The following morning we set off to find another Market which we later found had been moved to a different location as well as a change of day as the land was now being developed, so we ended up going along some roads we had not been down with the following results…..



Unless the business/shop has a sign over the top, you have no idea what is behind the majority of mainly ‘Blue Garage Doors’ unless the place is open and you can see inside, which makes looking for things or a specific business rather difficult…..



As we get to the top of the street in this different part of the town we see this very large complex which looks like a holiday resort but totally deserted….



While across the road is this new building under construction with its ‘Wooden Scaffolding’ and the 3 Front Doors gently slope down from Right to Left!….



Then we see this very brightly coloured building in the distance which we think is a school….



While close by to us is this ‘Sports Complex’ which has two 5 a Side Football Pitches inside the walls, but no swimming pool….



Turn right and we are at the far end of the town….



As we stroll along we see the ‘Before’ during construction….



Then the ‘After’ as this same building next door was complete, which looked rather nice…



Getting near to the campsite on one side of the road we see this grand looking house….



While directly opposite on the other side of the road is this ‘House’ which is still lived in…..



Back inside the campsite we then see these rather well ‘worn’ former Satellite Dishes ripe for re-cycling!



Starts to make you think hard about the effects of ‘Salt Sea Spray’ and the fact that ‘Rust Never Sleeps’!

Finishing off today with an International Game of Boules with a number of campers from France it made a nice day



Today meanwhile has been 24C and no wind which has been really nice!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘Beachcombing’!

As the waves in the Sea had lost their ferocity while the sea water was getting clearer we spent a couple of hours on the beach for the first time here and what was there besides the rubbish that had been washed up was absolutely fascinating….

As we can only see the sand dunes from the campsite, we had no idea that there were rock formations at the edge of the sea….



While to get to those rocks you have to walk across what is like a ‘Roadway’ of small crushed shells…





While the rocks seem to be from lava deposits, have literally hundreds of small pools in them and depending how the Sun hits them they can change colour….





The rock pools however are teeming with sea life that consists mainly of small snails and sea urchins ….





As I watched the group of snails in the following picture there was definitely some pushing and shoving going on between the snails as they moved around on the sea bed in the rock pool….









Then I spot these, which to be honest reminded me of the sky with all the ‘Jet Trails’ when the flights come over high up as they cross the ‘Pond’ (That’s the affectionate name for the Atlantic Ocean for those that don’t know)….



They are actually ‘Snail Trails’.….
As this snail makes its way along one that has already been formed ….



If you leave around 2 feet between you and the next 2 pictures I hope you can see the lines going from side to side that look a bit like the V shaped stripes on a military uniform….





As our ‘Beachcombing’ continued we also started to find some interesting bits and pieces..…



Which eventually grew to this by the time we stopped!….



Then getting in a bit closer we see 2 Sea Urchins and the one on the left was still very ‘prickly’…..



With a number of shells of different shapes & sizes!.....



While this one had a really nice shape and colour…..



Getting back to the ‘TinTent’ and arranging a few of the shells the first 3 looked like ‘Daddy, Mummy & Baby’



While there were some nice shapes and colours in the ones behind…..



Then after a day of bright blue sky, no clouds or wind and a temperature of around 23C, Sunset arrived which set off a line of ‘red sky’ all the way along….



Tomorrow we are going to Tan Tan to have a look around as it is the only place which is reasonably close.

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘The trip to Tan Tan’!

After leaving the campsite it only took 30 minutes to get to Tan Tan and having passed through the Police Check on the outskirts we headed off to what we thought was going to be the main Souk in the town.
Unfortunately we went wrong due to a couple of roads being blocked off and after another Police Officer stopped us to check our passports him and his colleague asked us to follow him and he took us to another Souk which was really nice, then having parked up we set off back into the town and the Souk ….



While the Souk entrance was just off to the right in the previous picture once inside it consisted of maybe 6 shops selling meat & vegetables which was not at that time what we were looking for so we came back out and continued into the centre of the town…







While this is the main town centre road, it is for two way traffic, with clothes housewares, perfume, pharmacy, boulangerie, electronic and shoe shops on both sides of the road…..



