Day 15… 6 hour drive today from El Ouatia to Boujdour in Western Sahara. No official boarder crossing, just a line of the paper map. The landscape has become much drier, sandier and desert like. Flatter terrain and miles of the same. Instead of cattle warning signs these were camel warning signs and we spotted several camels along the roadside and crossing the road. No more goats or sheep grazing as there is nothing to eat. Did spot a pack of roaming dogs – around 15, all of different species travelling together with one clear leader. Not sure to categorise these as ‘wild dogs’ or stray dogs looking for a better life. Both I imagine. Lots of wind turbines but nothing else to look at. Cloudy start to the day but heats up and by mid-afternoon, its fairly uncomfortable. The air-con in the car is ok and has not yet failed. A couple of police stops but no attempt at money extraction, just questions and paperwork. My French is improving day by day. Met a lovely retired French couple at out campsite who had spent several weeks in Senegal and were travelling back north home to France. They had a fully kitted out Toyota Land Cruiser – very advanced compared to Greta and a hot shower. Next trip! We compared routes and recommendations despite the language barrier. They had paid several bribes in Senegal and the Gambia. Noisy campsite next to the beach with music/partying all night. I was in bed by 9pm.
Allen’s perspective…
The language barrier is one issue with me being a useless fool who has made no concerted effort during my years to actually learn French…. Je suis désolé. This does limit a little in terms of conversation and partaking in things in Morocco, which is a slight shame.
But my simple takeaway from Morocco so far has been… don’t travel during Ramadan!
There are prayers around 3am everyday, fine, but they do love to party until that time, and boy do they party. Drums, music, singing, etc. They’re having a riot. Thankfully the driving has conked me out a bit in the evenings so I’m little disturbed by it all, but Rach has unfortunately been a bit more disturbed with it all. The further south we go though the less of an issue it should be… and I can have a beer without feeling guilty.