Tafraout

We've said it before, but this is our favourite spot in Morocco. Why?

Not just because it's cheap, and it is at just Dh15 (£1.25) per night although there are few facilities. A water truck comes round daily and you can take as much as you want at Dh25 (£2.00) per van – we keep a few 5l drinking water bottles to refill as a reserve. Washing up water goes under a tree or, in our case, a convenient hollow which acts as a soakaway. Toilet waste has now to be taken a ten minute walk to a newly constructed disposal point on the edge of town – a nuisance but far better than just dumping it on a waste area, which was what happened in the past. Obviously there's no electricity but one thing Morocco does have in abundance and is free is sunshine, so by mid-morning the solar panel has recharged the batteries.

So it's not to Caravan Club standards!

Not just because the town is attractive; it's just an ordinary Moroccan town unspoilt by tourism but very friendly and welcoming (the Moroccan royal family does have a villa here though). Within a ten minute stroll you can get practically anything you need, there are banks, a post office, health centre and fuel stations. A Wednesday market provides all your fresh fruit and vegetable needs and a small daily meat market offers the freshest beef, chicken, turkey and sometimes lamb but, being a Muslim country, no pork. There are cafes and restaurants, a couple of hotels, and regular long-distance bus routes. If you need repairs or extras for your motorhome there is someone who will come out and fix it for you. What else is there to need?

Not just because the weather is always good; it's very hot during the day although being very dry it is not uncomfortable. Also as we're at 2800 ft amsl it gets cool at night. Generally the sun comes over the rim of the mountains around 8.30 am and disappears at 6.30pm. It is calm for most of the day until around 4.00 when the gentle breeze becomes quite strong and the site becomes a flurry of activity as awnings are brought in, tables and chairs secured etc.

Not just because of the people who stop here either; we don't interact very much as there are few Brits and the overwhelmingly majority French tend to be reluctant to talk to other nations. We have of course met old friends and others have stopped by for a chat, including one couple who were looking for Reception! Don't think they'd quite got the hang of guardian parking.

Not just because of the peace and quiet; generally the only noise during the day is from the occasional motorcycle/quadbike/buggy departing and arriving. Plus the herd of goats and sheep which passes through each morning and night (and Jamie barking at them!)

The scenery is pretty good though, a stunning journey here from whatever direction you come plus being completely surrounded by mountains that change colour at dawn and dusk with the rising and setting sun.

It's perhaps just the overall ambience, the freedom of just getting on with whatever you want to do, when you want to do it

Our days are spent taking time to do everything, eat when we're hungry, drink when we're dry and plenty of time to indulge in our pastimes. Bren is once again making an effort to get on with the long-term sewing project whilst Terry has hundreds of books to get through on the Kindle. Topping up the tan of course too. Jamie gets regular walks although he's reluctant to go far in the heat of the day; just a quick wee and back to his favourite spot under the van in the shade and a breeze where he sits and occasionally pops out to shout at passing bicycles, dogs and young lads collecting plastic water bottles. We have to bring him inside occasionally though when he gets too noisy. He's getting very scruffy though, even after a couple of baths.

But in the evening it becomes almost magical; the lights of the town reflect on the mountains providing a superb backdrop – unfortunately our cameras aren't sophisticated enough to capture it. Then of course with no atmospheric and little light pollution the starscape is magnificent with thousands of visible stars and the glow of the Milky Way showing behind them. You don't get that in the UK!

We've had a couple of “events”; one afternoon the wind got up early and quickly became much stronger and before we could get the awning in it was twisted slightly and would not retract all the way. We left it until the morning when a couple of Funsters came across and between us we managed to sort it out. Thanks guys!

Terry slipped off the entry step and gashed a shin, which really ought to have had a stitch or two but responded well to a dressing. Then Jamie gave him a deep scratch when leaping off his lap to shout at something or other. Fortunately he heals well.

One day a hairdresser came round and Bren took the opportunity of a trim.

Another morning Terry climbed up onto the roof of the van to reseal a joint which we suspect was allowing rainwater ingress – we knew about it before we came so had brought necessary materials, just needed some dry weather............

We walked into town, leaving Jamie in the cool of the van, to get some fresh fruit and vegetables at the new indoor market, had a look around and bought some delicious local honey from one of the womens cooperatives. Later Terry took our, now empty, Moroccan gas bottle into town for a replacement, cost Dh44 (£3.75) which would have been £25 at home!

But we've now been here almost a week and feel it's time to move on. With around another two weeks before we plan to return to Spain there are a few places we've not yet visited so we'll take a more easterly route with a view to taking our time, stopping off wherever we please. We've heard that our friends, who we were going to meet up with in Spain, have returned home to deal with their flat sale so the dynamics of our gentle return home have changed a little. But so what? We're on holiday!