Welcome to Arab Africa.
I thought my departure from Ghana went well, however I think Vera took it pretty hard. She started crying when the taxi arrived to take me to the airport, and according to Ross colapsed on her bed for half an hour after i was gone, sobbing. Well, its good to know im missed, Vera is a pretty eotional person (as with a lot of west africans). My flight was delayed leaving Ghana, and delayed on a stopover in Nigeria, so I missed my connecting flight in Cairo. Egypt Air put me up in easily the poshest place i have been on my trip. Still a semi-crazy looking backpacker who has just spent 3 months in Ghana did not really fit in a up vmarket resort, and i felt as well as looked out of place. Still, i had my first hot shower in 5 months, and it was goooooood.
I arrived in Morocco at around 12 at night, and got in a taxi with a french speaking driver, and had a conversation that was comic gold as we drove blindly around Casablanca. Being unable to locate the youth hostel I spent the night in a cheqp hotel, and the next morning arrived at the youth hostel. There is not much to see in Casablanca at all, its a big; flashy European city. However, arriving from Ghana, this was great. Great coffee, great food. My non-existent french led me into a few funny food selections, such as a bowl of figs for breakfast. Casa is also home to the thrid largest mosque in the world, which also has the worlds highest minaret, at a massive 200 metres. The guesthouse one night had 10 guests, 9 of them young aussies. After a few days adjusting, doing a few chores, I joined up with Howard, a musican from Norway, and headed south down to Essaouira.
My guidebook claims Essaouira is Morocco`s most likeable town, and it is pretty easy to see why. Most of the town is enclosed whithin the ancient medina walls, meaning that as with most of morocco, the town is a maze or small alleyways, which is beautiful and confusing. The entire town is painted blue and white, from the houses, right down to the taxi`s and smll fishing boats. The beach is great, the medina enchanting and the fishing harbour is a great place to get the best and freshest seafood. Howard qnd I spent the first two nights in a guesthouse, but now I an living in an apartment with Nicolai (a very short hippy from Italy), Dmitri, from Lithuania, his girlfriend Veronica, from Italy, and Caramel, their dog. Dmitri and Veronicq, both fairly out-there hippies, buy good in Morocco, and then sell them in Europe, to pay for their next trip. Its a really cool Moroccon apartment, and the guys cook some great Moroccon food. This afternoon Dmitri, Nicolai, and I are intending to takeon the local kids at beach football, should be good. Essa is a great place to relax and watch the world go by, one of the reason this town is linked to some of its more well known guests overthe years, such as Bob Marley; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin; and Neil Young.
Its still early days, but I may have to cut back my time in Egypt to see more of Morocco. The weather here is cold, but i imagine pretty warm compared to Europe. Still, its jeans and jumpers, which is strange for me after being in the tropics.
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