Markets in Morocco

After lunch we walked in the working areas. There were loads of shops underneath houses. Very little work shops that sold just threads or stuff like that. 

We walked to one of the indoor markets that sold food. The meat was horrible. There were big legs with hooves hanging down and the smell was DISGUSTING! 

Moroccan Lunch Munch

As we were promised we ate at a very traditional Moroccan place. Okay, not really. It served traditional Moroccan food. The first course was a strange soup. We had no clue what was in it. Then was a really nice sweet chicken pastry. It was filled with chicken and had powdered sugar on the top. That was the best part of the meal. It was served on top of some lettuce, which the parents told us (kind of late) that we should not eat it. By the time they had told us, I had already eaten some of it. 

The main course was chicken and cous cous or chicken and potatoes. I had option numero 1.

Would you have guessed that was Coke?

That was the 3rd day in a row that we'd eaten a 3 course meal with David and Andrew's family! 

Snake Charmer

 We walked around until we came to a hill with a view of the sea. The hill is used as a garbage dump. People of the town threw their trash on the hill. Other than that, there was a great view. 

After looking at the view we walked into a square. There were some boys playing football. 

  

 Our guide led us to a corner of the square and we got to see the Snake charmer. It wasn't that amazing. He had a cobra which he made do nothing really and then we got to have a snake put around our shoulders. We think that the man was bored of doing the same thing to tourists all day long, every day. Oh well. 

Wanderin' the streets of Morocco

After the cave we were driven back to the main part of the city and dropped off with our tour guide. We walked around, looking at the strange architecture and bright colors. Mostly every one shares a tap. Some people have electricity and running water, but not most of them. 

The Cave of Hercules

After the camel we went to a cave. The tour guide made it sound like it was going to be amazing, but the fact that it was man made took away a bit of the splendor.

Picture of the hole from the inside

Looking at it from the inside, the shape may not resemble much. But, if you went around to the outside, on the water, you could see a map of Africa.

In another cave off the center cave was a map showing Spain and Morocco. It was a bit confusing.

Oh well, the center room with the hole of Africa made up for it. It was pretty cool

Camel Snapshots

I just thought that you would all like a few more photos of the cute camels!!

Camel Riding by the beach

When our driver told us that at our next stop we would be riding a camel, I sat up and looked out the window, (Before that, I was sorta falling asleep against the window.....we woke up early.....the tour guide spoke so fast!) In the distance we saw six camels. The tour guide said that there was a baby camel, she was only 4 months old. The camel riding had been the thing that I looked forward to the most. We arrived to the patch of sandy ground on the side of the road. When we came closer we saw that three of them had saddles on them. I was wondering how it would work....there were eight of us and only spots for six of us if two people on each saddled camel. The baby was so cute. One of the men working there told me to get on the mother camel and then picked Ashlynn up and put her behind me. Up the the camel went, with us on her! It was awesome! Andrew and Mrs. Sally went on another camel and so did David and Mr. John. Mommy and Daddy had to wait till the next go. Our camels were tied together and we were off!

Mommy and Baby

So cute!

Camel Riding by the Beach (actually, we were on a cliff, with the beach below us!)

The Big Step

After the 35 minute boat ride and the 2 hour time difference we arrived at the port in Tangier, Morocco. The wind on the boat was really strong! Mr. John had been to Africa before, but for the rest of us it was the first time we stepped on African soil. We didn't have to show our passports or go through security because we were with our tour guide. Well, come to think of it, no one had to show their passports! 

 We were lead to our mini van where we would tour the streets of Tangier with David and Andrew's family. All of us kids sat separately, because we all wanted a window seat. We were off, in a mini van, with some of our best friends, to see Africa! The tour guides accent was hard to understand and he spoke so fast!

Round trip to Ronda

Beautiful Views

On Wednesday we woke late and set off in the cars down the windy roads. David and I passed the time by listening to Lady GaGa. The drive was just over an hour, but it felt a lot longer. The roads twisted in and out of the mountains for more than three quarters of the drive. Ugh!

Ronda was a quaint, white washed village with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. We ate a three course lunch, typical spanish food then went for a walk. We walked through the whole of the pedestrian street in under an hour then went to a bull fighting ring. It is amazing to think that people still come to watch the man vs the bull in the arena. It is like what happened in the roman times. We filmed a chase scene there for our movie. It turned out very good. We left before dinner, we didn't want to be driving the curvy roads in the dark.

The UK in Spain

On Tuesday we left the house for a day trip to the UK. You may ask.....why are you going to the UK? Well, we went to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a rock peninsula off the coast of Spain. It is owned by  the UK. We had lunch at a fish and chips shop. It wasn't that good. 

After that we traveled up the gondala to the top of the rock. From the top of the rock you are supposed to be able to see Africa, but we couldn't because it was so foggy. Gibraltar is famous for it's monkeys. They are so cute. 

 One baby monkey jumped on Ashlynn's head. Then he jumped on mine!

This big fellow stole someone's ice cream and was eating it in the street. So cute!

For dinner I ordered 'Half a chicken'. It really was, half a chicken!