Freetown, Sierra Leone

This trip through West Africa started in French influenced Morocco, moved to Portuguese speaking Cape Verde then French speaking Senegal before heading into English speaking Gambia. After a few days in the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau and a quick foray into French Guinea it's back to the heavily English Sierra Leone.

A BRIEF HISTORY
The slave trade began in Sierra Leone in 1560 and within 100 years the British & Portuguese had established trading settlements all along the West African coast. By the late 1700's the optimistically named capital of Freetown was established at the mouth of the Sierra Leone river. Freetown is framed by beautiful mountains and white sand beaches, and quickly the colony known to locals as Salone became a British colony. Freetown was where freed North American slaves and others liberated from slaving ships were brought by the British. Known as 'Krios' the former slaves assumed an English type of lifestyle and openly discriminated against the indigenous population. Attacks by the French, disease and growing unrest led to a monstrous uprising in the late 20th century by the indigenous Mende people, who make up about one third of the population. Independence came in 1961, followed by three coups in one year in the late 60's, then the headline grabbing civil war that lasted from 1991 until 2001. Now peaceful, Sierra Leone is still recovering and while overseas investment may be slow in coming, it seems inevitable that the beaches south of Freetown will soon be overrun with resorts and golf courses, similar to Cancun.

FLYING INTO FREETOWN
After the trip from Gambia to Guinea-Bissau the next country south was Guinea but the Ebola outbreak had led to a lot of uncertainty around border opening and flight cancellations. I decided it was quicker and easier to return to Banjul in The Gambia and fly Gambia Bird airlines to Sierra Leone and approach Guinea from the south. Gambia Bird doesn't boast many flights on their schedule but they are cost effective and pretty efficient. The flight cost was only about $40 but with the airport fees and various taxes the total price was a little over USD$100 - still not bad I thought.

Ours was the only plane at Lungi airport in Sierra Leone so there were no lines and few touts. Lungi is the closest airport to Freetown but I was about to discover that it's not very close or convenient. A taxi from the airport to the city takes about two and a half hours and I was quoted USD$150 one way. I read that there was also a helicopter for USD$80 that would take 5 minutes or a hovercraft for USD$40 that would take 20 minutes - but both were out of service. I was left with one of two options; a rickety speed boat or a car ferry, but both involved catching a taxi to the port first. The water was a little rough so the speedboat seemed like a poor option so I waited for the car ferry. Schedules are optional for most forms of public transport in Africa so I wasn't sure when the boat was going to leave so I hung around and watched until the lower level of the ferry filled up with cars, trucks and animals until I jumped on board. I probably waited about an hour for the boat to leave and the journey to the Kissy terminal in Freetown took another hour. I was in no hurry but I wasn't sure where I wanted to stay once I got to Freetown - I had 2 or 3 options but they weren't particularly close to each other.

The port on the Lungi side of the Sierra Leone river

Welcome to Freetown

The Freetown side was extremely busy since the fresh boatload of potential customers had unearthed all the hawkers and taxi drivers. I spent some time trying to organize a taxi but the driver didn't know the location of the hotel and wanted to take me to another more expensive option. We couldn't agree on either the destination or the price so instead I put my life in the hands of one of the motorcycle taxi drivers. Part of the problem was the location of the hotel in my Lonely Planet guidebook was off by quite a few miles.

Freetown doesn't have a huge volume of traffic but it's predominantly made up of local buses, trucks, shared taxis and motorcycles (plus stray dogs, goats chickens etc). The shared taxis are an interesting concept and work well if you know where you're going and how far it is but I couldn't find any close to the ferry terminal. Motorcycle taxis are everywhere, quick and convenient but are more on the dangerous side. I agreed on the price with the driver, he had a good idea of the location and I told him to drive slow (he tried, but every now and then I had to remind him). The Hotobah Lodge is an excellent hotel in a so-so location, but for $75 a night with views over White Man's Bay and huge room with a massive balcony I couldn't complain. There were not many restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, apart from a dodgy looking Chinese place but no-one should ever have to eat Chinese food in Africa.

The Hotobah Lodge in Freetown

I rented a car and driver for the day to take me to the northern part of the country around the Scarcies River and we were close enough to Guinea to make a trip across the border for lunch in Pamelap. I changed some US$ into the local Guinean Franc and received a fistful of well worn notes to add to my collection. As is compulsory the car broke down and we had to get help from some folks at a nearby taxi rank. They fixed it pretty quick but left me with the 5,000 Franc bill (about USD 75c).

