Lanzarote is easily navigable in one day, being so small, so it is
perfect. Its all volcanic and desolate and with the shiny white buildings and
clear blue sea, it is an unusual and beautiful place of contrasts. We went to
Timanfaya National Park during the day on New Years Eve; finished up at a surfie
party (which sucked but we got suitably drunk) and then after recovering NY day,
hit the beach for the remainder of our time to catch some totally tubular and
bodacious barrels dudes.
After NYE we headed to Morocco for a
few more travel adventures. Nath only had three days in Marrakech so we spent the
days getting totally lost in the labrynthine streets, dodging pickpockets in the
square and getting asked 500 times per minute if we wanted to smoke hash. It was
very touristy and after travelling in the rest of Morocco I am glad to say it
was the worst of it. A great intro to Morocco though! The city square is unreal,
and the night market where you can buy just about anything for dinner are
great.
Ange and I hired a car for a week and cruised
around the mountains; doing a round trip up to Meknes and Chefchauen, a totally
chilled out and beautiful place. In the town of Ouzarzate we came upon the Paris
Dakar rally cars; we visited Todra gorge, a beautiful and massive gorge where
rock climbing is the go; and the ancient roman ruins of Volubilis, which were
really cool. Hiring the car enabled us to cover lots of country in a short time,
which was cool for Ange. Morocco is beautiful; desert, mountains, farmland and
coast, it has everything! My french has improved rapidly too
:)
I am in Fes at the moment, and having a wicked time with a
bunch of guys who have adopted me! We have been cruising around the city on
motos, and checking out all the amazing riads, medinas and mosques; getting lost
in all the souqs (tanneries, jewellery making, carpets and the like); going to
the mountains, and smoking lots of shisha tobacco. Hehe! It has been a nice
relaxing end to my time here in Morocco.
Ange left a few days
ago. Unfortunately she had a car crash when attempting to return the hire car
from Chefchauen to Marrakech; so we spent a whole day with the gendarmerie,
police and tribunal. Quite a unique tour of Chefchauen if I do say so myself!
Somehow she managed to find me in Chefchauen; fortuitously I was walking past
the police station when she drove past!!! Fate, eh! Luckily she wasnt injured,
but the moto driver coming the other way and the car came off second best.
Fortunately only a fractured arm and broken rear windscreen/tail lights and a
big dent in my wallet were the results. Phew!
Tomorrow i fly to
Cairo, and cant wait to see matt. I have 2 weeks there before a week in Paris
from the 29th Jan to 6th Feb; am catching up with a bunch of friends I worked
with in Liberia, so it should be great. Anyone in the vicinity is more than
welcome to join!
