Kittens, Puppies, and Piglets

In Ait Ben Haddou, we stayed overnight in the historic fortress itself. Our host and his team have been regularly renovating the buildings owned by their family since 2009, as everything would otherwise collapse. The walls are made of straw, clay, and stones. The money for the renovation comes from the guests who stay there. The accommodation was very simple and had limited electricity, so it is mainly illuminated by candles. We enjoyed not only this romantic accommodation but also the peace early in the morning and evening, which allowed us to explore the fortress. During the day, it is packed with tourists. The reason for this influx is certainly also that many famous movies and series were filmed in Ait Ben Haddou, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones. We were also very happy to meet people again after our time together. We spent the evening with a young married Indian couple and a South African woman. Furthermore, the hotel owner's kitten had taken up residence with us. It slipped under the door and presto, it made itself comfortable in our bed. It is not unusual for animals to be everywhere in Morocco, but it does have its drawbacks. I (Barbara) have a few extremely itchy bites/stings on my legs. After what felt like 5 hours of Googling, we came up with two possible culprits: fleas or sandflies. The former is not unlikely, as accommodations are often quite dirty. The latter, since the stings started in the desert, where the bed was actually very clean, and we found no traces on our clothes or the bed. We have now bought insect sprays and hope to eliminate the pests this way. Since no new stings have appeared, we very much hope that it has been the sandfly. We would prefer that. But whether it was a flea or a sandfly, the animal that bit me is quite a jerk, if I may say so, as I lie awake for quite a long time at night with extreme itching that does not go away with either burning the skin or creams.

Now we are at a new location by the sea in a remote fisherman's hut. The nearest big store or restaurants are about an hour's drive away, and we had to drive on sandy roads to reach the place. At first glance, the accommodation is beautiful! Absolute idyll, right by the sea. The only thing you hear is the sound of the huge waves and occasionally the three animals of the owners (2 cats and a dog). It is also not so hot here as at the other places, but rather around 20 degrees. This makes Näthu happy, but Barbara is not, as she would prefer to live in a sauna. The accommodation belongs to two young Moroccans who also live here. There is also a young stoner here, and one of the Moroccans seems to have a young European lover. The group of four usually sits in the communal kitchen and smokes joints. With each puff from the calming joint, any standard of cleanliness evaporates. Neither Näthu nor I have ever seen anything this dirty in an accommodation. Stale food (mostly foul-smelling fish), moldy spices, insects, thousands of flies, all kinds of dirt, a cleaning sponge that looks like it could grow at least 30 previously undiscovered cultures, and a fridge that is warmer than the outside temperature despite all the food that needs to be chilled. Seeing this, we quickly canceled the dinner we had pre-ordered for the evening and decided to cook only for ourselves, with food that does not need refrigeration. Fortunately, we bought vegetables, fruits, and pasta on our way here. In our small private kitchen, there is also mold in some places (which is probably unavoidable due to the high humidity), but at least it is somewhat clean. The money we save by cooking for ourselves we have now invested in a slightly better hotel in the next town. We long for clean accommodation, ideally with a sufficiently large bed, a comfortable mattress, and no condoms lying around. We also wish for a shower with warm water where we don’t have to sit on the floor to create enough water pressure. We are no longer in our twenties or just don’t smoke enough.
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In Ait Ben Haddou we spent the night in the historic fortress itself. Our host and his team have been regularly renovating the buildings belonging to their family since 2009 because otherwise everything would collapse. The walls are made of straw, clay, and stone. The money for renovation comes from the guests who stay here. The accommodation was very simple and had limited electrical supply, so it is mostly lit by candles. We enjoyed not only this romantic accommodation but also the quiet and calm early in the morning and evening, which allowed us to explore the fortress. During the day it is full of tourists. The reason for this influx is surely that many famous films and series were shot in Ait Ben Haddou, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones. We were also very glad to meet people again after a long time. We spent the evening with a young Indian couple and a South African woman. The hotel owner’s kitten also moved in with us. It slipped under the door and made itself comfortable in our bed. It’s not uncommon for animals to be everywhere in Morocco, but it does have its downsides. I (Barbara) had several extremely itchy bites/stings on my legs. After about five hours of Googling we came up with two possible culprits: fleas or sand flies. The first is not entirely unlikely since accommodations are often quite dirty. The latter, because the stings began in the deser, where the bed was actually very clean and we didn’t find any traces on clothing or bed. We have now purchased insect sprays in hopes of eliminating the pests. Since no new stings have appeared, we really hope it was a sand fly. We would prefer that. But whether it was a flea or a sand fly, the animal that bit me is quite a jerk, if I may put it that way, as I lie awake for quite a long time at night with extreme itching that does not go away with either burning the skin or creams.

Now we are in a new location by the sea in a secluded fisherman's cottage. The nearest large store or restaurant is about an hour's drive away, and we had to take sandy roads to get there. At first glance, the accommodation is beautiful! Absolute idyll, right by the sea. The only sound is the noise of the huge waves and occasionally the three animals of the owners (2 cats and a dog). It is not as hot here as in other places, but around 20 degrees. This pleases Näthu, while Barbara does not like it as she would prefer to live in a sauna. The accommodation belongs to two young Moroccans, who also live here. There is also a young stoner here, and one of the Moroccans apparently has a young European lover. The four-member group usually sits in the shared kitchen and smokes joints. With every puff from the soothing joint, any standard of cleanliness fades away. Neither Näthu nor I have ever seen something so dirty in a place we stayed. Stale food (mostly foul-smelling fish), moldy spices, insects, thousands of flies, all sorts of dirt, a sponge that looks like it could grow at least 30 previously undiscovered cultures, and a refrigerator that is warmer than the outside temperature, despite the many perishable foods. With that sight, we quickly canceled the dinner that we had ordered in advance for the evening and decided to cook only for ourselves, with food that did not need to be refrigerated. Fortunately, we bought vegetables, fruit, and pasta on our way here. Our little private kitchen also has some mold (which is probably unavoidable due to the high humidity), but at least it is relatively clean. The money we saved by cooking for ourselves, we have now invested in a somewhat better hotel in the next town. We yearn for a clean place to stay, ideally with a large enough bed, a comfortable mattress, and no condoms lying around. We also wish for a shower with warm water where we don't have to sit on the floor to create enough water pressure. We are no longer in our twenties or just don't smoke enough.