Our World Turns Brown

As for exploring, there were really only a couple of choices: we could checkout the toilet tent, which we did - the hole that had been dug looked fine for small bears, but we weren't sure it would suit our minders. We could also climb sand dunes. As we'd never done this before, this is how we passed the hour before dinner, along with visiting the camels to get to know them a bit better. Now they were off duty, they were happy to chat, and they really are fascinating creatures.


Climbing up the dunes was quite hard as the sand was so soft, but running down them, or somersaulting, when our momentum got too fast, was great fun, and the sand was soft that we couldn't hurt ourselves.


We had dinner out in the open sitting cross legged on mats. It was a fine dinner but not exactly authentic Moroccan cuisine; we had spaghetti bolognaise. This had a more to do with the cooking facilities available than the wish to give us familiar food. After dinner we did some star gazing with occasional interruptions from a camel spider which kept running over the mats and scaring some of our party.

When it was time for bed, as it was so warm, we decided not to join the others in the nomad tent, but to join our minders on top of a dune. We had only just settled down when the wind got up and started blowing sand everywhere. We were particularly exposed on top of our dune and had to go back down. We didn't want to disrupt our fellow travellers, so set our mats down just outside the nomad tent, using it to provide a bit of shelter from the wind.

Although it was still windy, this proved to be a good move, after the tent started to collapse - there was quite a 'plink' as the first of the wooden supports holding up the fabric was blown down. More followed, and the tent occupants had to rebuild the tent - more than once! We wrapped ourselves up in the touareg scarves to try and keep the flying sand at bay, and tried to get some sleep - it wasn't easy, especially as we were half expecting to be nuzzled by a hopping (because of the hobbling) camel.


We did get a bit of sleep, and when we woke up it was to find sand everywhere - our minders' sleeping bags were full of the stuff, but the worst part was finding that sand had got into our eyes.

More fun followed when we went to visit the toilet tent. We had to fish out a huge beetle which had fallen in, before we could use it.

After breakfast we struck camp and re-mounted our camels for the return journey. It had been quite an adventure and great fun.

Lots of love, George and Yorkie xxx

Keeping Cool at the Kasbah

Another of our cook's special picnic lunches followed the film studio tour, then it was time to drive to our next overnight stay. We had various photo stops on the way and we also stopped off at a shop to buy headscarves to wrap round our heads touareg turban style. We needed these so as to be ready for a desert adventure - more about that soon.

The accommodation that night was a real treat and the best yet. We stayed at a kasbah which had a great location and a lovely swimming pool. As it was very hot, discovering the pool and finding it empty was a real treat.


We spent hours in the pool cooling off while our minders left earlier, to rinse through their touareg blue headscarves, having been warned that the dye might not be that well set and might leave them with blue faces.

They returned to join us for dinner, appearing rather traumatised and more than a little blue of appearance - and it certainly wasn't because of the cold.


Apparently the scarves had run rather more than expected and dyed not only our minders exposed skin, but also the terracotta un-glazed bath, blue. Much scrubbing had then ensued, to return the bath to at least a paler shade of blue. We knew that we'd had a lot more fun swimming.

The rural location of the kasbah meant it was lovely and quiet. There was farmland right behind and, while we dried off from our swim, we enjoyed watching the local sheep and donkeys.


It was a rather idyllic pastoral scheme and we were very content, even more so when we discovered we could have our evening meal of Moroccan chicken and couscous outside, at a table right by the pool.

Sheer bliss, although sadly no beer in the bar - despite the pool it was a dry hotel!

Lots of love George and Yorkie xxx

The Bear Catapults (rather than the Human Cannonball)

It was a great party, but it's time to return to Morocco now, and tell you all where our cycle ride took us.

It was a place where this happens ...


... although we suspect the equipment used nowadays is rather more modern. Yes, we had arrived at none other than the famous Atlas film studios.

Before a tour, we needed to rehydrate after all our cycling in the hot sun. While our minders downed a coke beside the swimming pool (yes, you can stay at the film studios), Yorkie managed to get himself into a spot of bother.


As you can see he was in danger of being cooked alive in a cauldron. Had I not come to the rescue he might have had serious need of that pool close by.

As our tour got underway, Yorkie got his turn to repay me. I was testing out the posts for tying slaves to, from another Gladiator film set, when I got stuck and had to ask Yorkie to release me.


The tour was great fun and we saw lots of interesting sets. We racked our brains to recall scenes from film such as Kundun, The Mummy, Cleopatra and the Kingdom of Heaven so we could perform some re-enactments.


Despite all the fine sets, our favourite thing was the catapult we found. We took turns to see how far we could travel and at what speed. Looking back at it now, we really should have worn crash helmets!

Lots of love, George and Yorkie xxx

Small Bears Need a Tandem

Our Ait-Ben-Haddou accommodation was rather grander than the home we visited for tea, even though it was full of charm and history. We stayed in a kasbah just the other side of the wadi. Our room had 3 beds which was great, as it meant there was a bed exclusively for bears, and we also had a private courtyard just off our room ...


... the only trouble was that there was no light so we couldn't make much use of it after dark.

We thought the person who had left a bear sized version of Ait-Ben-Haddou in reception was very thoughtful ...


... so we arranged a private tour and sat to attention under the Moroccan flag.

The next day was completely different. We had a morning of mountain biking ahead of us. A truckful of bikes was laid out for us to pick one which best suited. We rushed over to have first pick, but weren't quite as fast as our female minder who got there first, but then was so indecisive we did actually pick first ...


Apart from the first 100 yards our ride was all off road. There were a few ups and downs to test us, but the biggest problem was all the rocks on the track that we bumped over. After the first hour we had extremely sore bottoms and jarred paws.


This picture will give you an idea of the terrain we were cycling across, although as you will see it was one of the early, rock free, sections.

About 20 minutes ride from the end, we had a welcome break after Khaled, our leader, spotted an orange lizard darting into a hole. Together with the driver of the support vehicle who had numerous tools with him, they started to dig into the hard ground to unearth the lizard. Apparently, if they captured the lizard, it could be exchanged for a lot of money.

We kept our paws crossed that the lizard would not be dug out, and fortunately he wasn't. The 2 Moroccans eventually gave up their pursuit and we set off again for a rather unusual final destination.

You'll have to keep reading to find out where we went.

Lots of love, George and Yorkie xxx