19 November: The Sahara Desert to Taroudant

This morning I was up early for the sunrise ... like 5:50am early. Too early as it turned out because our guide was about as good at estimating sunrise as he was about our arrival times in each city! It was freezing but the moon was bright and I waited patiently.

By the time the sun finally rose (probably at least an hour later!), I had plenty of company and was perched on top of the highest nearby dune. It was lovely.



Then we had a speedy breakfast and headed out by Land Rover again. The landscape of the Sahara we saw was certainly varied! The duney parts looked quite similar to Namibia to me. But then there were also quite lush bits (quite strange to see bright green plants covering the ground with a desert dune rising behind it!). Some of it was scrubby with little thorn trees and a lot of it was as flat as far as one could see. There were also plenty of bits just covered with rocks and pebbles.

We had some minor car trouble that caused 2 unscheduled stops where I wandered desperately looking for a fossil in one of the rocks (there are plenty for sale in markets on the way into & out of the desert but finding my own would've just been worth so much more!). Needless to say, I didn't. I don't know if I'd recognise one out in the open like that or even know which types of rocks would be more likely to have fossils!



On our way to Taroudant, we drove for hours. Spending an hour stopped for lunch in a restaurant that is not worth mentioning and then arriving after sunset, again. Today marked the low-point of the trip for me.

When I've traveled in Africa before, I've definitely had days filled by 8 hour drives to the next village or town. But always on my other trips I've come away strong in the knowledge that I've achieved something for that time. That I have some kind of experience more precious that made it worth those hours in trade. I just don't have that feeling from this trip.

I think I have been too vague in my wants. I wanted to "see" Spain, Portugal and Morocco. That was on my list of things to do. Technically I've done it but, I don't feel much of a sense of accomplishment. I don't know what I was expecting to find in these countries and they've left me wanting. I know travel and holidays aren't usually about accomplishment but, that's the best way I can describe it. I want something back, something that's mine to treasure. And often all it is is an experience but, I guess it's usually a more specific experience that just "traveling" (if that makes any sense ... ?)

This time I didn't really do anything specific and I sort of feel that finding the astronaut (admittedly with help) and going to the Western Most Tip of Europe (which is pretty damn cool) are my most unique experiences so far. Even crossing the Strait of Gibraltar was disappointing.

(To be honest, writing up these posts, remembering and going thru the pictures has made me appreciate the trip more than I did while I was actually there)

Anyway, I feel worse for Varen who hasn't experienced group-travel before and has yet to get to spend 2 nights in one place or actually really explore any of the places we've been.

I'm also feeling a little ripped-off by our guide who seems to be guiding us to particular restaurants that haven't been very good althought they've been on the expensive side and he always seems to eat for free. I know there's plenty of that sort of thing on these trips, where the guides bring new people thru on a regular basis and obviously build up a relationship with the owners of particular places but, I've never noticed it so blatantly before.

I joined the group for a walk around Taroudant, I'll admit I sort of felt obliged to see a small part of this city we are passing thru (Varen stayed at the hotel). It turned out to be pretty interesting because we visited a Berber carpet place where they explained different styles of carpets, what each was best for and the different colours that the different tribes favoured. Sadly I have no need of a carpet :(

Varen & I spent the rest of the evening in our hotel room. We had pastries for dinner in bed - not very healthy but, at least it improved our mood!

Ode to Gym

Another uneventful evening at home. Except I did go to gym for the first time in 2009 yesterday (impressive, no?). Actually I went twice. I tried to go during lunch, as I usually do ... but all the lanes in the pool were taken. Bah, these New Year's Resolution Gymmers are starting to annoy me now. If you're still on leave, kindly don't gym during the hours those of us already back at work are limited to! So yeah, after being unable to actually get anything done during lunch, I went back after work. Different gym. Still packed to the brim. In the same way airlines make most of the years money in December, gyms must do the same in January! Sheesh.

18 November: Aït Benhaddou to The Sahara Desert

This morning we left Aït Benhaddou and set off towards the Sahara. We made a few stops during the day.

We saw some local Berber dancing. There seemed to be some kind of presentation, which we soon found out was for Morocco's Independence Day. You'd think our Moroccan guide might know that already, but apparently not :P The dancing was pretty cool tho and it was nice to get to stop and sit and watch for a while.

We also stopped at a fairly famous sign, "Tombouctou 52 jours" (52 days to Timbuktu, assume that's by camel). And we stopped for a camel ride. I'd actually thought this was going to be part of our journey into the Sahara but, it was more like a little side-step. I will say tho, that it was far better than my camel-riding experience in Egypt!

After that we had a long and bumpy drive into the desert - luckily we'd changed our mode of transport and were now in Land Rovers. We stopped in the middle of nowhere to photograph the rapidly setting sun.

We arrived at our campsite in the dark and ate a decent dinner before making "s'mores" by the fireside. We have 2 American girls who, although it wasn't their idea originally, proved quite expert at the execution. Our drivers and cook were quite pleased at this new taste surprise!

We bundled off to bed at around 9pm, I'd guess. We slept in (traditional) blanket tents with more blankets inside on the floor and very hard thin matresses.

