Monday 25th February – Erkounte to Tafraoute

Erkounte to Tafraoute - 99 miles

A much disturbed night. Just after Terry's usual nocturnal visit Bren suffered a severe thigh cramp which was extremely painful and took some shifting – it was a wonder she didn't wake up the whole campsite but she did upset Jamie who, an hour later, decided he needed to wake us again and go outside. Yet another hour later he did the same thing and we could not get him settled until Terry transferred to a seat and tried to sleep with him in his lap. Eventually he was pacified and let Terry go back to bed!

Which nearly had us cancel todays plans which were to move up to Tafraoute for the one target we had set ourselves, the Almond Festival, but we were okay although our hoped-for early start went by the board. But doing most of the packing away last night meant that, apart from breakfast and service the van, there was not a lot else to do except pay the man and say bye-bye for now to our friends, who we expect to see a little later during our trip.

First call was the supermarket at Tiznit to restock and also get a wifi recharge card – we've been in Morocco nearly a month so our present subscription is about to run out. That done we headed out on the road to Tafraoute, stopping for lunch at the same place as on earlier trips as we started into the mountains. Having missed last year and so far this time being always on the coast we had forgotten the fantastic views and enjoyed them again equally as much as on our first visit.

Lunch

A long slow twisty haul on good roads up the Col de Kerdous to 4239' amsl then a memorable meander through the mountains with almost no traffic and amazing scenery, a little hazy today unfortunately. We have posted pictures before on earlier blogs so if you missed them take a look at our previous efforts – links on the right. Eventually, having got stuck behind a French motorhome towing a car on a trailer and his travelling companion, we arrived at the guardian parking just outside Tafraoute to find it surprisingly busy, given that earlier reports said it was quiet. However there was still plenty of room and after spotting a couple of Funster friends found a nice empty patch and set up. A quick chat revealed the locations of others and indeed a few called to say hello shortly after.

Before long the itinerant traders spotted a newcomer and we were “persuaded” to buy a bag of coconut macaroons and order bread for the morning (just leave 2 dirhams in a bag tied to the door handle – it worked fine). We didn't need new windscreen wipers and thought the cous-cous, tagines and pizzas, all home-cooked, were a tad expensive. We'd also discovered that the cab air-conditioning wasn't working – it always works when you don't need it – but spotted a garage man who, according to his card, could fix it so we'll catch him later. Hopefully it just needs recharging, but anything else will have to wait until we get home.

A nice cuppa and a sit in the setting sunshine – it feels like we've come home!

Erkounte

Erkounte is a tiny village on the Atlantic coast between Tiznit and Sidi Ifni. Apart from the campsite there is little of note except a spectacular isolated sandy beach, accessible from the campsite down a steep track, steep enough that not all that many folk use it.

Looking down to the beach

The site itself is modern, well laid out with generous pitches and electricity points and water taps well situated. The sanitary block is immaculate with hot showers, washing and washing-up facilities and even a dog shower! There is a regular bus service north and south although most who stay here seem to have their own transport, 4-wheel drive buggies being quite prevalent. There is an excellent restaurant and small shop for essentials and the owner has built a large meeting room, used for various functions arranged for the campers. Many are here long-term and get good discounts. We like it!

Quieter, bottom end of Erkounte Park

Busier, but not as crowded as it looks, top end

The owner, Abdullah, comes from the village itself but spent 33 years in Denmark as a restauranteur, before returning to his roots and building the site on land inherited from his father, thus the strong European influence. He speaks several languages, as does his young son who helps run the place. His wife and daughters run the kitchens etc. making it a big family affair. He is also keen on helping develop his village and has instigated several programmes including a tourist trail around the rocky coast, visiting five rock arches.

