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!