Recovering Slowly

So, I realised yesterday that the year had started off with two unprecedented weekend posts. It won't happen again. But it felt warranted at the time.

I'm slowly recovering from the loss of my little bunny girl, Bell. It may seem strange that it has affected me so much, but to be fair, she was my first every pet of my very own where I was "mom", you know. I was nervous to go home yesterday afternoon. After work is traditionally bunny-play-time where I let them loose in the garden and sit and spend time with them. This would be the first afternoon without Bell. It was actually manageable. Playing with Henna and Coal is very distracting and good to remind me that I still have adorable little pets that need my love and attention so all is not lost. I do keep seeing the worst image of Bell in my head tho ... the one from when I rushed outside after hearing the plank of wood fall and she was pinned underneath. Sigh. Now that I could do without.

Otherwise, the evening was pretty uneventful: Dinner, Series and a laze in the bath with the longest book ever!

17 November: Imlil to Aït Benhaddou

Aargh. Had a truly dreadful night last night, I barely slept at all. It was pretty chilly in the evening but I was warm enough in bed. Unfortunately yesterday I seem to have picked up the cold that has been going around the tour group and was constantly coughing & sneezing.

At about 3:30am I raced to the bathroom to throw up (all the mucus, I imagine) and after that I managed to get some sleep at least.

But unfortunately I have spent the day feeling pretty crummy. Plus I did not get a shower before leaving Gite D'Etape because there was nothing but icy water. The walk back to Imlil was lovely tho.

Once back in Imlil, we had a 5 hour drive to Aït Benhaddou. I tried to sleep some of the way since I was feeling rather fragile. Plus the driver was driving in a particularly hair-raising way around some very high mountain bends.

We stopped for lunch en route and I'm upping my fresh orange juice intake since there is plenty of it here. I'm hoping the Vitamin C will head off my cold sooner!

We arrived in Aït Benhaddou at around 4pm. We're staying at Hotel la Kasbah and I was thrilled to take a shower on arrival! After that, we took a stroll in to the village for sunset. This is where a few scenes from Gladiator (and plenty of other movies!) were filmed and it is quite a cute little place.



I went for a very quick cous-cous and tagine cooking presentation this evening. Both seem to entail a very lengthy cooking process. Our cooking presenter called himself "Action" because he's been an extra in 10 of the movies filmed here.

After that Varen & I had dinner at the hotel restaurant. He had a very yummy meat tagine and I just had some Harira (soup).

Tears in my Eyes

Well, I'm back at work today ... and yes, I managed to get into the offices this morning, miracle! But I am really not in the mood to be here, around people. I'm still completely heart-broken and can feel tears prickling my eyes. Henna & Coal still seem fine this morning. Thank goodness. I don't think I could go thru this again too soon.

I feel rather numb actually. I know it'll wear off sometime. It just all seems so unfair. I really really just want Bell to come home again. I didn't even have my three bunnies together for a month :( Sob. This is horrible.

Anyway, needless to say Varen and I didn't much of anything yesterday. Although we did finish up the house stuff that needed doing - best to stay busy and all that. Anything for distraction, hey?

Neither of us slept very well last night either. A combination, for me, of annoying sinus and swirling thoughts.

Goodbye Sweet Bell

So, things didn't go quite the way I'd hoped. I got the call from the vet just before 9 this morning ... Bell did not make it thru the night. She died sometime between 2 and 4am.

I'm heart-broken. They still don't really know what killed her. But I think it's safe to assume that since the other two are perfectly fine (been watching them closely all day, as you can imagine), it wasn't something she ate. I think the most likely thing to blame is the plank of wood falling on her on Wednesday. She seemed like she was okay after that ... although she was definitely sleeping / lying around a lot more than usual and not racing round the garden like herself ... but I thought she was recovering. I guess she wasn't.

It's weird to say but she gave us some of our best and worst bunny experiences in her short life (she was about to turn 1 in Feb only). She was our first bunny pet and such a cute little baby. Curious from the word go. We always said we should have named her Columbus Bell because if there was something to explore, she was the one who'd be right there. If you left a door slightly open or didn't barricade the stairs, she noticed it. We've had the house door open almost all day and we haven't barricaded the stairs or closed the downstairs loo door (where we keep their food ... one of her favourite doors to push open if you didn't close it properly). The other's just don't seem interested.

Henna hasn't quite been herself either today. I think she's looking for Bell. And I definitely think she's missing her.

Bell caused us to pull our hair out at times too, not least when she started attacking Henna before we had her spayed and then again when little Coal arrived. But still, she had the most character of them all. Earlier this week she even jumped up onto the couch while we were sitting there to say hello :) I think she loved our attention more than Henna ... and well, we'll still have to see about Coal! She was always happy to be picked up for a cuddle. And she'd let me know when she'd had enough and wanted to go back to running around in her special way (nibbling my bracelet). But if she was enjoying it, she'd click her teeth for me (it's a bunny thing). Who's going to do that now? I'll also miss the little nips she used to give me when I sat on the grass against a wall. As far as she was concerned the space between the wall and my back was her domain and if she couldn't fit she let me know.

