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Saved: November 30th 2021
Tafroute Village
View from the roof-top terrace of our budget hotel.Our last day in Tafroute we did not rent bikes (mostly because I was too scared of the cars and the narrow roads), so we walked instead. We headed off down the road toward another town and when we stopped to rest, a friendly local pointed out the famous Lion's Head rock. He said that the lion was called the protector of the valley. I'm sure you will be able to make out the lion in the photo. As I am cursed with my dad's need to never walk back the same way you came, we decided to make our way back through the hills, through the saddle that we thought we visited the other day. Our amblings took us on a very different route (oops) than the other day, but nonetheless we enjoyed the views and the vistas. We also saw our first Moroccan wildlife (besides birds). It is a small mammal that looks like a cross between a gopher and a squirrel - so we named it the "gophrell". We have also seen little gecko-like lizards and large beetles, but that is the extent of the wildlife viewing thus far. We finally asked about the supposed Almond Festival, and
The Protector of the Valley
I'm sure you can see the lion's face in the rock. no one had any idea what we were talking about. Maybe they used to have a festival, but there is no sign of it anymore. Didn't matter though, we loved Tafroute regardless.
We found a bus that leaves in the morning, so the next day we left for Tiznet to connect with another bus to Tan Tan. The bus ride from Tafroute to Tiznet is fairly winding as the road makes it way through mountain passes and often clings to the sides of cliff faces. We thoroughly enjoyed the vistas and the views as we travelled along, but not all of our fellow passengers felt the same. Many people (it seemed like only the people around us) were vomiting into little plastic bags. At one point, the ticket-taker guy came through the bus handing out plastic bags. One would think the locals would be used to the road and the foreigners would be the sick ones, but no it was the other way around! We were pretty happy to get off that bus! We have found the people very helpful as we travel south, and they seem less inclined to ask for money or overcharge us for things. When
A Local Friend
We came across some camels in a corral next to a big hotel in the next town. Yes, there are more photos, but I will spare you all! we got off the bus in Tiznet it turns out our next bus left from a different location. The fellows at the bus stop flagged down a taxi for us (it took a little while, but he did not leave us) and made sure the driver knew exactly where we needed to go. It certainly is a refreshing change from the "I'll help you for a fee" attitude in the north. We were lucky, we arrived at 11:30 and the Tan Tan bus left at noon. So onto another bus and off to the bustling metropolis of Tan Tan!
We definitely knew we were heading south as the terrain was very flat, dry and barren. We arrived into Tan Tan around 4:00 pm and blissfully found our hotel within walking distance. We knew immediatley Tan Tan was different from other places as no one pounced on us as soon as we got off the bus. Also, we had passed through our very first police checkpoint where we had to show our passports. Definitely a larger police and army presence here. A very different place indeed. We dropped our bags and decided to get a walk in before it got
The Diversity of Transportation
From our Tan Tan cafe perch, we spotted the sign on the right hand side and when the donkey and cart came along, we couldn't resist a photo of the diversity of transport in Morocco! dark - we needed to stretch our bus legs and get some fresh air. The area that we were staying in was a local market district. The children coming home from school were enchanted with us, shyly smiling and saying "bonjour". When we responded "bonjour" they broke into huge smiles and giggled away. It was like this our entire stay in Tan Tan, we started to feel like celebrities after a while. I guess when you are the only two foreigners in town, you are kind of like celebrities!
As we wandered down the main street we noticed that fewer and fewer businesses were open, so we decided to head back when two young fellows approached and said bonjour. We chatted with them in broken French and English for a bit, then they invited us for "Sahara Whiskey", which is mint tea. It is usually called Moroccan Whiskey, but these fellows identified themselves as Saharan rather than Moroccan. As we walked toward the tea place, they kept saying "Free Sahara" which we took to mean they didn't exactly agree with Morocco's takeover of the Western Sahara. When we got to the shop for tea, it was like they had
Wild Camels on the Road to Dakhla
Taken from the bus window ... by Peter the photographer! brought us to their friends for show and tell, kinda like - "look what we found on Main Street". One young fellow could speak a little English, and one older fellow could speak a little English and French. They gave me the only chair, and made Peter sit on the only blanket on the step. We were treated like royalty! I could get used to this new found fame! We enjoyed a couple of cups of whiskey (tea) and some halting conversation before we headed on our way back to the hotel. They offered to drive us back which was sweet, but really we needed the walk.
