Adrian's Adventures - May 2008
1 May 2008
We are off. Going around the world, I am told (wherever that may be). I say goodbye to every room at home and all we are leaving behind, then go off to say goodbye to our friends who have come to see us off.
Eventually I get strapped into my car seat, but am definitely not impressed with the way Dad and Mum have packed everything into Tuah, most of it piled high next to me. They promise to sort it out tomorrow.
We are delayed in Dover, as all trains to Calais were suspended, Dad and Mum were getting flustered but it was fine with me – I got a ride on the AA’s little quad bike
4 May 2008
Driving into Paris today, we are off to see the sights. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about the Eiffel Tower and Arc Du Triumph, when on the way I saw a Cloud Making Machine….
5 May 2008
Today we break camp and move towards Poitiers. While Dad and Mum are busy packing, I move to the pitch opposite – it appeared more fun!
On the way to Poitiers, we stop at a rest area off the motorway and I meet the Michelin Man.
6 May 2008
We head towards Bordeaux today and get an unwanted tour of the back streets at peak hour thanks to the Sat Nav. Finally find the campsite at Audenge in the Bassin d’ Arcachon. Nice playground but lots of mosquitoes.
7 May 2008
Today we drive to Cap Ferret, to see the lighthouse, which Dad used to see from sea many years ago. I loved playing in the sand on the beach. We have a sandwich for lunch at a little surfers café and I meet a local boy, Charlie. We have a great time playing together.
9 May 2008
Mum says whoever came up with the saying, ‘The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain’ was a liar. It’s been raining the last 2 days! We spent last night at a campsite in Biarritz, on the Cote Basque, near the French-Spanish border and staying in the tent most of the evening and this morning.
We end up driving most of the day, since we couldn’t enjoy the outdoors and decide to spend the night in a hotel in Benavente, on the Tierra de Campos, Spain. The receptionist, at the Hotel Arenas, Nieves Feliz Fdez, gave me a lovely big brown bear.
10 May 2008
Today we drive on in the rain towards Portugal. On the way we see a castle in the distance and decide to drive up to it. It is in a small village on a hill, called Peubla de Sanabria. The view was great and I made a new friend, called Diego. We climbed the highest mountains (slopes) and played in the castle lookout posts. Diego and his family are going to Malaysia for holidays next year. I gave him a pen from Tourism Malaysia, and a picture postcard of Malaysia and Diego gave me a blue Gormiti, which I am carrying with me everywhere.
We arrive in Villa Real, Portugal and find the local campsite. After setting up camp, we wonder down to the campsite café and are treated to some traditional music. I had a great time!
11 May 2008
It’s Mother’s day today, but I made Mum a card in March, for Mothering Sunday. We called Mama in Malaysia, to wish her, though. Walked out to Villa Real central for lunch. This is apparently the last ride I’ll be getting in my beloved McLaren Quest pushchair. Dad and Mum have decided to ditch it, as it was taking too much space and was hardly being used. From tomorrow onwards, I’ll just have to walk, or be carried in my good old sarong sling, if I’m far too tired and need a nap.
13 May 2008
Today in my Mama’s birthday, and we are on our way to Fatima, for the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. We avoid the tens of thousands of pilgrims, some who walk from as far as Porto, for 4 days, by arriving in Fatima in the evening, as everyone is leaving.
14 May 2008
We leave Fatima and head for Parque Jurrassico which is about 15km away. It is a large open area, where apparently dinosaur footprints were found.
After walking for MILES, we eventually come to the bottom of a pit and see some holes in the stones.
At least I get a new toy at the end of it. Made that walk worth it!
15 May 2008
Today’s weather was awful. The sun had come up for a bit in the morning, and Mum slapped on the sun block, then the clouds got very dark and it started to rain,,,and carried on all day. We drove out to Sagres in the afternoon, before meeting Kakak Hannah and Abang Reg, and their fun friends, Abang Ian and Kakak Lara for dinner. They just arrived in Luz today for a holiday. Mum was complaining that it was so cold and windy. I wonder why she just didn’t switch those big fans off – I am sure that would have solved the problem!
16 May 2008
Mum forces me to sit and do some home schooling before we get a visit from Kakak Hannah.
Our next pitch neighbour, Wim gave me a brilliant orange Dutch Soccer cap and a tattoo on my arm, just like his.
