Our travels took us to the edge of the desert where we wandered in the dunes a while. Giorgio is passionate about deserts while I prefer the sand on a beach. No doubt he was wishing he had his motor bike and could zoom out of sight ... but as that song says "...the things you do for love."
We wandered exploring the first of the dunes that were accessible in a car appreciating that we were at the edge of a vast, seemingly empty space until you looked more carefully.
A camel train wound its way across the sand in the distance. The desert is dotted with wells complete with a trough so camels too can quench their thirst.
From M'hamid the town nearest the edge of the desert it is a 50 day camel journey to Timbuctoo, well it was when camels traversed North Africa. This sign prompted me to recall my mother telling me to go to Timbuctoo when I was pestering her as a child. I wonder was that expression particular to her, or used by other parents of that era?
At Zagora in the hotel car park one morning I met this man unloading supplies from his two camels, they appeared to be used for more than entertaining tourists like most are these days.
I had it in mind to have a camel ride here but Giorgio put me right off that idea when he told me they are prone to ticks. My previous encounters with those blood thirsty little buggers caused a recurring itch in an intimate place for a year. In fact that tick travelled with me from Perth to Frankfurt in Germany before he was discovered and evicted.
One evening we climbed a small hill to watch the sun set over the desert and found fascinating rocks while we waited for the cloudy sky to transform into a red and orange kaleidoscope.
Thanks to my Grade 8 science teacher geology fascinates me, so I savoured many beautiful rock formations in this area, marvelling at the incredible power of the shifting ground and eroding affects of time, wind and water.
As you can see Giorgio takes his photography very seriously and will go to entertaining lengths for a good shot.
The clouds in that vivid blue sky created stunning ever changing swirling patterns as we headed west to the coast.
I was so excited when we reached that coast and I could paddle in the chilly Atlantic Ocean. I have missed living near the coast so much and had to wipe away a few tears as I walked barefoot on a beach again. In some areas a good swell was rolling in enticing surfers to test their skills.
We tried to ignore a fresh ocean breeze and other people as we romantically watched the sunset into the Atlantic Ocean at Safi. Safi was one of my favorite places in Morocco, I could even entertain the idea of living there...but then I would have to try to learn to speak French as well.
There is so much to miss about living on the coast, any coast ... I was even happy to see squawking gulls again. Pigeons are boring in comparison with all their cooing and pooing!
All seaside towns the world over have identical color themes ... a refreshing contrast to all those mud houses of the hinterland.
Somethings are to be enjoyed rather than understood... and I fell in love with this mosaic fountain despite, no, because, it is in such an unlikley position at the edge of the ocean. At present it's my computer's desk top background.
Several meals of fresh Moroccan fish were oh-so-yummy, something else not readily available in Florence that I had been missing. At a seafront cafe we shared an enormous pile of grilled fresh local fish of various types and sizes.
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...and below is Giorgio's plate ... guess who doesn't like picking fish.
Under our chairs a cat patiently waited in hope of some scraps and a pat. Almost every Moroccan restaurant and café has a well mannered resident cat.
And so did the electrical goods shop!!
I savoured the ocean for as long as possible knowing that soon I was returning to Florence which has it's own beauty but will never be as luring as coastal places are for me.
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