I spent another day exploring Freetown on my own including the huge Cotton Tree which marks the center of town and the various churches in the downtown area, the State House and the National Museum - all free. The Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the hills outside the city was an excellent excursion and well worth the effort.

The Tacugama Chimpanzee sanctuary

After Freetown I decided to spend a couple of nights in the southern beaches near Tokeh. I stayed at the River No. 2 Guesthouse, a very basic community run outfit boasting fresh seafood and the best beach. The food was great and the beach absolutely stunning but being Easter weekend it was overrun with tourists and the place was a real mess. Far from the relaxed beach retreat I was looking for it was more like a nightclub - between the music and the leaky shower I didn't get much sleep while I was there.

Tokeh Beach south of Freetown

CURRENCY
Sierra Leone uses the Leone as the national currency, but US dollars can be used in many places like hotels, rental car hire and the tourist sites. The main issue with the Leone is that the largest bank note (10,000Le) is worth about US$2.40 which means that carrying local currency means thinking outside the wallet - there's just not enough room. I tried to get some of the smaller denomination coins from one of the local banks and was sent to the bulk cash room in the back where a number of locals had boxes full of bundled notes they were depositing. They laughed when I asked if I could get some coins with a value of about 25c for my collection but I still had to try.

SIERRA LEONE QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Freetown
Currency: Leone (USD$1 = 4,400Le)
Language: English, Kriol
Drives on the Right, or wherever there are no pot holes
Beer of choice: Star

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

A BRIEF HISTORY
Guinea-Bissau was once an outpost of the enormous Mali empire but in the 1450's the first Europeans from Portugal landed and established trading routes for slaves and goods. Once the slave trade declined, the Portuguese moved further inland and became known for their repressive exploitative practices, particularly under right wing dictator Antonio Salazar who came to power in 1920's Portugal. By the 1960's many African states were sinning independence from colonial control but Salazar refused to relinquish control.

The war to liberate Guinea-Bissau, and it's ally Cape Verde, was mainly fought in Guinea-Bissau with many locals recruited by the Portuguese it became a very personal affair with families pitted against each other. Amilcar Cabral was the father of the independence movement but he was assassinated in 1973 before Salazar's regime fell the following year. In 1974 the new Portuguese government recognized the new nation named Guinea-Bissau so as not to be confused with their French neighbor, Guinea.

Independence didn't lead to prosperity however. The country was in ruin, corruption rife and education almost non-existent. Since 1974 no president has served a full term, either dying in office or handing over power following a coup. A country short on resources with only fish and cashews providing any material subsistence, Guinea-Bissau has become synonymous for its lucrative source of cocaine. Sounds like a lovely place to spend a weekend alone.

SEPT-PLACE TAXI'S
From Gambia I decided to travel to Guinea-Bissau via sept-place (seven seater) shared taxi. There are no such things as luxury buses or trains so the only way to get to the capital of Bissau, without flying, was to mix it up with the locals. The trip would also mean two land border crossings to add to the complexity, but I was ready for a long hard day of travel, Africa style.

It started well enough with a taxi to the border, about an hour and a half for 700D (USD$18). The border crossing was uneventful and complete within about 30 minutes but only because the respective immigration offices are about 2-3 km apart so there's a large stretch of no mans land. My first exposure to the sept-place taxi was pretty good - 2,500 CFA (USD$6) for the two hour drive to Ziguinchor and being the last of the seven passengers we left straight away. I got seat number seven which is in the back right (seat number 1 is hard to get!). As soon as I arrived in Zig I got a taxi to the Guinea-Bissau consulate and got a visa in 15 minutes, no waiting, for 20,000 CFA (USD$42). Back at the taxi rank I was again the last of the seven to buy the ticket to Bissau and we set off immediately but this taxi was in awful shape. The doors didn't close properly, the back seat had some kind of bar running through it and the engine was constantly overheating. During the four and a half hours we stopped at least 30 times to either show our passports at the too many customs stops, or to pour water over the engine. Mercifully the border crossings were easy and there were no hint of brides or anything untoward by the officials.

