Morocco - Malaga, Tangiers & Chefchaouen

We just returned from a trip to Morocco. We flew into Malaga, Spain and spent one night there and enjoyed some yummy tapas before setting off on a wild ride to Algeciras, Spain to board the ferry to Tangier.

The wild ride was due to a taxi driver who kept falling asleep at the wheel. Mike was in the front seat, poised to grab the wheel if necessary. Spencer and I kept watching him in the rear-view mirror and when he would fall asleep, I would clap my hands loudly. He stopped once at a truck stop and got a Red Bull and drank most of it before getting back into the car. We were all pretty relieved when we saw the exit for the Ferry terminal. 

We had arranged for Youssef from Rough Tours to pick us up at the Tangier Med. port. We had just 8 days to see as much of Morocco as possible and had debated on whether to rent our own car or hire a guide. I'm really glad we did the later because there are frequent police checkpoints and there were 3 days in the trip that we spent 23 hours on the road. He had a comfortable van that we were able to spread out in and he kept feeding us information about the customs, culture, language, political climate, industry and so much more. I feel like I had a good overview of Morocco by the time we were done. 

Ski speaks Arabic, which he learned from teaching Iraqi refugees English when he was living in San Diego. Quite a bit of the population speaks French and there is a good representation of English speakers too. So we really didn’t have any problems communicating.

Our first stop was to see the medina and market place of Tetouan which is an UNESCO site. Youssef walked us through the open market and then into the little alleyways where they sold all sorts of live chickens and raw meats such as rabbit, lamb, goat, pigeon, etc. This is when I first noticed the cats. We saw only a handful of dogs in Morocco but a plethora of cats and donkeys.

The #1 place on my list of things to see was the mountain village of Chefchaouen which was the first picture to pop up when I put “Morocco” into Pinterest. Most of the city is painted blue and white. The story in the guide books says that they painted it blue and white to combat the flies. Our guide, Youssef, laughed out loud when I read that to him. He said they painted it blue and white because the tourists like it. The hotel where we stayed was called Dare Chefchauoen. It had an amazing kidney shaped pool that looked out over the city. We had our own little bungalow with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a living room and a balcony patio. 

After a glorious swim in the pool we went back to get ready for dinner. That is when we heard the first prayer calls go out. It’s pretty cool how they carry through the village. Ski said right away that he planned to hike up the mountain to the mosque, which was quite a distance above us. This was also our first Moroccan meal. I order a lemon chicken tagine, which was so full of flavor. Spencer ordered the Berber soup, which was very bland. Ski got some skewers of lamb and Mike had a beef and almond tagine. Our dinner began with a traditional Moroccan salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. The Moroccans fashion their bread after the French but the baguettes and galettes taste far from the bread I’ve eat in Paris. Dessert is usually fresh fruit. So the fare is very healthy. In fact, I actually lost weight during the 8 days.

I got up super early the next morning and walked through the dark streets alone. The only other person I saw during the first 30 minutes was the garbage collector. Then the locals started coming out.

Most Moroccans don't like to be photographed but I found some teenagers that cheerfully posed for me. 

The scenery was incredible.

I wished that we had the time to stay one more day. Ski hiked up to the mosque that was on the mountain. There were some pretty incredible views from there. After a breakfast of breads, jams, various honeys, yogurt and fresh orange juice, we headed out. I was sad to leave this place. It was pretty magical.

Falkland Islands or Isla Malvinas?

So what is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions The Falklands? War?  The British?  Penguins? I remembered the conflict (they don't like to call it a war) of 1982 but I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I had never associated penguins with this group of islands. Well, you just have to walk down the main street of Stanley and gaze at the window displays of the many souvenior shops and you will see more penguin paraphernalia than you ever thought possible. Princess offered many different penguin excursions but you had to choose between seeing the Rockhoppers OR the Gentoos, the Kings OR the Macaroni.  Prior to leaving the states, I contacted a couple of tour operators in the Falklands and inquired about a private tour that would take us to see as many species of penguins as possible. Out of the responses, I chose Adrian. He's a Brit who married a girl whose family owns a large farm on the Falklands which they now own and run. Come to find out, he owns the land where 90% of the cruise excursions for penguin watching go. He has 5 different species that reside on his sheep ranch. We started by going to see the Gentoo colony which was about 1 hour away, most of it over bumpy tundra, bogs and streams. On the way, we passed his farm house, some massive peat bogs and the fenced off areas where there are still land mines.

