We arrived off the 25 hour ferry in Tangier, Morocco, where our month long journey around North Africa was just about to start. We then drove for one hour through the sunshine, into the cloud and mist until it turned very dark. We stepped out of the car and looked around for our accommodation, ‘Riad Baraka’, Chefchaouen. 
It didn’t take long to find it with excellent directions and so we turned up at yet another bluey purple house, the identical colour from the one next door and the one next door to that. Everything is painted in indigo here. We were relieved to hear a clear English voice say “Hello Mr Carr?”, and we were here, in Morocco. That night we went to a massive market, the medina which weaved through the back streets. The markets had hundreds of small stalls trying to sell you whatever they had. There were also lots of carpet sellers and restaurants everywhere. Everything is soooooo cheap. Things range from a vial of saffron for $1.00 to a cute tortoise for $6 and even a well fed goat or sheep which they will kill in 5 days for their festival for $150. Yesterday dad bought a caftan and slippers and they ONLY cost $20, plus it was made from cotton. As well as that he also got a shave from an extremely friendly man with the sharpest cut-throat razor for only $1!
On our way through the streets we met another man who wanted to show us his carpets, rugs and blankets. First off he lead us into his personal home and told us about his life. He also had two tiny kittens that Maisy and I played with. THEN he showed us all of his carpets, rugs and mats. Dad said he was an excellent salesman and did everything to get a customer. In the end we bought two things; a carpet made by the blue tribe (a darker coloured tribe who rub blue dye on them to protect themselves from the sun. Also the tribe in the mountains that he came from), we also bought a beige coloured cotton rug that could also be a blanket. Mum tried out the blanket that night and said it was toasty warm. I hope I can use it when we go into the desert!
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| Moktar and his rugs |
Chefchaouen is a lovely town that I wish we could stay longer in. I will really miss the blue buildings and its friendly people.
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| View from the roof top terrace of Riad Baraka |
www.riad-baraka.com
We arrived off the 25 hour ferry in Tangier, Morocco, where our month long journey around North Africa was just about to start. We then drove for one hour through the sunshine, into the cloud and mist until it turned very dark. We stepped out of the car and looked around for our accommodation, ‘Riad Baraka’, Chefchaouen. 
It didn’t take long to find it with excellent directions and so we turned up at yet another bluey purple house, the identical colour from the one next door and the one next door to that. Everything is painted in indigo here. We were relieved to hear a clear English voice say “Hello Mr Carr?”, and we were here, in Morocco. That night we went to a massive market, the medina which weaved through the back streets. The markets had hundreds of small stalls trying to sell you whatever they had. There were also lots of carpet sellers and restaurants everywhere. Everything is soooooo cheap. Things range from a vial of saffron for $1.00 to a cute tortoise for $6 and even a well fed goat or sheep which they will kill in 5 days for their festival for $150. Yesterday dad bought a caftan and slippers and they ONLY cost $20, plus it was made from cotton. As well as that he also got a shave from an extremely friendly man with the sharpest cut-throat razor for only $1! 
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