One of the many stops along the way

One time we stopped to help another taxi change a tire which gave us all a chance for a toilet stop next to the huge termite mounds. We were dumped on the outskirts of Bissau where I had a bit of trouble getting a taxi for the first time all trip. I ended up jumping in one as he stopped in traffic and started telling him where I needed to go. He had no idea and between the two of us we drove around for a good twenty minutes trying without luck to find the hotel I was looking for. Lonely Planet had the location incorrectly marked on the map and Google Maps was no better but after a few minutes walking blocks I stumbled upon the hotel I was looking for. I left the beach resort in Gambia at 8am and closed the door of my Bissau room nine hours later at 5pm.

BISSAU
I stayed at the Hotel Diarama not far from the center of town and the main sites - the only sites really. The room was huge, clean and at $40 a night it was great value, especially considering the toilet bowl was conveniently located in the shower stall which would speed up my morning routine considerably. There is a huge hospital nearby and lots of pharmacies dotted all around the neighborhood. The Belgian run "O Bistro" around the corner has a huge menu including build your own pizza's and crepes and they have real Belgian beer, a rare gem in a place with not much to offer.

Bissau is a filthy forgotten city. Only a few of the main streets are well paved, others that are paved are hopelessly falling apart and most of the streets are red dirt affairs with huge rocks and holes everywhere. There is no way to wander around the streets and remain clean but the only mercy is that the traffic moves very slowly so crossing the street is easy. The harbour is filled with all manner of trash and virtually all of the buildings are falling apart. I shouldn't have been surprised as Guinea-Bissau is ranked 164 out of 169 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index 2010. The motto of the nation is Unity, Struggle, Progress but I saw very little of the latter or former, just the struggles of the people in a nation where two thirds live below the poverty line.

Although Portuguese is the official language, only around 40% of the population speak it, instead most conversations on the street are carried out in a Portuguese Creole hybrid which is very unique. Billboards from last weeks' general election where everywhere and at the time of writing no clear victor had been decided. A run off election is to be held next week so political fervor is still rife and there were many public gatherings taking place which I avoided in case things became troublesome (they never did). People seemed to be hypersensitive though - I was shooed away from the Presidential Palace while trying to take photos, a game of checkers up and left because I was watching for too long and one of the street vendors selling sunglasses didn't want his picture taken even after I offered him a few francs for the privilege. I didn't see as many smiles as Senegal and Gambia but I didn't feel unsafe either.

Bissau Cathedral

The city is pitch black after 7pm. The power is off at night so only places with generators and car headlights help negotiate the streets at night. I used my iPhone torch to help keep me out of trouble and away from the stray dogs, cats, chickens and vultures eating the trash from the side of the road.

THE RETURN JOURNEY
The trip back to The Gambia was quicker. The shared taxi to Ziguinchor was a minivan instead of a station wagon and it took an hour and a half less. The one from Zig to the Gambia border was the most cramped of the lot but it was all over pretty quickly. Before long I was back in Serekunda and within striking distance of the Kombo Beach resort, where thankfully they remembered me and had my room beside the pool waiting for me.

GUINEA-BISSAU QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Bissau
Currency: West Caribbean Franc (USD$1 = 475CFA)
Language: Portuguese, Portuguese Kriol
Drives on the Right, or wherever there are no pot holes
Beer of choice: Did not find any local beers.

The Gambia

I negotiated a taxi from our Hotel in Dakar (the Accor, near the ferry terminal) to the Gambian border for 120k CFA, and the safe return of Glen and Teresa to the airport the following evening. The owner of the taxi company paid me what I believed to be a compliment when he told me a bargained hard like a Frenchman. He started at 160k CFA for a one way trip for one person so I was pleased with what we ended up paying for three. Much cheaper than flying and we got to pick our leave time from Dakar – a very respectable 11am.

We didn't have enough local currency so we had our driver stop by one of the local money changers to get some USD exchanged so we could pay him. I tried to haggle over the rate but it was not going to change 460 CFA to the USD. Our driver spoke no English but the taxi owner, Mass Kane, called the driver regularly throughout our journey to make sure we were happy and making good progress. It was a nice touch.

Compared to the previous day, there was a haze over Dakar which trapped the heat the blocked the direct sunlight. The visibility was poor and it never really improved as we drove further south. We crossed the border at Karang and said goodbye to the driver. Glen arranged to meet him the following afternoon when he and Teresa would make the return trip to Dakar. On the Gambian side we met up with the Taxi owners ‘friend’ who would shepherd us the remainder of the way, whether we needed him or not. He actually proved to be pretty helpful and friendly but we knew he was looking for a tip for his local knowledge.

