Sunday 15 March 2020

Friday 13 March 2020 – Moulay Bousselhem


As forecast it was a dull start to the day and never got much better than hazy sunshine, but still warm. We spent the morning generally cleaning and tidying up but unfortunately the midgies were at it again so more anti-histamine, which had the effect of making Bren sleepy and after lunch she totally crashed out whilst Terry walked the dog.

The news, of course, was full of the Covid-19 virus which was quickly labelled a pandemic and several countries were introducing lock-downs. Later, doing some research, we discovered that Morocco had closed it's borders with Spain with no flights or maritime connections. This was a bit of a blow and we tried to get clarification but of course could get nothing further, apart from opinions, doom-mongering etc. Our shipping line, Balearia, was still showing scheduled departures but as we watched these were being reduced to just one or two a day. Surely they'd let us out?

So we thought we should move on up to Asilah tomorrow and see what further information we could get. However a German couple arrived very late and parked next to us; they had apparently just come from Tanger-Med and had been told no more ferries for three weeks! Now this was becoming a little serious – that was okay as far as our Moroccan visas were concerned but our motor insurance Green Card only had 10 days left on it so we foresaw an impending problem. You cannot extend a Green Card and as they are a manual document they are posted to your home address, although we have heard of the insurance agents emailing copies. Not sure how that would be received in the event of a document check – although we've never had one it would be Murphys Law that we would be asked for our papers.

Plan B was therefore formulated – we would drive up to Tanger-Med to see what we could find out but if it was a no-go would continue round to Tetouan and extend our stay in Morocco by visiting a few places we hadn't yet seen, including ironically Chefchouan.

No comments:

Post a Comment