I was very surprised at the number of penguins in the Gentoo colony and how far away from the water they were. There were two separate areas where they had established their groups. Most had one or two chicks. A few were still trying to keep eggs warm in the frigid wind. Sadly, we were informed, those eggs would not hatch. There was a rope on the ground that we were asked not to cross but it was crazy to me just how close you could get to them and how unafraid they were of us. It was a little surreal to see these darling creatures up so close. A little like being in a Mary Poppins film. After snapping hundreds of penguin poses, we headed to the little mobile home on the property where we were served some delectable biscuits (English butter cookies peanut butter cookies) and hot tea or chocolate. 

Our next journey followed the path the penguins would take from the colony down to the sea shore about 3/4 of a mile away (that takes a long time when walk like a penguin). The beach was fenced off because there are still land mines on it. These don't pose a danger to the penguins because they don't weigh enough to set them off. We could see about a hundred penguins waddling around on the beach and diving into the water where they would eat fish and then waddle back to their offspring up at the colony and regurgitate those fish to feed their chicks. Adrian got out his binoculars so we could see a couple of King penguins that hang out on the beach with the Gentoos. They are about a head taller than the Gentoos and have a little different coloring.

Behind us in the little shelf that surrounds the beach were the dugouts of the shy Magellanic penguins. Unlike their cousins, they were more fearful than curious and would diappear in their burrows when we got too close.

Time to go to the Rockhoppers. Most cruise passengers didn't make it out to see the rockhoppers because they were so far away and required a 4x4 to get there. They definitely missed out. These guys were my favorite. The journey they make up from the sea is nothing short of miraculous. It's steep and so far up the hill that you would think they burn up all the calories they take in while down fishing. There are certainly no fat penguins waddling around up at the top. They are intensely curious little creatures and completely unafraid. Here there is no rope stopping you from plopping yourself right down next to them and sticking a camera right in their cute little faces...just common sense and propriety. They are pretty vocal too. Lots of squawking and squabbling with a firm peck to the neighbor if they don't get out of their way.

They swim in a pod like dolphins, their bodies arcing out of the water. At first, I thought they were a pod of dolphins, but their distictive black and white bodies are easily recognizable. I wish that I had brought a zoom lens with me so I could have captured their graceful movements in the water. We had also hoped to see some Macaroni penguins here. Adrian told us that a seal had climbed all the way up to the colony the previous week and had killed a large number of them, mostly the chicks. He said that the Macaroni's that had been hanging out with this colony of Rockhoppers were some of the ones killed by the seal. So sad. The seal didn't even eat them, just killed them. You can see below the bottom of the hill where they dive into the water from the large rock face. See how steep that hill is?

Our last stop was by Adrian's ranch we he showed us where they store the peat that they cut out of the bogs. We learned how the wool is sorted and baled. We got to see his peat stove that heats the house and that they cook on as well as their cream separator. They sell the extra cream in town from the small herd of cows they milk daily. They try to be as self sufficient as possible, growing most of their own food. 

Back in Stanley, we had to stop by the famous whalebone arch before heading back to the ship.

In answer to the post title: we learned that anywhere in So. America, you should refer to them as the Malvinas. Anywhere else in the world, they are the Falklands. 

Hiking to the End of the World

Ushuaia, Argentina. The southern most city in the world (except if you side with smaller Puerto Williams camp). Home to the southern most National Park...Tierra del Fuego, with it's 160,000 acres of spectacular scenery including snowcapped mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers, waterfalls and the Patagonia Forest. Before we left the states, I had contacted a company called Canal Fun, whose office is just a few blocks from the port and arranged to have a guide take us into the park and on several hikes. On our way to the office, I had to buy a couple of postcards to send from the little Post Office on the pier where the postmark reads, "Fin del Mundo"... which translates to "the end of the world." 