Welcome to The Gambia

After a short taxi ride to Barra on the north bank of the Gambia River we were forced to stop and wait for the next ferry. Two ferries usually ply the journey between Barra and Banjul but one was out of service and the other was as slow as anything I've seen on the water. We waited about 90 minutes during which time I changed some money and had a surprisingly good meal for less than $10 for the four of us (shepherd included). The quality of most Gambian paper money is awful, especially the smaller denominations (5, 10 & 25).

The Gambia River ferry coming into dock

 By the time the ferry left it was dusk, the mosquitoes were out and the river was angry. It took all of an hour to get to Banjul and by this time it was dark and I was anxious to get to our hotel. Banjul is not much of a city and there is very little to see and do there so decided not to stay. Unfortunately I had forgotten the name of the place I had booked and paid for on hotels.com the night before, which I knew was about 15km away – another taxi. I had a hunch it began with K and had the word Beach in it. On our shepherds advice we headed for the Kombo Beach Resort in Kololi, not far from Serakunda. They had no record of our booking, and neither did I because we had no internet access so I asked to use the computer at the front desk to check my Hotmail account. After a nervous few minutes I found the reservation, printed it out and made it to our room by about 10pm. The only wifi access was in the bar so we parked ourselves there for a later supper and drinks.

The Beach at Kombo Beach Resort

 The beach at Kololi & Kotu is very nice and even though the resorts are a little dated they are reasonably priced for the location and have free breakfast and comfy beds. We paid about USD$120 for a triple and after Glen & Teresa left a single room, which wasn't much smaller, was USD$70.

CROCODILES
It was sad to say goodbye to Teresa & Glen the following afternoon - it wouldn't be the same without them around. I've done a lot of trips with Glen and to have the pleasure of Teresa's company in Africa was something very special. But with them both gone I had to get out and about to get my mind off things so after some Dutch courage I walked up the beach to the crocodile pond and finally got to touch was of the adults. I was a bit worried at first but there was children running around so I figured if any of them were hungry they would likely go for them first. The pond has algae all over it so when the crocodiles emerge they have an eerie green glow about them.

Kachikally crocodile pool

Crocodiles really are misunderstood

There are a few markets around the place but the biggest is in Serekunda. It's difficult to know exactly where it starts and finishes but I wandered around for about an hour and ended up buying a South African football jersey so that I could tell people I’m from there instead of New Zealand since very few people can appreciate where and how far away it is.

Tomorrow I plan to do some hard core African traveling in sept-place taxis which are seven-seater shared station wagons that commute between major towns all over the place. The aim is to get all the way to Bissau in Guinea-Bissau but I’ll have to stop in Ziguinchor along the way to pick up a visa, and the consulate closes at 2pm.

THE GAMBIA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Banjul
Currency: Dalisis (USD$1 = 40D)
Language: English, Creole
Drives on the Right, or wherever there are no pot holes
Beer of choice: Jul Brew

Dakar, Senegal

We flew TACV airlines from Praia in Cape Verde to Dakar, Senegal's largest and capital city. The flight took something like an hour and a half and we jumped forward an hour to be an hour behind London. Senegal is my 100th different country so arriving here brings about a great deal of satisfaction and I was determined to make a big deal of it.

100 countries

VISA
Most nationalities require a visa for Senegal and the online pre-application process is very good. The onsite final application process is a lot more cumbersome. Once you’ve lined up to get the immigration entry stamp, which can take a while, you have to join one of a number of lines leading into small administrative offices behind immigration. You get fingerprinted and photographed and the visa, with your photo on it, is printed out and stuck in your passport. It’s a wonderful sounding process, but it took an hour for the three of us to get done.

DAKAR
Dakar is a big, dirty city and the southern tip near the ferry terminal is where we made our home base. I had booked the Hotel Baraka for our first night since they were quick to arrange the letter we needed for our visa pre-applications. They also arranged to meet us at the airport but we still had to pay 10k CFA (about USD$21) for the transfer. Glen managed to get us into the much nicer Accor Hotel the following night so we could swim but we roughed it the first night. The touts in Dakar are extremely persistent, more so than Morocco. While wandering around we were offered things ranging from shoes, socks, underwear, jewelry, and sunglasses to phone cards and coat hangers. Beer was again difficult to find but we found a shack run by a funny guy who we visited a few times during our stay.  I highly recommend the French Institute for dinner, probably up there with the best meals of the trip.