Damn, I just want her to come home. Things seem so much quieter and calmer without her here. I miss her already.

Goodbye and Rest in Peace my Belly-Girl, my Wella-Bee, my Bellaroo, my sweet white Bell with blue eyes.

Welcome 2009!

Righto, so where'd I leave off? New Years Eve.

We had Squeak & J9-double0blonde over for dinner and board games ... we tried out the new Anti-Monopoly and let me just say the Monopolists won convincingly (me & J9). The evening turned out to be great fun, plenty of champers was drunk by all (4 & a half bottles by the break of 2009) and we toasted Squeak's 25th birthday just after the stroke of midnight.

They ended up staying over in our spare room and we had breakfast here the next morning. Hope y'all had fun celebrating too. Varen & I didn't do anything for the rest of the day. Just sat and vegged in front of the TV - thank goodness for series! As you can see below, the bunnies have been as lazy as we were :) Love it when they're all stretched out together.



Then on Friday, Varen finally had a day off so we got busy with the house-type stuff. We made pretty good progress ... although there are still mounds of things to be done (nothing on my list really got done ... except I did buy the mirror and supawood for my mosaic project, a good start I think). I don't think we did anything much on Friday either. Being handy is tiring work :)

On Saturday we got up at a decent hour so that we could take Coaley-boy to the vet to get him checked out ... after my friend's bunny gave birth to 6 babies and now she's wondering if one of the other girls might be pregnant too (she has 4, not counting the new babes, and one is *clearly* a boy), I'm taking no chances. We need to know when to schedule him for the snip. I noticed Bell hadn't come out of her hutch so Varen picked her up and we realised something was just not right with her. She was almost limp as he held her. She didn't "grip" on as they normally do. When we put her on the ground she sort of slid forward and didn't look all that stable. We took her along for the ride too, just in case.



She hasn't come home yet ... she's stayed at the vet for overnight observation. The vet said something was definitely not right but he checked her heart, lungs and other internal organs which are all fine (apparently when they're not moving around like they usually do, you can feel everything inside them). He even checked her temperature with a thermometer up her rear (and she didn't flinch, she definitely was not well!) and that was fine too. So he gave her another anti-inflammatory, some de-worming drops (which he gave Coal too, just in case, and boy did he not like the taste of that!) and an anti-biotic.

We're hoping that it was either something she ate or worms/some weird parasite thingy cause then she should be fine by tomorrow and we can go fetch her! They're gonna call us ... I'm really a little worried now that it's night time. Funny how you can manage anything in daylight but as soon as it gets dark, that knot in the pit of your tummy starts turning. Sigh. She'll be fine. She has to be.

So yeah, not an ideal start to the day. But Coal is fine. Not ready for the snip yet so we have to take him for another check in about 2-3 weeks (waiting for those balls to drop!).

At least I got started on my mosaic mirror project today tho. It's not going to be super creative or mad ... it's for a bathroom, currently a pretty dark loo under the stairs so I've gone with light neutral colours. So far I'm pretty happy :) And it requires no tile-nipping which, as far as I'm concerned, is fantastic news ... do you know how sore your hands get from nipping tiles?!

Anyhoo, we didn't do much else for the afternoon, but we did hit Ocean Basket for dinner this evening (I was craving their Platter for 2 - yum!) and then went to see Yes Man (a Varen movie-pick).

Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a guy whose life is going nowhere—the operative word being “no”—until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say yes to everything…and anything. Unleashing the power of “yes” begins to transform Carl’s life in amazing and unexpected ways, getting him promoted at work and opening the door to a new romance. But his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing.

It was not a great movie. I laughed occasionally, not as much as some of the people sitting around us, but I think they were either drunk or under 18 ... they were on that level of silliness. It's a cool concept, say yes to everything. But clearly not practical. And that's why Jim Carrey is cast in this ... I guess it could've just as easily been that other guy, what's his name? Ah yes, Steve Carell. they both play pretty much the same type of roles anyway, don't they?

So I guess 2009 hasn't been all that good so far or rather not all that much of anything yet, although I am pleased with my mirror-progress. And I'm sure it'll all start looking a lot rosier once Bella-girl is home with us.

In other exciting news, Varen & I have plans for 2009/2010 (yes, they'll take more than just one year). I'm not going to say anything much yet, but it involves our next big holiday and a move to Cape Town. I'm so looking forward to getting started on the planning portion of this and desperately hoping it'll be a real possibility and not just a dream. Finger's crossed people. Here's to 2009 ... (and getting Bell home again, safely).

Unplanned Holiday

So, I have just realised I broke a cardinal rule of mine ... I am on leave and still in Joburg. Usually that *never* happens - unless I'm taking a mental health day (which I don't get to do any more now that people I work with read my blog!). Anyhoo, I gues I'm forgiven cause this was not planned leave at all. Although today and Friday are. But I was still sorta hoping Varen & I would be heading to the farm again, but alas is not to be. He couldn't get today off and we figured waking up at 5am (to get to work by 6, to leave by 3pm) and a 3 hour drive would not be helpful when trying to stay up late to see in the New Year.

