Thursday, February 24, 2005
Dr. Livingstone, I presume
And so to Tanganyika, and Zanzibar. There seems to be plenty of snow back in Blighty, so please find some photos below of sunnier climes. Also of interest is the fact that since we left the country the Trickies' march to safety and FA Cup glory have accelerated no end.
(and more importantly, I've been beating Will at backgammon. Unfortunately we managed to leave our " I don't want a safari/spice tour/or be ripped off, thank you" T shirts at home, so Will has been donning his shades and pretending he's not a tourist to be reckoned with... So we thoroughly enjoyed the spice tour...etc
We are now relaxing in Zanzibar, where every child wants a pen from you - see orderly line of children below - before all hell broke loose.)
Dar Es Salaam is a fairly relaxed town, but doesn't really warrant a visit, unless you need a visa and/or some interesting garlic-infused mince. It did prove a useful practice ground for dealing with the touts, which stands you in good stead for Stone Town (Zanzibar) when you're fresh off the ferry. Pulling into dock one can see the swarming masses approaching, waiting to sell you anything and everything. I've come to learn that you can bargain for EVERYTHING - and it's amazing how much you can get away with.
Anyway, back to those beaches...........
(and more importantly, I've been beating Will at backgammon. Unfortunately we managed to leave our " I don't want a safari/spice tour/or be ripped off, thank you" T shirts at home, so Will has been donning his shades and pretending he's not a tourist to be reckoned with... So we thoroughly enjoyed the spice tour...etc
We are now relaxing in Zanzibar, where every child wants a pen from you - see orderly line of children below - before all hell broke loose.)
Dar Es Salaam is a fairly relaxed town, but doesn't really warrant a visit, unless you need a visa and/or some interesting garlic-infused mince. It did prove a useful practice ground for dealing with the touts, which stands you in good stead for Stone Town (Zanzibar) when you're fresh off the ferry. Pulling into dock one can see the swarming masses approaching, waiting to sell you anything and everything. I've come to learn that you can bargain for EVERYTHING - and it's amazing how much you can get away with.
Anyway, back to those beaches...........
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Au revoir Maroc
Well I had hoped to have a few more photos on by now, but you'll have to wait I'm afraid. Hopefully the anticipation won't disrupt anyone's sleep. But a short update for now.
So Marrakech proved interesting. Though not as interesting as our taxi journey from the other side of the Atlas. All was going well in one of the famous aforementioned grands taxis - this on the back of us deciding to charter the whole cab - until about 5 minutes into our 4 hour journey when the car filled the aroma of petrol. Opening the window only seemed to let more fumes in. However, this didn't seem to bother the cabbie too much, who proceeded to smoke his way through the latter half of the journey. Needless to say, we also managed to fit in an unscheduled stop so that we could sit and watch the driver drink tea and eat bread.
Had a good couple of days wandering around Marrakech. Indeed, I'm sure I'd be able to lead anyone around the souks now, probably blindfolded. Hopefully, the Olympic committee will accept the inevitable and make shopping an official sport for 2008, thereby ensuring a couple of extra medals for team GB.
Then finally it was a night in Casablanca prior to departure. This was perhaps one of the most bizarre evenings imaginable. Having found ourselves quite by chance in some Cuban bar, I can only imagine that someone had decided we were, er, 'important'. Some extremely punctual service ensued, followed by the local girls becoming over-friendly, finishing with the band coming over and asking us if we interested in them. Or perhaps we were just in the wrong type of (gin) joint..............
And in other news, our next leg involves a transfer from Rough Guide to Lonely Planet. In fact, LP now looking after us for the next three months. Perhaps no bad thing, as I can only assume that the Rough Guide is so called due to its being an approximation of reality...........
Later
PS - congratulations to Russ and Emma on their engagement.
So Marrakech proved interesting. Though not as interesting as our taxi journey from the other side of the Atlas. All was going well in one of the famous aforementioned grands taxis - this on the back of us deciding to charter the whole cab - until about 5 minutes into our 4 hour journey when the car filled the aroma of petrol. Opening the window only seemed to let more fumes in. However, this didn't seem to bother the cabbie too much, who proceeded to smoke his way through the latter half of the journey. Needless to say, we also managed to fit in an unscheduled stop so that we could sit and watch the driver drink tea and eat bread.
Had a good couple of days wandering around Marrakech. Indeed, I'm sure I'd be able to lead anyone around the souks now, probably blindfolded. Hopefully, the Olympic committee will accept the inevitable and make shopping an official sport for 2008, thereby ensuring a couple of extra medals for team GB.
Then finally it was a night in Casablanca prior to departure. This was perhaps one of the most bizarre evenings imaginable. Having found ourselves quite by chance in some Cuban bar, I can only imagine that someone had decided we were, er, 'important'. Some extremely punctual service ensued, followed by the local girls becoming over-friendly, finishing with the band coming over and asking us if we interested in them. Or perhaps we were just in the wrong type of (gin) joint..............
And in other news, our next leg involves a transfer from Rough Guide to Lonely Planet. In fact, LP now looking after us for the next three months. Perhaps no bad thing, as I can only assume that the Rough Guide is so called due to its being an approximation of reality...........
Later
PS - congratulations to Russ and Emma on their engagement.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
The Road to Marrakech
Finally managed to get the photos on disk AND find somewhere to post them. Unfortunately, they're in no particular order as Will hasn't mastered the uploading procedure yet.
Well, back to the painted rocks... you'll see from the photos that Will acquired a friend - I'm not sure how this occurred but it followed him for the whole trek (even the getting lost part).
We left Tafraoute the next day and headed south east into the desert, having hired a jeep. Hassan - at the wheel - looked after us extremely well, getting us in - and out - of the desert and kept Will happily supplied with mint tea (the local brew). Being in the middle of nowhere meant that Will had to camp but he managed admirably under the fourteen blankets we were given.
Since then we've crossed over the High Atlas and have now made it to Marrakech. I've been happily getting lost in the souks while Will has perfected "do you have the rugby on" in French.
Off now to see dead snakes in a basket being 'charmed'.
Well, back to the painted rocks... you'll see from the photos that Will acquired a friend - I'm not sure how this occurred but it followed him for the whole trek (even the getting lost part).
We left Tafraoute the next day and headed south east into the desert, having hired a jeep. Hassan - at the wheel - looked after us extremely well, getting us in - and out - of the desert and kept Will happily supplied with mint tea (the local brew). Being in the middle of nowhere meant that Will had to camp but he managed admirably under the fourteen blankets we were given.
Since then we've crossed over the High Atlas and have now made it to Marrakech. I've been happily getting lost in the souks while Will has perfected "do you have the rugby on" in French.
Off now to see dead snakes in a basket being 'charmed'.