We decided to eat at a little restaurant near the hotel, mostly because the woman behind the counter smiled broadly at us as we walked past. It turned out to be another enjoyable experience as we met more friendly Tan Tan-ites (not sure if that is correct, but you get the idea). The husband and wife who own the place were working hard and the husband could speak a little French and a little English. In the course of our meal, they kept teaching us Arabic which was fun, I just wish
More Camels
Sorry, can't resist!!! I could remember everthing they taught us. A little later, their teenage daughter came by and they sent her over to talk to us as she knows some English. She stayed and chatted with us for a long time. We had a great evening sitting with this family and learning Arabic. The specialty of the house appeared to be fresh sardines. We had had soup and fresh french fries and were going to call it a night when the husband called over and indicated we should try the sardines. We said yes, as we knew they were fresh because when we arrived he was cleaning a bucket full of them. The wife then dipped them in flour and seasonings and then fried them in oil. They were delicious! (of course I made Peter try them first ...)
The following day our sole purpose was to find the CTM office (the national bus service of Morocco) - which for reasons unexplainable, never have buses or an office at the main bus station. We wanted to find out when the bus leaves for Laayoune and the cost. It took us the better part of the day to find the office, but
The Beach Near Dakhla
As we were nearing Dakhla, we passed this beach full of kite-surfers. The photo also captures several Moroccan flags blowing in the wind. It was hazy and windy, but also very, very hot. we did see most of Tan Tan in our travels. It is a hot, dusty, desert city of approx. 27,000 people. People were very friendly to us and with the exception of a young boy who wanted a 'cadeau' (gift or tip) and a young university student who wanted money for walking with us, we thoroughly enjoyed the people of Tan Tan. In the end though, we could not get a straight answer about buses. The CTM bus left the other side of town at 4:00 am and we were not quite sure we wanted to find our way there for a 4 am bus. The main bus station next to our hotel was another story. Depending who we asked, we were told a bus leaves at 2:30 am, 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 10:30 am, and 2:30 pm.
When we decided to leave the following day, we went out early to the bus station with the hopes that we would be able to catch a bus to Laayone at some point in time. When the ticket sellers pointed us to the bus that goes to Laayoune, we went and talked to the driver who said no - his bus doesn't go to Laayoune, but one of the other ones does at 10:00 am. When we inquired about the bus line (Satas) that leaves at 10:00 am, another person told us that bus doesn't arrive into Tan Tan until 2:30 pm. We were mightly confused and getting frustrated as you can well imagine! Standing amongst all these buses and none of them goes to Laayoune! In an effort to leave Tan Tan, Peter approached one of the Grand Taxi drivers to find out how much it would cost for us to get a taxi to Laayoune. He quoted us 100 Dirham, which was right around the same as a bus ticket, so we said yes. Once he had enough passengers we would leave, so we knew for sure we would get to Laayoune that day. Our luggage alone pretty much filled the trunk of the taxi, so when a couple of other passengers had large bags, out came the roof rack and some string to tie these packages on with. I have to admit, I'm sure glad our luggage was safely stowed in the trunk!
The Grand Taxi's take 6 passengers, plus the driver, in a Mercedes sedan. 2 people sit in the front passenger seat and 4 sit in the back seat. It is a very cosy fit and really not that comfortable. As we are driving through the desert and the sun is beating down, I realize that the only working window is the drivers .... yes, it was very hot in the cosy back seat! We passed through several police and army checkpoints where we had to show our passports and answer questions about our professions (neither of which we know the French translation of). We felt badly for our fellow passengers as we baked in the hot sun waiting to get our passports back. The guards that spoke English were very friendly to us, saying sorry for the delay and welcoming us to their country. It is odd to have an army guy with his automatic machine gun slung over his shoulder, finger on the trigger, playing with an extra clip of ammunition in his other hand, saying "sorry for the delay" with a big smile on his face.
