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...................!!!