Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
On the evening of Sunday 26th January my best mate, Mark, drove me from London to the port of Felixstowe, where I was scheduled to begin my 9 month Trans Africa expedition! I entered the P&O Passenger Terminal and eagerly scanned the terminal for a likely looking crowd, sure enough there was a small group with backpacks and sun hats! Our boat was due to set sail for Zeebrugge, Belgium at 11.00pm, so I spent some time getting to know the group. It felt strange to think I would be traveling with this group for 20 weeks overland from England to Kenya! We boarded the ship and after a brief chat everyone decided to bed down. I soon realized the tone of the trip when I discovered that our 'cabin' was actually the floor of the lounge!
1992 Diary - Africa (Part 1)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:19:09
Displayed times (last time: )
of the little workshops and children playing etc.
In Fez we visited a mosaic factory where we watched the men and children painstakingly arrange the minute tiles to build the colorful mosaics. We also toured a pottery and a huge tannery with colorful natural dye pits. The tannery looked as though it must have been the same for hundreds of years and really made us feel that we were looking back in time. It was fascinating to learn about all of the natural dyes that were being used, but after 10 minutes or so the pungent stench of the dye pits drove us away.
Being blond and female Paula drew allot of intention from the Moroccan men and I soon had to be quite protective. On one occasion while we were in a small store Paula walked into a section where I could no longer see her and then one of the guys tried to forcibly kiss her. In reality I seemed to draw their affection as well - a little more worrying!
From Fez it was a full day's drive south along the north side of the Middle Atlas mountains to the fascinating city of Marrakech. Marrakech seem to have such an exotic reputation and we were all very keen to experience it. The drive took us through some pretty varied countryside, from twisting alpine like roads to baron desert like landscapes. For lunch we pulled off the road in the middle of nowhere and set up a picnic on the sand. The 4 wheel drive truck certainly gave us freedom to stop where ever we chose! Traveling on the truck also gave us a chance to see the countryside away from the normal transport routes that we would have been restricted to had we been traveling on public transport.
Crowded with Arabs, Africans and Berbers, the old city of Marrakech had a mystical air to it. At night we congregated in the famous square of Djemaa El Fina with the snake charmers, story tellers, acrobats and street sellers. It was a magical experience to sip mint tea and enjoy people watching
...
See photographs from:
Togo Gallery
,
Morocco Gallery
,
Mali Gallery
,
Ghana Gallery
,
Burkina Faso Gallery
,
Benin Gallery
,
Algeria Gallery
Michal, 2006-05-09 12:35:21