Melia Atlanterra Zahara de los Atunes

... smaller group, though I think I had a slight ulterior motive. <br><br>Today we are heading to the ferry to where the real journey begins and we ascend onto the African continent. I am so excited! Though I did prepare, I enjoyed my last hot shower immensely before leaving the camp ground in Spain. All in all it seems like a great group of people but 43 weeks with anyone is *************e such multi cultural groups like this. It should be really amazing.

At Cibraltar we saw the cliff that had been used to defend The Strait of Gibraltar for several centuries. The Strait of Gibraltar connnects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean Sea. Inside the cliff there is a great tunnel system where cannons was used through small holes in the wall. In addition the cliff has a opera hall inside and on top of it many monkeys are to be seen. <br><br> A fun thing about Cibraltar is that you have to cross the runway of the airport to ...

... high winds, so they recommended taxi or private car. So, private car it is. I drove first to Point Europa, the southernmost point in Europe. It was VERY windy down on the point, and I was the only one about. Braced against the wind, I photographed the lighthouse and the mosque. As I departed, the mosque began to broadcast the call for prayers ... one of my favourite sounds ... It was easy to pay my entrance fee then enter the Nature Reserve. Driving around the Upper Rock was ...

... homosexuality was there in Morocco....he told me that if a man was known to be gay by another group of men on the streets, I wouldn´t want to know what would happen.....it was the first time in my life that the reality of the violence towards gay people of that type (beatings, attacks) truly did exist. I always knew things happened, but there I was in the middle of a Muslim city, everyone speaking Arabic, and here I was, an extremely white, gay ...

... costumes and quite a site to see. The women looked amazing with hair and make-up complete and the children looked absolutely adorable in their little outfits with much detail. Most families have their photograhic portraits taken on this night in one hour photo shops across town. There were some traditional vendors in the main street of Tangier who had set up elaborately decorated royalty type thrones in garish gold and silver with fabrics and flowers to ...

... The Taxi touts were noticably aggressive and everyone seemed to be after your money. It sure was a slap in the face after spending so long in peaceful Tagazhout. There was no surf within walking distance but the countless setups that wed driven past on the bus ride constantly plagued our mind. We left the next day on a cheaper yet dodgy bus the next morning headed for Oulidalia. Oulidalia was magic. The tourist town was situated on a beautiful bay with pine tree hills ...

mood: absolutely crazily excited Well im sitting here in my hotel room... IN MOROCCO!!! Woooo hoooo! I am so excited to be here. But let me fill you in on the events leading up to this momentous moment. Tuesday night I went out for dinner in Lagos with 2 really lovely canadian girls from Montreal. We went to a place called Casa Rosa, and had what is called the ´power hour´ - 10 euro for a meal and all you can drink beer or wine for one hour. time starts when you recieve your ...

... around in the shops until dark, when we headed out back to the hotel for dinner. I was soo tired on the way back and slept until we reached the hotel. Dinner was salad, finally, some kind of beef, rice, and veggies, with a strawberry cake thing for dessert. All of it was very good, and it finally felt great to eat a decent full meal that consisted of anything other than just soup!!!!! Then it was off to bed, because tomorrow is even earlier, 7AM breakfast!!!

... brought back familiar memories of markets in far-off places like Egypt and Syria. Thinking back, it's surprising how similar these geographically dispersed places are. Olives seem to be big business here, as are strange melons and a variety of meats and poultry that hang around in the breeze waiting for trade ...

Wow! The last 48 hours have been quite an adventure. I have officially added Africa to the list of continents I've been on. I took the overnight train to Algeciras, Spain....and getting there is half the fun right? I actually had a great time on the train...I shared a compartment with a boy - Kari - who was just finishing his training for the Spanish army and was on his way to another base. He was really sweet and cute, and we stayed up half the ...