Light and shadow

Here I am again! There is some news that I will type here.

Christian and I drove east from Marrakech to the Ouzoud waterfalls and had a really nice few days there. It was higher up, so it wasn't quite as hot, so I was able to go hiking easily. Christian wasn't there one day, but we repeated the whole thing together the next day.

It was a nice time with Jerome and his wife, we were almost alone and had a lot of peace and quiet and were able to relax a little in nature from the "stress" from Marrakech. That sounds bad, but finally we were able to run straight with the dogs and didn't have to pay attention to rubbish etc. all the time. The hike to the waterfalls was fun, Jerome didn't know it either and was thrilled. We saw the Berber monkeys that actually live here, but are always fed nuts for the tourists right at the waterfalls. The first group was wild and funny, the tame monkeys were rather suspicious to me, but cute. The blacks found the monkeys interesting, Loki was quiet, Nerone wanted to bark...

Here the peculiarity of the Moroccans has been revealed again, because if money can be made from tourists, many will try it. That's why there were many cafés along the river, restaurants and endless souvenir sellers, where things were certainly different a few years ago. But who can blame the people who just want to feed their families?

We then ate in a restaurant and were able to feed the pregnant cats too, because it was really plentiful and really good!

The campsite near Jerome and Doumé was pure Morocco once again, because now we're back in tourist hotspots, it was simple, but there was everything you needed. Things will be different from Casablanca onwards, because you are rarely alone by the sea.

We are now at Casablanca, because the brakes have hit again.

What's the best way to say it? The side that wasn't rebuilt, except for the coverings, was literally torn apart and the pieces flew. All I can say is that I had to brake hard the first time because of an accident, because someone had a MEGA PROTECTION ANGEL, then the second time because of a moped, and that's probably where it happened. I only saw parts flying, but I couldn't tell if I ran over something or if it was coming from us. Now I know it was the driver's side brake....

Now it's a standstill again, Palumbi is left without tires because now someone has to find the right brake drum or build one. Again the owner of the campsite helped us a lot, the phone didn't stop working, but so far without any significant success. BUT we know that Moroccans are masters at recycling old car parts, hopefully something can still be done! I don't want to sound negative here, because the brake that was rebuilt held up, it's the other one that didn't do so well here. I'm worried about Palumbi, I'm even more worried about Christian, who first looked for the fault in himself.

BUT Palumbi is more than 50 years old, something like that can happen. He probably only drove such long distances with us, a caravan of his age was usually only used as a long-term camper, or just for 1000 km a year to the beach and then back home.... We have now had our classic car driven almost 20,000 km , and that within 7 months... The wear and tear is there, it hurts, but it will work out somehow!

If necessary I have to sneak to the ferry, then we could try our luck in Spain, I want to lump it….

I try to look at it positively, even if the rooster is constantly crowing here at Camping Mimosa, because there are a few people running around here. It will work out somehow, I won't just give up! I'll be heading to Spain soon, then we'll wait for the spare parts and THEN IT'S GOOD!

Now Palumbi is back on its 4 tires. What was particularly helpful was the email from Alkowerk, which advised us to switch to a different brake and only 2 tires on the axle... I'll leave it open whether they thought about it!

After the initial shock, Christian researched again and found a possible solution. Now it's time to wait and drive slowly to the ferry.

I haven't done any sightseeing in the last few days, but rather dog-walking and shopping. It's a lively area and the people are mostly very nice. I mostly typed because there are a lot of beggars here, they wait in front of the bank, at the traffic lights and in front of shops, some of them are pushy. Ramadan is about to begin, so many are coming to Casablanca to one of the Monumental Mosque of Hassan II so that they can receive alms. Casablanca is the largest city in Morocco, so many are hoping for more. I can understand it, somehow anyway...

Unfortunately there are a lot of street dogs here, Nerone was already attacked by one, where I had better luck with Loki. These dogs here are territorial and really aggressive, they only calm down when you approach them just as angry, without a dog of course.... Christian has identified an area nearby for walks that is quite nice, there are strays here too dogs, but so far everything has been going well.

Nothing happened to Nerone, but of course it wasn't great. I hope it stays that way and everything goes smoothly!