Casablanca, it is not in black and white

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  Casablanca, Morocco
Thursday, November 6, 2008

All - for the first time since 23 October I have an internet connection. Many things to update - starting now...
Today is our last day in Essouria. We catch a bus from Essouria to Marrakech, then a train to Casablanca. Essouria has granted us another splendid day although there is a little bit of a chill to the air.Both Shellie and I woke early this morning; listening to the sounds of the morning including the many birds which seem to like singing in the morning. Our breakfast was again delicious, although a little hurried because we had a bus to catch at 09:15.Interestingly the bus loading procedure this time around was a little different; there seemed to be a bit of a mix of allocated seating and not. We were fortunate to have a couple of English speakers who were happy to trade seats with us as we were boarded and in position several minutes prior to them.The trip back to Marrakech is along the same road we travelled on before, although this time it had been fine for a number of days so many of the swollen creeks we saw on the way down were trickles of their former selves. Again we witnessed the many blocks of land which appeared to be experts at growing rocks, as well as Argan around Essouria. It appears a farm block is created in a number steps; firstly the surface rocks are gathered into piles, these piles are them arranged to form the basis of the future property wall. Preparation of the surface continues; rocks removed are placed on the ones initially removed to form the wall base. After a while, most of this seemingly done by hand, the rocks are removed sufficiently to allow cultivation of the land, and the land is surrounded by a wall.Most of the land holdings seemed to be about a hectare (10,000 sqm) in size, with a stone fence and a house or storage building, again made from stone. Soil within the cultivated areas around plants are raised into ridges, permiculture style, so as to trap water flowing along the surface for long enough to encourage it to sink deep in to the soil. The walls also do not have drainage channels in them, thus capturing more surface flow. Of course, this does increase the risk the wall will collapse under the weight of water, which appeared to have occurred in a number of areas.As we travelled along we passed many sheep and goat herders tending to their flocks; taking advantage of the green material which seemed to form alongside the roadway. This is similar to what some of our farmers in the more arid regions of our great southern land. I also noticed the ratio of men to women (that is, visible men to women) had increased, at least through the market places alongside the roads for towns through which we passed. I am unsure whether this is a cultural reflection; in that areas used extensively for tourism are fundamentally more liberal than other towns, or whether this simply reflected the time of day.Our stopover in Marrakech was short; only about 45 minutes; before we knew it we were on the train to Casablanca. In our compartment we had a couple, and a mother and daughter, all from Agadir. The daughter noticed the Australian Flag on our backpacks, which lead to a brief conversation as she was a surfer. She had thought about travelling to Australia one-day but had heard we have sharks. It appears the governments advertising blitz to deter boat people a few years back has had some effect perhaps. We assured her that very few people actually get eaten!As we travelled through the countryside, change was gradual. The landscape between Essouria and Marrakech is flat, and closer to Marrakech, dominated by the Atlas mountains which are covered with snow it appeared. It would have been a spectacular place to visit had it not been raining on the day of our tour - c'est la vie!The red colour of the soil combined with the occasional eucalypt reminded us of home. Soon we would be back tending to our garden, our pets, and seeing our friends and family again. This trip has begun to feel less like a holiday and more like a way of life; moving from place to place and seeing what is there. I don't think either of us will have itchy feet for some time once we are again home; but time will tell.As the landscape changed, so did the method of marking property boundaries; rocks giving way to prickly-pear. That said, occasionally you would see a paddock full of prickly-pear; demonstrating it can get out of control here as well!As we got closer to Casablanca the landscape was becoming hillier. No longer the large flat rock filled plains with the Atlas mountains dominating the horizon, but more rolling fields of rocks. The further north we travelled, the greener the fields became; rocks making way for fields of clover.At around 16:30 we reached Casablanca VGRS, the main train terminal. We bid farewell to our travelling companions, giving them a couple of the Australian badges we have been carrying around with us for just such an occasion. The mother appeared to be particularly chuffed; the badge had a kangaroo on it and the colour matched the colour of her Berka.Once off the train it didn't take us long to find our accommodation; we negotiated transport with a petit-taxi (they are red here, beige in Marrakech, blue in Essouria) to Casa Port and then walked from there. Shellie and I have planned a quiet night in today; Shellie is running out of time to complete a rug she has been making for Nicklas before we leave Europe. Tomorrow we will set out to find the tourism office and source some good maps of Casablanca.

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