Although in the last 2 years it has become a bit of a tradition for us to spend New Years on the farm. This year we are doing something different. But more on that later.

Yesterday I went plant shopping :) It was awesome! As I mentioned, I got a garden shelf from Varen's folks for Xmas (I pretty much picked it out while Varen & I were shopping tho) and I got some money to fill the shelves too. So off I went yesterday and jees did I buy loads :) Lifestyle Garden Center either had a sale on or is generally damn cheap. My shelves are filled to overflowing for only R350 :)

I re-potted the stuff I already had growing for the bunnies too (which is why the Spinach on the top shelf looks so wilted ... but it is back to perky this morning!) As you can sort of see, we've still had to keep this fenced, although the buns can only reach the bottom shelf. I thought I had a brilliant plan (I put a rose and some cactus / succulents on the bottom shelf thinking they wouldn't eat them ... I was wrong, although they've only mostly attacked the rose so far). Anyway, I am thrilled with how it's looking :) I finally have some colour and have such a variety: veggies / herbs for the bunnies (Spinach, brussel sprouts & mint from before, red and green basil, green pepper, black pearl chilies and normal chilies), flowers for colour and some cactus / succulents. I love my new garden :)

I also finally got some pictures printed for some frames that have been empty since my birthday (April!). Don't you just love the bunny-frame my mom got me? Finally I have a good pic of all 3 to put in there.

See, my unscheduled holiday has not gone to waste ;) Yesterday evening Varen & I went to grab a quick bite at CTFM before going to watch Australia (part of the reason we're not going to the farm later!).

Australia is an epic and romantic action-adventure, set in that country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) travels to the faraway continent, where she meets a rough-hewn local (Hugh Jackman) and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journey across hundreds of miles of the world’s most beautiful yet unforgiving terrain, only to face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbour. A cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle.

It was okay - aside from Nicole's annoying British accent. Oh, and the fact that you get 2 movies for the price of one ... just when you think it must be ending, they start up again. Let me tell you, it is a damn long movie! But otherwise, yeah, fine. At least Hugh Jackman is looking good again (generally I only like him as Wolverine, dunno why but he seems to lose all appeal when playing real people ... perhaps it was just Kate & Leopold :P)

Anyhoo, so we got home wa-ay later than we were expecting, which meant our super-duper early start was unlikely at best. And if we didn't get that Varen couldn't leave work at 3pm and if, if, if ... you see, we werethwarted by a series of events. So we have decided to stay home & get started on the long list of things that need doing around the house. Here is a list of some of the stuff, I can't think of the rest right now, but there is more (because I know you are all very interested ... ):
(Note, some are for Varen and some are for me)

1. Varen: Hang my newly photo-ed frame upstairs

2. Varen: Hang my solar powered light above the fish pond

3. Me: Buy supplies to finally make mosaic mirror for downstairs loo (I'm hoping to get started on this today as well)

See, the list is long and generally we don't get round to these sorts of things on weekends. So now is the perfect opportunity. Righto, so I best be off to get started ... plus I have to get some food for this eve. I'm making dinner for us & a few friends who are coming over to play board games to see in the New Year. Have I ever told you that I hate New Years? I do, I prefer not to go to some huge party with masses of people. Ideally I'd ignore it completely ... but generally I, at least, stay up long enough to see in the New Year.

So, yeah ... thanks for reading in 2008. Hope it's been a good year for all of you. I think it has for me ... ? Be safe this evening and I'll see you all in 2009. Have a good one.

Spoilt Xmas Weekend

I was supposed to be at work today ... I was at work this morning. I was up at 6:30am and in at work just after 7am. The company is actually closed this week, but I wrangled a deal so that I could try to work back some of my leave (having used up 16 days in November). Was planning on working today and tomorrow. Unfortunately I was locked out, again.

Let me try to explain the office issues we've been experiencing to the best of my understanding. We have access tags that allow us first entry into the actual building and then secondly into our actual office. These doors are not locked, they're held closed with giant magnets that are *supposed* to release when you scan the tag. Seems that for the last few weeks, every time we have a huge storm, the tags stop working and the magnets keep us locked out until someone can switch off the entire office complex's power. It's annoying. Usually there are enough other people trying to get into the offices to actually accomplish entry. On a day when myself and one other person were the only ones there trying to get in, with no idea how to switch off the power and the person supposedly in charge of the office complex only provided a voice mail, I gave up and came home. Sadly Varen is still at work :(

And now, on to more exciting news, Xmas weekend. Varen and I had a fabulous, relaxing weekend on the farm with his folks, sister and BrotherZion as well as his aunt & uncle from The Cheese Shop. We read our books, swam (mostly just me in the little porta-pool they put up), went for a ride on the horses (a new addition to the farm and not my idea of that much fun, really), took the quad bike out to visit the cows & buck and ate ... ate a lot. We also had a fabulous Xmas which meant we had more things to do ... like play darts (the ideal gift that Varen & I got his dad that kept the entire family entertained) and even a little Xbox (which BrotherZion got for xmas). We also took a visit up the road to a nearby farm where they are breeding lions (I won't go into what I think about this ... but needless to say I think animals should generally be free ... or at least not in a tiny cage but rather have some decent run around space).

