After spending 3 nights in Marrakesh and being hit up by every local asking me to buy their beautiful merchandise or delicious food we travel to Ouarzazate which is 4.5 hour bus ride east through the Atlas mountain range. Marrakesh was an interesting town but has the intensity of a large city when walking through the streets which are croweded with locals, travelers and people on motorcycles trying to maneuver through narrow streets. If your not paying attention you may get pushed, feet stepped, stumble in a hole, or hit by a motorbike traveling by. The people are a bit intense and try using whatever tactics to get you to walk away with their merchandise, but dont be fooled by because even though we didn’t buy anything they try and swindle you by starting with a high price before lowering it if you are willing to negotiate. Although every local asked if I was Moroccan it didn’t help in them giving me the family discount. “For you my friend 250 MAD” translated in my head, “Give me $25 USD for wrapping this cloth on your head.” No thanks.Needless to say I’ll wait on that this time.

Ouarzazate is a town near the desert and has a smaller town feel which makes it a bit easier to walk around without feeling like your constantly being shoved into a market or in a debate about why you dont want to buy some random item. The town is closer to the desert which brings me back home because of the smells and the dirt storms that blow in your face during Spring. We stayed in this town for two nights before coming over to Ouzoud. We will be hiking a trail in the mountains up to a waterfall that is fed from the melting mountain snow. Time for a cold plunge! For now it is time for some rest, 6 hours drive through the mountain was nice but a bit too tiring.

Today we say goodbye to Casa Blanca and make our way to Marrakesh. We leave Hotel Majestic which has been anything but what the name implies. The only majestic thing here has been the amount of work that has gone into decorating the walls inside and the two tigers that guard the entrance of the hotel.  With the exception of 1 person the rest of the hotel staff has been somewhat rude and standoff-ish. Maybe it is the language barrier or the way people speak to familiar faces but the energy is very direct and loud which does not encourage communication. At this point I have to not give a shit about how I approach people and go against my values of being respectful and curtious and just jump into converstations between staff members so that I can ask for what I want using my own version of sign language, broken english mixed with Spanish Portuguese Portoñol, and the few words I have learned in French. It seems to me that this is the only way to get attended because otherwise if you wait they think your are just standing there waiting for anything but service to the establishment. One by one someone  jumps in front of you as if you were invisible and gets attended or snatches bread from you as you are clearly reaching to get it to put it on your plate during breakfast. Just another reason to learn how to speak French or Arabic. The culture is different which makes it a great place to come visit just so you can say you experienced it and have some great stories.. 

Decoration on Mosque walls.

Casa Blanca public transportation. Kids jumping on bus to get a free ride through broken side windows of bus.

Maggie and I smashed on a bus with a million people headed back to the Airbnb in Casa Blanca.

Buenas Gentle Folks,

Since leaving the islands we have now traveled out of the Shangan Area to Morocco. Because we can only legally be in spain for 3 months at a time with our issued travel visas we have come across the islands to Casa Blanca (CB) to see a bit of Africa. I will be in the area of Morocco for about a month before heading back to the states to visit family and friends before heading back to the UK to continue the trip. So far people have told us that the city of CB has nothing great to see so we will only spend four days here before heading to Marrakesh. However, the best thing to see so far has been the public transportation. From what we have seen the teenage population usually sneaks onto the bus by jumping in through a broken window or helping each other pry the back doors open while the bus is moving and letting others on while the bus is still moving. When the driver becomes aware of what is going on he starts his evasion maneuvers through the side streets so he can avoid to many stowaways from hitching a ride. After he looses them he finds the main street again and continues as if nothing ever happened. Quite entertaining I must say.

This is the first place where both of us dont understand the languages because the population either speaks French or Arabic. I think its time to learn a new language. Here are some picks of the places we have visited so far there are not too many but hopefully Marrakesh has more to see.

I headed over to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands to the west of Gran Canaria. I stayed with a German woman (Uli) that runs a Hostel in the small town of La Orotava. Here I will be exploring the town while learning a bit about organic gardening. Although her garden is somewhat of a wild thing with no form, it definitely allows the natural plants to multiply easily with the fertile volcanic ground. Unfortunately all sorts of weeds have made it their home which makes it hard to distinguish something that belongs from something that should be removed.
As for La Oratava it is town that is known for their balonies which can be seen on some of the pictures I posted below. Homes built around the 17th century still line the streets on some of the older places in town.
My stay will be in a tent that is in the garden but has a bed and living area within. I have retrofitted the other side of the tent with a bench and shelf for my things to keep them off the ground. My host has also run an electrical cord to the place so I can have some light in case I want to read or move around after the sun is gone. This hostel is mostly hosting German travelers so I hope that my Deutch sprechen will come back to me.
During my stay I helped around in the garden and the house chores to keep the place a bit tidy.
Aside from learning a bit of German I have been able to spend my free time exploring the town and the coast in Puerto De la Cruz (full of Tourist).
While here I was able to experience my first Carnaval which started on the 24th and went on for two weeks with each small town having their own customs and music concerts. Maggie and I went to two different towns with Santa Cruz (Tenerife’s main city)being the biggest and loudest place by far. It seemed to me like they had closed off 8 to 10 square blocks for music and drinks. I must say that it is the biggest block party I have ever been to and people were very friendly and welcoming.
Overall a great time here on the islands and I would like to return someday to visit and keep exploring.
I know I haven’t posted in a bit but it gets difficult to do it on a mobile phone. My computer got rained on and it is no longer alive. I will try and keep everyone updated. Hopefully soon I will figure out what this blog is really for.

Here is a video that I recently saw that was enjoyable.