So my brave, exciting adventure had begun.
Based upon extracts from my travel diary
I was on a CTM bus in Morocco, travelling at what felt like 60mph through little towns hitched up upon the Atlas mountains. The journey began calm and quite gentle but somehow ended up meandering through the whitest snowy mountain tops, high enough to make my ears pop. It was extremely bumpy and this poor girl I'd made friends with called Khadija was throwing her guts up as she suffered from travel sickness. I had felt so so bad for her as she had started being sick like 2 hours into the journey and we still had another 8 hours to go. This bus wasn't a joke either. The bumps and turns were enough to throw you out of your seat! I gave Khadija some of my baby wipes to clean up a little and eventually after around 3/4 hours of driving the bus came to a halt in a cute town. I asked Khadija if this was a rest stop as I had no idea what the driver had said (in French and Arabic very quickly) and she answered yes, so we both got up and made our way off the bus to get some air and stretch our legs. Surprisingly the drive so far hadn't been a complete drag but rather quite enjoyable. I'd seen so many different terrains and rock formations- not that anyone cares- but I can't help compare them to what I see in the UK. I mean I can't compare them, this is Africa!
At the stop off there was a lot of people chilling out and I guess loitering around in the hot sun. Khadija showed me to the toilets and we paid 1DH to use them. After, she wanted to get some food so she ordered while I sat politely waiting for her. Not long later, her food arrived; chicken kebab skewers, bread, salad and chips. She insisted I ate and of course I struggle to say no when there is food involved- plus it would seem rude! The chicken itself tasted extremely fresh and I could tell it had been killed quite recently. I felt quite privileged to be eating such fresh meat considering the struggle I would go to in order to find the same organic quality in London. Whilst we shared the plate and chatted, I thought about how I had basically made my first ?friend? in Morocco and this country wasn't so bad and scary like it had been made out to me.The food was tasty and the company was good although I couldn't help but think about my new friend who had been throwing up not so long ago into a plastic bag and now here I was sat sharing a plate of food with her eating with our hands. When in Rome ay.
Having been back on the bus and now on the road for the past 6 or 7 hours, the landscape had changed dramatically. The snowy mountainous region was no more and we were left with dry barren sandscapes. The desert was upon us.
I felt at this moment like the trip was really going to be something special. I was so nervous on the journey from London but there was no need. Everyone was so smiley and friendly and I felt so safe. I even left my phone on the bus unattended (and against my better judgement) and it was completely fine. I had nothing to worry about. My only concern was night was falling and I had heard stories from my parents, aunts and uncles about how the night time in Africa is pitch black due to there being no light pollution. I've never really been good with the dark but it seemed like a personal challenge that I soon found out I was not ready to overcome...
Peace&Love,
Willow
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