We had an amazing Xmas lunch, with Gammon, stuffed Turkey and Lamb. Below are two good before and after shots ;)




Me, I was spoilt too ... even tho I wasn't with my family, it was a lovely day. My favourite gifts are by far my cute little black bunny and the plant stand I got from Varen's folks! Finally I should be able to grow some plants out of reach of my darling buns.

And on that note, they were also spoilt this weekend. Before now, there was a bamboo U-shaped enclosure around the lapa & braai which Varen's dad kindly enclosed completely so that the buns could run around safely in there. They had more space than our entire garden! They loved it. And I am completely thrilled to report that since the drive down to the farm (3 hours) which they spent altogether in the little cat-box on my lap (a typical bonding method), they are now all getting on amazingly and are even sleeping in one hutch! I'm so happy about that :) Bell & Coal get on better than I think they could imagine. He follows her around exploring ... Bell was a real little Columbus this weekend, getting out the bamboo fencing 3 times. Luckily she got into another semi-enclosed area where the cars get parked and we managed to catch her. Shoo, was quite scary for a moment there!

Henna was mostly a real little princess, as she is :) But was quite funny when she started thumping when she heard the sheep or horses nearby (outside the bamboo area).

It was a fabulous weekend and now we're thinking of heading back there for the new year's weekend too ... although that time it'll just be me, Varen & the bunnies. Simply because I think it's the only way to really feel like we've had at least a little bit of a break. Anyhoo, will keep you posted :)

Oh, and just while I was busy uploading pics for this post, I heard a loud bang. Seems Coal & Bell had been playing near some wooden planks (the left overs of what we'd used to make the box for their double-storey hutch) and they'd fallen over. Coal was fine, walking around on top of the wood, but I found Bell still under them. So we had a quick rush to the vet and she is thankfully fine. Nothing broken, probably a little bruised so she got an anti-inflammatory shot, but otherwise just a little shaken. Shoo. That was terrifying!

Affluenza by Oliver James

There is currently an epidemic of 'affluenza' throughout the world - an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses - that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. Over a nine-month period, bestselling author Oliver James travelled around the world to try and find out why. He discovered how, despite very different cultures and levels of wealth, affluenza is spreading. Cities he visited include Sydney, Singapore, Moscow, Copenhagen, New York and Shanghai, and in each place he interviewed several groups of people in the hope of finding out not only why this is happening, but also how one can increase the strength of one's emotional immune system. He asks: why do so many more people want what they haven't got and want to be someone they're not, despite being richer and freer from traditional restraints? And, in so doing, uncovers the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you've already got. In other words, how to be successful and stay sane.

Okay, to be honest, I barely read much of this book before I put it down for something else. It's not a bad book, it's fairly interesting ... but it's not gripping and it's certainly not what I want to be reading while on holiday for the xmas long weekend. Perhaps another time I'll pick it up again ... but really, the concept is pretty easy to comprehend and probably next time I should just skip ahead to the "answer" section that's been promised in the blurb above. Meh.

Have a Good One!

Nothing much to report on this day before Xmas. Had a pretty quiet evening last night just generally getting last minute things done before we head off to The Farm in the Free State this afternoon - although we still have to pack and get the bunnies on board before we can get a move on. Sadly as I type I am still sitting at work ... but we did spend the first hour & half of the day locked out of our offices again. Sheesh. It got pretty close to the 3 of us waiting (us early birds) to decide to just pack it all in and head home. Sadly (as you can see) that was not to be :(

In very annoying news, my eye has not improved much (even with the help of some anti-histamine pills I've taken). Aargh. At least it's not nearly as noticeable as it was ... at least that's what I'm telling myself. It's more just providing me with discomfort as I look down at my keyboard.

So, I hope all of you readers have a fantastic Xmas, if you're celebrating. And if you're not ... enjoy the long weekend :) See y'all next week (I'm planning to work a few of the days to try and regain some leave lost during my marathon November trip!).

Monday Plus Buns

Last night was another typical Monday. We stayed home ,ate dinner, watched Series (we have loads to catch up on!!). But things are good :) Things with the bunnies are improving rapidly! Bell still chases Coal, but in the same way she chases Henna. We even ended up with all three of them in one hutch for a little while yesterday (This is a huge achievement!). It happened by accident really. Henna had gone in there to lie down & get out of the heat (she had a very lazy day yesterday. Coal sometimes climbs up the ramp and jumps into the hutch ... but he has no idea how to get out again so he was just eating and lying down there too. And then Bell jumped in a little while later to eat some pellets and have a drink of water. Wow.

While we were watching TV I had Coal & Henna snoozing on my lap together ... was sooo cute once they calmed down :) Hen has been getting much less attention lately because a) she doesn't like to be picked up and cuddled as much as the others and b) What with trying to bond Coal & Bell, they've been getting all my attention! So I wanted some time with her. I hope those two will bond well (Bell was left to wander the house which she loves to do ... she's too restless to just snooze on our laps). Almost let them spend the night together in one of the hutches last night, but I figured Hen is probably "waking up" when it get's cooler and then trying to mount him like she does with Bell and he's just too little to be able to get away (Bell will let Henna know if she's irritating her!). And I think that's how he's getting little bits of fur pulled out. So we went the safe route instead. As I said yesterday, I don't think I'll be letting them share a hutch till Coal is bigger.

