Thursday

We arrived at noon as expected and the ship was cleared by 2.This is the last day of Ramadan and most places are shut. They thought that there would not be any trouble over the guy who is threatening to burn the Koran, but to keep our eyes open. I went down to the bus to see if I could go on a trip going to Rabat. There were four of us waiting but I was the first and so got on. The others did not.. The drive through Casablanca showed a pretty clean city with, unsurprisingly, white houses. The road to Rabat was flat and the fields on either side dry and bare. Rabat was also not very interesting. A city, and maybe a country, in cultural transition. Old walls and fortresses dating back to the 12th century plus modern buildings. We visited the king's palace,in which he does not live, and the casbah which reminded me of a Cycladic village in Greece, with narrow winding streets and colorful doors. This was a half day trip and we only spent a couple of hours there but it is not a city I would plan on revisiting.

Friday, Sept 10

We left at 8.20 for the four hour trip to Marakesh . As we approached the city, the countryside changed with little Berber villages making their appearance. It was still very dry and red but the fields became less flat and we could see the Atlas Mountains in the distance. The city of Marrakesh reminded me of Santa Fe. All the houses were red. Apparent;y a lot of famous people have houses here which they use occasionally as they do in other trendy places. I am not sure what the attraction is because it is very hot in the summer Our plan was to ride a camel to a Berber house, have lunch and ride back. However we were told that, due to the size of our group (two busloads) we would go by dune buggy and return by camel. My dune buggy driver was a very handsome Arab. Unfortunatly he did not speak Engliish and we both spoke french "un peu} but we didn't know the same words! Lunch was an elaborate affair and we all sat on the floor around round table and dishes were brought and put in the middle. The correct thing to do is eat with your hands, but they decided to give us forks and spoons. We all ate out of the same dish and did not have plates of our own. Food was good, but I am still a meat and potatoes person who does not like new foods so I didn't eat very much. After lunch, there was some dancing and then to the camels. They were smaller than I expected and had quite delicate bones. Their saddles were blankets with a metal handle in the front and rear and no stirups. Th ride was quite painful because ones legs are spread apart and there is nothing to rest your feet on. At one point, the call to prayer came and I tried to take a movie of the camel with that in the background. Too bad it came out blank! I was very glad to get off the camel and found me legs had become numb and I couldn't walk very well!/

Saturday

I developed the first cold which is going around the ship so decided not to go on the mornings' tour. I did go to lunch though as the bus picked me up. After walking for a few minutes through the hot dusty street though I decided that it would not be a good idea to go to the bazaar which I had been looking forward to.and where I had planned to buy some leather things. I went back to the hotel and went to look for a pharmacy. I found one but it was closed. A man came up to me and said he spoke English and could he help me. He wrote down the name of another pharmacy and then asked me for money. I said I had no change but could give him an american dollar. He said $5 and I said no way and walked away. Apparently this type of behavior is not unusual.