Mohemmedia Morocco

28 November So good to be in a marina after an overnight passage, with very little sleep. We felt a bit guilty as Mark and Jennifer were busy cleaning Starlet and we only did a few small jobs and then relaxed.

We went for a walk into the town, the marina is enclosed with high security fences and there is even a guard in a tower, no doubt he would be armed. The port is busy and the security is high due to the large amount of oil they deal with here.

We had to be let out a security gate and then go to the next gate where there is police, immigration and more security. Our pass out and passports weren’t ready so we were told we could leave and collect them on our way back in. There were lovely gardens and grassed area near the marina amidst the industrial commercial surroundings.

It was a short walk into town and we were certainly an object of attention, with workmen calling out to us and showing a lot of interest. The town was actually very attractive with a large grassy square and gardens in the centre, there was a demonstration at the far end of the square but we stayed away from that. We tried to ask about buying Sim cards but no joy, it’s not a big deal as the marina has free Wi-Fi anyway. I saw two guys going through the rubbish skips and they loaded their goods onto their horse and cart and trotted off amongst the cars!

We were able to draw out some Dirham, the Moroccan currency and then we found a restaurant for dinner. 100 dirham equals 14 Australian $. Being a Muslim community no alcohol was served so we enjoyed water and Jennifer had a lemon Fanta. The meal was all seafood, whole small fish, calamari, large grilled Dorado and prawns, which were quite small and battered then fried whole.

It was quite cold and we were really tired so it was through the security where we collected our passports, and back to the boats. We enjoyed a couple of drinks on Starlet and some of Jennifer’s Carrot Cake and then back to Southern Star and straight to bed.