Other than that, having the buns on my lap last night (shedding) seems to have irritated my eye ... which I then rubbed and rubbed - it was itchy, okay? And this morning I still look like Varen punched me! He didn't ... but I'm all puffed up, only on one side. I feel ridiculous. At least there's barely anyone at work today ;)

The Last Joburg Weekend for 2008

Damn, I wish I could remember what we did on Friday night ... but I'm pretty sure it involved hours of Series watching and some Woolies soup for me (Varen had had a rather large xmas lunch at work and skipped dinner).

Saturday started with a trip to the Post Office. Blegh. Originally I was both looking forward to this ( I was expecting a delivery from Springleap) and not looking forward to this (Varen has lost our post office box key). But on Friday evening I checked my Springleap order (without the po box key, chances were not high that I'd have access to the delivery slip so wanted to take the tracking number along with me) ... and discovered my order had been delivered to Ashwood (which I gather, based on the telephone dialling code, is somewhere in Durban). Not a good omen.

But on Saturday morning, firstly, I discovered the box key in Varen's glove box (yippee) and then I found a collection slip amongst the post we collected. As I suspected, I'd merely been emailed the wrong tracking number. I happily collected my Don't Care Bear Springleap shirt. Needless to say it was a good start to the day :) It is an awesome shirt and I wore it on Sunday ... the only thing I'm a little disappointed with is the fact that the "carebear" text is in silver ... it's so light it's fairly hard to read. But other than that I love the colour of the shirt itself (fairly hard to tell from a website!) and I got a cute little dontcarebear pin too! Well worth it :)

We got some other Xmas admin done before coming home and relaxing with the buns. They're getting much better and we've started letting all 3 out in the garden (always supervised) at the same time. Bell is still sometimes chasing Coal (but she also chases Henna), but she seems much less interested (and even more so by Sunday evening) and the nipping & grunting seems to have almost stopped completely. Things are definitely improving.

But my poor little man is missing some fur so we're not letting him & Henna share a hutch anymore till he's a bit older & bigger ... she may not be the dominant one between her & Bell, but put her alone in a hutch with a tiny little month-old bunny and I'm not so sure. So just to be safe we're still keeping them separated overnight.

Coal's personality is definitely starting to show as he explores the garden & hutches and he's a real cutey. Very curious like Bell :) He was even playing "hide & seek" with Bell on Saturday afternoon ... she was in her hutch and he'd sneak round the back (only he is tiny enough to fit thru there) and stand on his back legs where she could see him and then crounch back on all fours out of sight. Hysterical to watch! On the left is a photo of him watching TV with Varen & I. So adorable :)

On Saturday afternoon I got my final Xmas shopping done ... my gift for Varen :) (not telling since I know he reads this!) and later the two of us put the bunnies to bed and went to watch The Day the Earth Stood Still.

A renowned scientist (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself face to face with an alien called Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), who has traveled across the universe to warn of an impending global crisis. She quickly discovers the deadly ramifications of Klaatu's claim that he is "a friend to the Earth." Now she must find a way to convince the entity who was sent to destroy us that mankind is worth saving - but it may be too late.

It was decidedly just okay. Unfortunately that's really all I have to say about it. I do like the way they "explain" his humanness, but other than that it's much the same as other American armageddon-type movies where even tho the rest of the world is "affected" they don't seem to be involved at all in doing anything to help save the world.

On Sunday Varen & I went to Angel's bday party. Sadly we didn't stay very long as the heat was bringing on another of Varen's headaches and I certainly wasn't in the mood for another trip to the emergency room. We left early and came home so that he could take the meds he got the last time and spent the afternoon relaxing. Me, outside with my 3 boons. (But we were lucky enough to taste her cupcakes! this time she made a delish strawberry one as well as a peanut butter & caramel one ... so delish!)

Below is a pic of my little boy bounding off the stoep. And one of my girl's relaxing in the sun as only girls can - looks like Henna is tanning or something, doesn't it ;)



And that was pretty much the weekend. Officially our last weekend in Joburg for 2008. Sheesh.

16 November: Marrakech to Imlil

Today we had a 2 hour bus ride from Marrakech to Imlil. Once at Imlil, we stored our main luggage and took only our day-packs (with as much clothing as we could carry) on a 45 minute hike up into the Atlas Mountains. I'll be the first to say I was thankful that there were mules to carry our day-packs! Hell, I even contsidered hiring one to carry me but decided I would rather give it a bash - it's been long enough since that dreadful day in Sintra, surely!

The mountains are quite beautiful and there is quite a bit of snow on them which makes for a lovely view. The "hike" was quite nice too. We wandered up paths thru loads of walnut trees, which were all raining orange & yellow leaves down onto us. Beautiful.

