Change of plans... again!

Western Sahara is one of the world's disputed territories. Not really a country, but often counted as such along with the 15 or so other unrecognized countries of the world. Long time readers will remember when we got pulled over by the police in Transnistria during a visit to that unrecognized country.

Our original intention was to drive all the way into Western Sahara. 

Wandering around Mirleft, Morocco

In need of some exercise, we decided to hike up to the old fortress overlooking the town of Mirleft. A nice enough day, with a high of around 22C (72F), but still with that odd haze in the sky.

There's not a lot of information available online, but it turns out that the old fortress really isn't that old. 

Another ATM problem

On Saturday, we drove further south along the coast, from Tifnit to Mirleft, with a stop in the larger town of Tiznit along the way.

The sky was still really hazy. The sun was shining, but the sky wasn't blue... it was kind of a hazy grey. Very strange.

The rundown fishing village of Tifnit

The rain stopped by noon, so after lunch we finally got out for a decent walk. 

While the campground itself is nice, there's not much to see or do in the area. The only real option is to walk down to the beach and fishing village of Tifnit. It's about 14 kms (9 miles) round trip, so it's a bit of a hike.

Well, it's a good thing that Max is waterproof!

They were calling for heavy rain, and sure enough, that's what we got. A couple of times overnight, it rained so hard I thought we might float away. The locals had said they haven't had enough rain lately, but this might be a little too much all at one time.

Funny story. Last weekend when we were with Bob and Denise in the Canary Islands, I asked them if they knew of a magazine called "Zoomer". It's a popular Canadian magazine produced for the baby boom generation.

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Looking forward to Ireland!

We've always wanted to go to Ireland. Especially in a motorhome. Our friends Glen and Steve did it a couple of years ago and they said it would be right up our alley. Especially the west coast section called the Wild Atlantic Way... a 2,600 km (1,600 mile) coastal route with fantastic hiking scenery, and loads of free wild camping (boondocking) overnight spots.

And so with that in mind, we have booked our ferry to Ireland!

Found ourselves a nice Moroccan campground

 First order of business on Tuesday was to get some groceries! We had left Max at the secure parking at Agadir Airport while we were gone to Tenerife for four days. Ruth had been so organized that we were able to turn off the fridge while we were gone so as to preserve our propane supply. But that meant the fridge was pretty much empty so we needed to restock.

On our way to the airport last Thursday we had driven by a big Carrefour superstore so we backtracked a bit into the city to go there.

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Nice hike to end our long weekend on Tenerife

Bob and Denise came down and met us at our hotel around 9:00am and we set off on the 13 km (8 mile) hike up the Lunar Landscape trail. It's listed as an "intermediate" hike that gains about 600 meters (2,000') in altitude. 

We sat down for a break after one of the steeper sections, and I was eating some peanuts. We noticed two really pretty birds that were getting close to us. I tossed over half a peanut, and it was quickly scooped up.

Another good day exploring scenic Tenerife, Canary Islands

Bob and Denise came over in their rental car and picked us up around 9:00am and we set off on a scenic tour heading south through the center of the island of Tenerife.

The island itself is only about 80 x 50 kms (50 x 30 miles), but it's so diverse. And, the highest point in Spain is located on Tenerife... the Teide Volcano, at 3,715 meters (12,188')

Really enjoying Tenerife

We had no idea what to expect, and of course Tenerife is only one of the eight main islands that make up the Canary Islands. But so far, we would definitely come back! 

You hear about British people coming here for package holidays, so we were afraid of it being a little too much like the south coast of Spain and Portugal with "full British breakfast" being available everywhere, but this is not at all the case based on what we've seen so far.

Fun first day in Canary Islands

I've always wanted to come to Canary Islands. I remember that my grandmother took a vacation here sometime back in the 1970's or 1980's and I remember that it seemed so exotic to me back then. Unfortunately, we're only here for three nights, and only the island of Tenerife, but so far we like it!

Our super cheap Ryanair flight went fine. It departed exactly on time, and arrived 20 minutes early.

Scenic drive to Agadir Airport

Google maps was correct, it did take four hours to do the 216 km (134 mile) drive to Agadir Airport yesterday. But we broke it up and did two hours in the morning, then stopped for lunch for an hour, then another two hours in the afternoon.

And, it was a fairly scenic drive!

Day trip into Essaouira

We got out onto the main road here in the village of Ounagha to wait for the local bus to take us into Essaouira. There were quite a few locals waiting as well, so we figured it must be coming soon. And sure enough, after ten minutes or so, it showed up.

It was pretty busy though. Ruth managed to get a seat, but I stood the whole way. The guy came by to collect fares and give us a ticket. Cost was 7 dirhams ($0.92 CAD, $0.68 USD) for the twenty minute bus ride.