Our trekking guide, Florencia, was a bundle of perkiness. She loaded us into a large van and introduced us to Pepe our driver. On the drive to the park she pointed out various local highlights such as the worlds most southern golf course. She told us that if you lose your ball in that rough, you don't want to go looking for it. Mike has played golf in Alaska and agreed that you don't want to stir up the mosquitos, that hang out in the rough. They are the size of small birds and have a voracious appetite. 

We first drove to the southern most (I've used that word combo a lot in this post) place in the park so that we could see and take pictures of the park sign. The vistas were pretty amazing here too. Afterwards we hiked about a mile up to a viewing area that had the snow-capped mountains in the background with their glaciers and the ocean on one side and a lake on the other and the forest in between. Yep...postcard material.

Once back in the van we drove further into the park. By the ranger station we saw a red Andean fox. He was tall with long legs, very skinny.He was hunting for mice around the Gendararie station. Beavers had been imported about 10-20 years ago and had made a mess of the park. Rabbits had also been imported which had caused a lot of problems. They had arranged to serve us lunch before our big hike. AFter being on a cruise for 5 days, none of us were very hungry. We had a nice tent to sit in which was handy since it started to rain. It had hailed on us during the first hike but we all had rain jackets and beanies so we barely even noticed. Our first course was dry sausage and cheese followed by grilled chicken and a potato souffle. Dessert was a dolce le leche and banana cake that I think Pepe's wife made. It was all very delicious. The cara cara's were hopeful that we would eventually share with them if they hung around long enough. 

Enough lollygagging...time to get moving. Pepe drove us up to the trailhead and we began our main trek. Within the first 200 yards we spotted two very large Magellanic red-headed woodpeckers. Well, the male was red headed, the female is all black. They were unconcerned with our presence and kept up their steady drumbeat while we delved deeper into the forest. We noticed that there was a fungus that had attacked a large portion of the trees. Florencia pulled a couple of these pods off and presented them to us with instructions to eat them. They are called Indian's bread. The Yaghan tribe, of which there is only 1 documented surviving member, used to eat these pods to ease the empty feeling in their stomach. They are tasteless and have no nutritional value. A little while later, she would pick some berries for us to try. They would be the same berries that the sheep farmer in the Falklands would tell us that he made jam with. At the end of the hike we felt we had used all of our senses to experience Tierra del Fuego.

Our hike would end up being about 5-6 miles of moderate terrain. Every couple of miles we would exit the forest and come out onto the coastline. For the first part of the hike we encountered other hikers every quarter mile or so. For the second part of the hike we didn't see anyone. The scenery was again postcard worthy. We saw lots of waterfowl including black necked swans, upland geese and their little goslings, kelp geese, cara caras and quite a few more that weren't identified. When Florencia mentioned how long it normally takes to hike this route, Mike was determined to beat that time. She offered to stop and make us some Mate, but he kept a steady push to make sure we were the fastest group she had taken through. We did stop once when we came upon a beach filled with perfectly shaped skipping stones. Spencer couldn't resist and Mike and I followed his lead.

We finished our 3 hour hike in 2.5 hours. Even though none us of felt that we had exerted ourselves  much we all slept very well that night. On the ride back, Florencia did make some Mate that she shared with us out of a communal mug and straw. I'd have to put sugar in it to make it a palatable drink for me. Too leafy.  Ski liked it though. I think he'd acquired a taste for it in Peru and Bolivia though. 

We said goodbye to Florencia and Pepe. They dropped us off several blocks from the pier so we could shop. The rain and wind started up again so we all abandoned our desire to shop and headed back to the ship. We did stop at the little giftshop and pick up some Argentinia candy to send to McKean and to try ourselves. 

Kayaking on Christmas Day

By Christmas Eve, I am really missing McKean, who is in Austria on a mission for the LDS Church. It's always been hard to have it feel like Christmas when one of the boys is missing. Ski reminds me that the last time we were all together for Christmas was 2008. Ski was in the Ukraine in the Peace Corps in 2009, then in the midwest with his girlfriend in 2010. Spencer was in Russia on a mission in 2011 & 2012. I can't wait until the day when we can all be in the same place together on Christmas Day which may possibly be in 2014. 