We are staying in Gite D'Etape in a little vilage called Armed (said like Ahmed, I think), a small Berber town. We had a lovely lunch and a nice afternoon nap (must be the altitude) and a decent dinner. I will say that once the sun went, it was absolutely freezing here and we have been bundled up in blankets (and layered clothing) all evening. There was a fire going but sadly it didn't heat us up as well as we were hoping! We played some fun card games (similar to bridge) to pass the evening and now it's off to bed early, just to keep warm!

Boons Getting Better

Note: the photo on the left was taken on the day we got Coal ... before Bell started really going crazy about his presence. That pic is probably about as long as the peace lasted ;) But won't it be lovely when they're all friends ... they're so adorable all together!

Okay, so this bonding thing may not be completely horrendous as I first expected. Bell did much better yesterday afternoon. I let Coal run around the garden with Henna for about half an hour while Bell was still in the hutch - I can not believe how cute he is. He runs like a crazy thing ... like a kid in a candy store not quite sure of what his little legs are doing. He also seems to be quite the smart little guy ... he's already managed to jump up from the grass onto the stoep area. It's so funny to watch because he really prepares himself and then does a way more giant leap than is strictly necessary :)

Then I put him into the cage on the grass and let Bell out (I've put up photos with yesterday's post, so you can see what I mean). She ignored him and did her own thing way more than yesterday ... although she is still grunting and biting the bars a bit, it has definitely improved. We're hoping that we might even be able to let them run around all together by Saturday or Sunday. But I do think that as soon as Coal stats running around Bell will chase him. He's very active and Bell seems to have a little bit of Cheetah instinct in her ;)

Other than that, Varen & I had a quiet night at home, watching some Dexter S3 and eating take-out from Simply Asia. We shared some yummy starters, Prawn Spring Rolls & Chicken Satay. I had the Tom Yum Goong Pla-Muk for mains ... jees but my mouth was on fire, just the way I like my spicy soup :) It was really delish.

Update 09h59: Oh, I forgot to mention that this afternoon's Spain, Portugal & Morocco post will be the last till the 5th of Jan ... I figure most everyone has either already gone on leave or is about to after today and well, it'd be sad if no one read them because of a silly little reason (which I can totally relate to and have done myself on occasion) like they got back to find their rss-reader with 1000+ blog posts and just skipped them all and started anew.

15 November: Marrakech

Today at breakfast I said goodbye to the 3 people leaving our tour and our leader, Summer. Then I headed out to the Medina and Djemaa el Fna (or Jou ma se al Fna, as Varen and I called it) at about 09h45 and had a good wander around (yes, I did get a little lost but luckily someone pointed me in the right direction again!). I think I've found JofH & YogaCherryl's wedding present and something that will do equally well for the folks :)

I also bought birthday presents for The Peeb and J9-double0blonde. I think I probably over paid but I'm really happy with the purchases (can't mention them yet because The Peeb has yet to receive hers ... but I know J9 loved hers :))

Then, since I couldn't find any of that amazing Moroccan Pizza we'd had in Fez, I decided to head to MacDonalds for lunch (as I said, I do like to try something new off their foreign menus). I had the Chicken Mystic. Not very exciting, but lunch none the less. Now I'm waiting at the hotel for Varen to arrive. It shouldn't be long now :)


Note: That's a photo of the minaret of the Koutoubia mosque opposite Dejemaa el Fna on the right. It's the sister of the one we saw converted into a bell tower in Seville.

21h30: Varen arrived safely at about 2pm. It was fabulous to see him again! We sat around catching up for a while. Apparently the buns are doing well :) I showed him all the photo's I've taken and told him all about my trip so far.

After he'd had a little chance to relax during our catch up, I took him down to the Medina for a wander around. Which was fabulous but exhausting. It's so nice to have him with me too! Then we stopped at the Ensemble Artisanale (basically a place selling all the same things you can find in the Medina but specifically offering hassle-free shopping with almost no bartering). This is where I'd stopped by on my way to the Medina in the morning and seen the best designs of usable tagines (it's harder to find nice looking ones that aren't just for serving in than you'd think!). We bought one for JofH & YogaCherryl's wedding present and I got one for Mom & Dad as well. I like it because it's something useful, for cooking, or just a nice table decoration that is distinctly Moroccan :) I probably should've got one for myself too, but that just would've been too much to try and get home safely!

We've been lucky to be able to store the lamp, sherry and tagines at the hotel till we get back to Marrakech next Saturday :)

Later in the afternoon we met up with the the new additions to our group and our new Tour Leader, Simo (a local Moroccan from Essaouira) and a few of us walked back to the Medina for dinner. During the day, the Dejemaa el Fna is generally empty except for snake charmers (who are apparently awful and do dreadful things like sew the snake's mouths almost completely shut so they can't bite - I slyly took a photo without them noticing and hassling me for a tip), women trying to paint your hands with henna and the hustle and bustle of people (so perhaps empty is the wrong word) but at around 4pm they start constructing stalls which, by sunset, each become a different restaurant (see day & night shots below). We had dinner at restaurant / stall 42.



