2014 Morocco The Sahara Desert Hassi Labied

Our couchhost had quite a big house made of mud and straw. It was really cool!
Upstairs, there was no roof and we saw goats below.



















The couchhost's name was Mohammed and he said we were going to the Sahara desert tomorrow. For dinner, we had 라면, which is a Korean food which is really nice, It's like noodles.

We went to look at the goats and they were afraid at first. But when I gave it fresh grass, the kid came over.




The next day, we had to get ready to go onto the camels. Then we went to a cafe to have breakfast. We had a Berber omelette* special and toast. There was a cat and I gave it food.


* I loved it.
Then, Mohammed wanted to show us a place so we followed him. It was a big green garden(oasis) where people kept their own patch of farm. There was a mini stream going in the middle, and we played with the frog in it.


Because it was too hot, we went back to have a rest. On the way, we saw a dried skin of a cat. It must have been fried!
After having a long rest, we decided to go to the sand dunes in view.

The sand was hot and we slid down the dune. It was way too hot so we went to go back. We saw the camels and they seemed friendly enough.


The time had come and we all got saddled onto our camels. Mum had a black one, Dad had a big one, I had the cutest and smallest and Ellie had a medium, black one. 
We arrived to the sand dunes, and the camels slowly padded their way through. 





It was starting to get dark and we finally reached our camp.

I saw a big sand dune, about 100 ft tall.

I wanted to climb it, so when we got off our camels, I went straight to it.
I first went the hard way but reached the easy bit. After what seemed an hour, I reached the summit. Here's a diagram.




At the top, I had a fantastic view. I could see Afganistan(Algeria). I looked down and started sliding down!
It was so fun!
In our camp, we saw a lizard that could swim in sand! It was weird.

Then we went in the tent and we had a tajine. It was delicious! We were very full, and we settled down to sleep.


Some time...

I needed the toilet so I asked Dad to come with me. It was still dark outside so the sand was cold on the soles of my feet. I had a pee then way the milkyway!

In the morning, we set off early, so it wasn't too hot for the camels.

When we reached the house, Mohammed said he had made breakfast for us. It was a big breakfast and it was nice!

Afterwards, we went to another town to meet another couchhost.

2014 Morocco Fes

It was a long drive from Rabat to Fez and I really didn't like it.
Finally, when we reached there we parked our car and went into a hotel.

It was very cool inside!


The kind but toothless manager welcomed us with tea. It was very nice.



After tea, we went into the Medina. It was very big. There was lots of shops and stalls.
As we were making our way in, the manager showed us the place where people made cactus silk.(very fine and strong).

Then he left us to it. The other man had a machine that made materials out of cactus silk.
He said that the silk comes from the cactus.






After that, we walked around a bit. It was very lovely.
There was someone who was making kababs. I bought one and Ellie and Dad nicked some.


Then we headed back to the hotel where we slept.

The next day we went into the Medina again and I bought some cool sandals. 
We went to a meat market and we saw a camel head with everything on it!


It was very surprising!



     



Then we saw some chickens tied up, waiting for anyone to buy them.
I felt a bit sorry for the feathery creatures.
I looked into a butcher shop and saw a chicken getting boiled with everything on!
But fortunately Dad said they were already killed and their legs twitched because the nerves are still alive. Phew!







It was starting to get dark so we went back home to sleep. We found the hotel cat and Ellie patted it.

I didn't really want to touch it because, once a cat had scratched me really hard.

 It really hurt! That's why I don't like cats. Only kittens.


The next day we once again went into the Medina. We went in and bought some fraises*. They are very juicy and red.
I loved them a lot but I shared some as well. Ellie had knocked two strawberries off me and I was rageous! 

Then we went to the sweet market and we bought some sweets. They were nice! Then after we had looked in the mosque, we went to the meat* place to have lunch. We all had eaten a kebab and it was nice. We ate like this.
*Someone bought the camel head!


We went back to the hotel. Mum and Dad slept a bit while me and Ellie played shops. We put our shops in the sticking out windows and a big group of tourists saw us and took pictures. It was really funny. Some people even waved at us! Then we asked Mum if we could borrow more money so we could buy more from each other.



Then after 1 hour Mum told us to pack our stuff because we were going to move to the Sahara desert.

In our car, we had a very long drive. Finally we reached the destination.