Our stay here has been most relaxing, blessed with hot sunshine and light cool breezes during the day and comfortably cool nights. We have used the restaurant a few times and enjoyed very reasonably priced and tasty meals, but have not ventured away from the site, except for Terry taking Jamie onto the beach a few times for a run about and a plodge in the sea, which is actually quite rough with big waves rolling in from the Atlantic. We've not seen anyone actually swimming although it is not all that cold.

It is easy to see why it is popular with long-term motorhomers and we've enjoyed our week here. However we're now ready to move on to the one objective we've had in returning to Morocco this year, the Almond Festival at our favourite town of Tafraout, in the mountains, which takes place at the end of next week. A number of our MotorhomeFun friends are also heading that way so our plan is to join them tomorrow, pausing again at the supermarket in Tiznit, although Tafraout is quite a big town with all the shops etc. we need. It's just that a supermarket is a bit easier.

We'll be leaving our friends, Derek and June with whom we've been travelling since arriving in Morocco, for now as they want to stay here longer but have plans to meet up again later.

 

PS - Harry and Meghan haven't been to see us! (They're currently in Morocco somewhere).

Monday 18th February – Takat to Erkounte

Takat to Erkounte - 79 miles

A reasonably early start (for us) on a bright but still hazy morning and after the usual servicing we headed back to the main N1 road and headed south. Initially we were still in a built up area but before long it gave way to open land and vistas of scrub and mountains in the distance.

Donkeys, camels, sheep, goats

This road has been seriously improved since we were here last with an excellent surface and mostly dead straight for miles, with just the occasional village. We were heading for Tiznit, a large town where we knew of a decent supermarket and also banks etc. to get some more currency. Parked on waste ground adjacent to the supermarket, along with several other motorhomes, we first headed off to find a cash machine and bureau de change, naturally walking in the wrong direction as we later found both just round the corner from where we had parked.

The supermarket supplied us with all the dry goods and drinks we needed but no fresh fruit and vegetables so knowing there was a market here somewhere we wandered off and after a couple of wrong turns we asked for directions. A large covered market had all we needed, as well as a lot we didn't (sheeps heads anyone?) so we bought enough to last a week.

Returning to the van, our intended destination was only about 45 mins away so we forewent lunch and pushed on. Following TomTom, we were a bit uncertain at first as we thought we'd be going another way, but Bren soon confirmed we were okay from the map and we enjoyed a scenic (that word again) run through the coastal hills on another excellent road to the sea shore. Before long we arrived at Erkounte Park, a place our friends had been before and loved. A very friendly welcome by the owner and we registered before walking around to find a couple of pitches.

This site is very popular with French long-termers and although there seemed to be lots of space, many had encroached onto adjacent pitches with their trailers, buggies, cars etc so that finding two together was not possible. In the end we settled on pitches with one van between us, but neither had a lot of room. In all honesty if it had been earlier in the day we may have just cancelled our registration and moved on but the weather was again turning cold and grey so we just put up with it. In fact it wasn't long before we had a couple of quite heavy rain showers.

As a consolation, however, we booked meals in the restaurant and at 7.00 pm sat down to a very nice meal, the guys settling for kefta tagine and the gals chicken brochettes, with a traditional Moroccan salad, followed by banana splits and a crepe for Derek. We also had a good chat with the owner who spoke excellent English and remembered Derek and also several other Funsters who stayed here a few years ago. We went to bed in a somewhat happier frame of mind.

Kefta tagine

Chicken brochettes (skewers) and chips

Banana split

Takat 2

Thereafter we didn't do an awful lot. Couple of walks on the beach to give Jamie a chance to run about before we put him in the shower and gave him a bath – he was going brown with the dust! He looked, and obviously felt, a lot better after his washdown which he accepted quite happily for a change.

But the weather changed a bit. Friday afternoon saw increasing amounts of high cloud and the wind got up, prompting the site receptionist to go round advising people to take in their awnings. Settled down overnight but Saturday was a lot cooler and cloudy with even the odd hint of rain until the evening saw the cloud cover breaking up. Sunday was hazy all day although a bit warmer. The forecast was a bit mixed so we'll have to see.

