Tuesday 21 February 2012
We were up at 8 AM and ready to leave the Agadir Camp where the kindness of Christian and his wife Nicole had allowed us to have electricity and charge up all our gadgets. We gave them a book- on - CD about France as a thank you gift and headed out the gate with nary a backwards glance at the self -important gate keeper in the oversized doorman's uniform.
At "Speedy" we got an oil change and the manager fixed the loose wires so our back up light worked..all for about eight dollars. Dian painted two buoys with cartoon faces as a gift and he presented us with a car duster. We also left the dead battery with him.
At the nearby Marjane supermarket Dian held up a package of ground beef and a postcard of a camel to the butcher who looked befuddled then grinned, "No." Dian's unexpected commercial re-use fee arranged by her agent Vinnie Biunno allowed the Happy Trails Gang to treat themselves to an array of baklava style pastries and Dian and Nicole had a gelato in honor of Grandad's 87TH birthday Ice Cream Social. With sugar coursing through our veins, we headed up the coast a while then inland toward Marrakech.
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| Marjane cookies |
We stopped at the camp the German family had recommended, but decided not to stay, even though Nicole looked longingly at the brand new showers. The receptionist, however, was kind enough to give us a demonstration of how the Argane nut is crushed and made into oil (he did this after searching for a nut outside, bringing it in with a rock, and smashing it carefully on his brand new granite countertop). We bought a half liter of the special oil that had a slightly nutty taste.
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| The Argane tree |
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| A roadside shop |
We headed up through Paradise Valley and stopped in Aulouzze, a Berber village, where we bought an alabaster mask for Chris. Another recommendation by the German family that turned out to be wonderful for us was a restaurant called Al Bassatine, where we had mint tea on the terrace under the Atlas mountains with donkeys braying and children playing below. We finally had to move inside when a bee, attracted to our honey comb treat, made us too uncomfortable. Thankfully the downstairs interior was straight out of the Arabian Nights, and with a fire going we had chicken brochettes with Argane oil salad, olives and bread. This was all thanks to Grandmother and Grandad's Valentine's Day treat!
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| Paradise Valley |
Before leaving we drew a cartoon for his guest book and took some pictures, then headed up the windy road where we saw cascading waterfalls, beautiful rock formations, and lots of beehive boxes. Boys with slingshots on the side of the road made us a little nervous at times, but were never in any real danger. At one point we asked a man how far it was to Marrakech, and he was either heading in that direction or was trying to keep an eye on us at a respectful distance. Dian looked back at one point and said the respectful distance was so respectful that we couldn't see him anymore!
By nightfall we stopped to fill up with the very inexpensive diesel and spend the night at the repose/aire. Charles drank 6 teas and coffees and stayed up till 6 AM working on the computer in the all night cafe.
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| Goodbye Agadir, hello Marrakech! |
At "Speedy" we got an oil change and the manager fixed the loose wires so our back up light worked..all for about eight dollars. Dian painted two buoys with cartoon faces as a gift and he presented us with a car duster. We also left the dead battery with him.
We stopped at the camp the German family had recommended, but decided not to stay, even though Nicole looked longingly at the brand new showers. The receptionist, however, was kind enough to give us a demonstration of how the Argane nut is crushed and made into oil (he did this after searching for a nut outside, bringing it in with a rock, and smashing it carefully on his brand new granite countertop). We bought a half liter of the special oil that had a slightly nutty taste.
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