 Mike, Spencer and I attend the Interdenominational Service where we sing 5-6 Christmas Hymns and hear some readings out of the Bible. That is really nice. We have dinner in the steak house restaurant on board the ship. The steaks are just so-so but the conversation is lovely and we talk nostagically about Christmas' past. The whole ship is decorated for Christmas and there is Christmas music playing 24/7. Some of the music is bizarre like the carol about what Christmas presents your going to buy your Dad or the one about Christmas cookies. About 1/4 of the songs they play we have never heard before.

After 3 days aboard ship, we arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile. None of the excursions on the cruise appealed to us so I looked on Trip Advisor (love that site) for something that would be both physical and different from our normal activities. Kayaking in the Strait of Magellan seemed like it fit both criteria. When we arrive it is about 34 degrees outside with lots of wind. For the most part we are prepared for the cold temps, except Ski and Spencer have no hats with them so we do a little hat shopping at the port. Ski finds a great Chilean hat which he ends up wearing on over half of the cruise. We wouldn't see temperatures above 50 degrees for about 6-7 more days. Welcome to summer in the southern part of South America.

Cristian from Kayak Agua Fresco picks us up and introduces us to our guides Claudia and Ricardo who we like instantly.

We have an additional group member, Claire, who is a biology post-doc from Scotland. They take us to the Agua Fresco farm house where we suit up in dry suits which we are very grateful for. I think all of us are a little concerned about the cold and getting wet but the dry suits are fabulous and keep us nice and toasty during our adventure. The beach area where we are launching from is only about a 10 minute drive away. Once there we unload the 2 person kayaks and receive some instruction from Claudia. I've only kayaked once before so I was glad that Mike is running the rutter. That takes a little finesse, not my strong suit. None of my cameras are water proof so I don't dare bring them with us, which makes me sad because it is a beautiful day and you can never have too many pictures. 

Once we hit the water, Mike and I fall into a rhythm pretty quickly. All the weight training I've been doing that past year paid off. It wasn't long before we were in front. Ski and Spencer have to work pretty hard to keep up with us. It's always a good feeling when you can keep up with or outpace your 20+ year old sons.

There is a pretty strong tailwind going out. That coupled with the blue sky gives me the euphoric feeling of skimming across the water, much akin to the birds that fly right over the surface nearby. That euphoria disappears when we turn around after about 45 minutes and head directly into the wind. We had moved in pretty close to the shore so we won't be swept out to sea. My glasses are coated with sea spray, so I don't see the big rock right under the surface until we are stuck on top of it. That is embarrassing as is the ensuing battle to dislodge ourselves. When we finally get off, the boys are a good distance ahead. WE gird up and dig deep to get up the speed to catch up and pass them again. Mike is determined not to let them beat us. Even when Ricardo tells us to hang back a bit until he is on the beach, Mike still can't stop himself from pushing ahead. He is so competitive. 

After pulling our kayaks back up on the beach we ask Claire to take a couple photos of all of us. It felt good, especially after the previous three days of consuming way too much food aboard ship and doing too little exercise to have worked up some sort of appetite. 

Upon returning to the farmhouse, we strip off our dry suits and retire to the dining room where homemade fried wontons dusted with powdered sugar and a very yummy cake await us. There was a little potbellied stove in the center that I sit by to dispel the chill in the air. We visit with Claire about her adventures trekking in Argentina and her upcoming 2nd post doc where she will be studying the behavior of birds. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas...but I'm still missing Mick. After we get dropped off back at the port we walk into town. Nothing is open due to the holiday. There are a few vendors with carts around the main square. We buy a couple scarves, a hat for Spencer and a deck of cards. We also read that if you touch the toe of the statue it means that you'll come back to Punta Arenas. We want to return as some day we play to go to Antartica and this is the port where a lot of the ship leave from. 

Once back on board the ship we decide to skip dressing up to go to the formal dining room in favor of eating at the buffet and playing some shuffleboard and cards. It is a stress free meal and everyones mood is light. Ski has some mussels for dinner. Mike has lox with capers. I have dried figs, nuts and cheese. A very eclectic Christmas Day meal. Spencer has 4 desserts. Now, if that doesn't say you're on vacation, I don't know what does. Merry Christmas!