We decided to move on on Monday so Sunday afternoon was pack up the van, pay the fees etc. time with a view to a reasonably prompt start in the morning.

Takat

This is a French owned and operated site and the vast majority of vans are French, with a couple of Germans and the odd Dutch. We're the only Brits here. As to be expected the facilities are excellent with spacious pitches, plenty of water points, and a lovely swimming pool adjacent to a bar/restaurant. The only down side is that it is in the middle of nowhere; the coast is 3km in one direction and the nearest village the same the other, so with no public transport unless you've got your own you're stuck. But that isn't really a hardship as there are a few essentials available at reception where Monique, the owner/receptionist speaks good English and is very helpful.

The mobile phone signal isn't very good either, making the use of the mi-fi sporadic. There is good wifi in the bar/pool area but there are a lot of folk using it so it can be very slow. 

Tuesday we went out to try find some gas as one of the refillables was empty and we were running on a small Moroccan bottle. Thinking the main road and village of Siddi Bebi would be the best place we tried there first but despite driving several miles in both directions we could find no-one who would/could exchange. So as we had passed a shop in the village nearest the campsite with bottles outside we decided to try there – which of course we should have done in the first place! No problem, three small bottles exchanged and one large 13kg purchased, all for the princely sum of £13. Camping Gaz 907 bottles in Europe are £27 exchange; identical (but unbranded) in Morocco 95p, yes 95p! The large bottles are the same connection as Calor in the UK so we just had to connect up using our adapter hose.

Back at the site we re-established ourselves but despite a nice breeze we couldn't sit out in the sun until late afternoon. Jamie was non too happy as there was nowhere to let him run so he spent a lot of time under the van in the shade – we wouldn't let him lie out for too long in th sun.

Wednesday was a sort out, clean up and washing day. Full service on the van and a load of washing, which was dry in less than an hour of being pegged out! Terry sampled the swimming pool which, despite being 19 deg, was very refreshing if a bit of a shock to the system!

Thursday was Valentines Day and the site had organised a Valentine Lunch poolside. “Les Anglais” had our own table of course but nevertheless were made welcome enough. After a toast of rum-laced punch, hors d'oeuvres were served followed by spit-roasted lamb with roasted vegetables, baked potato and salad. There was plenty of it, beautifully cooked and presented, with as much “seconds” as you wanted. All washed down with a cold bottle of Moroccan rose or orange juice for the non-alcoholics! Then three large chocolate profiteroles rounded it off, with coffee or mint tea.

Waiting for lunch

Roasting lamb

Being French, of course, this was spread over three hours but Jamie, who we'd had to leave in the van with all the vents open, blinds closed and a fan going, forgave us when he sniffed out the bowl full of lamb leftovers! It was then siesta-time and a couple of hours got lost.............

11 February 2019 Imsouane to Takat

Imsouane to Taket - 89 miles

After a noticeably warmer night we managed to get away reasonably early as we had a few things to get sorted today. The sun, once it had cleared the coastal hills, was very warm and once again we had the promise of a fine day. Pausing for a photo of Imsouane from the top of the hill, we then rejoined a busy N1 towards Agadir, initially very “scenic” through the hills before dropping down onto the coastal plain. 

Coast south from Imsouane

Imsouane

This is surfer country; huge waves rolling in from the Atlantic onto miles of wide sandy beaches, it was just unfortunate that there were only a few places where they could be accessed and it seems the local authorities are quick to prevent overnight parking. We saw very few motorhomes parked and those we did see were obviously only daytime parking; we have heard of folk who got away with the odd night but have also heard about others being moved on late at night.

However we did spot a brand new campsite, right on the beach at a tiny settlement about 10km north of Tagazhoute, which obviously hasn't yet got onto the information sources as there was quite a few empty spaces. We didn't stop, just made a note of it's location to pass on to others who may be able to find out more.

