First day if the trip

This is a Wildflower and Bird trip. I’m really here for the wild flowers, but the long drought means that most are absent.

We walked along a road that was awash with flowers two years ago to find hardly anything. The birders were happy with lots of interesting spots.

If you can’t beat them join them!

We walked from the hotel this morning. It did rain last night but everywhere is still pretty dry.

We came to a place where people live in shacks. The rubbish scattered everywhere is hard for us to understand. Down by a dry river bed there was even more. Dogs were scavenging, but one brought an empty water bottle to be thrown for him!

In the afternoon we walked to a local village. Many of the houses appear to be partly constructed and there are some that are falling down. Here we found some vegetation. My main are the beautiful oleander seeds.

Later in the afternoon people appeared. The children loved trying out Hello and Bonjour. The call to prayer came.

The first extra shows the door to my room. I’m in one of the outdoor rooms, built recently.

I must tell you about the food. At breakfast there was quite a mixture of things but the food comes out in stages and you don’t know what else there might be. Should you eat bread or are pancakes on the way?

We didn’t know at lunchtime if more food would come after a vegetable tagine, but there was just a banana and strawberry smoothie and lemongrass tea!

My final extra is a young man selling herbs, including lemongrass in the village.

We have been warned against photographing people but I asked and he was happy.

When we go to Taroudont and the souk we have been told that we must stay in our group of 9. When I asked if we could just wander for the time allocated, I was told that the leaders could not stand the stress of possible losing someone. Hmm. They are lovely and I must do what the group does, but you know how I love to wonder and talk to people!

It’s been an excellent first day.