Our hotel pool with Goree Island in the distance

GOREE ISLAND
Goree was a huge surprise. It’s a twenty minute ferry ride from the terminal in Dakar (5.5k CFA) but the messing around to actually get a ticket and jostle for position adds to the time considerably. The ferry we took to and from the island was fairly crowded but there was no other choice. Once on the island the busyness of Dakar is left behind and everything seems much more peaceful. There are still stores and touts but no cars or motorbikes and it’s far more relaxed than the capital. We even bumped into the Mayor of the island while we ate lunch.

The beach at Goree Island

While the extent of Goree's  role in the Atlantic slave trade is questionable, today the island serves as a symbolic reminder of the suffering caused across the African continent. There may have only been a small proportion of slaves sent from this location but the Slave House is an example of what the houses were like, with living quarters upstairs and cells and the infamous doorway to nowhere down below.

The steps of the slave house

SENEGAL QUICK GUIDE

Capital: Dakar

Currency: West Caribbean Franc (USD$1 = 475CFA)

Language: French, Wolof

Drives on the Right

Beer of choice: Biere la Gazelle

Cape Verde

WHERE IS CAPE VERDE?
We flew direct from Casablanca to Praia on Royal Air Maroc - going back two hours and flying for almost four. The plane was to continue on to Banjul after we got off and it was more than half empty. We each had three seats to ourselves to after a quick meal we all slept before landing in Cape Verde.

It's possible to get visas on arrival at Nelson Mandella Airport in Praia but I had already got mine from the Cape Verde consulate in Boston a few months ago. I was through immigration in a couple of minutes but Teresa and Glen had to wait in what could best be described as a gathering - there was very little lining up or traditional queuing. A few other flights arrived and before long there were at least 40 people in the visa line. There were problems with the printer so it didn't move much for a long time but Teresa managed to negotiate a spot near the front of the line. A number of people had lined up in front of me but once the immigration official realized they didn't have a visa they were sent to the other line - everyone went directly to the front of that line instead of going to the back so the whole thing was a bit of a mess.  About 45 minutes and €25 later the two of them were through and we headed out to get local currency from the ATM and catch a taxi (1,000CVE) to our hotel, the Pestana Tropica.

A LITTLE HISTORY
Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean about 350 miles off the coast of Senegal. Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the previously uninhabited islands in the 15th century. The first capital, initially called Ribeira Grande was developed at a place now known as Cidade Velha. It was a perfect location for the developing slave trade and the islands grew prosperous before pirating, by Sir Francis Drake and others, along with the decline in slavery and lack of support from Portugal saw the nation decline rapidly. There is a lack of natural resources here and many citizens fled to Europe the Americas or other African countries. Independence came in 1973 and while this is one of the more prosperous places in West Africa it is still considered a developing nation.

SIGHTSEEING
We had a nice relaxing day in the sun beside the pool before walking along the dark sandy beach to the Plateaux area where we had dinner beside a local music festival. Most restaurants don't open until after 6pm, and we were a little early, but by the time we left it was really busy with lots of different musical acts on different stages.

The following day we rented a car from the Hertz desk at the hotel for €60 and explored the island we were on - Santiago. The Fort, called Real de San Felipe, overlooking Cidade Velha is an excellent spot because the views are amazing and the scenery stunning. It cost 500CVE each (about USD$1) to enter the grounds but we spent a good hour wandering around, taking photos and gazing out at the Atlantic.

The Real de San Felipe Fort overlooking Cidade Velha

The Real de San Felipe Fort

The ruins of the church in Cidade Velha are free to wander around and the town has some nice cafés on the waterfront. I took a photo of one of the locals holding my Cape Verde sign and he liked the sign so much he kept it. I think it was the price I had to pay for taking his photograph but I had no use for it.

Ruins of the Ribeira Grand cathedral - built in 1693

After Cidade Velha we drove north on cobblestone roads, then dirt roads to Rui Vaz, climbing the whole way. From the top we could most of the southern part of the island of Santiago as well as the neighboring islands of Fogo and Maio. The southern part of the island is extremely dry and Barron but the north, so I've read, is lush and green. We met the main road again at Sao Domingos and then slowly made our way back to Praia.