A new dual carriageway road has now been completed, taking the N1 around Tagazhoute and from which the massive developments that have been made can be clearly seen. There is still much work going on and looks to be several years worth yet – Morocco earns a lot of money through tourism so, although the motorhoming community lost what was possibly the best location in Morocco, we wish them well.

On, then, to Agadir and the big Marjane supermarket for probably our last major shop for a while, as ever very popular with motorhomers judging by the numbers parked up. Whilst we had lunch Derek and June went off to find the local Fiat dealer to see if they could sort out his broken mirror; incidentally the same thing happened to a French van right in front of us on the road near Tifni. We managed to take to the verge to avoid the same fate; it seems the minibus drivers are training to be coach drivers and need to “collect” a number of “trophies” before they qualify..............!

With no success, but a possible name, Derek & June rejoined us before we refuelled and continued south to Takat and the campsite recommended by another Funster. A few kilometres off the main road this almost new, apparently French owned, site is situated in the middle of nowhere, even being some 3km from the coast. However it has nice roomy pitches and spotless facilities as well as a swimming pool and daytime bar and restaurant. We found two adjacent spaces, manoeuvering in sideways to get maximum daytime sunshine, and settled in with a view to stopping until at least the end of the week.

Being pretty pointless, we again declined electricity hookup but then discovered the gas refills offered were of no use to us so we'll head out tomorrow and get new gas bottles. It's not a problem at the moment but we cannot keep putting it off.

Sunday 10 February – Kaouki Beach to Imsouane

Kaouki Beach to Imsouane - 53 miles

Although we were moving on today we still had to have Sunday Breakfast so it wasn't the fastest getaway we could have made but as we're not travelling very far it didn't really matter.

Opting to take the minor coastal road, we enjoyed a quiet pleasant drive on an excellent surface with lovely views before eventually rejoining the main N1, which for a Sunday seemed quite busy. However the small town of Smimou was frantic; it was market day which wasn't helped by some sort of incident which involved the attendance of an ambulance right in the middle with an incredible number of onlookers getting in the way – it almost resorted in further injuries despite us just creeping along. And we thought the UK had rubber-neckers!

But we eventually got clear and continued at a steady pace, the countryside becoming more arid and the main vegetation being argon trees; the road seems to be lined with argon oil and honey sellers. Eventually we took the second turn-off for Imsouane – we've been along the first...............! - and climbed through several small settlements and across the coastal hills. Just before a steep descent into the town through a road cut out of the rock was an amazing view but unfortunately we missed the stopping area due to a quartet of Italian motorcyclists intent on committing suicide trying to pass us! We'll stop on our way past tomorrow.

Camping Ocean Point is well signposted just on the edge of town along an incredibly rough track, which has obviously seen no attention since we were last here two years ago. Neither, it appears, has the site but they had room enough for us to find adjoining pitches and we settled in. Compared to our previous site, this one is a bit rough and ready but nevertheless clean and tidy. It seems to attract younger folk in old beat-up vans and some tents as the surfing seems to be a main attraction. But it has all the necessary facilities and we wouldn't find it a hardship to stay awhile.

The town itself has undergone a tremendous amount of development, not very attractive but then again typically Moroccan – modelled perhaps on the ubiquitous shipping container it is so square, then painted in bright colours. The walk down to the beach and town is a bit precarious so we didn't, but we are aware that fishing is also a major occupation.

An afternoon of hot sunshine and relaxation before an early night; we'll be quite busy tomorrow.

Kaouki Beach 2

On Friday lunchtime we walked to the village with Derek and June for lunch at one of the restaurants, choosing the pone that looked the busiest, on the premise that it is usually the best! A decent menu including a starter salad, chicken, fish and meat (unidentified!)dishes, the girls went for chicken brochettes, Terry had kefta, a sort of cross between a meatball and beefburger, whilst Derek asked for a meat tagine – all with chips and salad plus freshly squeezed orange juice. All very nice although not particularly outstanding but at Dh 325 (£26) for the four of us we thought it most reasonable. 