18 May 2008
We have an early start today and I get yanked out of bed at the unruly hour of 7.30am. We have a quick breakfast then rush to the ferry terminal to catch the 9am ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta. The crossing took 1 hour, and we gained 2 hours time difference between Spain and Morocco, but lost 2 hours in border crossings, plus €30 which Dad paid the touts, in good faith and Dad’s Dictaphone, which the touts stole in the process.
We stop for lunch at the first decent looking café we see, for Dad and Mum to recover from the border crossing, and I meet AJ, the son for the owner of Dani’s Café in Smir – we have a brilliant time playing.
We carry on driving all day, arriving at our campsite in Azrou close to 9pm.
19 May 2008
We wake up in the morning to an unusual sound outside our tent. Mum peers out and see a donkey! Anyway, we take a drive up to the old Cedar tree, near the campsite, and I get to ride a horse and a donkey, and feed some monkeys.
We drive in to Azrou village, and have a tagine for lunch. Hisham let me help prepare it and even gave me some free bananas and biscuits for my efforts. I also meet the local music man and entertain the village to a dance.
20 May 2008
Today we take a drive with Uncle Steve, from Camping Amazigh to Volubilis, the ancient Roman Ruins some 1.5 hours away. We stop en route at the weekly souk, a large market, in Azrou village.
We then stop on the way to Volubilis, for some traditional BBQ meat and the cook and I play with some rolled paper sticks, hitting the meat hanging from the ceiling, like a piñata. Mum was not too impressed.
Finally, we get to Volubilis at about 4pm. Dad, Mum and Uncle Steve wonder around what they called ancient Roman Ruins. All I saw was a broken building!
21 May 2008
Today, we move on again. I will miss my two new buddies, Mr Rodney and Blackie, the dogs at Camping Amazigh, and also Uncle Hassan and his son Thierry and Uncle Steve, who looked after us so well.
Mum said I had brought along too many toys, and we left some of them and some colour pencils and crayons with Uncle Steve for the local kids. She says we are lucky enough to be able to afford many things which we take for granted, but most kids here have hardly anything themselves. Before we left, Uncle Hassan gave me a ‘scorpion stone’, which he says is a fossil from the desert….that’s where we are heading to next.
22 May 2008
We are in Merzouga – the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert begin here. It looks like one big sand pit, to me!!
We drive to the end of the road, to a village called Taouz, where we visit the local school; giving them DVD’s to introduce them to Malaysia and in turn is treated to lunch at the school teacher’s home. On the way back, we see some camels – I did not fancy sitting on one, as like the horse, they seemed too high. Mum says I’m just a donkey boy!
When the sun is not so hot, Yussof watered a patch of sand for me to build sandcastles in with my friend, Hamid.
23 May 2008
We wake up and slowly begin to load Tuah in Uncle Ali’s backyard, which had a bit of shade and no local touts. Eventually make our way to Tinghir, where we finally find a supermarche (supermarket) run by a French lady, who sold ice cream. Can you imagine that they had no ice cream in the desert? Mum says it ay be because it might melt too fast.
On the way we stop for a rest at a Berber Tent by the roadside. They entertain us to some traditional music.
Anyway, we decided to spend the night near the Tundra Gorge and chose Uncle Laksin’s hotel, as it was clean and had a cool Berber tent in front, where you could sit and enjoy the views. He was a cool guy and he allowed me to help him in the garden and in the kitchen.
We took a drive up to the gorge after a short rest. Amazing sight, the mountains with lines in it. Dad says they are fossils. There was a little stream, too where I could wet my feet. It was sad to see how much rubbish was thrown into the river by locals and tourists. Most of Morocco was well littered, and there were hardly any dustbins around. It’s such a beautiful country but if the environment is not looked after, it may not be so for long!
24 May 2008
After breakfast of bread and egg, Uncle Laksin takes us to the local Berber Barber, or Coiffeur, as they are called here for Dad and I to have a haircut. We walked, but it was a step slope up and Mum decided to carry me in my Sarong Sling from the Baby Loft, which can be used Berber style, like the local mums do!
We then have to move on. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Uncle Laksin, as I was having such a great time. Since being in Morocco, I have said goodbye to many friends just as I was getting to know them better and have so much fun. Mum explained that that is how it is being a traveler, we move on, but we can keep in touch with them and hope to see them again soon someday.