Leaving Cape Verde was straightforward enough and I was prepared with printouts of all of our flight reservations. You can never have enough paperwork in Africa. We paid the same taxi fare back to the airport, went through the various checks in the terminal and waited in the small lounge for our TACV flight to Dakar. The flight was late departing but it didn't matter - I was about to hit an important milestone. Senegal will be country one hundred for me.

CAPE VERDE QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Praia
Currency: Cape Verde Escudo (USD$1 = 80CVE)
Language: Portuguese
Drives on the Right
Beer of choice: Strela (but you have to say it like Elaine Benis saying "Stella")

Marrakesh & Ouarzazate, Morocco

Next on the Moroccan tour was Marrakesh, about 3 hours drive south from Casablanca, again on excellent roads with tolls of about $10 in total for a one way journey. Our target destination was the edge of the Medina and a Riad called Jnane Mogodor but the closer we got to the Medina the more intense the traffic became with motorbikes, bicycles, donkeys, horses, caleches (horse drawn carts) in addition to the foot traffic. By chance we found a parking garage next to the Medina entrance, ditched the car and walked into the Medina to find our hotel.

Glen at the entrance to one of the Souks

You make a lot of friends in Morocco. People start talking to you occasionally to help but mostly to sell you something or get you inside a store. The Medina in Marrakesh, while not huge, is certainly complicated to navigate initially. A random Berber quickly showed us the way to the Jnane Mogodor, offered us some hash(which we declined) and then left as quickly as he came after we tipped him.

The Jnane Mogodor is a traditional Moroccan Riad which is a house with an internal courtyard with most of the windows facing inward. It's a way of not making an obvious statement about wealth by having few windows to peer through from the outside. They are a great place to stay and our one had a two story rooftop terrace which we enjoyed in the evenings and for breakfast.

I was expecting the Medina to be filled with snake charmers and belly dancers but the reality was there were orange juice stands and lots of very similar looking food stalls which didn't look too appetizing. We found a nice rooftop restaurant overlooking the Djemaa El-Fna square after wandering around some of the labyrinth of souks and alleyways.

The following day we drove over the Atlas mountains to Ouarzazate, stopping at the hugely impressive Ait Ben Haddou kasbah where we walked around and had lunch. Ouarzazate and the surrounding area has been used as a film set for a bunch of movies and tv shows from Lawrence of Arabia to Game of Thrones (the Ait Ben Haddou kasbah is Junkai in Game of Thrones). It's a long way to come for a day trip but we wanted to see it while we had the chance. The 200km drive over the Atlas mountains took about 4 hours with Glen at the wheel. It could have taken a lot longer but Glen likes to walk slow and drive fast. It's a superb drive and the scenery is nothing short of spectacular.

Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah

Ouarzazate is known as the doorway to the desert. It's a beautiful location and its not particularly busy. It is a sprawling city but the area around the Kasbah is easily explored on foot but not much of the Kasbah is open to the public. Beer is very hard to find in Morocco but we found a nice rooftop restaurant serving Casablanca with commanding views over the valley and off toward the Sahara.

The Kasbah at Ouarzazate

Our final day in Marrakesh saw a return to the main square in the Medina where I found my snake charmer and explored more of the alleyways. Inside the Medina there are no cars but it's still a hazardous place to walk because motorbikes are constantly forcing their way through the foot traffic. The horses and mules add to the confusion but in a wonderfully chaotic way, it all seems to work.

Cobra in Marrakesh

In the late afternoon we retraced our steps back to Casablanca's Mohammed V Airport, returned the car and checked in for the four hour flight to the Cape Verde islands.

Casablanca & Fes, Morocco

We rented a car, with full insurance, from Hertz at the airport in Casablanca so we could make our own plans and have the flexibility to pick up my niece (Glen's daughter) Teresa from the airport on April 5th. On our first full day we decided to get away from Casablanca and make our way to Fez for the day.

DAY TRIP TO FEZ
Fez is about 250km from Casablanca but the roads are excellent and the nominal tolls make it very worthwhile. Fes is a remarkable city; the medina is the largest medieval Islamic city in the world and a place where getting lost is an absolute certainty. GPS on the phone was no good and there are very few open spots to try and get your bearings. On our way into town we pulled into a parking spot but we quickly met a guy on a motorbike who encouraged us to follow him if we wanted to see the medina. He led the way and we followed him to a lookout point where his 'brother' emerged to offer us a tour of the city - we only had a few hours so we listed the things we wanted to see, he added some other stuff to the mix and off we went with our guide, Adine, in the backseat barking out directions. He kept saying 'right' instead of 'left' but we made our way around the new city streets to a ceramic factory for a quick stop, then to a parking spot on the edge of the medina, the old city, where the fun began.