Thereafter it was just more lazing about in the sun which was quite hot although cooling breezes made it comfortable. Although we all said we could stay here a good deal longer after discussion we thought we'd continue south on Sunday with an overnight stop at Imsouane before travelling to Agadir on Monday. As well as shopping we also wanted to get gas organised and also try the Fiat dealerships to see if we could get a replacement mirror for Dereks motorhome.

More walks on the beach before a bit of packing up on Saturday night, ready for the off on Monday.

Kaouki Beach

Camping Kaouki Beach

We arrived here on Monday afternoon – and have fallen in love with the place. It's quiet, very clean and not expensive. It's got a deserted beach, which Jamie loves, that goes on forever and has wall-to-wall sunshine. Even the breeze is welcome!

Swimming pool

So far this week we've done a couple of loads of washing – 35dh for 5kg and they do it for you – repaired the trap on the loo where a screw had dropped out (blame the roads!) and, ermm, not a lot else! Haven't yet braved the swimming pool although we've seen several others in it. Did manage to clean off a very dirty van too.

Sidi Kaouke

The tiny settlement of Sidi Kaouke is really only the car park at the end of the road. There are half a dozen “restaurants”, a couple of “hotels” and a few surfing schools as well as horse, camel and quad bike rides. There's also a small shop we've nicknamed Tesco as it seems to have a great range of stuff you will never need to buy.................. In fairness there are a few “houses” too, probably for the owners/staff.

There is another campsite 100m along the road that is quite full but doesn't seem to be as nice inside. We're also led to believe there is a guardian parking area further along but can't confirm that. However in all honesty at 70dh per night who would want it? Oh and did I mention free wifi?

 

 

 

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We haven't yet decided when or where to move on to but are considering a new site just south of Agadir that has been checked out by other friends, with a shopping trip on the way.

Monday 4th February – Oualidia to Kaouki Beach

Oualidia to Kaouki Beach - 145 miles

 Another sunny morning but a cool wind. Moving on today so empty loo and load couple of cans of water – we intend going to a campsite so no need to fill up. A lot of vans leaving at the same time, but we've noticed this parking seems to have a high turnover despite it being one of the better ones we've found.

First leg along the coast to Safi, a fairly industrial town but TomTom took us around although it was very very busy. As we left we realised we had “lost” our friends so after waiting a short while we turned round, only of course to meet them coming the other way. Unfortunately they had had a “coming together” of mirrors with a minibus, who didn't stop, but managed to salvage enough to manage with the use of duct tape. We'll try to get a replacement later.

Sebt des Gzoula is a small town situated at the junction of a couple of major roads, including the N1 which we were following. We arrived at lunchtime, on market day and when a few long-distance buses were loading/unloading – absolute typical Moroccan chaos and great fun to watch and navigate through. It's moments like these that make our trips memorable, may try and recover a clip off the dashcam.

Shortly after we managed to buy some bread in a village and stopped for lunch. Continued on to Essaouira, the N1 being pretty good for quite long stretches although we had to watch for the occasional bad bits. Out of interest we went down to the sea front to check out the old guardian parking site but it was indeed closed with signs banning motorhome parking. Shame as it was so handy for the city and the alternatives are a good way out.

Backtracked, via an unplanned diversion (in other words took a wrong turn!), to the large Carrefour supermarket to stock up again as we'd planned to stay for a number of days at our next stop. Which was Camping Kaouki Beach at Sidi Kaouke about 15km south. A tiny seaside settlement, it's only raison d'etre seemed to be the two or three camping areas, all situated very close to the long sandy beach. We found a couple of nice roomy pitches and settled in, meeting Jon and Sue, one of the other couples we had crossed from Spain with.

