Saturday 25 Jan 2014

We needed a few things so we took a walk up into the town. Sidi Ifni was a Spanish enclave until 1969 and it shows in some of the architecture. The town is very clean and tidy, though they don't tend to spend much on upkeep of the roads and footpaths - but there's not a lot of traffic so we did as the locals do and walked in the road!

Hotel de Ville

First stop, top up the mifi then go in search of some more dirhams. As it's Saturday the banks are closed but we risked the cash machines and were successful with the second - instructions in English too. Found the fuel station; we're going to need that when we leave.Then in search of the market, via the local equivalent of a car-boot sale. Now we know where all the UK recycled stuff goes to..........

Hotel Belle Vue

We have to say that there was not a lot there, but we've come to realise that nothing really happens in Morocco until late afternoon. However some places are open and we found a shop which became "Djellaba Central" - see later for the reasons and a photo - where we entered into negotiations, i.e. haggled with the proprietor for local garments. I don't seem to have got the hang of this somehow, as after we had agreed a price and paid, the guy handed me back 30Dh............ Terry got his djellaba and Bren got a beautiful long overdress with a scarf to go with it. We'll post pictures later.

Central Park

Then into the market to get some fruit and veg and bread. We think the price of bread should be 1Dh (about 8p) but we're usually charged 2Dh - they see the tourists coming! We didn't bother with meat though.......

Local butcher

Back to the van for lunch and an afternoon relaxing in the sun. Top up the water tanks and empty the waste - every drop of water we use is carried by Terry - twice! Time to get the trolley out.

There is always a lot of coming and going on this campsite and it is obviously very popular. It's also cheaper than the two enclosed sites where we even saw vans parked up outside. Why? There are also quite a number of semi-permanent residents and of course they "bagged" the best, beach side, pitches. However, wherever you park there is the constant sound of waves breaking, reflected back by the cliffs at the back of the site. It's actually quite soothing.......but watch the sunburn!

In the evening, the group decided to go out for a meal but some shopping was required first. Back to "Djellaba Central".

The guy must have thought it was Christmas as he sold lots more to our group, including us. Seems, though, that haggling was not his thing and only one of the group got anything reduced, and that by only a few dirhams. No matter as it was all incredibly cheap anyway. A full djellaba cost 200Dh - £17.50. A scarf 30Dh.

And so to the restaurant. This time we booked a table at a recommended place as we walked past, so when we returned a hour later they were ready for us. A fairly simple menu, and not the cheapest, but with enough choice to satisfy us all. We dined on excellent grilled beef in a wonderful mushroom sauce with a selection of local vegetables. Others had king prawns, anchovies and even spaghetti done in a fish and seafood sauce. And everybody made sure Bren got hers first.....

We were a little perplexed to see that they were perfectly happy for you to bring your own drinks - alcohol of course not available in this Muslim country. We just had coca cola, but were amused when the rest, on wine and beer, got charged "corkage" - they don't miss a trick!

Back to the van and it had turned decidedly cool so hot chocolate before bed. An excellent day.