Glen, Adine & I overlooking Fez

The medina is enormous and the layout means that it's incredibly easy to get lost and/or separated from people. At various points we lost Adine, his girlfriend Susana who came along for the ride, and another helper who we never formally met but acted like a spotter, calling out from up ahead, pointing down this alley or that, warning of steps, donkey dung, donkey's etc. As is custom in places like this we were directed to various shops but we never felt pressured to buy anything. The carpet store was absolutely enormous and so were their prices but our main goal for the day was to get Fez hat. Our lucky salesman was insistent that Glen and I dress up for a photograph which made for some good light hearted banter. With hats successfully purchased we meandered through the maze, watching the locals go about their business, avoiding the animals taking lots of photographs.

Fez from inside the medina

We were on a time crunch because we had to be back at Casablanca airport to pick up Teresa who was due to land at 9:30pm that evening. As it turned out we were an hour late thanks to a combination of a late departure time from Fez and some conservative driving on my part as we drove into the setting sun with a dirty windshield and poor wiper blades. By 11pm we were having a delicious dinner at a Moroccan tapas place and enjoying a difficult to find local beer.

CASABLANCA
We stayed at a place called Jnane Sherazade in the Habbous district of Casablanca about 15 minutes drive from the King Hassan II Mosque. The mosque is the largest in Morocco, the third largest in the world, and has the tallest minaret. It's setting on an outcrop looking over the North Atlantic is stunning but the area surrounding is dirty, muddy and not well maintained. We parked and wandered around the grounds, Teresa had her hands painted with henna and we soaked up the atmosphere. Each time we'd parked our car somebody always seemed to appear out of nowhere to help guide you in or out of the parking space. Presumably looking for a tip, but not obvious about it, I never asked for help so I never gave any money. It was one of those curious things where maybe I misread their hospitable gesture.

King Hassan II Mosque

King Hassan II Mosque

MOROCCO QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Rabat
Currency: Moroccan Dirham (USD$1 = Dh8)
Language: Arabic/French
Drive on the Right
Beer of choice: Casablanca

Lisbon, Portugal

The first day of the Europe/Africa leg of the vacation went better than expected. Exciting things happen when my brother is around and today he didn't disappoint. Glen tracked me down at the OneWorld lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 and woke me up while I was taking a power nap after the overnight flight from Dallas. Ten minutes later we bump into an old work friend of his from New Zealand and half an hour later we're taking selfies with Tiki Tane on our way to our gate. (FYI Tiki Tane is a New Zealand musician). Quick flight to Lisbon, pickup a rental car and we head straight to the too trendy Hilton DoubleTree for our two night stay.

Monument to the Discoveries

After a number of weeks in the Caribbean where Christopher Columbus features heavily, our time in Portugal was all Magellan this and Vasco de Gama that. The weather threatened to ruin things slightly but for the most part we had clear skies and only a little bit of rain on and off. The main reason for the stop in Portugal is to enjoy a few creature comforts before heading further south into Africa.

The Rue Augusta arch

On our only full day in Lisbon we spent the morning at the castle and the afternoon in Belem at the Belem Tower, the 500 year anniversary of discoveries monument and the impressive Jeronimo Monastery. By a weird coincidence the world rally championship was racing next to the monastery in the early evening so we stuck around to watch the top guys race at the end of the day.

Entrance to the Castle of St Jorge

Peacocks at the Castle (for Lily)

The Belem Tower was a pleasant surprise. Built on a small island near the shore of the Tagus river in the 16th century, it was originally a defense system but is now more of a ceremonial entrance into Lisbon from the sea. It, along with Jerónimos Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese discoveries during what they call the Age of Discoveries.

Belem Tower

Jerónimos Monastery

The cloisters inside the courtyard at Jerónimos Monastery

Back at the hotel another unplanned surprise - the hotel was celebrating 6 months as part of the Hilton family of hotels - free drinks, food and mimes taking random photographs. We were the only two people in shorts but we didn't care and even though the drinks were free we snuck out for a late night port before turning in.

Welcome party at the Hilton