Not a very big site, it has good modern facilities and is kept spotlessly clean. A lovely clean and sparkling swimming pool looked attractive in the now quite hot sunshine, despite it being quite late in the day. The price, at 70 dirhams a night for more than 3 nights, is very good. Electricity also available at 20 dirhams pn but with the fridge broken it was not much use to us so we opted out – you can buy a lot of gas for 20 dirhams.

We intend to stay here at least until the weekend as the weather forecast is good for at least that far.

Oualidia - 1st to 3rd February

A little more rain overnight but by mid-morning the skies had cleared, there was a gentle breeze and it became decidedly warm – at last we've found what we came looking for. Got the routine out of the way and walked up into the town proper as we had been told there was a big market on. Sure enough at the north end of town a huge array of stalls were spread about selling just about everything from beds to fruit and veg, bread, what we would call jumble, in fact anything that someone might possibly want to buy. Not, however the best we have seen in Morocco but no doubt, by it's popularity, an important event locally.

As there was nothing we needed, save bread and milk if we found them, we wandered back along the main street past the myriad of small shops and cafes, purchasing a couple of “hub caps” (our term for the round stottie type loaves) but being told fresh milk was not available. Stopped off at a cafe and sat in the sun with a coffee for a while until Jamie started playing up, so returned to the van for lunch.

Lagoon at Oualidia

The rest of the day was spent lazing in the sun after sorting out a burst Coke bottle in the rear box. We discussed moving on but later, as the weather forecast was good and anyway it was Sunday tomorrow, we'd stay another night. We do like Oualidia and it has everything we need at a very reasonable price.

Sunday was cooler with a freshening breeze although the sun was as bright as could be and the solar panel had the batteries recharged by lunchtime. We didn't bother with lunch though and instead took Jamie in search of a beach to play on. However it was far too windy to linger and the beach was not really suitable to let him off the lead, but he did at least get a good walk.

Lagoon at Oualidia, the other way!

The photo above was taken almost exactly in the opposite direction to the first, again showing the much calmer waters of the lagoon. It also shows a Royal Palace on the waters edge, now closed and empty, which was built for Mohammed V, the present King's grandfather.

Back to the van for afternoon cuppa and a bit more chat we decided we would definitely move on tomorrow and see if we could visit Essaouira, possibly our favourite place in Morocco. Unfortunately we've been told the guardian parking has been closed, probably due to the proximity of a new apartment complex, and the nearest campsite is an undesirable dump – others have used a stronger description! But we may be able to park closeby for a couple of hours visit.

We managed to speak to Mum via Skype to learn it is very cold at home and a message from a neighbour reports 2 inches of snow. We're very sorry folks...................!!!

Friday 1st February – Dar Bouazza to Oualidia

Dar Bouazza to Oualidia - 102 miles

An overcast morning, we completed all our chores then bid au revoir to the friendly guardian, paying him 190 dirhams for the two nights which we felt was not unreasonable – we'd happily recommend the site, despite it's tired appearance, as it is handy for visiting Casablanca if you so wish – a bit far to cycle but there are local buses and taxis. However the best means of visiting the city is by minibus provided by, no doubt, a relative of the guardian.

Both needing fuel we called in to the first station, Zizi, paying around 75p a litre, before heading to the N1 having eschewed the idea of using the motorway. Of course today TomTom wasn't interested in going that way so we wandered around a bit on minor roads before the old fashioned map sorted us out. As it turned out we later felt we should have taken the motorway.

A much more interesting route, unfortunately the weather turned on us and it started to rain, turning much of the road into a mudbath, even the surfaced bits! Typical of Morocco some roads were quite good, even some recently resurfaced, but others were very poor prompting a remark that we ought to go faster, at least we'll only hit half the bumps...................!

TomTom eventually cooperated and took us around El Jedida, a rather nice city we have visited before, then putting us on the coastal road giving us a good view of the waves pounding the beaches. Eventually we arrived at the pretty town of Oualidia and found our way to the guardian parking, which has now been made official and we estimate could take well over 100 units, although it was actually only half full. We later found out that water was available by request from a hosepipe and the “public toilets” had been opened for disposing of WC waste – all for a measly 30 dirhams (£2.50) a night, excellent indeed!

