A Tour of Africa

I know, i know it has been far too long!! I don't have an excuse either. So you are all probably wondering how Morocco was. It was amazing loved every moment of it. Everything i expected and more. I traveled with three other teachers Rosie, Marissa and Molly. We flew to Seville first and stayed there for two nights. The streets are narrow its as if you are back in medieval times. There are orange trees growing everywhere. Don't try them though they are only for decoration they are sour! As we found out. Seville is the home of flamenco and bullfighting. There are shops everywhere selling dresses and shoes. We missed out on running with the bulls would have loved to have given that ago. The first night we got there me and Rosie out for dinner we were in desperate need of a glass of wine since this is nonexistent in Khartoum. We ordered tapas we had know idea what we were ordering it turned out we had ordered potato dishes. We did wonder why the waiter looked at us strangely. So from Seville we took the train to Algecias. This took about 6 hours. Then from Algecias we took the ferry to Cueta. Cueta is a border town separating Spain and Morocco. Even though it is in Africa its part of Spain. It was pretty hairy going through the border to Tangier my first border experience. We walked through with our big packs on. Well my pack was the biggest the girls gave me abit of grief over that one. I had everything except the kitchen sink. If anyone needed anything i was the one to ask. Wasn't the best idea though by the end of my trip I could barely walk. So when we had walked through the border we were bombarded by men in Taxis. It was pretty full on. We didn't realise that we had to take the first taxi in line. They were yelling at us we were yelling at them it was interesting. We finally got a taxi we had made it to Morocco. We had to drive to Tangier's rail station this took about an hour but the scenery was beautiful we traveled over the mountains it was just stunning. We took the train from Tangier to Fes. This took about 5 hours. The trains are relativity fast. We went second class so the tickets were cheap. The trains were comfortable they gave us time to read, play cards and just enjoy the scenery. I would defiantly recommend traveling by train. The toilets were pretty scary though hand sanitiser was a must.
Fes
Fes would have to have been my favourite city we went to. Fes is famous for its handicraft, leather, silver, pottery, rugs. Fes is Morocco's oldest city. There are two parts of Fes there is the old town which is a world heritage site and the new town. The old town is built behind high walls its like a medieval city. I have never been anywhere like it. Its hard to describe in words . The photos i have don't really do it justice. I found a clip on YouTube that you can view. This may help you get a picture of how amazing Fes is. My plan is to go back next year. A day and night is just not long enough.
Marrakesh
We took the train to Marrakesh from Fes this was about a 8 hour train ride our longest ride. Marrakesh was not my favourite but still defiantly a place to visit. I think the reason why is because it is full of tourist me included. Its like a theme park. Everywhere you look there are shops filled with silver etc. Marrakesh is where you go to shop. You name it they have it. The jewellery is to die for, I was in heaven. It was pretty overwealming. The funny thing is there was so much to take in and so much that i liked i didn't end up buying as much as i thought i would. I could have though maybe it was because we only had a day there. NOT long enough!! Fes is where they make the craft work Marrakesh is where they sell it.
Rabat
After Marrakesh we boarded another train our destination Rabat. Our friend Audrey who is another teacher living in Khartoum lived in Rabat. Her cleaner and friend invited us to stay with her. We were going true Moroccan style. Rabat is beautiful and somewhere i could live quite easily. There is everything you need beach, cafes, clubs, good music and great food. I'm hooked on Moroccan Lamb Tagine. So we arrived in Rabat and ended up getting lost. We took the wrong bus or missed the bus stop something like that. It was late at night before we finally meet Fatima the woman we would stay with. We were all pretty exhausted by then. The family made us feel right at home. When we arrived they had nibbles for us we thought that was our dinner. We were all surprised when they brought out this huge tagine filled with lamb and cous cous. We went to bed feeling completely satisfied. The next day Fatima and Keltoum (her neighbour) took us around the city. It is beautiful especially down by the beach. It was the first time i had felt the sea on my feet since January. I had my first bout of homesickness. Actually i think me and Rosie both did. I miss having the beach only 10 minutes away. We spent the whole day walking around the city. One of the highlights was going to the old castle where we saw huge stalks in trees. They had the biggest nest i had ever seen amazing. We had to leave that night so it was abit of a rush. Keltoums mother had prepared us a huge feast as you can see in the pictures.
Home
We caught the bus on very full stomachs yet again. We had to take the bus then the train to Casablanca. From Casablanca we had a flight to Egypt then another flight home. It took us 24 hours to get home. We had a 8 hour wait in Egypt this was ok though, because what a treat it was having Starbucks at the airport. Nothing like this in Khartoum that's for sure. I know, I know Starbucks is crap but hey when you love coffee as much as i do who cares.
After a week of traveling we were finally home. Did it feel good to be home?? The answer is NO it was very depressing. I had a taste of freedom its pretty hard going back to not having any at all. Back to covering up (we had to in Morocco but not as heavily) being suffocated by the heat and not having anything to do. God doesn't sound that great does it ha. We all got sick the first week we were back. I'm guessing it was for over doing it we were exhausted. Our trip was go go go there was no time for resting. Im feeling a lot better now I have my energy back. Im getting ready for my next trip India here i come. Im a little dubious about going to India in May. On all the forums it says don't go because its summer and its hot!!! Im hot here and its in the mid 40s it is supposed to be even hotter in India. Here its a dry heat, India its sticky and humid. Catching the overnight and day trains are not going to be fun. I did look into Bali been there done that though. I would probably spend about the same amount of money and India is somewhere where i have always wanted to go. So I have made a decision to go. I leave on the 25th May flying into New Delhi. I am heading to North India I hope to end up in the Himalayas. If all goes to plan i would like to do a couple of treks. I found this great site called India Travel Forum. I have someone online helping me with an itinerary. I want to be in India for about a month before i head home. I say i want to be in the cold now but i reckon ill get sick of it pretty quick. The rain is the killer. Well Dad sorry about the huge wait for my next blog. My body is going through some major adjustment at the moment. The heat is really getting to me. By the end of the day im gone all i can do is sleep. Waking up at 5 every morning doesn't help either. Emailing is the last thing i feel like doing. Mind you i am a slave to Facebook totally addicted. With Facebook you don't have to write much, short and sweet. Well i had better go. You wont believe what i have done. I forgot to check a pot on the stove smoke is coming from the kitchen no lie! Back soon.

I have been here nearly 2 weeks it feels like I have been here forever. It dawned on me today that I’ll be here for 2 years. I am not sure how I feel about that. I’ll tell you after a year. I have finally received my boxes it felt like I have been waiting forever. I was so excited it felt like Christmas. I realised how much you appreciate the small things in life. Here is an example. I went and brought a dish rack and a cake tin last week. I was so excited and can't say I would ever buy what I did in NZ. The dish rack was pink!! I am very happy with them.
I spent the day cleaning my house today. Wow did it take a long time. There was a coating of dirt on everything. There is dirt/dust everywhere here. Some days it seems like there is a fog of dust in your house. Mopping is a long process. I can't wait to go to Morocco I have wanted to go there for a long time now. I am saving my money so I can buy lots of art and jewellery of cause. Hmmm trying to think of what else I can write about my mind has gone blank. Today I made Dahl it was so yummy. Oh that's what I was going to write about. Do I have a strong accent because I may as well be speaking Chinese no one understands me very annoying ha. Well I think I may go will be back soon.

Last week we went to the American Embassy it was so nice having a swim. The river you can see is the Nile. I took those looking down from the Embassy. The salad is Kumera and Mango it was good!! I love the dates here. Image above.