The road widens out into a small square by the central bus station. Presumably to allow the buses to make the turn into the station….



While at the other end of the road you have the tyre & mechanical repair shops that mainly seem to specialise in Land Rovers….





I must admit that we were really made welcome in the town. As soon as people knew we were English, and it didn’t take long as we said ‘Hello’ as they said ‘Bonjour’ the smiles and handshakes that then greeted us were fabulous, and this came from all age groups.
A few of the local Tan Tan people gave us the ‘thumbs up’ when we said we were from the UK.

Couldn’t quite get all the colours from this row of shops in the next picture….



Looking for some lunch we went into a restaurant for chicken and chips with Morocain Salade, while this came with 2 loaves of bread and a 0.5litre of soft drink and cost 65MAD (Around £4.60) (USD $6.75) for both of us!

I got this next picture from the upstairs of the restaurant looking out of one of the windows….



On the way back to ‘Flamenco Red’ having also got our ‘shopping’ we called into the Patisserie and got a couple of nice cakes which we returned to the campsite with and had them as the sunset came along…..





While the weather forecast is for another nice sunny day tomorrow, there was a significant amount of dampness this morning, and just wiping down the ‘TinTent’ windows and going over ‘Flamenco Red’ with the chamois leather I got enough water from wringing out the chamois to start a packet of seeds growing!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘The wind is coming back’!

Last night at around 19:00hrs this ‘Ghostly Vision’ appeared just off the shoreline and was seen making its way up and down a few times before heading off back to the port.
We can only think it was maybe a Dredger but it was fully illuminated and came very close in to the shore, but there was no sound! ….



While the following morning was a mixed sunrise….





Then as the wind from the shore to the sea became stronger the waves and spray got larger…







If you could get out of the wind the temperature was up around 23 or 24C with a nice blue sky as the view moved along the coastline…..







Then as the port and sea wall came into view the large waves could be seen again rolling in with the spray being thrown up by the wind…..















While the lone fisherman (Middle left) still hopes that a fish will take his bait and hook….

[Forkster]

As always...a great read!

[XCovlov70]

As always...a great read!

Thanks Ed.

Glad you are enjoying it and hoping you don't spill your coffee while reading it!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘Lobsters, Langoustine’s and a very dusty day’!

Around 10:30 yesterday morning we had a visit from the local fishermen hoping to sell some of their catch to the campers on site.
One man had a tray with 2 Lobsters and 2 Langoustines in which one of the other fishermen offered to us as 3 couples had said that they would like a meal of lobster & or langoustines, so having bartered a little for the price we bought the 4 crustaceans which combined weighed in at around 8Kg for 650MAD (£47) (USD $70), while the French campers were not ‘happy’ as they thought we had paid far too much, we were as we felt it was a fair price.

Then after sorting out 2 small gas bottles with screw in burners from one of the couples, we borrowed a large pan from the restaurant hoping it would sit on the gas burners without falling off as the wind was starting to pick up!….

The crustaceans…..





The larger Lobster. This was around 4Kg….



While this smaller Lobster was around 1.5Kg…



While the Langoustines weighed in at around 1.5Kg each but NO BIG Claws to literally cut your fingers off as with the Lobsters!...





After around an hour of the large pan being on the gas burners along with a few kettles of boiling water being poured in to get the steam up, we were ready to start cooking, so in the first two went, while the plastic ‘Bin Lid’ went on top of the pan to assist with keeping the heat in as there was no Pan Lid!…..



It took over 45 minutes to cook the bigger lobster that turned a bright red when cooked…..



After which the smaller ones were cooked, then left to cool down. All of them were then washed in clear water and only then opened up to extract the meat….



With just the tails and claws there was a substantial amount of meat which was divided up into plastic containers for meals tomorrow…..



As tomorrow morning arrived, the wind became stronger and the dust and sand started blowing all over the place, while the ‘TinTent’ & ‘Campers’ commenced rocking!….

You can hopefully see the dust/sand coming down the street in the next picture…..



While the clear view out to Sea behind the ‘TinTent’ was obliterated….