Unfortunately the weather then turned quite nasty with very heavy rain and strong winds which kept us inside. It was not enough, however, to wash off the disgusting mess that now covered the vans and although Derek made an effort to clean their vehicle Terry settled for the windows, not wanting to damage the paintwork until there was a sufficient water supply to wash off the grit first.

It did dry up later and the forecast showed it clearing overnight and then returning to wall-to-wall sunshine for at least the next week.

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Just a comment about the maps; they are taken from the netbook using the last version of Microsoft Autoroute, which unfortunately doesn't include roads in Morocco. We'll try to highlight places of particular interest along the way.

Up to now we've taken few photographs as we've been to all the places so far before. We'll add anything interesting later.

Wednesday 30th January – Assila to Dar Bouazza

Assila to Dar Bouazza - 214 miles

As at this point we hadn't yet properly sussed the time problem we were a little confused at getting up time! No matter as we were in no rush although we'd missed the departure of two of our “party” who we'll probably see later anyway, and the third left shortly after, all in different directions.

Once we'd got ourselves sorted out D & J set off to get some fuel and we followed shortly after; we actually didn't catch them up until almost at our destination but as we had already decided our next stopover we weren't concerned. We took the toll motorway as past experience showed us little we wanted to see again and it was quite a way for a days journey in Morocco! It is not expensive, our total tolls for the day were 183 dirhams (£15) for 200 miles.

The weather was still a little unsettled, but felt distinctly warmer, tempered by a fresh breeze. We made good time and paused at Kenitra service area as we thought our friends could have stopped there; they hadn't so we had lunch before continuing to Rabat. On our earlier trips the motorway hadn't been completed and this part of the transit was a bit of a nightmare with big roadworks and consequent heavy traffic. All okay now though and we breezed past on the motorway across a a striking new bridge heading for Casablanca, where we nearly took a wrong turn into the centre – been there, done that, never again! - instead of following our by now fully operational TomTom.

Leaving the motorway we came across our friends going the other way, having become unsure of the correct route, but they tagged onto us and we negotiated a few minor “roads” and arrived at Camping Oasis International at Dar Bouazza, a place we've stayed a couple of times before. Although it was quite busy around the area, due to a weekly souk held just along the road, the site was quiet and welcoming. We pitched up and connected the electric, which once it was switched on actually worked reliably, before relaxing with a cuppa.

The last time we stayed here they had made some improvements and we had hopes that there would be more. Alas it appeared that, probably due to it's location, it was never a busy place and there was little money for anything major. Nevertheless it was clean and tidy and at least the somewhat dated facilities were washed out (read hosed out) regularly and useable. The site dog, called Wiffy, made friends with Jamie but because he was free-roaming we didn't think we should leave ours outside unattended despite having had all the necessary treatments.

It's been a long tiring day so we have decided to stay a couple of nights to recharge ourselves after the rush-around of the last few days.

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Thursday was spent taking it easy. After a lazy morning we thought we'd take a walk to see if we could find a beach for Jamie, having never explored the area before. In all honesty it's not a particularly attractive place as there is much building work going on. However we wandered through a recently completed apartment complex, each “court” having it's own security guard, towards what looked like a sea wall, chasing off a few wild dogs who objected to Jamie being on “their territory”.

“Security guards” gives the impression that it is not a particularly nice or safe place to be, but that is far from the truth. In reality they are more like the concierge you find in gated estates in other parts of the world and are more likely to be there as a deterrent to undesirables. One actually came out of his box and chased the wild dogs off when he saw them bothering us.

Alas, the “sea wall” turned out to be another boundary and the sea was still some way away so we strolled back to the campsite for a cuppa and relax, discussing where we were heading to next.