We drive gain through the gorge, as Dad found some scenic route that cuts through the mountains to the Dades Gorge, which is on the other side of the mountain range. It took us 7 hours to drive the 30km track, up one mountain piste to another, in the river beds and on really big stones. We eventually found out that we had just completed Morocco’s most difficult off road track. I think Uncle Luis Wee from the Rainforest Challenge would have been very proud of us!
25 May 2008
We are on the way today from The Dades Gorge towards Marrakech. We stop for lunch at the Royal Golf Club in Orzuzate, which is owned by a lovely French lady, Auntie Veronique. We had a good meal (it’s listed in Morocco’s Best Restaurant’s 2008)
We drive on and I fall asleep, waking up to find myself being stuffed back into my Baby Loft sling. We had arrived at the Atlas Studios, where many Hollywood flims had been shot, including the Jewel of the Nile, The Ten Commandments, The Dalai Lama, Cleopatra, Asterix and Oblix, just to name some. The wind was blowing up s small sandstorm, so luckily Mum had me in my sling, as she could use the tail end to cover my head when needed.
We saw many cool movie sets, and I loved the funny looking statues with heads of animals.
We drive on and eventually get to Marrakech much later than expected. It’s a mad city and people don’t seem to care about the rule of the road! After trying to find a campsite, or a hotel with suitable parking for Tuah, with no avail, Mum suggests we park in a Petrol Station and stay there the night, but within 5 minutes of being there, someone tries to sell Dad something he described as ‘dodgy’, so we moved to the airport car park, instead.
26 May 2008
Dad and Mum decided to start moving even before I woke up, so I found myself in front of a large supermarche as the doors opened at 9am. What joy – McDonalds for breakfast! Mum stocks up on some treats, including some ‘Ghani , including some ‘Ghani Yogurt’ and we find a shady spot in front of a school to sort out the mess in Tuah, from us sleeping in him the night before.
We drive around Marrakech, trying to decide if we should go to the campsite, which we now know where to find, as someone had left a flyer on Tuah’s windscreen while we were at the shops, but decide to drive to the mountains in Ourika, some 40 minutes away, here it would be cooler.
On the way we come across some camels and Mum takes me down to have a look. I did not want a ride, just to say hello to the baby camel that was there. Mum gave the guy there some money, but he kept asking for more and she firmly said no, but then he started asking for food and tugging at my t shirt, asking for clothes. We manage to leave with my clothes still intact. Mum explained how many people here are very poor and would try to get anything from tourists. It is sad, but the way they harass and hassle make you feel more annoyed than anything else!
We find a small hotel in Ourika and check in. After a much needed shower, we drive up the mountains to Oakamden, where there is a winter ski resort and a National Park. It was a beautiful place, but the minute we stopped the car we had all the local touts on top of us trying to sell their wares. It’s a shame that we couldn’t even get down and enjoy the sights without being hassled. We met some school kids from Casablanca on a field trip. We gave them some postcards from Malaysia and their teacher has promised to teach them more about our country and have the kids follow our website when they get back to school next week.
28 May 2008
We head from Casablanca to Azrou. !0km from Casablanca along the main trunk road, we see mountains of rubbish being burnt. The stench in horrible but nobody seems to care too much.
We arrive back at Uncle Hassan’s campsite in Azrou for dinner. Mum had bought some meat from the butcher in Casablanca and marinated some Malaysian style satay for dinner.
29 May 2008
When I wake up, I find a friend waiting to play. Archie has been on the road with his parent and younger brother for the last 2 months. He is from Oz, like my pal, Lachlan., but has been living in the UK for the last 3 years.
After lunch we take off again, and stop for the night at the campsite in the Motel Rif.
30 May 2008
We have breakfast and I go for a walk with my new friend, Khalid. We see some little kittens and then he takes me down the road for a donkey ride.
We cross the Moroccan border with a little bit of hassle, and the Spanish border with none at all. Unfortunately, we missed the last ferry from Ceuta, and with no campsites on the rock, we end up parking on the coast and sleeping in Tuah.
31 May 2008
We cross to mainland Spain by ferry. It looks like a bigger version of the River Thames outside but Mum says it’s the Straits of Gibraltar.
Once across Mum says we are in pain (Spain). I insist we are not….whatever is she talking about? We find a nice campsite just outside Estepona, where Dad and Mum are hoping to look up an old friend of theirs, Andres Perez. Lots of plants and birds here, and a lovely swimming pool, too!
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