I think you can just see the small white line of the waves between the dust/sand storm and the ground down to the beach….



We understand that the wind is in till tomorrow and while the Internet is down here on the campsite and the Power keeps coming and going, we have battened down the hatches and are trying to keep low!

However we have heard that Santa Claus is coming so it’s going to get better by the evening of 24th December, fingers crossed!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘Christmas Eve and Christmas Day’!

In the afternoon of Christmas Eve that ‘ship’ appeared once again going up and down the shore but without all the lights ablaze!
.
We found the name to be the ‘BOUGAINVILLE.DE’ while a quick search on ‘Google’ identifies it as a ‘Hopper – Dredger’ registered in Luxembourg and based in Tan Tan. The Captain it seems is English and its operation is supported by the EU.

As it goes up and down the shoreline it sinks lower in the sea as it sucks up whatever from the seabed, while a couple of times with the waves it looks like it was going down!





After lunch which was a very nice Langoustine Salad, we went for a bit of exercise into town and spotted this little Renault Van with it’s brand new re-spray straight from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory as we don’t think the colour was one of the manufacturers choices!



Got to the far side of town and the place was deserted…



Around 19:00hrs we made our way over to the campsite restaurant for a Christmas Eve Dinner and found that this was all that was left of the Aperitifs!
Small Stuffed Tomatoes, Stuffed Figs and a piece of Bread with a fish paste on…..



The dinner consisted of 5 courses and while there were some 72 diners unfortunately the main course which was your choice of Fish or Meat it was not even warm when it came to the table….



After the meal was over, one of the French ladies then came around with a gift for each of the ladies which consisted of a chocolate wrapped in a brightly coloured cover and placed in a small paper Moroccan Ladies Slipper which was really nice…..





By 12:30 we had had enough of the Boom Boom music and retired to the peace and quiet of the ‘TinTent’ and a few hours sleep before the festivities of Christmas Day started….

As we got up and had breakfast a few hours later I spotted this ‘Desert Truck’ which had arrived when we were in the Restaurant while the owner was outside using a modern version of ‘Grandma’s Washing Tub/Dolly’ to wash some clothes!
It was a large plastic tub, with a green lid and a pole through the middle which was lifted up and down to agitate and wash the clothes….



While clamped to a sturdy piece of wood was this ‘Clothes Mangle/Wringer’ which the owner took great delight in showing me it with 4 pairs of socks passing through!…..



A few hours later Santa & one of his Helpers arrived….



They were joined by Rudolph….



As they then set off on the ‘Quad Sleigh’ wishing everyone a Merry Christmas around the campsite and giving out Bonbons….



While at 13:30 we sat down to Christmas Lunch



Then after cleaning up and drying off the dishes it was time for a siesta with ‘Rudolph’ who had sadly lost his nose, and was wondering how he could get back to Finland as that is where he is from!



P.s. Thanks to Santa & his little Helper we got some Brussels Sprouts to go with the Turkey for our dinner…..

It was truly a very nice day.

[XCovlov70]

Overland to Morocco.
Winter 2014-2015

El Ouatia… ‘Our final day here’!

The day before our last day here we went back to the Saturday Market and while it was much the same with clothing and vegetable stalls we were intrigued by the ‘Re-cycling’ of pieces of Cardboard by the Market Traders for use as ‘Sun Visors’!





While ‘Sunday’ our last full day here started off with a real surprise in the form of ‘Morning Mist’!




But within a couple of hours the mist had burnt off, the temperature rose and the wind stayed away, which meant that ‘Flamenco Red’ had a clean up, while the Dredger was once again slowly going along the foreshore….



In the afternoon the Chef of the restaurant came knocking to ask if we would like to partake of Harari Soup and Crepes for the sum of 20MAD/Person, well not being one to miss a bargain we said ‘YES’ while the results will be posted tomorrow all being well, however he also offered us the opportunity to purchase a selection of small cakes at 25MAD a tray which we also said ‘Yes’ to as we watched the effort that the Cook put into making them…..



While just before the Sun disappeared we were treated to a rather nice ‘Sunset’ over the Port Entrance….



Back on the road tomorrow for the trip to Tarfaya.