Wind, fog, and then snow

15.02. Tafraout - Tata I told you yesterday about the laundry lady who received so many and large bags from us in the morning that she was almost invisible on her small moped. She wanted to bring our laundry back washed, dried and ironed by the evening. She also came in the evening around 6 p.m. - with one bag. The laundry was washed but wet. She explained her problem to us, which quickly became our problem: it was raining, in some parts of this province for the first time in seven years. She only has a small house where she cannot hang up laundry. That means: she brings the laundry back wet to us.

Even though the woman's house may be tiny, compared to our motorhomes it is more like a warehouse in terms of space. I got my laundry around 9 p.m. Now what to do with the wet clothes? It was raining outside, so I had to bring everything inside the motorhome. I took my dry clothes off the hangers and started hanging up t-shirts and sweatpants. The hangers were not enough. In the bathroom, I stretched a clothesline back and forth and filled it with socks and underwear. I came across a white shirt with Mickey Mouse that only one of our women could fit into - it didn't matter anymore.

At least the driver area was still free. That was important because when we left the next day at 9 a.m., not a single item of laundry was dry. I turned on the hot air blower to maximum power and off we went. After 25 meters, the journey could have already ended. The stream that flows under the road at the entrance to the campsite had turned into a torrent. We just managed to cross it.

I quickly started to feel hot, but not because of the blower ... Ricci had chosen the direct route because otherwise we would have had to travel almost 200 kilometers instead of 160 kilometers. We drove on the R105 and R106 to Tamboure, which was just under 80 kilometers, so half of the distance. I knew from the map that the road conditions would improve from there on. But when I looked at the speedometer for the first time after two hours, we had only covered 50 kilometers.

It was raining and on the way over the nearly 2,000-meter-high pass, the rain soon turned into snow. Mud on the road made every hairpin turn thrilling. Like many in our crew, I had summer tires. In addition, thick fog made orientation almost impossible. I had to concentrate exclusively on the car in front of me, Bernd. I stayed in his tracks for every pothole, every flooded bridge. We crawled forward at almost walking pace.

When we finally reached Tamboure after three hours, instead of one candy, I indulged in three - I didn't care that I wouldn't have any reward for the rest of the journey. I wasn't wrong, the roads got better. And so did the weather. But the rain persisted, and for the first time on this tour through Morocco, I was annoyed by it. In the following kilometers, we saw rock formations, layers of rocks in magnificent colors and formations that I had never seen before. Birgit could have taken great photos there! It is a small miracle to me anyway how she can capture such pictures from a moving car in rain with a mobile phone - even if it is a very good one. My greatest respect!

Now we are in Tata, squeezed together on a small campsite. We will stay here for two nights before continuing to Foum Zguid on Friday. We have everything here: electricity, a shower - even hot! - water, disposal, and a small restaurant. The only thing we don't have and won't have is good weather. But the sun is finally supposed to shine on Saturday. It's time because slowly - I notice it myself - wind, clouds, rain, and cold are affecting my mood ...