I am still glowing with having Varen here with me :)

And So, The Bunny Bonding Begins ...

Aaah :) Today I'm a lot more relaxed ... aside from the having to be at work bit. My brain has definitely gone into Xmas holiday mode.

Had a somewhat more successful afternoon with the Boons yesterday. It's pretty complicated to explain, but would be much easier if my silly camera hadn't needed re-charging (there's always tomorrow!). Basically I took the cage bit off the top of the new double-story hutch and put Coal (I think it's been decided ... just out of habit now, plus I get to call him Cola Bear :) ) inside that on the grass. That way Bell can see him and smell him but she can't actually bite him thru the bars. And he gets to spend some outside time on the grass. It worked pretty well, for the first while she wouldn't leave the cage alone and every time she bite or grunted at him (yes, it's a very weird sound!) I sprayed her with water.

Let me tell you that by the time Varen got home, Bell was pretty soaked. But on the plus side, she didn't bite me at all yesterday :) She also ended up ignoring Coal in the cage and carrying on with her own thing in the garden after about 2 hours (Ignoring each other is a particularly good sign when bonding bunnies, apparently). Sadly Henna couldn't get that close to Coal without Bell chasing her too ... until Bell got bored and left him & the cage alone.

What we've done now is to separate the double-story hutch and make 2 single-story hutches that are right next to each other (as you can see from the photo, we've rather pimped out the new hutch with ramps to make getting in & out easier and a big box for inside so they have some hide-away space). Yesterday evening we put Hen & Coal into the same hutch and kept Bell in the other, to give them more of a chance to bond. And even tho they didn't end up cuddling next to each other, they were eating out of the same food bowl at the same time, which I took as a good sign. But we didn't leave Coal there overnight or today while we're at work. He's back up in the bath. Don't want to overdo things on day 2, you know?

This afternoon I plan more of the same ... although I'll probably let him have an hour of run around time with Henna in the garden and keep Bell in her cage. And tonight we'll put Bell & Henna back together in the one cage and leave Coal outside in the other. Finger's crossed people :)

If anything I'm doing sounds weird to you, or if you are having a similar problem yourself, you can read all about bonding bunnies here.

Last night, while Hen & Coal were hutched-up together, Varen & I went for dinner with his folks and BrotherSwoop & his girlf. We ate at Allora, which is far from my favourite restaurant ... they have *nothing* that appeals to me on their menu (although Varen got it mixed up with somewhere else and change the restaurant we were going to to Allora because of me liking the food there - oops!). But I found a happy solution, I had a pasta but I swapped the sauce. So a very successful meal ;) BrotherSwoop & his girlf followed us home because they're off to Mozambique this morn and had forgotten to get themselves a ZA sticker for the car. We have a magnetic one ... somewhere. Sadly after them driving all the way to our house, we could not find the sticker *anywhere*. But at least we got to give them their xmas pressies :)

14 November: Fez to Marrakech

We left Fez on an early train (08h50) this morning and got into Marrakech at about 5pm.

Am thankfully in the girl's single room tonight at the Hotel de la Menara and I am thrilled. Let me explain the single room: there are an odd number of girl's so we've been "alternating" the single room. This is the first time I've had it ... and the last since from tomorrow I'll be sharing with Varen! And even better, I won't have to move tomorrow when Varen arrives, he'll just move into my room. The room is quite spacious compared to the other's I've stayed in so far.

Am also very pleased to be done sharing with the other girls. I think I've definitely hit my tour group limit with them (think it might've been the entire day's train journey spent chattering about all things Aussie that really did it! Am bored of hearing of their local celebs, tennis players, footy players, TV jingles and how they have the best wine - excuse me?) and am really looking forward to Varen joining. Someone familiar who I trust and enjoy the company of to break up the general Aussie-ness. I always seem to get to this point on tours tho and just need some space generally. At least the older crowd are generally more pleasant and express and interest in non-Aussie things ;)

Went for dinner at Summer's Moroccan family's house. Summer is our Tour Leader. She's originally from California but has been living in Morocco since 2002 and she's married a Moroccan man. Her "Moroccan Family" who we had dinner with is the family she lived with when she first came over to Morocco (I guess imagine it sorta like Rotary Exchange or something?). It's amazing to actually see something genuine and off the tourist-track. The inside of a middle-class Moroccan family home is absolutely nothing like ours back in South Africa! There were 3 stories and we only saw the first 2. On the first was the kitchen, one of the 3 bedrooms (I think there was one on each level?) and a giant sitting room. It had a built in couch (made to order) around the *entire* wall.

Almost all the wall space was tiled and there were pillars in the middle (I assume those were necessary to hold up the floors above!). The 2nd floor had two more similar sitting rooms, both surrounded by counches along the walls and completely tiled. The ceilings were also very ornate and decorated with carvings and painted all sorts of colours (sadly the photo's didn't come out very well because of the lighting).

It was also interesting to meet the family although the language was a bit of a problem with them all except her "sister", who is a teacher. It is such a different life!

After dinner, a few of us went to the Medina for a quick wander. Mostly just to see where it is for tomorrow morning. Varen should land at about 13h15 ... can't wait!