3 cities, 3 countries, 2 continents!

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Day 4: Lagos to Tarifa to Morocco

After a very early breakie we stopped at a service stop for 2nd breakie of bacon and eggs (I am realising now as I am writing this some time later why I put on so much weight in Spain). Another quick toilet stop usual called a 'pee and flee' where our other guide managed to flood the toilet in the girls bathroom and we had to use the mens. Eww. Turned it into a literal "flee". This was our longest day of bus riding and we finally stopped for a late lunch in Tarifa, which is on the bottom end of Spain. It is a cute but quiet town full of tourists that enjoy surfing/kite surfin and any sport involving good winds. We had an hour to explore the town before we were all told to meet for our boat to Morocco for the afternoon. Jen headed off to find a museam and Anna and I were aiming for the castle to see the views but my mis-directions (and Izzy's chicken scratchings of maps) led us to a beautiful view overlooking the whole bay instead. We sat in the sunshine and basked in the cooler weather until it was time to board.

The boat to Morocco was unpleasant to say the least. I am usually very good on boats but definately not this time. It didn't help that there was a child behind us screaming at the top of her lungs and her parents didn't comfort her. So we were green, headachy and had enough by the time we arrived. We jumped on our new tour bus which took us up to the mountains surrounding the port where we saw houses in 3rd world conditions placed directly next to giant mansions worth squillions of dollars. Our stop at the top of the mountain was for a 2 minute token camel ride before driving down the opposite side to the famous local markets. Izzy took us through olive stalls, fresh meat, hand bags and everything under the sun to a tiny building in the middle of everything where we had a half hour demonstration from a Moroccan medicine man. We all bought various amazing things before being rushed off to our dinner venue for a 3 course traditional Moroccan meal accompanied by musicians playing traditional music. The only downside was that Izzy had discovered that they had cancelled the last boat back to Morocco and we now had to race through our meals so that we would make the bus in time! A final quick dash through the markets and we dashed back to the bus to race to the que for the boat.

There was a number of interesting events at the port, which I took interest in. There were about 20 women with huge bags bigger than themselves. They looked to have just gotten off the previous boat and were fighting over who had the trolly's first as they needed to take their bags of market goods into Morocco....so I took a photo to put on this blog to explain. Then there was a super high wall where police or army men were sitting very casually about 3 metres high on the wall with their feet and legs dangling over the edge. I thoughg this was strange and most everyone else was taking photos, so again I took a photo.

This seemed all ok until all the other busabouters managed to get through the ticketing area, but then when I tried to pass they grabbed me alone and put me in a shipping container office and told me to wait there. Holy moly. Panic!?! 2 minutes later (which felt like an eternity) a guy arrived (with guns, not big muscles, real guns) and started questioning me why I was taking any photos at the port. He asked to see my camera photos and I verynquickly explained I had just thought it interesting how high the guy was sitting doing nothing. He said I couldn't take any photos and I must delete them all. I got to the one with all the women fighting and cheekily asked if I had to delete this one too? He rolled his eyes at me and said "just go..." RELIEF! So everyone please appreciate I nearly got arrested, but I got a great photo! Haha Journalist / blogger extrordinare! Or not. Hehe

Some beautiful photos of the sunset and some hilarious photos of Anna, Jen and I trying out our new moroccan lippy later and we were back on the dreaded boat that was not smooth back to Spain.

Breakie in Portugal, Lunch in Spain, Dinner in Morocco....3 Countries, 2 Continents, 1 day + nearly getting arrested = fun times and exhaustion! Anna and I had a wine in a local bar before heading home as we could barely keep our eyes open.

Day 5: Tarifa to Ronda to Granada

After a quick drive past the Rock of Gibralter and breakie at our service stop we headed to the hill top town of Ronda, home to the very first bull fighting arena. Izzy said that contrary to popular belief bull fighters actually use a pink and yellow cape to tempt the bulls, not red. She also told us the true story of what happens to the bulls when they go into the ring. First they are mortally wounded in their stall with a sword, then sometimes they rub vaceline into their eyes so they can't see. Then they are released into the ring where men with horses come and stick swords into their backs, this is followed by the entrance of the bull fighter who dances around the dying bull, annoying it further when it is already close to death. Not so brave I think. Fair's fair, I could condone it if the bullfighting was on fair terms, but it just isn't. However, those feelings aside, the ring itself it an incredible structure, built amazingly well and really is a thing of beauty. Anna and I borrowed Izzy's bull fighting cape and danced around pretending to be bull and bull fighter for some hilarious photos. Afterwards we checked out the bull's holding cells and horse riding arena which was not as impressive as the one in Vienna but I loved the huge mirrors all along one side. Very envious. The museum was also amazing as it held all sorts of saddles, costumes, photos, paintings and advertising. It was easy to see how proud the Spanish are of their bull fighting history.

We left the ring to wander the gardens and take in the incredible views of the surrounding farmlands from our incredibly high vantage point, and then got a delicious boccadilo (haymon and local cheese sandwich) which I have to say is one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten. I also got a dessert which looked like short bread covered in icing sugar but it was so crumbly it was melting in my mouth as I ate it. I only wish I had more carefully identified what it was.

Our last stop was Granada. We all chilled out and Jen and I hit the shops. I got tired of shopping as I actually prefer to see the sights when I am travelling so I headed back to the hostel to get ready for our group tapas dinner and night of drinking (this seems to be a common thread in Spain!). To be honest I was in a grump of a mood as I had gotten completely sick of 40+ year old men cracking onto me while shopping and the more wines and sangria I had, the less I cared any more...so we continued to the next bar, more wine and a dare from Jay (our driver) to Izzy that he could definately fit into her overalls (she called them dungarees becausd she is a New Zealander). This was overheard by too many people in our group to let it pass so we forced them into the toilets to settle the bet. From the crazy photos bellow you will sed it is Jay who won, to thr surprise of all.

At this point I had drunk enough wine to sink a ship and decided going shopping in the markets at 10pm was a good idea. Luckily Anna and Jen my fellow muskateers joined me for slightly drunk shopping adventures and we ended up with a whole lot of souvineers. Anna and I now have matching hippie pants, while Jen and I have matching purses. I also have earings, coin purses and a number of leather bracelets which I got for a 'discount' as the stall holder kept referring to us as his "guapa customers" (beautiful). Thoughts of any afore mentioned grumpiness now departed Jen and I having lost Anna then attempted to find the nexy bar on our own.... Which was more difficult than it seemed, I mean how many shisha bars are there really?! It turns out, many. Asking locals tended to get us asked into different bars but finally I asked another bar owner and he pointed us in the right direction.

We all had cocktails (mine was a pina colada, and then also Claudia because she couldn't finish it) and then strawberry and apple shisha. I was incredibly surprised I tried it, let alone enjoyed it as much as I did. I am extremely anti smoking, but this somehow was different and not smoking as such. Next bar was super quiet and it was time for me to drink water so we had a dance and then decided to head to our final club reputed to be the most happening in town as it used to be an old cinema and had been renovated into a dance club. Very cool place. Lots of dancing and far too much fun led to sore feet and me walking home with my high heels in my hand....ewww, so un classy, never again. But Granada streets I have to say were super clean. Granada is an easy place to enjoy and I could see myself living there one day.

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