Laayoune. A city over run with UN vehicles it seems. According to what we've read, there is a large UN contingent here because the Western Sahara is still being disputed, even though Morocco has been given the administrative authority to run it. We got in a petite taxi after the Grand taxi dropped us and our numb bodies off and headed toward the youth hostel. After we drove through the centre of town and right out the other side we approached the hostel and decided it was too far away for us. We had seen the CTM bus office on our way into town, and we knew Laayoune was just a stopover as we made our way to Dakhla. So we asked our poor driver to take us to a different hotel. Poor guy, he was so confused with these crazy tourists who keep changing their minds. He takes off for this other hotel we have the name of, and although it is in a more populated area, it is no closer to city centre. We are hot, tired, sweaty and perhaps even a little cranky at this point and very ready to drop our bags somewhere. So we climb the stairs of the Hotel Smara (how cool the ceramic stairwell was!) to find no one in the reception area. We sat on the cool stairs to compose ourselves and decided to try one more hotel, a little more expensive (22 dollars a night versus 9), but supposedly situated near the CTM office. It took ages for us to flag another taxi out of the area, even with the help of an army fellow. Regardless, we got to our final destination which was a two minute walk from the CTM station and close to all kinds of shops, restaurants and banks. We may have stayed in Laayoune longer, but the hotel we were in was fully booked the next day, so we would have had to move regardless - so we decided to head for Dakhla the next morning.
It is now March 1st and we boarded a very full bus to Dakhla. The bus is infinitely more comfortable than a Grand Taxi and we are happy to be on our way to Dakhla. The scenery is very desert like, with occasional large sand dunes and lots of scrubby brush and cactus. Even as we drive along the coast, it is just desert that ends in the ocean. Very different than we expected. The best part for me was the herds of camels grazing by the roadside! Nope, I haven't lost my fascination with the camel! Poor Peter was sitting next to the window being instructed by me to take photos of the camels. He did a great job as you will see!
One of the drivers befriended us and asked where we planned to stay in Dakhla. I showed him the name of the hotel that we had, and he said it could be difficult to find a place as the Dakhla Festival was on. Dakhla Festival? Oops, we were not aware at all of a festival. The driver called the hotel he stays in and asked for a room for us. He also told the hotel guy that we would be travelling onto Mauritania and would be looking for a ride. The driver told us the hotel knows of people going to Mauritania and could find us a ride. We were overwhelmed by his helpfulness. When we arrived in Dakhla, he told us to wait and he would take us to the hotel. In the meantime, we had met another traveller on the bus, Rajinder from England, who was also looking for a place to stay. At this point, we weren't exactly sure that we had a room, and really didn't know if it would be an expensive place or not. We kind of put our fate in the hands of the bus driver. It turns out to have been a very good thing to do. We arrived at Hotel Sahara and were handed a key - a room awaited us (an 8 dollar room thank you very much!). The rooms are basic and clean and very much the right price.
It turns out the Dakhla Festival is a music festival and people come from all over to Dakhla for it. We are right in the centre of town and there are stages set up around town, tents with people selling their wares and a general feeling of festivity all around. It is Saturday today, and we will likely stay until Tuesday before we try to head off to Mauritania.
Sorry for the long entry! I hope you have enjoyed our possibly last entry from Morocco!
Lots of love,
Laini and Peter
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Pam, Dave and the Girlz
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Hello!!
Hey you two!!! We received your postcard today!!! Thank you very much! Emily has already taken it and added to her collection! She has two now, one from Paris and now Marrakech! She is VERY proud! We are slowly getting settled in the house, we are loving it! We are hoping to have your parents over soon to see it!!! Love reading your blog and seeing the pictures! Thank you so much again for sharing your travels with all of us! We miss you tons! Lots of love, Pam, Dave, Emily and Jessica.