things slowly as we figured we will be here for 6 months so we can take
our time.
sheets and a million salty towels including the new cockpit cushion
covers. There is a brand new laundry here with 1 washer and 1 dryer at
about $6 each, I had too many loads for one machine. So I have been
making good use of my own lovely washing machine. The water and
electricity are included in the dock fees so it is so much nicer to be
able to do it on board, rather than traipsing back and forth to the
laundry room and competing with all the other boats for the lone washer.
The weather has been glorious since we arrived, clear blue skies and
sunny days, perfect for walking around (and drying laundry) and chilly
nights, great for snuggling in bed.
We have heard horror stories about the weather just before we arrived,
the marina entrance was closed for 3 days, no one in or out, and at
Mohammedia, 30 miles south, which was our plan B if we arrived before
the bad weather had cleared, they had 70 knots blowing right into the
harbour and boats which were rafted together got damaged and docks came
adrift, so we are very glad we weren't in there!
Our marina is up the Bou Regreg river, and on the marina side is a town
called Sale (it has an accent on the 'e' and is pronounced Sal-eh.) On
the opposite side of the river is Rabat, the capital of Morocco, it
houses the Royal Palace and lots of interesting sites. The taxis on the
Sale side are yellow and on the Rabat side they are blue. They are
metered and quite reasonable, but neither can leave the city limits
which means they cannot cross the bridge from one side of the river to
the other. If you want to do that you need a white taxi, called a grand
taxi, they are usually big old Mercs and will take up to 6 passengers on
a shared basis. They have no meters so the fare needs to be negotiated
in advance and they are quite pricey if you want to cross the river.
There are public buses but we have yet to fathom the system, many of the
signs on the front being in Arabic only! We have been into Sale several
times, to the bank and the Medina and the yummy bakery. Sale is very
much a residential town, with no tourists or facilities. In fact I am
sure before the advent of the marina, they rarely saw a western visitor.
But everyone is very friendly, no hassles at all. Mosques are everywhere
and the Muezzin calls have become a regular background noise. The dress
code seems very liberal here, with many younger women dressed in western
clothing with no head scarves. The women who do dress traditionally have
brightly coloured djellabas (attractive kaftan like coats) and head
scarves. We have seen only one black burhka with a full face covering.
Yesterday we walked across the bridge into Rabat and headed for the
Medina or local market which is a labyrinth of blind alleys and every
inch crammed with a variety of goodies. The fresh produce area was
bursting with lovely local fruit and veg including the tiniest
clementines and massive pomegranates. Fresh bunches of herbs and mint
were every where. Chicken stalls were small booths crammed with
squawking hens and a chopping block, where you could choose your chook
and have it dispatched while you waited or take it home and DIY later.
We saw several women carrying 2 or more live chickens by their feet.
When we got to another part of the Medina we saw a cage full of small
yellow canaries, Alan and I looked at each other, chuckled and said
'snacks'!:)
There was an area devoted to upholstery fabric with gold and rich reds
and purples being the dominant colours. The patterns were very garish to
our eyes, but the fabric quality seemed very good and at about $4 a
meter excellent value. There were streets of carpenters, making ornate
inlaid marquetry work. Then there were the jewelry and leather areas. I
was bedazzled and spoiled for choice. Lucky I was so overwhelmed or I
might have bought something! Still, plenty of time yet!
We were heading out of the Medina to look for a lunch spot when we
walked through the cooked food area. The smells were divine, and then we
saw a mountain of cooked meats and so you could tell what it was there
was a pile of cooked heads! Sheep and cows (there were only 2 cow heads,
being much bigger, but the pile of sheep heads including their little
teeth was a bit unnerving!)Alan was game but I wasn't quite ready to go
native, so we mooched on....
Back on the main road we found a lovely local restaurant where Alan had
a tagine and I had lamb kebabs. A tagine is the name for a traditional
Moroccan cooking pot with a conical lid where all the ingredients are
slow cooked together, and delicious. A plate of fresh bread and olives
was set down as soon as we arrived, and with drinks and coffee was about
$17 for both of us.
We then took a taxi to one of the big supermarkets and spent a few hours
mooching there before walking back over the bridge and home. There is
also a big Carrefour hypermarket in Sale, which is where we will
probably do most of our shopping as it is only a cheap taxi ride away
being on our side of the bridge.
The marina is busy with boats coming out of the Med and preparing to
head to the Caribbean now that hurricane season is almost at an end. We
are the only boat he
ading the other way! Everyone agrees this should be
a nice place to spend winter. We have met quite a few Aussies, a few
English and German boats and today a couple of Americans came in. We
have had drinks with a few, but most are only here for a week or so.
Many of them have done train trips to other cities as the rail network
is very modern and cheap, so I am sure we will do the same at some
point. We are also planning a trip to the UK in the new year to catch up
with friends and to visit the London boat show.
Meanwhile we are enjoying the luxury of not having to keep an eye on the
weather and getting our list of jobs together without actually having to
do any of them, not yet anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment