Home - the best place to be!

We made it home from London yesterday evening after battling thousands

at Heathrow, then Charlotte, and even here in Raleigh! Airports are just getting so

 difficult, tiresome, and getting through them in those ever lengthening lines is like

 fighting a battle.  Seems everyone has TSA Pre Check now!  We do have 

Global Entry which gets us through Immigration faster - however as usual I was 

called aside because of my fingerprint problem - I don't have any clear ones for

 the machine to read! Perhaps it's easier in Business/First but for the rest of us - the

 majority of us - it's murder in the airports these days.

I'm too busy/tired today to write much now.

The garden is still suffering from the drought which was in effect 

when we left. It's cooled a bit but apparently only a light shower fell

the entire time we were gone, almost three weeks! 

No much-needed soaking rain.

I looked out early this morning as the sun came up - jet lag had me up

 before 5 AM, so I started unpacking. Then I noticed just a touch of color 

brightening the morning - those hardy little morning glory seeds did

germinate after all!

I'll be back here later in the week - stories and photos to share of some new, interesting, 

often mysterious, lovely places and beautiful people. . . . . . .and tales of life on board 

a small ship.

Sahara Desert wanderings -

The part of the Sahara Desert we visited was quite surprising. 

It made me think of visiting Antarctica where one is 'there' but rarely gets to visit 

the actual South Pole. The Sahara is the largest hot desert, and third largest

 desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Covering 9,200,000 square

 kilometres it is comparable to the area of China or the United States.

The Sahara comprises much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region

 of the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Magreb, and

 the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. 

From the port of Dakhla, our fleet of twenty seven 4X4 vehicles, without

 air conditioning, drove us through the city to the Lagoon area and into the

 desert for the visit to the Sahraoui Camp - a rather long, very bumpy, uncomfortable

 drive to say the least! Accompanied by serious looking armed Police in cars, 

vans and on motor cycles, we felt somewhat over-protected.

We were there in the desert but despite the sand it didn't really feel like we had

reached the true desert. It was so vast and I wished we could go further with no

 views of water and kite-surfers in the distance! 

Me with our guide Rashid.

Dancing and afternoon tea. . . . . . . .Sahara Desert style.

Tasting Saharawi Tea.

"Do not regret the passing of the camel and the caravan. 
The Sahara has changed, but it remains a desert without compromise, the world in its extreme. 
There is no place as dry and hot and hostile."

William Langewiesche - Sahara Unveiled: A Journey Across the Desert.

Moroccan Colors -

Today we have been at sea with no shore excursion. Water quite flat mostly. 

One whale and a lot of dolphins spotted from the deck.

Beautiful sunshine and comfortably warm so enjoyed lunch on the lido deck 

under a bright blue umbrella. 

We are now sailing to the desert city of Laayoune via the port of El Marsa.

 We will have a tour ashore tomorrow morning - Saturday, October 12. 

We are told we will be escorted by Police!!!

Just a few photos to show you some colors of Morocco from the past couple of days.

More to come.  

 Entrance to an art gallery in Agadir.

Musicians welcoming us to lunch in Agadir.

 Home for a few of the many, many feral cats in Agadir............

.............such as this one on the wall of the Casbah overlooking the harbor.

 Beautiful Moroccan traditional bread.

Our traveling friend Kim - from bus to a camel at the Casbah stop!